Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To put it into proper perspective, I believe there is approximately 11 or 12 deputy ministers in this government, and ADMs I have lost track of. There are many senior management positions in this government, and out of that, like the Member said, three are hired from the south. Ultimately, the majority of them are, I guess, including some Members sitting in the House today, that did come from southern Canada from one time or the other. What I am saying is that our government is very committed to hiring in the north. We have always been committed to hiring in the north, and we have always tried to find people to fill key positions for the government in the Northwest Territories.

When we were unable to do that, we did look south. We did not close the doors, or close the borders to the rest of Canada, and we can learn from southerners as well as southerners can learn from us. So, in looking at the numbers, in general, of senior management, and the numbers that were hired from southern Canada, and the total number of senior management that work for this government today, the numbers are very small. We should be looking at what people have to offer, and the only way we can really judge whether the decision was right or wrong, is whether they produce in the job they received. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Oral questions. Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question, Mr. Speaker, is to the Minister of Finance. The federal government imposes income tax on all people in Canada who are employed. The federal government imposes a GST tax on everyone when they purchase goods and services. The NWT government imposes a payroll tax on all people working in the Northwest Territories, so from that perspective, I was very pleased to see in the budget that the Minister has recognized that people in the North are paying sufficient amount of taxes and that he is not having any new taxes in this budget. In response to Mr. Picco regarding taxing fund raising activities of youth groups, such as bingo and so forth, the Minister unequivocally said that he would not consider that. As a means of generation, has the Minister considered the potential revenue that could be created by video lottery terminals? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This legislator and this Minister in my current position has not, at this time, done any research or any work on the revenues that would be generated should the Northwest Territories legislate approval for VLTs. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister commit to having his staff look at the potential revenue generation and the negatives and positives that also seem to go along with this type of revenue? I understand each of these terminal units can generate up to half a million dollars per year for government. My question again, would the Minister have his officials look at the potentials, the negatives and positives of this type of revenue generation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the previous legislature, actually, we had done some work with respect to lotteries and casinos, et cetera. What I would be prepared to do would be to share with the Members, gather that information, which I think is still current, share that with the Members and see if there is broad-based support for any further discussion or movement on that issue.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Henry.

Thank you. My final question to the Minister is, I heard him saying a very definite no to taxing bingos and so forth. Do I hear the door at least being open regarding this type of revenue generation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Todd.

Mr. Speaker. There is a great deal of concern with respect to the addiction side of gambling and VLTs. It is prudent of me to say that out loud. What I am

prepared to do is, I know we did some other work in the past, in the previous legislature, I will get that information and share it with the Members. If there is broad-based support for any work to be done in that, then I would give that, assuming there would be broad-based support, some direction given to this House, I would give that some consideration. But in fairness to my colleague, I think it is important to make him aware, which I am sure he is, that for example, right now in Alberta and Nova Scotia, there is a great deal of debate going on about the merits of VLTs and the impact it is having on the social end of things, and is the net return, for example, as sufficient as people think it is. Last night, for example, in the National, for those of you that watch the news, there was some discussion on the Saskatchewan casino and they had projected it was going to be x-million dollars. In fact it did not generate the revenue that they want.

I would say to you that we should be cautious on this issue. It would be fair to say it would be politically sensitive, and I am sure my colleague knows that. But I will gather what has been done before and provide it to him and others and look forward to any further action of direction being given by this House. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of MACA, and it is in regards to the job offer to the ADM or community empowerment. Yesterday, the Minister had indicated that 23 northerners applied for this job and 37 people from the south had also applied. Would the Minister indicate how many northerners were actually interviewed?

The Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not have the details right now before me. I will take that as notice.

The question is taken as notice. Oral questions, Mr. Ootes.

The Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Ms Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I would not.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Ootes.