Mr. Chairman, we have been, for the past number of years, trying to get out of this. We have 24 units left. We are prepared to give them away at no cost to community governments if they want them. On top of that, we have offered to pay O and M costs to allow the new owners of the houses to keep the rent. We have a number of negotiations going on as we speak here, so we will keep working away at this to get completely out of housing and have it in the private sector's hands or in community government's hands soon. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Is that assurance from the Minister that we will not see it as a line item on this budget next year, that it will be gone?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, we will probably still continue to have this as a line item because we do have some leased units. Until those leases run out, we have them on our books. We will possibly still have some situations where communities have not taken on the house and we are still in negotiation, so I could not promise this will not show up again for another year. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Regarding the unit the Minister mentioned in Fort McPherson, we are looking at establishing a community shelter of some sort, so maybe we could use it for that purpose.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. No question there. Do you want to respond, Mr. Handley?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That would be a decision the community could make. Of course, with the shortage of housing, we would prefer to see these used for housing, but as I said, that is a decision the community would make themselves. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Page 2-35, directorate, operations expense, total operations expense, $6,866,000.

Page 2-37, directorate, grants and contributions, contributions, total contributions, $1,238,000.

Page 2-39, labour relations and compensation services, operations expense, total operations expense, $10,316,000.

Page 2-41, government accounting, operations expense, total operations expense, $10,197,000.

Page 2-43, government accounting, grants and contributions, contributions, total contributions, $7,180,000. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With regard to the power subsidy, in light of the increases, especially in a lot of our smaller communities where we see a major influx because they use the argument of fuel causing the power rates to go up and what not, is that something that will be considered or built into the power subsidy?

I think if anything, maybe that is a good reason the Power Corporation does consider taking on POL, because of the cost and other factors that are out of our control. If there is a way we can have a stable power supply, it will assist when we look at the power subsidy, especially for small communities. At least it will be consistent and we would not have a fluctuation in the power rates.

I would like to ask the Minister, have you looked at that as a possibility, in light of the Power Subsidy Program? That way, we can have some continuity or insurance that we are not going to see any large spikes or fluctuations, especially in small, isolated communities, due to other factors.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, yes, certainly the cost of fuel is a big factor in the cost of delivering power, providing power to the communities. That accounts for a big piece of the increase here.

Would it be more economical for the Power Corporation to take over POL? Certainly there could be some advantages and some efficiencies to be gained by doing that. As well, as we review the recommendations from the electrical generation report, we would be looking at what other ways we could use to stabilize the price over long periods of time so we do not see those spikes Mr. Krutko is referring to. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Page 2-43, government accounting, grants and contributions, contributions, total contributions, $7,180,000.

Page 2-45, budgeting and evaluation, operations expense, total operations expense, $1,215,000.