Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the amount of money that is in the program this year is about the same as it was last year and the reductions to some students, the increases to others, should all balance out. I would argue that there cannot be very many students that would be affected by this.

So can the Minister tell us, using the exact same rules that used to apply to student financial assistance, how many students have been cut off from support who would have qualified for support under the old rules?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has to be remembered that the amount of money students receive has been increased. We have increased the amount of assistance for tuition and for books and for living allowance. So there is a lot more money going to students. Our model is proving that we are going to be fairly accurate with our estimates this year and we have put in $500,000 extra, Mr. Speaker. The number of students who could be affected by this depends on the fashion in which you look at transition and grandfathering.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Final supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that there are different ways of looking at this. I asked the Minister if he could give me the numbers in terms of the number of students who have been affected. If we used the old rules, how many people would have received assistance this year who are no longer receiving assistance? Can he give us an actual number?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the confusion that lies in there is, is he talking about transition? Is he talking about grandfathering? What is the definition of grandfathering? Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. It is in regard to the water system cost breakdown in the community of Fort McPherson.

My concern is more around the accessibility of information for the municipalities to have access to actual cost breakdowns in regard to the expenditures of those invoices and itemizing those invoices so you know exactly what those invoices refer to and what those amounts are being paid for.

In regard to the breakdown that I mentioned in my statement, the question was asked at a meeting in Fort McPherson to the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs to provide this information. They were basically told that they would not provide that information or they could not share that information with them.

I would like to ask the honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs why that practice is being practiced within the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs in withholding information from the municipalities within our communities?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not believe that the information was withheld from the community. We have gone out and worked very diligently to keep them informed. We understand the problems the community is having with their billing. We tried to mediate a solution yesterday. Unfortunately, it was not acceptable and I have no answer as to how we are going to achieve some favourable results. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Allen. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when an MLA gets involved and has to request information, either through this House or directed to a Minister, to have that information revealed to his municipality where I received a letter from my municipality stating that they requested that information and they also requested an investigation on what is happening. That request was to myself as a Member of this House who represents the residents of my riding.

I had to write a letter to the Minister responsible for Public Works requesting that information. Also, I called people within your department requesting that information. So I ask again, why is it that this information was withheld from the municipality of Fort McPherson?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not aware that any information was withheld. I shall take that question as notice and respond back to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Allen. The question has been taken as notice. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my Member's statement, there is a serious need to revisit the seniors' fuel subsidy in light of the rising cost of living and rate of inflation. Can the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment inform this Assembly whether there has been any systematic review of this program? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the program has been in effect since 1995. I do not believe it has had a review. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In light that there has not been a review in some time, and the current maximum family income for fuel subsidy is $30,744, and that does not seem to be adequate given that the fuel prices have increased and the cost of living has increased, would the Minister consider raising that ceiling to a higher amount as a result of the higher cost of living? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The amount, of course, is done by zone. It is different in different zones. We have three zones. One includes the communities of Dettah, Enterprise, Fort Providence, Hay River, and that area. Then we have the zone that is halfway to the Arctic coast, and then the zone north of there. We have different amounts for those zones. We can certainly have a look at seeing how applicable this amount is today, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.