Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Declarations de deputes. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my Member's statement today was going to be on a different topic, but due to the building interest in the Fuel Subsidy Program, I thought I better make a few comments on behalf of the residents of Hay River. I must admit that whenever the government comes up with an initiative to put money back to the residents of the Northwest Territories, it is pretty hard to be negative about it. I want to compliment the Minister for realizing the fact that the cost of living is going up in the Territories and we do have to help our residents.

I do have some concerns, Mr. Speaker, about the way the subsidy is going to be administered and who is going to be receiving this subsidy. We have set a cutoff in the neighbourhood of $72,000 for Hay River residents. I have a real concern with that, Mr. Speaker, because $72,000 is at best a middle-income earner, especially when you are looking at a household. To make a household income of $72,000, if you are maintaining a home, paying the fuel bills, maybe paying for one or two kids and maintaining a vehicle, that is not a lot of money, Mr. Speaker.

They, as well as everyone else, have to pay the bills every month and they get hit very hard. As a matter of fact, this country is probably built on the backs of middle-income earners. Whenever a tax comes along, they are the ones who get hit the hardest. Whenever subsidies come along, they are the first ones to get cut out of the process.

We have learned a lot, Mr. Speaker, recently about subsidies from the federal government when they put out their fuel subsidy and the way they went about it. They instantly said, "We will use the GST to administer this subsidy." Well, lo and behold, it was a great theory. However, when it hit the public, it did nothing but negative things in the news because the wrong people were getting it.

Here we are going to put out a fuel subsidy. I think we are rushing into who is going to be getting this fuel subsidy and how it is going to be administered. I think we should take a little more time on this one and make sure that when we administer it, we are going to be doing the best we can do with this subsidy.

I learned yesterday, Mr. Speaker, that the fishermen are now going to be getting this subsidy, but there are some questions around how they are going to be getting it. I have some concerns....

Mr. Delorey, I had terminated your microphone. Please just ask again so it is on the record.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays, Mr. Delorey, you may continue.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the last couple of days, I raised some questions about the trappers getting this fuel subsidy and the fishermen not going to be getting it. I learned yesterday that the fishermen are now going to be getting this fuel subsidy. I have also learned that this fuel subsidy could possibly be coming out of the subsidy they had for freight rates, so there are some questions to be answered in that. I will be checking with the fishermen in Hay River this weekend to see how that is affected. Mr. Speaker, I really do believe we should take our time and relook at the administration of this program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. Declarations de deputes. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to comment today on the proposed Fuel Rebate Program. Yesterday, I received a letter from the Minister of Finance telling me I basically had 24 hours to make some comments or suggestions and that was about it. I am going to reiterate some of the things I have said.

We need an equitable program, Mr. Speaker. We mentioned graduated rebates. We think this would help. It would still put the money into the hands of those who need it the most. They would get the most money, Mr. Speaker. Furthermore, unlike the current proposed program, it would not ignore 75 percent of our households.

I also think those paying fuel bills or those who have seen a rent increase should get the rebates. We should not just be putting this money out there with no rhyme or reason as to who should qualify. We are calling it a fuel rebate, Mr. Speaker, but I believe right now, there is a tenuous link at best to fuel prices.

I would like to comment on administration. In the administration package, it asks you to make a declaration that says, "I solemnly swear this is my household income" and furthermore, if you are not telling the truth, Mr. Speaker, it says the application might be rejected or you might have to give the money back.

I know the Finance Minister will say that 99 percent of people are honest. I believe him and I think that is true, but I am wondering why we could not have people include their income tax filing from last year, Mr. Speaker. There will be that small percentage of people who choose to file even though they are over the cutoff.

I had a constituent call me and said, "Listen, I make more money than the cutoff and I do not mind that I will not get the rebate, but I want to know the guy down the street making $120,000 a year is not going to be getting this," because we do not have the capacity to audit.

Mr. Speaker, I think the Minister has good intentions, but good intentions and a bus pass will get you on the bus, Mr. Speaker. I think this deserves more than a quick and dirty approach. We certainly cannot put up a sign that says free money and expect the program to administer itself. There has to be a direct link to those who have felt fuel price increases this year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Declarations de deputes. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my Member's statement today will also centre around the fuel rebate that is being considered. As a Member of this Assembly, I was given a package yesterday morning to make comments on by noon today, and hopefully have a chance to make some changes. Unfortunately, with our meeting schedules and our late sessions, I have not had the opportunity to put it in writing. Today will be an opportunity during the session to speak to the Minister and hopefully he will take some of the suggestions he is hearing and make the changes.

Mr. Speaker, we are a team here in the Northwest Territories. We have our first line sitting on the other side. Unfortunately, it seems our first line has put together an offensive package in the sense of a forward movement to try to get some goals for the Government of the Northwest Territories. Unfortunately, they have not shared their plan with the defensive line as to how it would work and make sure the people of the Northwest Territories truly benefit.

Mr. Speaker, they are initially setting this up to put it forward. They have put a package together that is simply based on some of the existing programs and services that are delivered by this government. Unfortunately, that package does not fit with what is trying to be done here. I must applaud the Minister. He is trying to do something for the people of the Northwest Territories. He seems to be rushed by year end, as in March 31st, not as a new coming year.

Fuel prices will be just as high in April, Mr. Speaker. I think there is time, as Members have said, to work this out and get the details done properly so we can play as a team, not as opposition, as some would see it.

