Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my questions are about the NWT Child Benefit, which is referenced on page 153 and on page 154. Mr. Chair, in November, Alternatives North had an economist recalculate the living wage for Yellowknife, and it also included the additional benefits that have been offered to families by both the NWT and Canada in the form of child benefits. The result of that work was that the family with two income earners did not qualify for the child benefit because the threshold for receiving the benefits was too low, and that is in spite of the fact that the income that this calculation was based on was a very modest income. My question is whether the Minister would consider raising the threshold on the NWT Child Benefit from $80,000 to $100,000, again, on the prorated basis that it exists today? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Mr. Stewart.

Thank you, Ms. Green.

Thank you. Thank you for that response. It is true that it is more widely available, but the point I am making is that this family of four, which this living wage calculation was based on, had an income of $92,000 so they did not qualify for the NWT Child Benefit, and I am sure any of us sitting here can appreciate that $92,000 annual income for a family of four is not a fortune. What I am asking is whether the Department of Finance can provide an estimate of the cost of raising the threshold to $100,000 so that we can consider what that will cost? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I can commit to having the department do a review and see how many more people might take it, some statistics if we raised it to $100,000. Again, you know, this is going to be another cost driver. Another one of the reasons we need to look at trying to generate more of our own source revenues is so that we can pay for particular programs like this, but we will do the work, and, once we get the data available or get the analysis done, we will sit down with committee and have a discussion with them on the way forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.

Thank you, I appreciate the Minister's commitment to do the research on that. I also agree with him that we need to find ways to generate more own-source revenue to pay for this and other things that will increase the wellbeing of the residents of the NWT. Leaving that segment aside, I am going to move on now to the corporate and administration costs of the deputy secretary of FMB. I note that costs have gone up by almost $1 million this year, and I am wondering what the reason for that is? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the increase was due to the amortization of the fibre line. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I see that the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Link is listed separately underneath, so what the Minister is saying is that these corporate and administration costs relate directly to that fibre line and not to anything else; is that correct? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the $13 million that you see there is the annual payment to the partnership that built the fibre optic line, and the other figure you see is the amortization of that amount. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Nothing further from Ms. Green. Next, I have Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am looking at the cost-of-living tax credit on page 154, and the amounts look to be stable between this year and the last fiscal year, but a decrease from the actuals in 2016-2017, so I am just wondering what was the cause of that decrease? Obviously, it is fewer people receiving the benefit, but does this number only change when fewer people are drawing from it, thus representing fewer people in the Territories as a total? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is correct. There are fewer people collecting this, and so that is why there was a decrease in the numbers. Thank you. I am not sure why that is. I do not know if people have left the territories, which he alluded to, but we will have to find that out. I doubt that is what it is. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart.

I would hate to start speculating, but does the Minister have any other suggestions for what it could be? It just seems like, if everyone is eligible for this tax benefit, then, if we are paying less into it, it must mean there are fewer people in the territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I mean, we can commit to doing an analysis once the year is over, but, again, the Member and I are both speculating that it would be fewer people filing income tax, fewer people working, but we will do the work and get the analysis done, and we will share it with the committee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Testart.