Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Allen. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Oral Question asked by Mr. Roland on February 14, 2001, regarding the chief of staff position and the pay range for executive assistants working in the Government of the Northwest Territories.

The chief of staff position, like many other senior level positions, is an at pleasure appointment and does not have a formal job description. These types of positions do not lend themselves to traditional job descriptions upon which to base a Hay point evaluation. Instead, salary and benefits are negotiated and established through an employment contract.

Similarly, executive assistants do not have formal job descriptions and are not evaluated through the Hay Job Evaluation System. Again, this is because duties of and qualifications for these positions vary widely with the different functional and political requirements of each Cabinet Minister.

The salary range for executive assistants to Cabinet Ministers is $63,139 to $71,592. In some circumstances, the salary range is exceeded. For example, where an executive assistant is there on a transfer assignment from a position in another department at a higher salary, he or she will continue to be paid that salary.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is aware of the anomaly that is created by including positions such as executive assistants and the chief of staff in the public service. It is for that reason that the GNWT is currently considering amendments to the Public Service Act to bring clarity to the issue of political staff.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to recognize and welcome someone who has spent many hours in this House in the past, Mr. John Ningark, former Member of this Assembly and former Deputy Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Steen. (No translation provided). That means welcome colleague in Inuktitut. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize in the gallery someone who has spent many hours making sure I got elected to this House in the first place. She is a friend and advisor and confidant. Her name is Joy Stewart. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize a group of students from Weledeh School. They are from the grade 6, 7 and 8 class, as well as their teacher, Cecilia Boyd. Mr. Speaker, I assure that if every one of these young people complete high school and college or university, we will guarantee them a job. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

It does not get better than that, Mr. Handley. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The National Metis Youth Role Model Program provides an opportunity to recognize the achievements of Metis youth and share their successes with others across the country. A member of the community of Yellowknife, a constituent of Great Slave, Ms. Amber LeMouel has been selected, along with five other Metis youth from across Canada, to receive this award. The ceremony will take place in Regina this weekend, Mr. Speaker. Amber is a very busy young lady. She is off to Australia tonight to continue her university training. As Amber will be attending school, a member of her family will be receiving this. Mr. Speaker, please join me in recognizing a very talented and very deserving young member of our community, Ms. Amber LeMouel, and her mother, Evelyn.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. We wish the young visitor bon voyage over to the other side of the world. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Vital Manuel, originally from Fort Good Hope, who is a constituency worker of mine. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Yes, Vital has served time as a page as well, so welcome, Mr. Manuel. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize Ms. Stewart, the daughter of the former Speaker, the Honourable Donald Stewart. Also, of course, my colleague, Mr. Ningark, the former Member for Natilikmiot, in Nunavut. I understand that at one time, he was the boss of our distinguished Finance Minister, Mr. Handley, so you are here to keep an eye on him.

-- Applause

Welcome to the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the budget speech, the Minister responsible for Finance announced relief for northern residents for high fuel costs. This announcement has been welcomed by many of my constituents, but details have been very sketchy. I would like to ask the Minister more about this initiative.

I was wondering, Mr. Speaker, if we could find out what is proposed as the income under which people would receive this rebate?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the intention of the government is to use the core need income thresholds that have been developed by the Housing Corporation as a base for which we would provide the fuel rebates.

The core need income threshold is a threshold that was established and is maintained by the Housing Corporation to determine the income levels under which people would be eligible for assistance for their housing purchase and maintenance costs. We felt this was a good base for the fuel rebates as well. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the budget speech, the Minister said the fuel rebates would be $320 for those who owned their homes and $150 for those who rented. I have been called by constituents who wanted to know if this would be a flat amount or if it would be graduated according to income.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is important for us to get the rebates out to the homeowners and apartment renters in the Northwest Territories. We are looking at this as being a flat amount. The reasons for that again are to keep the administration simple and efficient for us to administer, and therefore be able to get it out before the end of March with the least administrative difficulties and cost. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would hope that the Minister would reconsider that. I know I have had constituents who have said if a family with an income of $70,000 is going to qualify for the full $320, why would a family with a $73,000 income not qualify for at least a portion of that and do it on a graduated basis? I would ask the Minister to reconsider. I do not believe the administration would be that much more onerous to set up a graduated scheme, so the amount that was paid per family depended on income. Will the Minister reconsider and actually introduce a graduated scheme? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.