Mr. Speaker, our government's ability to be able to lower the costs is very limited in that the costs for most of our fossil fuel energies are driven by global markets. It is very difficult to impact on the cost of gas or oil. In the short term though, Mr. Speaker, as I advised the House last week in my budget address, we are putting in place a system for fuel rebates as one measure to help offset the increased costs to people in the small communities, in fact, right across the Territories.

We are also putting in place a $500,000 increase for individuals who are dependent on income support in order to help them meet their costs. We are also currently working on a system of an increased northern tax credit, which again would benefit northern wage earners. We are taking on a number of measures to help people in the small communities as well as the large communities. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we all know, this government derived a lot of taxes, especially from gas and fuel taxes. They have different tax regimes in place where they are looking at an increase, which has an affect on communities, especially with respect to power generation and the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, which is owned by this government.

I would like to ask the Minister, what is he doing to look at ways to bring down the cost of power, especially when it comes to the fuel adjustment rate rider which is presently in place? That seems to be an area which has a major impact on the high cost of power in a lot of our smaller communities.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, we have the power generation review, which was completed in early December and made public for consultation. That review looks at a number of issues concerning the provision of energy, power, to people all across the Northwest Territories. There are a number of recommendations in there. I would hope that as many people as possible will give us their advice on that report and expect that following the release of that report, we will be able to lay out a plan of action. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Another area that has seen a major increase in a lot of the communities is the land pricing policy, especially in Aklavik. This has been an issue in this House. That is another area where it has had a major impact, especially on homeowners. I would like to ask the Minister again, what are they doing in this area?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, the land pricing policy is a responsibility that rests more with the Minister of MACA than it does with me as Minister of Finance. I can advise the Member, though, that the Minister of MACA and his department have been meeting with communities, including the Gwich'in communities, to look at the issue of land prices. They are aware of it and are doing their own assessment of that policy. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we do not seem to do that often, especially in government, is that we have accumulated the impact of all these increases over the last number of years, realizing we had a deficit, realizing that we had to find funds from within. I would like to ask the Minister, has the department done an assessment or review of all the accumulated increases -- regardless of whether it is a fee increase, tax increase, municipal increase -- to see what the affect has been on an individual within the isolated communities?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, both the Department of Finance -- largely through the Bureau of Statistics -- and the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, try to track this kind of information. There is an ongoing assessment of how our cost of living is relative to the south, as well as how it varies from one community to another. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the chairman of the Financial Management Board and it is in reference to a subject that I have questioned the Minister on previously, and it has to do with Arctic A employees. When the responsibility for airports was transferred over to this government, there was a provision in the contract for the employees to retain their VTAs for a five-year bridging agreement.

Into one year of that agreement, this government or the past government did not honour that bridging agreement and they have been trying since then to have that agreement honoured. In fact, it went to arbitration and arbitration was won in part to the employees, but as employees continue to try to get reimbursed or get what was due them, they continue to run up against walls, or as we say -- I got an e-mail from one of the employees -- another hoop to jump through. Mr. Speaker, I would like to know from the Minister of Finance, has his department looked at this issue again and whether they have changed any of their direction in this area? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, the department has not changed direction. The department is following the recommendations and conclusion arrived at by the arbitrator. Essentially, the department's request is that any employees who are affected by this situation submit receipts for travel to show that they actually took the travel, then they will be paid in accordance with those. If they do not have the receipts, then they are certainly welcome to submit a signed affidavit indicating that they have travelled, and the department will consider those. If there are individuals -- and I know there are not a lot of individuals affected by this -- if there are specific individuals, I would be happy to take their names and try to walk this through the Financial Management Board Secretariat to help out these people. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There have been occasions where individuals or employees have tried to meet the criteria set before them and, as I was reminded again in an e-mail, that one of the employees actually gave receipts close to the amount of $2,000, but they were told that it did not qualify because they received an allowance for $1,900 and some dollars or something of that area, which is this northern allowance. Does any other employee in the Government of the Northwest Territories have to account for their northern allowance portion that attributes to vacation travel? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, no, I do not believe any other individual employee would have to account with receipts for their northern allowance. If the Member will give me the name of the individual or individuals, I would be happy to try to walk it through for them to see what the problem is. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That will help on a couple of occasions, but there are a number of other employees who were left out who feel that because an agreement was signed by this government, the Government of the Northwest Territories of the day and the federal government and was agreed to in a bridging agreement, that in fact there are monies due and owing to these employees. With this announcement of this surplus that is coming up, why does this Minister not honour that agreement at this time? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Handley.