I believe the question that the honourable Member asked was, other than the ten percent reduction is there any difference in the amount paid. To the best of my knowledge, no, Mr. Speaker. I understand that this is the only deduction made. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is hard to justify them being needs assessed when we are referring to allowable expenses. Students individual circumstances do not seem to be taken into account, such as the course of study, the cost of a computer that may be needed, or even the purchase of a bed. Are those sort of things taken into account or are standard living expenses used in the calculation?

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

Mr. Speaker, the need, as it says here, includes certain allowable expenses and takes into consideration income the students have received for the four months. I do not have the answer to exactly all the expenses that are deducted, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not believe that the individual student circumstances are taken into account. I would ask the Minister why ten percent was chosen. It could have been 15, 40, 90 percent. Other than the stated reason that it has always been done, is there any other rationale for deducting ten percent from the amount given to students in student financial assistance?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This was introduced many years ago and it has been in the system since. It was felt at the time that there needed to be a contribution made by the student who did earn income. It is a needs assessed loan and obviously there is income that the student earns during that period of time. It is an assistance program, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if he will, with his department officials, review this deduction and ensure that there is some other rationale than we have always done it. We need to take a look at the cost of computers, the course of study, whether or not a student needs to purchase a bed. Those things need to be calculated, rather than just saying ten percent of what you earned, you can afford to lose it off the top. Will the Minister commit to review the rules with his department? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have already been speaking with the department regarding the ten percent and the rationale behind that. I will commit to looking at this issue, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister responsible for Finance. After the question by my colleague about the hotel tax, I feel almost compelled to follow that up with some further explanation. Can the Minister tell me if we have a tax like the hotel tax and, if we put the revenues directly into regional capacity building and marketing, is that called a direct tax? I am looking for some clarification. I am not sure. Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure what the Member means by a direct tax. If he is referring to it as a dedicated tax where we would collect it and use it for a specific purpose, then yes, it is bordering very much on being a dedicated tax. The intention here is that this tax is taken out of the hotel industry and will be used in the broader field of tourism. In a sense it is not even strictly defined as a direct tax or a dedicated tax because it would then have to go back to hotels. It is going back into the same field. That is similar to a situation we have with education taxes that are collected, which are collected in education but spent broadly in education. It does not quite fit the category what I believe the Member means by a direct tax. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am just a little concerned. To use an analogy, if you let a dog get its paw on the carpet, pretty soon the dog is rolling around in the middle of the carpet. It is all muddy and you cannot get that smell out of there. I am encouraged that we are willing to dedicate certain taxes towards an initiative like this. I am wondering if we can take all cigarette tax and put it toward promotion in the Department of Health and Social Services for instance. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Well, Mr. Speaker, I just want to assure the Member that I have a lot more control over my dog than he seems to. My dog does not take advantage of me like that and I manage the finances for this government with the same determination as I manage my dog.

-- Laughter

That is the same expression I use with my dog. To answer the question, Mr. Speaker, I think it might be a little dangerous to just take the taxes from cigarettes, for example, and use that solely for cigarettes. I believe that our costs for tobacco products advertising, paying for the costs and the results of the disease and so on from smoking is much greater than the amount of money that we collect on cigarette taxes. We want to be careful. If we start dividing it up that way we may find ourselves in shortfalls in some very important areas. In many cases, we are better off to use the program that we have now where we set priorities as a government and allocate our resources on that basis. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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