Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister responsible for income support, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

In my statement I made reference to two situations where two elderly ladies found themselves as widows trying to maintain their own homes and lifestyle. They are not getting any assistance from this government by way of income support or fuel subsidy. With regard to one case, with the cost of power in our communities, their monthly power bill is $390 per month. Yet they’re just barely making it with $1,000 a month pension they receive.

I’d like to ask the Minister what we are doing to increase the thresholds to ensure elders have fuel in their homes to heat them during the winter months and not disallow them access to these programs. Are we re-profiling the programs to make them more accessible for elders? Elders who live in public housing pay $20 a month.