Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been advised that approximately 3,300 houses will be receiving the fuel rebate at this time, although that is a preliminary estimate at this point. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So only approximately one quarter of our residents will receive this rebate. Mr. Speaker, we were told that one of the reasons for not having a graduated administration scheme was the difficulty of administering it. Can the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation advise me, do clients of the Housing Corporation all receive exactly the same support or does the system vary according to household income?

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So if Housing Corporation programs are currently varied according to income, why could the fuel subsidy not also be varied according to income?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to confirm with the Members here that the Housing Corporation is responsible for the administration of the program. There is a policy side of it that has been determined between the Housing Corporation and the Department of Finance. We are still working out the various elements of the program. We had said in the last couple of questions raised to me that we would hopefully have something to the public as early as the first week of March. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, since the Minister of Finance thought that one of the problems was the administration and it would be too complex to administer a varying program, will the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation talk to the Minister of Finance and let him know that current programs do vary according to household income and it would not be difficult to provide the administration of the fuel subsidy according to household income?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are continuing to speak on this matter. We will be coming to some conclusion rather quickly on the issue of the fuel rebate for all residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to ask Minister Ootes, the Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, about his recent Literacy Strategy. Specifically, I am interested in the $400,000 he has earmarked for workplace literacy programs. Can the Minister tell me if the private sector was consulted in rolling out how this workplace literacy will be delivered and exactly what the budget would be as well? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. There were two questions there. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We released the Literacy Strategy yesterday. This was after a great deal of consultation that took place over the past several months. We had ten focus groups plus some 200 people who were consulted on the literacy thrust in the Territories. As well, there was a literacy workshop in Yellowknife last fall. We took into account some of the recommendations made on that. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In this extensive consultation then, can he specifically answer if the private sector and private sector companies were consulted?

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not sure whether direct contact was made with specific companies. However, as I have said, we had a conference on workplace literacy last fall at which many industries were present. They put forward their issues and those issues were put together by the literacy council. We used that particular information and that conference as a data-gathering opportunity. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister indicates he is not sure if direct contact was made. I am pretty sure direct contact was not made, Mr. Speaker. I would like a commitment from this Minister that he will consult with the private sector now.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.