Why? Because they had a line on their cheque that said fuel rebate. Mr. Speaker, these were single moms who could not qualify, even though they should have within the salary guidelines that were set for the program.

We need to be prepared with a program that is better thought out for next winter, and that takes some time.

The Minister has said that he does not think that it could be ready for the fall. The program we had this past winter was announced, then developed and then paid out in a matter of weeks. That, Mr. Speaker, was part of the reason for the problem. It was developed too quickly and we missed some of the people that should have qualified for it.

We need to take from now until October to make sure we develop a program that gets to as many people as possible. I think that it is also time, as other Members have said, to bring in a program that will consider small business.

If we are not careful, high energy costs could eliminate many jobs in a lot of our smaller communities. I hope the Minister is right, that the cost of energy is going to go down in the next few months, but I do not think that it will. I think that we have to be prepared for that.

In the short-term, we need to have a program that is ready for us to talk about in the fall, one that will eliminate the flaws that we had in the last program.

The second part of this motion deals with the long-term energy strategy that, Mr. Speaker, the government has already committed to and is moving forward on. I think that what we are trying to do here is encourage the government to take a two-pronged approach.

One, move forward on a comprehensive energy strategy, which should include a rate stabilization fund to benefit Northerners in the long-term. However, in the meantime, and in the short-term, we need to have an energy rebate program for this coming winter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.