Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member makes a very good suggestion and it is understandable why people might not be aware of this exception which is made to poor communities which are in this unusual circumstance. Yes, we could have someone work through the Deh Cho Board in a support role, to provide that information directly to the community. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister responsible for Finance. It is about tax initiatives that he laid out in yesterday's budget speech. He mentioned that he was considering a possible hotel tax of five percent. I think that this would be ill-advised. I think there are several reasons for this. But certainly we have heard Ms. Lee talk on this. The Government of the Northwest Territories' spending probably makes up the bulk of hotel room spending. I think we would simply be taxing ourselves. I heard the Minister state publicly that he feels it would cost about $100,000 a year to administer and collect this tax. I would suggest that, quite possibly, estimates might even go higher, up to $200,000 or $250,000.

I also think the idea here was to initiate a tax that would then be put back into tourism. In future years, we have no guarantees that Assemblies will continue to do so. Once a tax is initiated, it is hard to change where that would go in the future. I am wondering if he has looked at any other tax initiatives. We have heard talk that possibly in future years we might see a payroll tax increase that would tax people who choose to work here and then fly out and not put money back into the northern economy. I am wondering if he has considered that in the past. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, certainly we have to look at all our options for generating revenue for the Northwest Territories. If we are going to spend money, we have to have money coming in. We never want to have ourselves just subject to a grant from the federal government or grants from anyone else. We need to be responsible. We need to work in partnership with other people, including the private sector, to figure out how we can best balance expenditures and revenues.

I am looking at all possibilities. I have to say that we are not, at this point, as I mentioned yesterday, looking at any other tax at this time. We will continue to review all of our taxes, whether it is fuel, cigarettes, whatever. However, there is no intention to make any changes.

With regard to payroll tax, it is something that we have to look at the implications of. We cannot implement a tax that would just affect southern employees. If we put any kind of payroll tax in place or change it from the current one percent, then it has to apply to everyone. That has an impact on all northern residents. It is a complicated one. I did talk to the standing committee and tell you that we were looking at it. We are continuing to. At this point, as I mentioned yesterday, the only tax we are looking at right now is the hotel tax for this fiscal year. Thank you. A lot of what happens in the future is going to depend on . . .

Thank you, Mr. Handley. You have answered the question. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you. I am wondering if the Minister can tell me whether he sees any problems with getting into this concept of direct taxation. For instance, a hotel tax which would then be funnelled back into tourism marketing. Does this set a dangerous precedent? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think we could debate for a long time the pros and cons of taxes that are dedicated to specific purposes. I think there are good sides to the argument and there are also negative sides. I hope we have that argument some day. I would not link this directly except to say we are going to put that amount of money, the amount of money that we raise on this tax, we are going to spend that same amount of money in tourism. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am wondering if the Minister can give us assurances that if he did look at some form of direct taxation in the future, whether it be hotel tax or some other type of tax, would he build in some sort of sunset provisions after a year or two to ensure it was achieving what it set out to achieve?

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Whenever we introduce a new tax, and especially when we link it to achievements and growth in a particular area, then we probably do not know for sure whether it will work. In the case of the hotel tax, if the revenue that it generates is not showing any substantial difference in the tourism industry, the number of tourists who come here, the amount that is spent on tourism, then certainly we would want to look at it. I can assure the Member that any new tax we introduce would be subject to that kind of review and scrutiny. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. I have to rule your question out of order. The affairs that occur in the Chamber are a matter of the House and not the prerogative of the government. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question goes to the Minister Responsible for Finance and it is with respect to the hotel tax. In the budget document, Mr. Speaker, the projected revenue for this hotel tax is $1 million. I wonder if the Minister could tell us on what basis he has arrived at that calculation. What room spaces are we talking about in the Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have looked at all of the hotels, bed and breakfasts, motels, with four or more rooms. The calculation here does not include lodges, although it is our intention that this would apply also to lodges. We also have said it would not apply to institutions where we have just a standard basic fee. For example, in a construction camp, they might only charge a basic amount of ten dollars or twenty dollars. This would not apply. We then took our average occupancy rate over the year and did a base calculation based on that. The occupancy rate we used was 60 percent. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. By asking these questions today, I do not want to show in any way that I am legitimizing this tax because I do believe it is just a proposal thus far. I wonder, Mr. Speaker, if the Minister could tell us how much he is projecting to be paying in terms of staff and additional resources that he will need to collect this tax if this tax becomes a reality. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, the estimate we are working on, based on experiences elsewhere, is that we will not need more than the equivalent of one position to administer this tax. It is fairly simple to administer. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.