Thank you, Madame Thompson. Oral questions. Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister responsible for FMBS, Mr. Todd. In my Member's statement today I talked about the sacrifices that all residents of the NWT have made to ensure the Minister of Finance can balance the budget. As a little reward, I proposed that all residents receive, through their health card or a valid driver's license, the same discounts at hotels and car rental agencies that would be available to government employees presently. One of the stipulating factors was that it would not cost the government any money. I asked the Minister about this last May and I would like the Minister now to tell me what he has done about this and when we can expect this type of program to be put in place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Minister for FMBS, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let me first of all say, it is an excellent idea by my colleague that he brought up in early May and I apologize for the delay in response but I want to assure him that we are pursuing the idea aggressively. We have been in touch with travel agencies, hotels, car rentals, to see if there is a receptive audience out there. I am confident that once we have concluded our discussions with the industry at large, we will put forward and applaud our colleague for his initiative that will cost this government no money. Is that a good answer? Thank you.

Thank you. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister responsible for FMBS has told us that he has contacted the travel agencies, hotels, and so forth. Can the Minister tell us when he contacted these agencies and what response they gave him initially? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. The honourable Minister, Mr. Todd.

I had a note on this yesterday because I thought my colleague was going to ask me yesterday. I seem to have inadvertently lost it. I want to assure him, seriously, that we have contacted these associations. We think it is a reasonable request. I do not have the details at my fingertips, but I will get it and report to my colleague tomorrow or before he goes on vacation, so he can take advantage of these initiatives. No, Mr. Speaker, I do not have the details of it. I do want to assure my colleague that we have done what I have said we have done. I will move quickly to try and get resolved to it and report back to him. Thank you.

Thank you. Second supplementary, Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister, seeing as he does believe this is a good idea and worthwhile for all residents of the NWT. Normally parents like to take their children on summer vacation. Can I ask the Minister if he would support families in that regard by ensuring this program will be in place before the end of June? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. The honourable Minister for FMBS, Mr. Todd.

I think my colleague thinks I am not dealing with this issue seriously, that is why I was looking for the notes. I am dealing with it seriously. I cannot commit today whether we would have it in place by June. I know, in my discussions with Mr. Voytilla, that we have been communicating with the industry at large outside of the north of 60, in an effort to see if they would co-operate with us in providing this initiative incentive for northern people. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Thank you. The honourable Minister responsible for Financial Management Board, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe I received the same letter from the federation. They have a great deal of experience in that, both in Alberta, and I know there is a considerable amount of experience in regulatory reform in Mr. Picco's former province, Newfoundland. We would take that all into consideration as we move forward in an orderly way to determine what regulatory reform will be necessary to provide the more open balanced approach for business in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you. The honourable Member for Iqaluit, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Newfoundland comes a poor second to Scotland in regulatory reform as we all know. Mr. Brad Wright will be coming to Yellowknife from the Canadian Federation of Business next month. Is Mr. Todd meeting with him at that time?

Thank you. The honourable Minister, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is important to point out that both Mr. Kakfwi and myself have co-sponsored the paper on regulatory reform and Mr. Kakfwi will take the lead on it because he is intimately involved, being the Minister of RWED. It is our intent to meet with Mr. Wright either here or in Edmonton or Calgary, but we intend to meet with him. As I indicated, while it was co-sponsored, Mr. Kakfwi will be taking the lead on this important issue. Thank you.

Thank you. Second supplementary, Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last year Mr. Todd was able to travel around the territories explaining the major aspects of his budget. I have not seen a travel itinerary for Mr. Todd that he will be doing that this year. Concerning the budget again, will Mr. Todd be travelling around this time? If so, when? If not, why?

Thank you, Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will take this question because it is for all Ministers of where they will be travelling and when they will be travelling. We will let the Members know when we can make ourselves available to be in your riding. Myself, I think I will plan on doing the Baffin and some of the Ministers may come along. We are going to be going out having town hall meetings with the people of the Northwest Territories. Some of the Ministers, as well as myself, have been in some of the ridings already. We have to try to spread ourselves out as much as possible. Thank you.