Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have to go back and read some of the comments that have been made with regard to revenue, I hope that this Assembly or this government has not started implemented or made any remarks to maybe, Mr. Bush, and that is that there are no new taxes, because I think that, in fact, the payroll tax is a new tax. It could cause concern, I know that there are some who will argue for it, and then there are many who will argue against it. The suggestion that some make is that it is a good tax because it applies to everyone, but that is simply not good enough. I would always assume that the payroll tax was intended to apply to those who were non-residents and were working in the north, and would be actually paying money back into the Northwest Territories.

If that is the case, then I may not have a problem with it, but I do have a number of concerns. Firstly, the credit issue has not been clarified for us. It has not been made public in terms of the process, the issues that were related to the credit, how people could apply for it, and how people would have it paid back to them. That has not been cleared up, it has not been stated in this Assembly.

The other point is if you are now developing a new form for small businesses then I hope that it is a simple form, that it is not complicated. I would have hoped that maybe the department could have researched whether or not there were computer systems, or packages, that could have been used to implement the tax, so that it would make it very simple for northern businesses to implement the tax, and the costs would be reduced.

The other point is, in the long-term is whether or not we have done the assessments or research on businesses to find out if the implementation of this tax would not be a financial burden on those small companies. In some cases you are talking about a small company in my community, and I know that the Government Leader knows the individual, Neil Colin, for instance, who does not have a great deal of financial expertise.

Well, these are people who still have to pay these taxes because they are paying individuals out of their companies. I am not sure, and I have not heard yet, how we were going to deal with those types of companies. Maybe at some time, and I do not know if it is necessary today, there should be a clear statement in the Assembly to the people of the Northwest Territories as to how this is going to work and how they intend to implement it, the forms that are going to be made available to the small business community.

It is not clear yet, for me, how this will be implemented. I think it is necessary and only fair, if we are to support the tax, that it is incumbent upon us to, at least, inform our small business community. I do not know if that has been done yet, I do not know if notices have been sent out.

I believe that the implementation date is July of next year, so it gives us time between now and then to work all of these problems out, but I am just saying to you that it has not been clear. I hope that, between now and the budget session, all of these things can be worked out, so that the small business community in the north, or all of the business community, never mind just small business, but all business can be aware of what it is they have to do, the most simple terms available.

That is all I wanted to say, I am not opposed to it. I just wanted to make those remarks about the implementation of the tax that you are proposing.

Thank you. Revenue and assets management, total O and M $2.285 million.

Agreed.

Thank you. Over the page. Government accounting, total O and M $8.945 million.

Agreed.

The next page. Fiscal policy, total O and M $730,000.

Agreed.

Thank you. Debt financing, total O and M $4.160 million.

Agreed.

Thank you. Tax administration, total O and M $504,000. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Madam Premier.

Mr. Chairman, the preliminary estimates on the intelligence that can be gathered, because we have not done it before, is $200,000.

Thank you. Tax administration. Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Maybe we will have to deal with it under Municipal and Community Affairs, the ongoing property and assessment tax and the rebate. I will just leave that until Municipal and Community Affairs. The other point I wanted to make is in terms of estimated costs. I hope that if we are continuing to proceed with the payroll tax, that there is an advantage to us. We do not want to have a situation where we pay a great deal of cost in administration, as a government, or for that matter in the small business community, and there is no value to implementing this particular tax.

Thank you. Madam Premier.

Mr. Chairman, if the honourable Member may recall, about three years ago, there was a tax reform paper circulated quite widely. Although there were not as many responses as a government would like to see, certainly in the feedback, all of the points that the honourable Member has given this afternoon, the responses have touched on that. We are aware that this has to be simplified, and it should not be complicated.

Certainly, in the government's ability over the number of years to try to raise some revenue, or place some revenue initiatives, we have had a difficult time. Often times, when you are netting out, you are really causing more difficulty than benefit. What was projected, as a net benefit, after the necessary top was taken off, is $11.500 million, so that is what the net benefit is estimated as, at this present time.

Thank you. Tax administration, total O and M $504,000.

Agreed.

Thank you. Management accounting services, total O and M $1.260 million.

Agreed.

Thank you. Financial Management Board Secretariat, total O and M $1.483 million.

Agreed.

Thank you. Details of grants and contributions. Contributions, $3.5 million.