Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Great to get that Valentine's gift from the Minister of Finance. Is there not somewhere in the business plan or in the main estimates that that total can be shown? We have got “liquor revolving fund presentation” as an information item in the main estimates, but something as fundamental as the Heritage Fund, I have to ask on an annual basis what the balance is. I am sure I could go and check in the public accounts, but, by the time we get the public accounts, they are more than a year old.

Is there not some way that we can show what the balance in the fund is through a footnote or a presentation in the business plan somewhere? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I take the Member's point, and I have had this question, I think, the last two budgets we have gone through. I will make the commitment that the balance of the Heritage Fund will show up in the business plans and the main estimates. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for that commitment. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that commitment. I am the guy who keeps raising it and bugging you about it, so, yes, if we can find a way to do that, that would be great. One of our mandate commitments is that we are going to look at the Heritage Fund Act legislation. Concerns have been raised around making sure that there is a legislatively defined revenue stream into the fund and that there is some greater role for the public in terms of governance. Where are we at with the legislation? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Stewart.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I appreciate that. Is that conversation going to start with standing committee sometime in the next two or three months? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. We will come before standing committee within the next two or three months. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that, and I look forward to the discussion. Is this the place where I can ask about the Northern Resident Tax Deduction, which I know is a federal income tax area, but is this where I can ask questions around indexing of that deduction? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Is this the appropriate section, Mr. Stewart? Mr. Stewart has nodded in approval, as has the Minister. Mr. O'Reilly, do you have a question about that?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. They know what I am going to ask. Every year I come back, and I ask the same things: what are we doing about indexing the Northern Resident Tax Deduction, and what are we doing about the continuing frustration of NWT residents about audits of our travel receipts and so on? CRA will not set what the lowest northern air fare is. People have to try to guess it on an annual basis, and then we get audited.

What are we doing about those issues? I keep coming back and asking. I know the Minister says he is working on it, but what we need is for the Minister to put pen to paper and write a letter to the Minister responsible for CRA and say, "Fix this," and tell her how to do it. What are we actually doing on these two matters? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, to the Member's point

-- and he has raised this a couple of times, and we have had correspondence from the Member on this particular issue -- I have had conversations with the federal Minister. I have raised it with him. We have had conversations with CRA and raised the issue with them. I have also, in the last meeting, had conversations with our counterparts in Nunavut and Yukon on some of the challenges that are common between all three jurisdictions. They have gotten our message, and we will continue to have those conversations. We will try to move it along a little more quickly, but continue to have those conversations.

I am going to turn it over to Mr. Stewart to touch on the second part of the Member's question if I may, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Stewart.

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I did have some correspondence with the Minister about that on this very topic, particularly around the audits. Maybe I could just ask: what exactly is it that the federal government has to change to be able to set the value at a fixed amount or index a fixed amount for the air fares? What exactly do they have to fix? Is it a regulation? Is it a policy? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Stewart.