Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, we are not presently investigating any new revenue options. Most of the Finance Ministers have done that. Mr. Ballantyne and his tax options paper in the late 1980s consulted with the Northwest Territories and outlined all the revenue initiatives that were available to us at that time. We have gone back over those documents and looked over them again. We will be making some suggestions to the Financial Management Board to get direction from them on which ones they want to investigate further. We will be asking departments if they have any ideas. At the same time, we will be asking departments if there are any ways to cut back. So right now everything is on the table and the Financial Management Board has not given me direction on what they wish to have investigated further. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. From previous discussions, there always seem to be barriers or impediments in place when talking about revenue generation. What impediments or barriers are there in place which complicate this government's ability to implement new revenue-generating initiatives?

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, by far, the largest governing factor is the formula financing agreement with Canada, which is being further negotiated this week. That is the central piece of information around which we revolve all our forecasts. By far, the governing factor is our formula financing agreement. It affects Mr. Todd when he is trying to make arrangements with the government with regard to the northern accord. It affects when we look at diamond mines and how new regimes would affect them and us. We always have to come back to the formula financing agreement. For instance, the formula financing agreement affects transfers to this government from the Government of Canada. That is the largest limiting factor in our ability to raise extra revenues, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi. In the current fiscal negotiations with the federal government on the formula financing agreements, was the Minister successful in getting the perversity factor changed?

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, the federal government gets excited when we mention the "P" word. I will stay away from it, but I will indicate to the House that we were getting a direction from the Department of Finance in Ottawa, and the Yukon and ourselves met with Mr. Martin six weeks ago. We presented to them what we thought was a method eliminating some of the perverse affects of the formula and, at the same time, making it more reasonable for us to earn extra revenue in the Northwest Territories. That is what is being discussed this week by our working group people and I expect to get an update on Friday, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister stated that negotiations are under way this week on the formula financing agreement. Can the Minister advise as to what the current status is of these negotiations?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I believe most of the work this week, Mr. Speaker, will centre around our counter to the federal government's suggestions about a new formula financing agreement. I think our proposal, which was jointly sponsored by Yukon and ourselves is what will be discussed this week. Once we find out how the federal Finance officials feel about that particular proposal, then we will know what the next step will be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Whitford.