Mr. Todd.

I'm sorry, Mr. Speaker, I'm not aware of the actual total costs so I'd have to take that question as notice and report back to the honourable Member. Thank you.

The question has been taken as notice. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Finance. Mr. Speaker, in the normal course of establishing a new business in the Northwest Territories, businesses are informed about requirements to have a business licence and to register with the Workers' Compensation Board. A new corporate constituent of mine recently complained to the Minister of Finance and myself that, at present, there seems to be no information provided to new businesses about obligations to register and pay for the NWT payroll tax. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance if he's willing to do anything about this complaint. Thank you.

Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, it has been brought to my attention. Not wanting to cause any new businesses any problems because, obviously, if six months down the road they suddenly find out they haven't been paying the tax, they have to pay it retroactively. They may be responsible themselves. Obviously, not wishing to forego any taxes, I would like to get my hands on them as soon as possible. Just to make it easy to do business in the Northwest Territories and not have to root around for the information, I've asked the department to investigate if we can use the same sort of mechanism that WCB does or the municipal councils do with business licences, and advise new companies that they should register to pay payroll tax. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism what is the status of the development of the agricultural policy that his department was working on. Thank you.

Minister of Economic Development and Tourism, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that the agricultural policy, at least the initial report, has been completed. We're in discussions with some of the industry, particular in the honourable Member's area. I'll have to give the honourable Member a clearer update as to when I believe we'll be in a position to table it. Thank you.

Item 6, oral questions. Supplementary, Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since the session is coming to an end, can the Minister give me a timetable as to when he would be able to let us know the status of being able to table the policy? Thank you.

Mr. Todd.

The Territorial Farmers' Association...

---Laughter

...three guys who grow potatoes in Fort Smith. No, I'm just joking.

---Laughter

One cow and Felix from Iqaluit. The Territorial Farmers' Association has developed this draft policy. The notes say that we've sent it out to the departments of Renewable Resources, Health, MACA and everything else because you have to get everybody's input into this thing because it's federal and heaven knows what. We're hoping that we can finalize the agricultural policy...

I'm afraid I'll have to take that question as notice, Mr. Chairman.

---Laughter

Thank you.

The question has been taken as notice. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Antoine.

Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good question. As the honourable Member know, we are in some fairly

sensitive negotiations right now with the aboriginal groups that are directly affected with some of this mineral exploration that's going on, particularly right across the territories. As a matter of fact, they're meeting today, I believe, in an effort to see if we can find appropriate language that would satisfy everybody so we can move forward collectively to the federal government to reach an arrangement with respect to the transfer of responsibilities.

Hypothetically, if this transfer took place tomorrow, then the royalty regime would be a priority in our eyes. We've done a whole bunch of consultative work as to what kind of competitive tax regime we would want in the territories, and there are a number of scenarios that we've been working on. However, that is not the case right now; we don't have that legislative responsibility.

However, the federal government and Mr. Irwin recently made an announcement that they're prepared to review the current royalty and tax regime as it relates to both the federal and territorial governments. I wrote a letter to Mr. Irwin last week applauding him for this effort because I think it's important. I think we're going to be able to reach an arrangement with him where it's a joint initiative between the federal and territorial governments, because ultimately if there's any change prior to minerals being transferred to this government we will inherit that change and it's extremely important that the new regime, whatever it may be, is done in a manner that's in the best interests of all northerners.

So to answer the honourable Member's question; in short form, we've undertaken an internal review of what we would see as options for a new tax royalty regime should we get the responsibility for minerals. Parallel with that, the federal government has said that they are going to review it and they have agreed that we would participate in that review and we will share with them all the work we have done with respect to royalty and tax regimes. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister, is there a department policy or directive in place now that specifically addresses the issue of oil and gas royalties, in light of the oil and gas exploration boom that's happening in the Fort Liard region? Thank you.

Mr. Todd.

We have a policy in place that was an arrangement reached many years ago. I stand to be corrected, but I believe it's as old as somewhere in the mid-1940s in terms of the current regime. So we have a policy in place. It's inadequate. It's almost antiquated. There's clearly a need to look at a new policy as it relates to the current structure of a public government. Ultimately, as I've been saying over the last six or seven months, any new policy that we develop will be to the benefit of whatever constitutional change takes place in the west and whatever forms of government take place, because I view it as being transferred down when those changes take place.

So there is a policy in place. It's not adequate and we need to make changes. I'm encouraged by the fact that the federal government in conjunction with ourselves are going to be able to do that in the coming months, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It looks like the results of this oil and gas exploration are giving some positive results, and the extracting of resources is quite imminent in the future. I would like to ask the Minister what measures are being taken by the Minister and his department to ensure a royalty regime that will ensure the GNWT will benefit from the oil and gas resources. Thank you.