Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to raise a concern I received from the hamlet council of Tuktoyaktuk in regard to income support.

Mr. Speaker, on December 15, 2005, a Tuk development corporation, a business arm of the Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation, issued a dividend to all beneficiaries 18 and over to their membership of Tuktoyaktuk.

Mr. Speaker, this payment was made available by the surrender of the Esso concession, as negotiated by Inuvialuit Regional Corporation on behalf of the Tuk Community Corporation. Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that some income support clients were refused assistance for the month of January 2006, because of dividend payments. Mr. Speaker, I am well aware of the Income Support Program having worked with the department in the 1980s.

Mr. Speaker, given the fact that this payment was issued from the surrender of the Esso concession, is it fair for this government to include this as earned income? Many single parents and families rely on assistance from time to time under the Income Support Program because of lack of work.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask this government, what constitutes earned and unearned income? The dividend issued to Tuk beneficiaries in December 2005, should not have been considered as income because of the Inuvialuit land claim agreement. At the appropriate time, I will ask the Minister appropriate for questions in this regard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause