Thank you, Madam Chair. Under seniors and disabled property tax rebate, following the elimination of the homeowners' property tax rebate last year, the standing committee took a closer look at the continuing programs to provide property tax rebates to seniors and disabled northerners. The Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Property Tax Relief Act authorizes tax based communities to exempt property from up to 50 percent of taxes where the property owner or owners meets the criteria under the Act, 65 years or over or disabled according to definitions in the Act. Committee Members are concerned that some homeowners are being deemed ineligible for this rebate. For example, if a house is owned by a married couple and only one partner meets the criteria for the rebate, the couple where one partner is over 65 years old and the other is not quite 65, they are not eligible for any rebate at all in the tax-based municipalities. The standing committee agrees that this was not fair. That it would be more appropriate to provide a rebate where anyone of the co-owners meets the criteria. The Act already gives the Minister discretion to exempt property in the general taxation where only one co-owner meets the criteria. If this is not acceptable to the Minister, committee Members suggest that other reasonable short term solutions should be prorated the rebate, in proportion to the number of co-owners who meet the criteria. In the example above, there are two co-owners meeting the criteria and 50 percent rebate could be provided. The extra cost for extending the rebates to properties where some but not all co-owners of the property meet the criteria, would likely be small compared to existing $155,000 annual cost of the program. In the long run, this program should be reviewed in conjunction with the other subsidy and assistance programs available to seniors and disabled northerners, most of which are administered by departments in the social envelope.

In the preliminary response to their recommendations, the Minister committed to work with the Department of Justice and have necessary amendments brought before the House by the end of the 1997/98 fiscal year. Members are encouraged by this action, but question why it will take so long to bring forward such amendments. Thank you, Madam Chair.