Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment. It relates to the Student Financial Assistance Program.

I am wondering where student financial assistance money comes from? Does the federal government earmark funds for post-secondary education to specific groups of people? Do they say "here is this much money, this much is for Treaty people, this much for Metis, this much for Inuvialuit, and a certain percentage for non-aboriginals"?

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not have the answer to that question. I will take it as notice. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. The question has been taken as notice. Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment. It relates to the Student Financial Assistance Program.

I have heard complaints that cheques are not always deposited in a timely manner, and that students are unable to get notification that funds have been deposited. These two complaints were in the final report of the Ministerial Forum on Student Financial Assistance. They were also in a letter that was tabled in the House on Wednesday from the Northwest Territories Students Coalition.

Mr. Speaker, it makes a big difference to students if their funding does not reach them in a timely manner. When students have to resort to food banks, as some have because cheques were late, it does not reflect well on this program.

My question for the Minister is what steps has the department taken to ensure on time delivery and notification of funds? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are some technical questions that I am not in a position to answer. I am more than happy to answer these questions before the standing committee or in committee of the whole. I can tell the Member the department is looking at streamlining the process, and looking at things like websites and creating updated application forms and so on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the technical nature of the question and the detail involved. The Minister has mentioned a website. I am wondering if a 1-800 number is also something that can be part of the toolbox he is looking at? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is correct. That is something that is being looked at. It is in the working stage. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It was mentioned earlier by one of the Members that there needs to be some administrative changes. One of the areas referenced was when individuals can use their return travel for Christmas, can it be at other times? I will commit to Mr. Lafferty that we will look at this. These issues do end up on the Minister's desk. The reason for that is they are part of the regulations that are in place now. Those regulations need to be looked at. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A great deal of consultation was done. After the Minister's Forum on Student Financial Assistance, there were public consultations followed by the reviews by the Standing Committee on Social Programs and the Government Operations Committee.

The input from students has been ongoing. I think it is important to see if we can set up methods by which we can continue to have the feedback from students on the system. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The process we will be following is that I will seek second reading of the bill this afternoon. I will table the redesign. We are releasing the redesign publicly this afternoon through a press conference and by mail-out. The Standing Committee on Social Programs will no doubt wish to review this intensively. Following that, they will report back to the House in committee of the whole. That process allows for input from the Members and others, if the committee so wishes.

The timing of that process is in the hands of the standing committee. Once it comes back to the House, then it will be dealt with. In order for this new redesign to be implemented, we would have to aim for approval by this House at the end of the March session, in order to give us time to meet the school year for next year, which would be September. Thank you.