Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think it's important in the first year, in particular, of the transfer of responsibility of the program, there will be absolutely no change in the administration. The program will still be delivered through the partnerships that were established by the Housing Corporation. The LHOs will be the agencies that deliver the program and there is no decision that there would be a change to that sometime in the future. Obviously we are going to look at how the program is structured and how it's delivered, but any change is sometime down the road. We are not sure when that is going to take place. I am a little troubled by the Member's comments. This whole income security program includes the seniors' fuel subsidy, it includes student financial assistance. There are many people; in fact, the majority of people who collect income support actually work. A vast majority of them work. There is no shame in needing some assistance at some time in your life. That's something the program is there to accommodate. When the need is there, the government should be ready to step in and provide some assistance.

I would hope that we are not trying to say that somebody who comes to us for student financial assistance is worried because it's in the income security area. In fact, we think it's a great choice to become a student. We think that people who access the programming we offer are there because they are genuinely trying to get ahead.

I would just caution Members about saying there is some kind of stigma attached to asking for assistance, because we certainly don't say that about our students, we shouldn't be saying it about people who apply for the seniors' fuel subsidy and we shouldn't be saying it about people who access income support. The vast majority are only on income support for a short period of time and then they cycle through. The length of time on income support is not big, on average, in the Northwest Territories. In fact, the vast majority are not on income support full time.