Mr. Todd.

No, not to my knowledge, Mr. Speaker, the freight costs to the Keewatin communities have not increased. I would like to emphasize that there is a working committee in place now which includes the major transportation company, that is NTCL, looking at alternatives to sea-lift transportation of the POL products and the dry cargo that the honourable Member is alluding to. My understanding is that there will be no significant increase in the cost of dry cargo this summer out of Churchill.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance whether the payroll tax, which we will be dealing with today, is in fact a payroll tax in the way that is used in jurisdictions across this country?

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, as I said in the House yesterday, this payroll tax is a tax on employees. The other provinces that are participating, Manitoba and Ontario, in payroll taxes are taxing the employers on payroll. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

Since employers are responsible for payrolls and therefore responsible for payroll tax, I would like to ask the Minister why he simply does not call this tax "an employee tax" because that is what it is.

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, I called it a payroll tax because it was a tax on payroll. Perhaps Mr. Lewis is right, it could have had another name. Thank you.

Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Arngna'naaq.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to add a question to the questions that Mr. Patterson was asking with regard to the transportation of cargo into the Keewatin region. The Minister indicated there was a committee looking into the transportation of dry cargo and it included the members of NTCL. Who else is on the committee?

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The committee came out of an initial meeting we had in Rankin Inlet, I believe in November or December. I should have said we are in throws of putting this working committee together right now. It is my hope that invitations have gone out to the Keewatin Inuit Association, Keewatin regional council, Keewatin chamber of commerce and the municipalities. This would be a working committee that would represent the region because we need to ensure there is regional input. It would assist us in looking at the alternatives that should, and I stress "should", the railhead not continue to operate over the next four or five years. I am optimistic that the working committee will have at least one representative from each community, and as we progress with this, we would also involve Mr. Arngna'naaq and Mr. Arvaluk.

Supplementary, Mr. Arngna'naaq.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask further, when does the Minister expect to have this committee either meet or get together for the first time? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department did some clinical analysis looking at options when I became the Minister. I said to them, as I constantly say to them, we need to ensure that it is the politics of inclusion, not exclusion, and we need community and regional input into this very important transportation initiative. We had the meeting in the latter part of last year and I am confident, once I get the responses back from the communities, we will be able to meet as the project and the analysis that is being done moves forward. I want to ensure that I come back to the committee and back to the region and say "Is this the kind of thing that you want to do?" There would be an ongoing relationship between the working committee and the department as it progresses with its analysis of the options that this government must look at. The primary focus of this, of course, is to ensure and safeguard key transportation links with respect to marine shipping and to ensure that we are getting a good bang for our buck.

At the current time, I want to tell the honourable Member, it is being demonstrated to me that the costs out of Montreal are significantly less than the current costs we are paying. This is the early analysis, but that is where we currently stand. I want to assure the honourable Member that the region will be intimately involved in this entire exercise.

Supplementary, Mr. Arngna'naaq.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My supplementary was with regard to when the first meeting would take place of this committee. I would like to ask that again, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Todd.

I did introduce the issue again at the Keewatin chamber of commerce annual general meeting last week. There were representatives from every Keewatin community there. Once I have received everyone's delegate, then I would call a meeting as quickly as possible to ensure that we are heading in the right direction. There are, in the initial review that has been done, four or five options which we are looking at and we clearly need to ensure that the region and, particularly, the industry, NTCL, are intimately involved in this exercise. I will assure the honourable Member that once I have received everyone's representative to sit on this committee, I will call our meeting as quickly as possible. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Arngna'naaq.

One final question, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister if my myself and any other MLA who may be affected by this committee, would be able to receive the mandate of this committee? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.