Mr. VanderBurg: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. School boards in Whitecourt-Ste. Anne are concerned about education funding, not just the dollars that go into the schoolrooms but dollars that are scarce and that are needed for their transportation departments to get the students to and from their homes and schools. My questions are to the Minister of Education. With the price of oil on its rise, last year you reduced the subsidy for fuel. You eliminated that program, and that program offered lots of stability. Why did you do that?

Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, last summer, when we were doing our value reviews and looking to see areas where we could actually save money, it became apparent that we were continuing with a grant to top up diesel prices over 60 cents per litre at a time when the price of diesel had actually fallen below the level that it was at in 2005, when the program was instituted, so we determined that that top-up grant was no longer necessary. I would point out that although that saved $6 million, the transportation grants have actually increased by $53 million, or 26 per cent, over that period of time.

Mr. VanderBurg: Well, the transportation grants may have increased, Mr. Speaker, but not equally to all school divisions, and that's part of the problem. With the subsidy leaving, we leave our school bus drivers and those contractors very, very vulnerable. I think that you've made a big mistake, and I'd like you to relook at that issue. Will the minister reconsider?

Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, we have a budget, and we have a finite amount of money to allocate to school boards. We have to put together formulas that can distribute those monies in the most effective way. What I can say is this. If the price of oil goes up and if there are more resources available to the province and that creates an increase in the price of gasoline and the price of diesel in particular, then of course we'll have to look at it and say: there's more revenue coming to the province, and there are more costs at the price, so we'll have to have a look at it. I would have to go back and get more resources from Treasury Board to be able to do that.

Mr. VanderBurg: Well, again, has the minister made that commitment to the school boards and to our bus contractors across this province directly, or is this your first chance at this?

Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, I'm not in a position to make a commitment to school boards and to school bus drivers that we will reinstate that program, but I am in a position to say that if resources are there – this particular grant is tied precisely to the price of fuel, and our revenue stream is very much tied to the price of fuel. So it makes sense that if the revenue stream goes up because prices go up, perhaps we can revisit the question of whether a subsidy grant needs to be put back in place.