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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are talking about a fuel subsidy rebate program, as well, the fuel subsidy program. I think the purpose of the fuel subsidy program was to address some of these areas of increased costs. Seniors have the ability, providing they meet the criteria, to apply for this as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At the time this was set, there was, no doubt, criteria established to set these rates. The fuel prices have increased over the past three quarters of a year. The fuel rebate that we have introduced, Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, addresses some of this for many residents in the Northwest Territories, including seniors. There is a lot of criteria that went into setting these zone rates. I am not sure what the criteria was at that particular time. Thank you.

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We can certainly have a look at it, Mr. Speaker. I have to point out as well that if there are needs on the part of people, we do have the Income Support Program where we address it through the food rates. We are looking at that and we are increasing that particular rate. If there is need out there, we are addressing it in that fashion as well. Thank you.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, in my previous response, I have stated we would look at what criteria was used to establish the fuel rates, the fuel subsidy program for seniors. I think it is important for me to have that in hand. Once I have that in hand, I can proceed from there.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I guess we can look at this from two sides. One is, as I mentioned before, there are people out there who have minimal income. Those people are often referred to as the working poor. They pay for their own fuel. They need some help now. We are committed to getting rebate cheques to them by the end of March. This is a one-time program. Looking at it from their perspective, it is needed now, not three months from now. I take that into consideration. I have concerns for those people.

Looking at the other side, Members want opportunities to ask me questions. This was announced in the budget address. During this past week -- almost two weeks, week-and-a-half -- we have been listening to and hearing what people are saying. I want to wait until I am sure I have the best advice from the Members, make the final changes, get this program out and hopefully get the cheques into the hands of people before the end of March. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our real fear is that this is going to miss some people who really need the money. We are very concerned the details will be released before we have a chance to make their case to the Minister. If the Premier has been on this since January and possibly earlier, why has there not been meaningful consultation with this side of the House?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have been hearing from the Members for most of the past year about the need to do something to help people with the rising fuel prices. We have heard Members. We have listened to what you have said. This was discussed during the business planning process and a number of different situations. So there has been ongoing consultation over the past year. It was only the last few weeks that we have been able to put together a program that we feel can help the majority of people. There may be some individuals who will be missed out. We have to deal with categories of people. It would be terribly difficult to administer a program and get cheques out on time if we tried to look after every single circumstance.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, the problem was raised in the business planning process, but there was no indication of a program. Will the Minister commit in the next few days to presenting us with a draft so that we can analyze it with him and provide him feedback and have some impact on the final program?