Mr. Speaker, when the housing numbers are set up, it is based on the cost of construction in a community or the cost of buying a home in a community. That is not quite the same as it would be for buying fuel in the community, as we have heard from Mr. Nitah from Tu Nedhe and the example he used. It is the same in many circumstances.

I think this needs to be reworked and retooled. Hopefully, the Minister is paying attention to the concerns raised and will take some of the suggestions. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I wish to make a statement on the recent IRC Native Hockey Tournament. This is an annual event sponsored by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation to encourage teamwork, sportsmanship and competition in the Inuvik region.

This year, the event took place February 22nd to February 25th in Inuvik, and consisted of two divisions. Five teams participated in the B division. They were the Paulatuk Wolverines, the Old Dogs and Youngbloods of Inuvik, the Tuk Red Warriors and for the first time, a team from Holman called the Holman Flyers.

Mr. Speaker, although the Holman Flyers put out an excellent performance, they were defeated in the finals by the Tuk Red Warriors. The score was 9 to 3 in favour of the Tuk team. In the A division, five teams competed as well, and consisted of the Deline Chiefs, the Paulatuk Storm, the Inuvik Huskies, the Posse and the E. Gruben's Transport team from Tuktoyaktuk.

Again, Mr. Speaker, the out-of-town teams made it to the finals with the Deline Chiefs going down in defeat to E. Gruben's Transport from Tuktoyaktuk by a score of 11 to 3.

On behalf of my constituents, I wish to thank the sponsors and all of the athletes who participated. In particular, the Nunakput teams from Tuktoyaktuk, Holman and Paulatuk, who put on such a strong performance. My congratulations to the Tuk team for bringing home the trophies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Declarations de deputes. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it certainly is a pleasure to talk about what happened at Ingamo Hall last weekend in terms of using...(inaudible)...workshop, which is appropriate to yesterday's theme.

This workshop was put on by the Red Parlour Squad, an aboriginal rap group from Alberta. The base for this workshop was to provide the delegates with alcohol and drug education and to talk about the importance of creating personal choice. Over 30 delegates attended this very motivational and information workshop and over 150 people attended the group's regional performance.

Mr. Speaker, I truly believe that events such as these allow us to target our young people at an early age to get the message out regarding the negative effects of alcohol and drugs. It is extremely important that we take a proactive approach in dealing with this ever-increasing problem. We have to demonstrate that as individuals we all have the opportunity to make our own personal choices which will make our lives better. I applaud the fine efforts of Ingamo Hall to help us get this important message out to our young people who are adversely affected. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Allen. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a couple of comments on the fuel rebate draft policy. Mr. Speaker, I have had a chance to review it and I just want to give my feedback. Mr. Speaker, I believe that we should remember that this is a fuel rebate and not a one-time, arbitrary income supplement. The driving force behind it has to be an understanding that every family and business is hurting from the high cost of fuel. We have to figure out a way to help them fairly and equitably within the limited resources we have. Also, Mr. Speaker, I think we have to remember that this is public money and we have a duty to spend it responsibly.

Mr. Speaker, as it is written, the fuel rebate has a number of gaps and it has a great potential to be highly inequitable and unfair. I will just give one example, Mr. Speaker. Under the current income threshold of $72,500 for Yellowknife, it is highly possible that a single person, a single professional who makes an annual income of $72,000, could qualify for either a $350 rebate or $150 rebate, depending on whether he or she lives in an apartment or a house. That is $72,000 income for one person. Where a family down the street, a family of four with two income earners and two children who makes $73,000 -- $500 above the threshold -- will not receive anything.

It is possible that this single person might have received a federal rebate of $125, so they will get $125 or $350 on top of that, depending on what it is. I do not want to deprive anyone of anything, but I think we have to look at the needs of working families and spread these limited resources equitably.

The last point I want to make, Mr. Speaker, is that I think everybody in Yellowknife knows that at this time of the fiscal year, government employees are out there spending money like crazy because they have to spend their budget, or they are giving out contracts. I think the Minister of Finance should discourage that. I see this as he is right in the forefront trying to spend the $1.4 million within the time limit. I think that is highly objectionable, Mr. Speaker. I am glad the Minister is willing to talk to us about this...

Ms. Lee, the time for your Member's statement has expired.

Mr. Speaker, may I have unanimous consent to conclude my statement?

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Are there any nays? There being no nays, Ms. Lee, you may conclude.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to conclude by saying that I do believe that the Minister's intentions are good. It is just something that we have to spend time to work out the wrinkles. I look forward to working with the Minister on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Oral Question asked by Mr. Krutko on February 22, 2001 regarding certification policies for water treatment plant operators and that our drinking water meets the standards set by national guidelines.

Various systems have been put in place in order to ensure that our drinking water is safe and meets the standards set by the national guidelines. These systems include regular water quality sampling, in accordance with the NWT Drinking Water Quality Sample Protocol, and immediate action by environmental health officers when water sampling results indicate a possible problem with the drinking water. Sampling results confirm that public water supplies in the NWT consistently conform to the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality and the NWT Water Supply Regulations.

In the NWT, the certification of water treatment plant operators is not legislated. However, it is strongly encouraged. The Northwest Territories Water and Waste Association does provide voluntary certification. Certification of operators is based on a combination of formal education, experience, training and examination. Certification is also related to the classification of the facility where the operator is employed. Four classes of certification are provided: restricted small system classification, small system certification, and class 1 and class 2 water plant classifications. There are 43 certified water treatment plant operators in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

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