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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I assume they would be treated similarly, but I am just suggesting that the Minister responsible for Finance indicated that $640 was the average increase and that this rebate would offset 50 percent of that hardship. I think it is much less significant for those who are on propane because the increases have been greater. Would the Minister indicate whether or not they have looked at the costs that homes on propane have had to endure? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for Housing, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been advised that yes, there is an acknowledgement that the prices have increased as well and they will be treated the same as home heating oils. We will definitely take a look at that as well.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would hope that the department will take a look at that. I know the propane has doubled, more than doubled in comparison to home heating oil. I also wanted to ask about this idea that we are shooting for ease and simplicity here and maybe at the expense of fairness. We are already asking households, I assume, to prove that they are in fact paying heating bills. We are probably already asking them to prove that they are already not receiving other subsides, say from a corporate entity. Would the Minister indicate that this is in fact the case and we will have to do that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not clear on the exact question, but I do want to make a comment here. This program was just announced during the budget session on Thursday of last week, so we are doing a lot of preliminary work trying to iron out all the wrinkles here and, if we can, come to some immediate conclusion so we can begin the rebate program. That is the objective of the Housing Corporation taking over the program at this point. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Allen. Final supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I take it from the response that we have not quite worked out the details yet and we are hurrying to do that. I am wondering if the Minister can look into another matter. We talked about a commercial truck toll that will increase the price of fuel and I am wondering if he will consider that when he looks into the rebate. This $320 could quickly be eaten up by the increase in commercial tolls. Will the Minister look into that as well? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. I think that question would probably be better answered by the Minister responsible for Finance, however, we will have to direct it to the Minister responsible for Housing. Minister Allen, if you choose.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, I would just like to say that we will deal with this issue as we try to assess the costs of rising fuel costs. I just want to reiterate my previous answer. This is preliminary. We will try to keep the House informed of how we are going to administer this program and implement it as rapidly as we can. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Allen. I would just like to remind Members about the rules for questions. The preamble for supplementaries, according to your rules, should be much shorter as you get onto the supplementary questions. So if you would indulge the Chair by limiting your preamble in your supplementaries. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

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

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the Member that for the life of the current financing formula, there will be no claw back of this revenue. That is again through the toll. With regard to future formula financing agreements, how this will be treated will be subject to negotiations between myself and the federal Minister responsible for Finance. Thank you.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my budget address, we are intending and working on a Northern Tax Credit Program. That one will be on top of the current northern tax credit. That tax credit is there to help Northerners with the rising cost of living in the North. It will be available to all income earners in the Northwest Territories whether they live in communities on roads accessible by road or whether they are in fly-in communities, it will not make any difference. Thank you.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, everyone will be eligible for the increased tax credit that we are making available as long as they have some income or they make application through their income tax. The fly-in communities will get the benefit the same way as everybody else does. So certainly it should be a fair system. It is very difficult under our current income tax arrangements with the federal government to be able to have a tax credit program that is different depending on whether there is an all-weather road, winter road or no road at all to your community. So we have to treat all people the same under the tax administration system we work with. Thank you.