Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Erasmus.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister in his statement also indicated that the government asked the tribunal to allow us to call Northerners as witnesses to explain the importance of the tradition where hearings that affect Northerners are held in the North. They refused to hear them. Is the Minister indicating that we were not even allowed to have witnesses to speak to the tribunal so that we could try to explain to them why it is important to have these important hearings here in the North? Thank you.

Mr. Dent.

Oral questions. Mrs. Groenewegen.

The Premier, Mr. Antoine

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, there are ministerial severance benefits that exist for Cabinet. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, according to the procedure, the Minister has to either resign or has to be removed from office. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you. The honourable Member is asking about severance. The severance payout, I believe, is about two months. Thank you.

Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, under this procedure, when Ministers resign or are taken out of office, they are eligible to receive severance pay up to a maximum of two months as a Minister. There are also things like vacation leave credits that are there that have to be taken into consideration. There is a matter of accommodation expenses and so forth that has to be worked out from the resignation date so there is a period, I believe, of about 90 days to try to take care of that. Also there is a whole thing about leasing furniture and so forth that is also 90 days. There is the matter of removal type of assistance if their residence is outside of Yellowknife. These are all kind of calculated into and taken into consideration in the ministerial clearance procedure. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister responsible for Housing. Mr. Speaker, we have heard and the question is in relation to the Minimum Down Payment Assistance Program. Mr. Speaker, we have heard glowing reports of how many people have been able to purchase homes using the $10,000 homeowners grant to help people with the minimum down payment. I wish I could say that all my constituents are able to participate in this very worthy program, however, I have received complaints from people living on Ingraham Trail that they may not be able to participate in the program. Could the Minister indicate how people living on Ingraham Trail, if they are eligible to actually participate in this program? Thank you.

The Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Roland.