Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this goes on from quite a long process; it just didn't come up overnight. We have worked with our tax collectors, those that have that status, in collecting the taxes. We don't charge home heating oil any fuel tax. The problem is, as those that purchase the bulk supply, they buy under the home heating oil banner and, for the Northwest Territories, there is no limit to that. What happens as a result of this is the federal excise tax can kick in, because what we are saying in the Northwest Territories now is that everyone purchasing fuel would purchase it under motive diesel, which then our fuel tax arrangement falls under. But if they resell it as a home heating oil and can prove it is being sold as home heating oil, then there is a reimbursement that occurs. So there is no tax there and we are not limiting the motive diesel or home heating oil. It is at the time of reselling that we have some issues with and are following up on. Again, this is not going to be a broad stroke approach. We have looked at that and heard some of the concerns. Those that are in good standing, we are not going to enforce further rigid controls on, but those that we are having some issues with, we are going to continue to pursue.

I have heard some of the concerns and directed the department to look at meeting with those that have tax collector status to try to work out some of these concerns that are being raised. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

So is the Minister saying that, of the 30 operators that collect tax for the Northwest Territories, this only impacts a few, this is not an across the board thing? What evidence does the department or the Minister have that this fuel that was being purchased as home heating fuel was not being sold as home heating fuel? What evidence does the government have to impose such an onerous administrative burden on these businesses? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in some cases, yes, there are a couple of additional steps that are required because of the federal excise tax piece of it, but a number of the companies that have tax collector status on fuel sales have already done quite a thorough job. As they supply us information, it is very clear as to what happened.

Mr. Speaker, just to highlight some of the concerns, when we have problems with the administration or the processes of change an application to rebate taxes to entities that have used fuel for purposes of having a lesser tax rate than the one that is paid, it gets complicated. But sometimes these things are re-branded, as we call it, because it is all in one tank. It can be sold from one supplier to another under different headings until the final resale portion where it goes into a tank beside somebody's home that goes into their furnace. It can be re-branded about three times. For us to track through that and to make sure that the right tax is being paid, or no tax in the case of home heating oil, is very difficult. The fact that we have a small group going out and doing these, it is a very intensive process. Hence, the commitment I now made with my department to get out there and meet with those that have tax collector status to see if we can work out some scenarios here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions this afternoon are for the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Menicoche. It regards information that I recently heard that there are fuel shortages at the Yellowknife Airport, Mr. Speaker.

A few weeks ago, the airport in Fort Simpson encountered a similar situation due to what was understood to be an error by the fuel supplier. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise the Assembly of this problem or confirm that this problem does indeed exist at the Yellowknife Airport? Does it pose any threat to reliable air transportation for the region, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I was advised earlier this week of a potential problem of a fuel shortage at the Yellowknife Airport. We have made some inquiries. There is enough fuel in the city of Yellowknife that is provided for aeronautical needs up until next Tuesday or Wednesday, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, has the department notified all of the air carriers? What contingency plans are in place to ensure uninterrupted air service should we hit that unfortunate circumstance by early next week, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I should have added that there is good news for the Fort Providence ferry. It will be running this coming Monday. It is good for the travelling public.

---Applause

As well, the suppliers are aware of this. They do have stock waiting at Providence right now to cross on that first ferry to provide for aircraft fuel for the city of Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the information by the Minister. He gives us a certain extraordinary confidence that the ferry will be in the water by Monday. That is four days from now. A lot can happen in that time. I am going to return to the question that I originally asked. Has the department advised the air carriers of this problem? Are there contingency plans in place? I am not ready to accept that the ferry will resume service on Monday, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the department has not offered an advisory to the aircraft carriers, but there are other contingencies that are being looked at. We don't feel it is a problem at this point.

One of them, of course, is landing and using the Hay River Airport there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister, whose responsibility is it to maintain adequate fuel supplies at the Yellowknife Airport especially at such a critical time? It is break-up season not just for the resupply to Yellowknife but all across the Northwest Territories. Fuel supplies are essential at this time of year. Whose responsibility is it to maintain this fuel supply? Just what happened to cause this potentially disastrous situation, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The responsibility for providing necessary fuel does not lie with the department. However, we do facilitate discussions with suppliers and users of the fuel. In this case, once again, it is the early shut down of the ice bridge that led to this. Hopefully, some of the few things that we are doing which, of course, long term is the Deh Cho Bridge. It will help alleviate these kinds of problems. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to question the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment regarding our important language and it being taught in the schools. We want to be able to teach our language in our schools. I want to ask him a question regarding that. (Translation ends)

...address my question to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I would like to, first of all, congratulate the Minister and his department for the recent decision to allow the Athabaskan language communities to work independently on their own language curriculum. While there may be some similarities between the Gwich'in curriculum document and the Dene language curriculum, such a move recognizes distinctive language differences of these language communities, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask a question to Minister Dent. How much time and money was spent on the initial curriculum? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.