Thank you. Madam Minister.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will repeat myself if you did not understand my earlier comment. I think there is something wrong with the technical wiring. I had stated earlier, with regard to the three parties, they had agreed with one another. They wanted to have a decentralized government. The government is in agreement with what is contained in Footprints 2 and is supported by this government. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (Translation ends)

Thank you. You have a couple of seconds, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a final question to the Minister. Once again, I know what Footprints 2 is saying, and I know what we have agreed to in this government. What I am asking is, if there are going to be any changes whatsoever, any impact if this proposal were to go ahead, if there would be any change? Forget what has happened up to date, but if this project were to be put in place, would it have any impact whatsoever on the jobs and the potential jobs that would be transferred to my two communities of Arviat and Baker Lake? This is what I am asking. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam Minister.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have been giving you the same answer. Perhaps because of the technical difficulty, you cannot understand me. We are not against the Keewatin pilot project. The Keewatin pilot project is also in favour of this and in support of Footprints 2. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Your time is up, Mr. O'Brien. Thank you. I have on the list, Mr. Rabesca, who has not spoken. I actually have Mr. Erasmus, Mr. Rabesca and Mr. Steen. I will recognize Mr. Rabesca.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I only could appreciate that the mayor of my community has been lobbying pretty hard to the Minister's office and with some of my colleagues in Yellowknife to voice himself on the very important issue communities are facing at the moment regarding the financing formula that they have been having problems with for many years. I only hope they will be able to resolve this whole issue as soon as possible because this thing has been going on for many years and is causing a lot of frustration to the community, municipal government, the mayor and his council.

I was hoping to see whether we could get a final response from the Minister, if she could give us some fair and equitable response to the municipal government within my community, if the whole issue could be resolved, if not right now, but in the very near future because we certainly do not want to have this thing drag on too long and to have some approval from the various municipality associations. I wonder if the Minister would be able to comment and respond to my question regarding getting a definite answer to the community of Rae-Edzo? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. I have Mr. Rabesca, Mr. Roland, Mr. Erasmus, and Mr. Steen. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We will look at an interim and short term response as soon as possible because the financing review has not been finished yet for the Member. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. We have Mr. Roland, who has not spoken at this time.

Thank you. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will ask my deputy minister to answer that question. Thank you.

Ms. Ballantyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this particular issue is included in the Municipal Financing Review and as I am sure everyone can appreciate, it has proven to be one of the tougher issues we have had to deal with because we have representatives from both tax-based and non-tax-based communities participating on that review with us.

As Members are currently aware, there is a higher degree of subsidy available to non-tax-based communities than to tax-based. Understandably, the non-tax-based communities are not really excited about becoming tax-based communities although it certainly does give them a much higher degree of flexibility and authority, et cetera, that comes with being tax-based.

It is not all bad news. Part of our challenge in MACA is to try and provide information to communities, so they do see the advantages, as well as some of the perceived disadvantages to becoming tax-based.

In terms of where we are going to go with this, we do see this as being an issue that will be under discussion at the Association of Municipalities Annual General Meeting which will be held this May in Hay River, when we will be giving a report to the whole membership on the Municipal Financing Review.

I believe it is their practice to invite all Members of the Legislative Assembly to attend that meeting. I suspect it is going to be the subject of some vigorous discussions at that time. At this point though, I can say we are still in the process of identifying what the various issues are and hearing the concerns from both sides of the issue. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Mr. Roland.

Ms. Ballantyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we had hoped to conclude this work this spring and to present a final report to the AGM in May. What has been happening is as we have been getting into some of the technical work, for example, some of the points the Member from Rae-Edzo has been raising, it is not as easy as it looked from the start.

The NWTAM and ourselves want to make sure we do a good job on this as opposed to a fast job. We are looking at bringing in an interim report and interim recommendations to the NWTAM in May. We will have a better sense then of how much work is going to be required to complete it. A lot will depend on how dramatic the change would be in terms of the recommendations because we have a fixed amount of money in the budget. We are not talking about having any more money to put into that pot. We are just talking about, is there a better way to distribute the money we have.

Of course, in order to give some communities more money, it means other communities are going to get less. What we are going to have to do is be able to provide the new financing framework in a way that all communities can buy in and to have a transition to that which is fair. Of course, at this time, we do not have that framework, and we cannot tell how dramatic those changes will be and if it will be a difficult transition or a relatively easy one.

By May, we should have a better sense of where that sits, and we will want to be discussing that in a very up-front and honest way with the association to have their support in terms of how we plan the transition, and what will be a more fair and equitable funding formula. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. On the list I have Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My questions are in the same area as Mr. Krutko, the senior citizens tax rebate or assistance. I would like to know what is the purpose of the senior citizens property tax rebate or forgiveness the department is involved in?

Thank you. Madam Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will ask Penny to answer that.