Mr. Speaker, I do not know about the specific contract information would be suitable or proper to be tabled in this House, and I would give as much information as possible to the Member as per his request and leave it up to him whether he wants to table it in the House or not.

Oral question supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would then ask if the Minister would provide whatever information he feels is appropriate to this House regarding the details of this contract. Thank you.

Mr. Arlooktoo.

Mr. Speaker, what I will do, is when I send information to the Member, I will be able to send a copy to all MLAs and in fact, all members of the House will have that same information.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Ootes.

Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is the responsibility of the financial management board chairman, and I will speak to him fairly shortly and I will reply back to the Member in writing, and I will take this question as notice, thank you.

Thank you, the question is taken as notice. Oral questions, Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister responsible for the NWT Liquor Commission, recently the 42 Annual Report of the Liquor Commission was tabled in the House and I noted that there was a reduction in the amount of revenue generated by the Commission this year. Does the Minister have any comments on that reduction as to how, or why that might have occurred. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, the Minister responsible for Safety and Public Services, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The NWT Liquor Commission, 42 Annual Report indicates that there is a decrease of 4.5% in the volume of the liquor sold and Mr. Speaker according to the Commission, if the continuation of a trend that for the past many years people are buying less from the Liquor Commission, I think that is hard to say the reasons why, could be many reasons, I think people are becoming aware of the harmful effects of alcohol and for consumption and damages because of the society here in the north. This also unfortunately, may not mean that people are consuming less as well, because there are many people in the North who are making their own beer and wine in their homes. Just looking at the many different beer and wine making kits that are sold in local stores here in Yellowknife, is an indication, this shows that there are other ways of acquiring liquor other than through the Commission, to make your own, so there are many reasons for it, it has been a trend for the last few years that there are less purchases of liquor from the liquor commission. Thank you.

Oral questions, Mr. Miltenberger.

The Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, it will be across the land, from coast to coast to coast. Anyway, Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in my earlier address, it is the intention of the coordinating committee which is headed by the FMBS, to sit down with the chosen contractor and develop a schedule as

to when this digital state of the arc 21 century communication system will be in place across the whole framework of the Territories, and when that has been concluded, I would be only too happy to share with the members that it will bring us, as the member says, into the 21st century, provide an opportunity, particularly in our smaller communities, for distance help and distance education which will impact on our professional employees, and hopefully make life easier for the constituents that we all represent. Thank you.

Oral questions, supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Todd

My honourable colleague is correct. We would like to move quickly on this initiative, and the original proposal calling the intent was to phase it in over a three year period, so we would meet the April 1, 1999 schedule. You know, I have instructed the staff to see if we can fast-track some of this, so discussions will be underway very quickly. I would imagine even next week, I would have to check Mr. Voytilla, but once the schedule has been determined, because I know it is an important initiative, one of the good news stories, I think, that this government can deliver to the constituents at large, I would be prepared to share that with all my colleagues in the House. Thank you.

Oral questions, Mr. Picco.

The Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Todd.