If I did not understand it before, I sure as heck now understand it, Mr. Speaker. I think what is important here is what I tried to say in my comments. This policy affects close to 250-300 people. Each contracting authority is responsible for the rules set up with the guidelines and to abide by them. They have to bring to my attention, if they feel that somebody is not obeying the rules and the regulations and the guidelines that are set. That has not been done and the point I was trying to make with Mr. Bailey and I apologize to him if I brought his name forward again today, is to try and point out that he, in fact, did meet all the guidelines and policies of the government. That is all, nothing else.

Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That was nice but he did not answer my question. My question was, did Mr. Todd, because of what he had said at the conflict of interest report, that he did not know it was his responsibility to enforce the policy and he did not know what he was doing about it, that

was my question. So I will repeat it, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question was indeed, does Mr. Todd understand the policy and does he enforce it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, Mr. Todd. Two questions.

I understand the policy. If I inadvertently during the hearing said I did not, it was narrow on my part. I understand the policy. I understand my responsibilities and that is what I was trying to explain today in terms of my comment to the House.

Oral Questions. Mr. Roland.

The Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had the pleasure of informing delegates of this exciting new program and wanted to clarify also that the program was introduced to Members through a letter, an announcement the previous week, that I distributed to all Members.

This program is partly in response to a request by Cabinet to the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development and all other departments in trying to identify areas where we can stimulate the northern economy and to ensure that the workers we have in the communities stay here in the north and are able to buy homes here.

The secondary part which is just as important, I believe, is the fact that it has been proven that for every existing home that is sold, the economic spinoff is great and that it will, in the end, improve, in general, the economy of the Northwest Territories and provide ownership once and for all for a good number of our residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Maybe I would mention first the similarities, the main one being that these are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that the government will give to our residents. Under the EDAP program, however, we will finance up to 70 percent of the cost of a new or existing home, and to a maximum, I believe, up to $130,000. These grants, under the new Minimum Down Payment Assistance Program or MDAP, to a maximum of $10,000 for western Arctic residents and $15,000 for the residents of Nunavut. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Mr. Miltenberger.

The Acting Premier, Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I did receive the letter from the Member this afternoon and I appreciate the suggestion that the process that I initiated last week be done to ensure the greatest possible credibility and I would agree with that. It is certainly something that I will be bringing forward to the new Premier once he or she is selected next week. Originally, what I had in mind was very similar to the way the government responds to safety inspections or inquests for that matter. That is, that we do not generally wait for the government to give an official response but in areas where we can make changes and improvements right away, we will try and do that. I think that is something we still need to do, but we will also consider the Member's suggestion. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Arlooktoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are no written terms of reference. What we have are instructions from myself, as Acting Premier, to the head of the deputies, the secretary to Cabinet, to begin in their own way, the process of reviewing the document and seeing if there are any changes we need to make, or look at making to policies and procedures. This is done without necessarily admitting to any areas that had been done improperly, et cetera. It is just a way of trying to show good faith and the best of intentions in responding to the report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Arlooktoo.