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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister not admit that is going to be a problem for a small business trying to estimate the impact of the toll on freight that they might be transporting? It really will depend on axle configuration and all these other kinds of things. When you are trying to make projections at the beginning of the year to determine what kind of impact this will have on your budget, this is a bit of a hurdle. Will the Minister acknowledge that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, from the start, the department has agreed that there are going to be some problems with the way people would attempt to figure what it would cost them to bring in the material. As the Member indicated, yes, there is going to be a hurdle for some people to try and estimate what it exactly is that they are paying. However, we are assuming that because the trucking industry is going to be trying to maintain as much of a full load as possible, it would then stand to reason that they would go with the type of truck that would suit the load that they have.

I expect -- the department expects -- that there is going to be some amount of confusion, you might say, from the public's perspective of what exactly it is they are able to be. I think that we have already received concerns of that nature from the trucking industry by letter, and we are in the process of trying to respond to them and indicate to them as clearly as possible how the configuration affects the rate that the end user would be paying. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I did preface my question today by indicating that I wanted to discuss tolls and taxes with the Minister, so I hope you will allow me a little latitude. I am aware of a federal committee that has looked at gasoline taxes and specifically allocating these taxes to public transport and highways. I am wondering if our Minister has ever lobbied his Cabinet colleagues to do similarly, to try to get gasoline taxes put towards our road infrastructure, instead of opposing a commercial toll like this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the short answer is no, since my term as Minister we have not used this approach. However, the Member might be interested to know that just recently we received the report from the Canadian Transport Review Committee and they basically have come forward with recommendations that toll systems be put in place. Based on similar things that we are doing now, such as distant kilometre and configuration of axles, rather than going with any other system, this is what they have come out with as a recommendation.

There are also recommendations, Mr. Speaker, that there be some system set up whereby the federal government would allow for expenditures of revenue collected under the fuel tax be directed to transportation facilities and infrastructure. In short, in my time we have not approached anyone with this but it has been done in the past.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In light of this commission's recommendations, I am wondering if the Minister will talk to his colleagues and specifically the Finance Minister to see if some manner of diverting gasoline taxes out of general revenues and specifically into highway infrastructure is something he will now look at going forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the report and the recommendations suggest that the taxes generated by your portion of the highway would be directed back into your portion of the highway. We would not receive very much money, much revenue, based on that type of a taxation. There is the possibility that we would receive back whatever the portion was that was generated by the traffic on our highways, but in general it would be nowhere close to what we need or are obtaining in this manner. That is why, I believe, the Transport Review Board also suggested that there be a toll system put in place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to raise a question to the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development regarding an issue I have raised in the House before on the community fire protection plans. From the information I am getting, many communities are struggling as to what the process is and being able to put these plans in place and securing funds.

I would like to ask the Minister, since the funds were put in place for this program, I believe it was five or six years ago, how many communities have completed fire protection plans in the North? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I have to take that question as notice. I do not know how many have completed fire protection plans offhand. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. The Minister has taken that question as notice. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are addressed to the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment to follow up on my Member's statement on the case of special needs support in the schools.

I have been receiving numerous complaints and concerns brought to me by constituents that in fact it seems schools are being forced to cut back because of insufficient funds in the budget to deal with this very critical issue that affects all of our constituents, all of our communities, and all of our schools.

I would like to ask the Minister, is he confident and satisfied that the money that has been allocated, the $4.5 million per year to address student needs and class size, is that in fact getting to where it is most needed? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was interested in hearing Mr. Miltenberger's comments. Naturally I am concerned when there are issues with regard to student needs. Early in our mandate, with the support and certainly the strong recommendations of Members, we increased the funding for support for the school system and we allocated for the PTR and student needs. We are tracking the PTR very, very closely because we can get instant figures on that.

In the area of student needs, which I think the Member is specifically concerned about, there were a number of recommendations made where the funding could be supported, and that was in trained classroom support staff, counsellors in the schools and direct support for students. There were a number of areas, about eight.

Our methodology, of course, is to provide funding, as the Member well knows, to the DECs and in turn to the DEAs. I think I am quite satisfied, Mr. Speaker, with the fact that the DECs are allocating according to those priorities. There may be specific instances perhaps where there needs to be some attention paid, but I think I am confident with the DECs and the reports they get back to us that indicate some success, certainly in lowering the PTR and addressing some of the issues. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the concerns I have is while the money that they are getting may be allocated properly, are they in fact getting enough money? My colleague, Mr. Bell, brought up in the prior sitting the fact that $2.8 million of the $4.5 million was not expended last year. My concern, Mr. Speaker, is that all of the money that is necessary and is there, is not getting through to the classroom, to the teachers and to ensure that there is adequate special needs assistance.

Can the Minister assure me in this House that in fact every dime of that money is going to make its way into the classrooms where it can do the most good? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are, on an ongoing basis, year by year, increasing the funding, as the Member knows. We ensure that this money is directed to the PTR and special needs. We get budget reports in return from the school districts. I have my department now, as I am just receiving the budgets from all the DECs, ensuring that allocations are being done in the area that we set out. So from that perspective I say to the Member, yes, I am confident that it is going into those areas on my level to the DEC level. Then we need to ensure, of course, through accountability reports back to us that it is going into the classrooms. Thank you.