Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue that I would like to raise is directed at the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment as the Member overseeing the Income Support Program, and it relates to the statement I made earlier. With the federal government's announcement that it intends to flow some fuel or energy rebates to low income families and seniors, we're told, Mr. Speaker, that $125 will go to individual seniors who qualify for the guaranteed income supplement and $250 will go to seniors who live together as couples. The thing I want to ask about is the money the federal government plans to flow through its $250 that would arrive in January 2006 to
families receiving the National Child Benefit Tax Supplement. The federal government would use this as a vehicle to distribute money to people who qualify for the NCBS. So $250 in January sounds pretty good.
However, the issue, Mr. Speaker, and it's been a long-running issue in this Assembly, is that our government claws back the National Child Benefit from families who are on our income support system. We already do this with land claim benefit payments. The question I have to ask, Mr. Speaker, is if the federal government is going to use the NCBS system as a way to get much needed fuel rebate money to these Canadians, does that mean that our government is going to claw back this much needed rebate money in January from the IS clients that we administer? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.