Both the Premier and myself meet with the Deputies on a regular basis, and I will be enforcing it the next time I am with the Deputies, and I want to assure my Honourable colleague that, there may be isolated cases out there that I do not know, but in general, there is an acceptance by the senior management team all the way down the line that we have to look at more cost-effective ways of doing business. And

transportation, of course, accommodations, is a significant cost to this Government. So it is fully recognized, but I will reinforce it in my next meeting with the Deputies. Thank you.

Oral question. Supplementary. Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Todd.

Mr. Speaker, as part of the overall running of Government, that has been a significant initiative. There has been a considerable amount of discussion on that, whether it is on health care, travel, transportation costs, or just the regular doing of business. I can not tell the Member today quantifiably what the savings have been, but I feel reasonably confident that there have been significant savings from the fact that this Government has taken a new approach, and has made it clear to our management team and to ourselves, to act in a responsible way when organizing our transportation. Thank you.

Oral question. Mr. Ootes.

The Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let me answer it this way. We recognize that, right across the framework, and particularly here in Yellowknife, we have some travel agencies and other companies that depend, to some extent, on Government business. There is some concern out there right now, because I believe the airline companies, for example, have capped the commissions that are provided to the travel agencies. We have been, through my Department, speaking to most of the travel agencies here in Yellowknife about that concern. They employ, they contribute, taxes, employment, etc. So we are concerned about that, we are trying to address that issue, as well as a means in which to get more cost-effective transportation into the Territories. There was, in the previous Government -- I think it went on forever -- a study that took a year or two years to determine what we should do, and in the end, we believed, if my memory serves me correctly, that the marketplace will correct the imbalances that are perceived out there, and that competition will bring about more cost-effective transportation. I believe that has been demonstrated, particularly the last six, seven months. If you look at where there is jet service, at least significant discounts now being offered that were never offered before in the past. Mr. Speaker, that is the way I would answer that question. There is an

understanding that we need to find more cost-effective ways to do business. Management does look at that. We must bear in mind that there are others who utilize those services that also do business with us, and they have to survive. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral question. Supplementary. Mr. Ootes.

Mr. Todd.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I believe we did that in the previous Government. It, to put it bluntly, was an abysmal failure. I think that what we are saying is, we believe that the marketplace, to some extent, does provide some competitiveness. We have instructed our management team, if you want, that they should be aggressive in trying to seek excursion airfares when they are doing trips both North and South. I believe it is working reasonably well at this time, and it is true that we are trying to find a way to ensure the travel agencies can survive. But we have also got to ensure that airlines survive as well. So it is a fine balancing act that we are trying to walk right now. It has been further compounded now, and the only reason I brought the travel agencies up, has been further compounded with this capping of the commissions by the airlines on the travel agencies. I do not know how many people they employ in this town, but it must be significant, and in other communities. The issue of travel and travel costs has been further compounded with the capping, if you want, of the commissions, so we are walking a fine line right now to try to see how we can accommodate the airline business, to ensure that we save fiscally, a fiscal responsibility to the public, and at the same time, try to find a way for these travel agencies, etc. who are in the travel business to survive. Thank you.

Oral question. Supplementary. Mr. Ootes.

Mr. Todd.

What I would commit to do is to give the Member a round figure at this time of what we think our overall travel costs and our freight costs are. To break that down to that level of micro management would cost a significant amount of money. I guess, in fairness to my colleague, I would be prepared to provide him with a round number of what we think the overall costs are. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister responsible for the Workers'

Compensation Board. Can the Minister indicate to this House as to whether or not a new Chairman has been selected for the WCB?

The Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board, two questions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, no Chairperson has been approved by the Cabinet or this Minister at this time. I believe the appointment and the approval is imminent, and there could be an announcement made in the next three or four days. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral question. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Finance. We have all heard stories of there being two rates for two sets of prices I guess, or rates, whatever you want to call them, for things that the Government has to purchase.

It seems like there is one going rate for the public and another going rate for Government. We do not seem to be getting the good rate. There is a higher rate, it seems like, for Government, than for the rest of the public. I have spoken to one person who indicated that he worked for a company where the first question they ask, is, is this Government or for yourself? If it is for the Government, they pull out a higher rate.

I would like to know from the Minister of Finance what this Government is doing to get the same rates for the Government as for the public, or even a discount. Since we seem to have a high volume of business, we should probably even get a discount.

The Minister of Finance. Mr. Todd.