Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The proposed changes are that the revolving loan fund will be increased from the present, I think it is $23 million, to $33 million, adding $11 million, as part of a revolving loan fund. Through the system being designed there would be remissible loans which will replenish the loan fund. So I do not see that there would be additional funds from other areas. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am trying to get a thorough understanding of what this means. The Minister has said that there is going to be an increase in the revolving fund, but that there does not appear to be any new money. Are we really talking about moving money around in the existing pot so that it is basically the same budget line that we are going to be looking at, and it is just a difference in the way that the program is administered and the monies are parceled out? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The changes in the design will change some of the grants that are now provided to remissible loans. Those remissible loans will come into the system when students finish school. Historically it has been shown that a certain amount comes back to the territorial government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If I am to understand then, Mr. Speaker, there is no new money going into the program, but we can increase the amount of money going to some students because we will be recovering money from students who have failed. Would that be accurate in the way of characterizing the way we are getting more money for some students? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Some money will come from students who have failed, but additionally some students may not stay in the Northwest Territories and go to the south, and those will be repayable loans. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If in fact we are going to be recovering monies now that we are not perhaps recovering because we are changing grants into remissible loans there would have to be conditions for those loans. Have we made the standards for qualifying for remission even more difficult than they currently are? Does the redesign make the standards even more difficult to have loans remised? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The changes that have taken place are that Northwest Territories indigenous Dene will continue to receive a basic grant for tuition, books and travel, and a supplementary grant for living allowance and high accommodation costs. Northwest Territories indigenous Metis and Inuit will be receiving a basic grant for tuition, books and travel, but a remissible loan for living allowance.

Northwest Territories schooled students will receive tuition, books and travel as a basic grant, and a remissible loan for living allowance. Others, Northwest Territories residents not schooled in the North, will be put on an income-assessed repayable loan basis. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister has not talked about what the success rate is. Do we see some of this money coming back because we are expecting to see 20 or 30 percent of the students who currently are receiving grants perhaps fail the course, and that is how we are getting a lot of the money into this program? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not have the exact technical information and details on that here, but I have been informed that, historically tracked, there has been an ongoing return to the Northwest Territories. The projections are that there will be a certain amount, as I say, through some changes that are being made. People who were not schooled in the Northwest Territories may apply for income assessed repayable loans. That will come back into the system, and that has changed from the previous system.

The Northwest Territories schooled, we are changing to remissible loans, and if those individuals do not stay in the North, they become repayable. Additionally, Northwest Territories indigenous Metis and Inuit are offered remissible loans. The objective here, Mr. Speaker, is to set up a system. And through the consultation process we were informed that the emphasis must be on providing more money for the students, but additionally to stress the success factor and the return to the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. The question has been taken as notice. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

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