Thank you, Minister Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think sadly that illustrates my point, the point that the Minister can read a briefing note and tell us what the price of gasoline per litre was in October, but he does not know today. Obviously, his bank account is too big for it to make any kind of difference. I just do not see how he can relate, Mr. Speaker. I think we need a plan. I have heard nothing. The people who have to heat their homes this winter...it is not really funny. They cannot wait for this economy to get turned around in two, three or five years. What is he going to do for those folks who are going to have difficulty heating their homes this winter?

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I am very aware, as I mentioned, that fuel has gone up in price. What used to cost me 34 cents for heating oil now costs roughly 50 cents or a little bit more than that. I know that is happening. It affects me the same as anybody else. I am sensitive to it. I am aware of it. As I mentioned, we have done a lot of things to help make the Northwest Territories a better place for people to live. Am I going to today write a cheque for everybody as Alberta did? No, we cannot afford that. We do not have the money. We have a deficit. Are we ignoring this problem? No, we are not ignoring it. We are very aware of it. My department is working on it, but it is not easy to simply follow the example of Alberta or anywhere else. We have a different situation here, different circumstances. If the Member wants, I can provide a little more trivia for him. The price of a litre of diesel fuel, motor fuel, is roughly 85 cents. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Final supplementary, short question, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I did not think this was about trivia and I certainly did not think it was a trivial question. I am sorry that Cabinet in their ivory tower cannot find it within their time frame and within their agenda to have a plan to address the cost of fuel this winter.

Question, please.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We need a plan. What is Cabinet going to do this winter?

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we continue to work on this. What we have in our budget this year is in our budget. What our plans are for the future year is something that we should be discussing later on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, following along in my Member's statement this afternoon, my questions are for the Minister responsible for Seniors. Mr. Speaker, I am not sure that a lot of people even know that we have a Minister responsible for Seniors. I would like to ask the Minister if he could inform the House, what is the mandate for the Minister responsible for Seniors?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The honourable Minister responsible for Seniors, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been honoured to be given the responsibility for Seniors by the Premier. However, I think the thought behind why they established a Ministry for Seniors is best answered by the Premier. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not think that I can now redirect my questions to the Premier, so I will have to continue asking the Minister responsible for Seniors about the portfolio. I am aware that there is no money in the budget for a department of seniors, but does the Minister have a plan to develop a coordinated approach across government departments to the delivery of services to seniors?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for Seniors, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the government does have a plan, as the Member is referring to. The Minister responsible for Health has been spearheading this plan, Mr. Speaker, harmonization of the senior programs.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would expect that the Minister with the title "responsibility for Seniors" would have taken the lead, so I am a little surprised to hear that the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services has the lead here. Could the Minister responsible for Seniors advise us how many meetings he has called among Ministers whose departments deliver programs for seniors?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for Seniors, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my previous answer, the Minister responsible for Health has been spearheading the harmonization of seniors' programs. She would be in a better position to respond to the Member as to how many meetings have been held, who has been involved, et cetera. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Final supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am a little bit confused. I thought that having the responsibility for Seniors, the Minister would have at least been invited to attend those meetings. Has this Minister not even attended the meetings that the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services has called to talk about the coordination of services for seniors?