Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

Has the recruitment started for these positions or are they people who are being reassigned duties?

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am afraid that I don't have that information at my fingertips, but I will take the question as notice and report back to the Member as quickly as possible.

Thank you. The question is taken as notice. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I listened with interest to the response that was given to me by the Premier. I would like to thank the Premier for giving me an answer on the government liaison officers. The government has a workforce adjustment program as a policy, I believe. If a government employee's position is eliminated because of program adjustments, they cannot apply to the workforce adjustment program. Is that true?

Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, there has just been some recent negotiations between the unions and ourselves with regard to workforce adjustment. I will take the question as notice, get the update and report to the House tomorrow. Thank you.

The question was taken as notice. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Allooloo, new question.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the government adjusting their program in terms of government liaison officers throughout the Northwest Territories, were they a special case aside from those normal government employees? They appear to have been treated differently than regular employees living in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you. I would just remind Members that when they're asking questions to refer to the Minister the question is being asked of. I have to rush to see which Minister I should be asking myself, and it makes it a lot easier when you directly question the appropriate Minister. Mr. Allooloo.

Mr. Speaker, I apologize for not citing the Minister the question was directed to. I would like to ask the question, perhaps, of the Minister of Finance. Thank you.

Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, I think the Premier answered a question today about GLOs and I think she answered it correctly. I think Mr. Allooloo just recently asked me a question about workforce adjustment, and I think what has happened is between the time of the GLO situation and now, there may have been some further negotiations with the UNW with regard to workforce adjustment. I have to find out the timing of those particular talks in order to come back and answer the question that Mr. Allooloo is asking. So, I'll take the question as notice and, as I said, report to the House tomorrow. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. No, I'm sorry, the question was taken as notice. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Safety and Public Services. In the May 19, 1995 payroll envelopes, government employees received a consumer alert release from consumer and corporate affairs, a section of Safety and Public Services. This gist of this consumer alert is that, "Section 206 of the Criminal Code of Canada prohibits gambling activity in Canada, subject to what provinces and territories are allowed to do under section 207." The last part of the consumer alert document says, "The commercial crime section, RCMP, reminds you that illegal gambling is a felony offence." I would like to ask the Minister of Safety and Public Services, did he, his office or someone in the RCMP approve this consumer alert document for distribution?

Minister of Safety and Public Services, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you. Just so it is quite clear, Mr. Speaker, I did not approve that insert. In fact, to be very clear, the deputy minister did not approve the insert. It was done, unfortunately, prematurely and without consent. We have since written a letter to all our directors, advising them that any inserts to be included in payroll envelopes must first receive the approval of the deputy minister. It was, in our view, a piece of information which was not required that caused, I think, a bit more concern and problems than it needed to.

Despite the fact that some of the information may have been correct, in our view, it was not something we needed to pay a lot of attention to. Rather, I think we want to advise the public of more serious issues.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

Mahsi. I would like to ask the Minister, then, who did authorize the distribution of this document because some of the information in it, as you mentioned, is true but some is not true. I would like to get clarification.

Mr. Nerysoo.

Mr. Speaker, I don't want to get into the matter of identifying who was involved. I just want to accept part of the responsibility that it happened. The issue has now been dealt with. We have advised our staff that this kind of information should not be forwarded without the approval of the deputy minister in the future. All of our directors have been advised of that. It was an unfortunate piece of information.

Well, the honourable Member here probably thinks it is a good idea, but we're not certain that the information is absolutely correct. We were mentioned and the RCMP was mentioned in the information. There are legal questions we're now asking the Department of Justice to review and I'm not, at this particular time, prepared to discuss who should be held accountable. I probably should be and, therefore, I am answering the question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.