Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Budget Address yesterday, I am bringing legislation forward. That in itself will create the opportunity for consultation. Beyond that, I intend to discuss this personally with anyone who wants to discuss it with me. The Department of Finance and the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, tourism division, will also be doing some consultation. To answer the question, yes, I am prepared to do much consultation on this over the next year. The tax is not scheduled to come into place until April 1, 2001. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. From a strategic point of view, and beyond the issue of whether the hotel tax should be levied, I want to ask the Minister of Finance, where does he see the strategic importance of the tourism industry to the Northwest Territories? How does he expect to get approval of this tax in the absence of an overall strategic plan for how this will help advance this industry? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, tourism division, is working on a tourism strategy plan. I have also been given a copy of a draft of one that is being prepared or being considered by the Northwest Territories Tourism Association. We will bring those plans together. The intention of the revenue to be generated from this new tax will be, as I said in the address, to build regional capacity and to promote and to advertise the Northwest Territories as a destination. I expect the additional money to be generated to be focused on those two areas within the broad strategic plan. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The interests and the concerns of the tourism industry are very diverse. I would still press the question, Mr. Speaker, which comes first, the strategic plan or the hotel tax? Which comes first?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, certainly we need to have a framework and an outline of what it is we want to achieve, so that piece of the strategic plan certainly comes first. But before we work out details on the strategic plan and the action items within it, some guidelines for allocation of money and so on, we have to have some recognition of whether or not we are going to have the additional revenue. Otherwise we are just going through a long academic exercise. My intention is that this money goes into those two areas, that will be built into our strategic plan. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. Before I ask the Minister, the time for question period has expired. I shall allow Mr. Nitah to conclude his questioning. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture, and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The funding is part of the Canada-Northwest Territories language program. It is done through an agreement that is signed on a three to five year basis. To the best of my recollection, I believe that agreement was signed in early January and therefore has affect for the next several years.

There is no doubt that there is concern about the amount of funding that we can put into aboriginal languages here in the Territories. It is of great concern. A study was done in the Deh Cho area and aboriginal language committee representatives are working on their programs and other areas.

In the Deh Cho, for example, it has been found that most people have lost their language. That is a critical issue. I am certainly interested in ensuring that we address the issue of funding on an ongoing basis. At the moment, I am tied with the agreement that is in place. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department has entered into arrangements with the aboriginal language communities for them to prepare language plans. Those plans are being formulated into a strategy that we can look at to see what can be developed for the future. The funding that is available through the Canada-Northwest Territories language program is transferred to a great degree to the aboriginal language communities, to allow them to help develop plans for the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Question period has ended. Item 7, written questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to go back to Item 6.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to return to Item 6 oral questions. Are there any nays? Thank you. We shall reset the clock. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Justice. As we all know, the Supreme Court of Canada was hearing questions about the gun control legislation that has passed through federal parliament. Because the government had intervened there, we lost that case. We are now hearing a lot of concern from aboriginal First Nations across the country that this legislation will drastically affect their treaty rights.

For the First Nations people in Canada and the Northwest Territories, you pretty well have to be a lawyer to figure the application process. Is the Minister willing to consider funding in regard to a case that does come forth from First Nations people, either from Nunavut or across Canada, so aboriginal First Nations in the Northwest Territories can also intervene and express their case, especially when it comes to aboriginal rights?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Minister Antoine.

Thank you, Minister Antoine. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.