Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Specific to the housing needs and according to the housing needs survey conducted in the year 2000, we have continually worked with all seniors across the Northwest Territories. It varies from community to community, but in the large urban centres, Mr. Speaker, we have been awarding a certain number of units to complement their ever-growing needs. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Allen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment. I would like to ask the Minister to explain what activities are being undertaken to prepare northern residents for employment opportunities in the oil and gas exploration sector. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We work in conjunction with Aurora College. The college delivered a number of programs over the past several months. As well, we provided funding to various regions directly to fund certain activities regionally and we did so on a budget of $500,000, part of which went to the college and part of which went for short-term training. For example, in the Deh Cho, we spent $100,000 and in the Inuvik region we spent $100,000. This is in addition to the college training programs, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister inform the Members of this House what progress has been made in convincing the federal government of Canada to fund the Human Resource Strategy for the non-renewable resource sector?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, it is a very important element that we continue to pursue. We are continuing our discussions with the federal Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs as well as the Human Resources Development Minister, Ms. Jane Stewart. I should also state, Mr. Speaker, that in Mr. Handley's visit yesterday to Inuvik, he had the opportunity to meet with three individuals who represented the college, the director of the college as well as Akita Drilling and CAPP, Canadian Arctic Petroleum Producers. There are some interesting developments that hopefully can be formulated to move forward on this. It is an initiative they are working on. We do not have the details of that that we can release yet, but we are continuing work in that end. As well, if I may, Mr. Speaker, we work closely with the training group that is in existence. It has been very active in the Inuvik area on oil and gas training. I met with them several weeks ago. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister to identify for this Assembly what alternative plans for oil and gas training are in place should the federal funding not be approved in the next 12 months?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, that is a good comment and question. With regard to our ongoing work, we are working on a number of areas. As I said, we are laying the foundation for a number of programs. Literacy is one, which is an area that many of our people need in order to advance forward in any type of job, be it oil and gas or other areas.

Additionally, Mr. Speaker, we are working on maximizing northern employment. In that area as well, we do not have all of the areas worked out, but we are working on possibilities there to work on specific areas. Also, we are suggesting to communities and to organizations that if they wish to put forward proposals where they can partner with organizations and aboriginal groups, we would welcome those initiatives, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Outside of basic safety programs, I would like to ask the Minister if he could indicate the number of Northerners who have successfully gained employment positions in the field of oil and gas over the last two years as a direct result of training programs established by his department. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a question that I cannot answer here. I will get the information for the Member to the best of our abilities. I am not sure that we can answer it in full, but certainly we will attempt to get as much information for the Member on that particular question as we can. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for Minister Handley today. Last week, Mr. Speaker, the Minister made it sound difficult to administer a sliding scale program for the fuel subsidy. I asked the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation about it and he confirmed that all of their programs are income tested and that the assistance is now provided on a sliding scale by community.

When I asked Minister Allen if they could administer the rebate program on a sliding scale, he did not say it would be difficult. He said, and I quote:

"The Housing Corporation is responsible for the administration of the program. There is a policy side of it that has been determined."

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask if the Minister of Finance will reconsider the policy side of this fuel rebate program and develop a sliding scale for the fuel rebate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly it is more difficult to administer, track, and audit income statements and so on, the more we spread this program out. The important thing to me, Mr. Speaker, is not so much how much work it is going to create, but how fast we can get these rebate cheques out to people. I know people right now who are behind in their payments and are on cash deliveries from the fuel companies who need help right now. I want to get these cheques out right away, so I want to keep this rebate program fairly simple. I do not want to complicate it by adding in new curves any more than we can.

Having said that, Minister Allen and I are looking at it. If there is a way of doing it, then we will take it into consideration. If the Member has suggestions, I would be happy to hear what those suggestions might be more specifically. We are only talking about a $320 rebate here. Is it worth changing the whole system and making it a sliding scale, and giving someone who is earning $100,000 a $50 cheque? Is it worth it? Where do we draw the line on the sliding scale? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Later today, I would be happy to provide the Minister with my recommendations. Would the Minister explain a bit further what he meant when he talked about the need to audit income statements and this making the program more complex? Are we not going to require people to apply for this program demonstrating their household income on that application form?

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