Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is my understanding at this point. It is the quantity of fuel that is supplied or the quantity of the wood that is supplied.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Indeed it is Friday, I believe. Mr. Speaker, final question to the Minister responsible for the fuel subsidy for seniors. It seems like there has not been an increase in over five years. Knowing the cost of living in the North has not stopped, in fact, seniors continue to be squeezed every year winter comes around to pay for increased power generation and power costs and so on, can the Minister commit to re-looking at the area of the fuel subsidy towards increasing it for seniors? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are covering the increased cost of the fuel that is supplied through the department because it is based on quantity that is supplied. I believe there must have been criteria at the time as to why that amount of fuel is allocated. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, following up on the questions of my silver-haired colleague from Inuvik, I would like to talk about Speakers.

Seniors, sorry.

-- Laughter

I would not question the Speaker. Mr. Speaker, seniors deserve to have programs delivered by this government in a coordinated fashion. I believe that the one-window approach is best. That is why I think Members and the public welcomed the Premier's recognition of the importance of seniors through the appointment of a Minister responsible.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday when questioning the Minister responsible for Seniors about the mandate, he said, according to page 1524 of the unedited Hansard: "The reason a Ministry for Seniors was established would be best answered by the Premier."

Mr. Speaker, I would like today to ask the Premier, what is the mandate for the Minister responsible for Seniors?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister responsible for Seniors is a designation for people of the Northwest Territories to know that on issues dealing with seniors, for seniors who wish to raise issues with this government, we have a Minister designated who can be approached by agencies, the public and individuals to address the issues of seniors. That is the designation. I do not know that you would call it a mandate. The Minister responsible for Health and Social Services actually has most of the mandates, you would say, to deal with the specific issues, resources, services, programs that relate to seniors. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think the goal should be to have as clear a route as possible for seniors to get information, one window obviously being best.

The Premier just said that when seniors have issues, they could go to the Minister responsible for Seniors. If there is an issue with seniors housing, is it expected that Members of the public or seniors should go to the Minister responsible for Seniors? If they have a concern about the seniors fuel subsidy, should they go the Minister responsible for Seniors? I am a bit confused when the Premier says people with issues should go to the Minister. Could he please clarify that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Member for the question. I think it is a good thing to clarify. The main reason is to profile the importance of seniors in the Northwest Territories, particularly this year, and to allow for a one-window approach. Seniors have issues regarding justice, education, health and social services, housing, so rather than have them go through the difficulty of going from Minister to Minister, department to department, they have the comfort of knowing they can go to the Minister responsible for Seniors. That Minister will assist them to deal with their issues by providing support and assistance to them, giving them the proper advice and access to the appropriate Ministers. That is, in my view, the primary use of this designation. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am sure that seniors will welcome the news that they have one Minister to whom they can address all of their questions in this government. If that is going to happen, if the Minister responsible for Seniors is going to now start receiving all of the phone calls from seniors, what resources will he have to make that office work? What resources, both fiscal and human, will the Minister responsible for Seniors have to assist him in doing his job?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe that most of the seniors who have issues they need to address with agencies and departments know who to approach. Sometimes there is a case where a senior may find that they require more than the assistance of one department or one Minister, or that the issues and concerns raised involve, for instance, perhaps Justice or Housing and Health and Social Services. It is for primarily this type of situation that we have made that allowance. Seniors also have access, as you know, to their individual MLAs to assist them with accessing and getting support to government programs and departments that they wish to access. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important that we publicize the fact that there is now someone available in government to help seniors deal with cross-departmental issues. I think if we do that, it is going to increase the workload. I would like to ask the Premier, will he commit to work with his Cabinet to find funds to support the position, to make sure that there are human and fiscal resources available to the Minister responsible for Seniors to actually get the job done? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Should the Minister responsible for Seniors feel that there is a need to address this, Cabinet is always open to hear advice and requests from Ministers.