Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would just like to make some comments on the general issues on the budget, and I will not try to cover all areas. I think it is worth repeating some of the concern that the committee has expressed about benchmarks. I certainly, personally, feel very strongly that it is absolutely essential for departments to very clearly set out what their goals are, when they present a budget or a business plan.

I think they have to be equally as clear about how we will rank their performance as they work to achieve those goals. The public has to get a clear picture of how we are progressing towards the goals that we set, and they have to know that they are getting value for money. The only way they can do that is if there is an easy way to assess whether or not the departments are achieving their benchmarks. I would like to see significant improvements in those areas when we review the business plans in the fall.

I have to say too, Mr. Chairman, about what I see happening to capital expenditures in this budget. In 1996-97, capital represented 15 percent of the total expenditures for the Government of the NWT. This year, the percentage is down to about half of that, down to about seven percent. Mr. Chairman, I understand that we have a difficult cash situation, and I know that the Minister responsible for Finance did not have a lot of flexibility, but my concern is that the longer we put off necessary maintenance, necessary building of infrastructure, the greater the costs grow. Where we may need only a million or two in retrofit or renovations to a school this year, if we delay those renovations or the retrofit for another two or three, or four years, the costs will grow above that one or two million to perhaps as much as five million dollars. Or perhaps the structure will get to the point where it is no longer worth doing the retrofit, and we will have to advance the construction of a whole new building. Delaying capital expenditures can turn out to be a short-term cash gain, but in the long run, it could turn out to be a significant problem for a government. I am concerned that over the past four years we have cut and cut and cut capital. We have had to in this budget, again, cut capital even further. These cost savings to the government, will cost our society in the long run.

Capital projects, in fact, are one of the significant ways that this government provides employment opportunities for Northerners and communities across the North. This drop in capital spending will translate into fewer jobs for Northerners this year. That is going to be a significant problem. It is going to be a significant problem because we have been relatively successful over the past seven or eight years through the use of the Business Incentive Policy, in seeing more companies getting started up and established. Now that we have companies getting established, they are used to being able to bid successfully on government programs or government contracts. They are not going to be there this year. What is going to happen to those companies? I am very concerned about the cut to capital. I think that it is a short-term solution, and perhaps a shortsighted solution. I think we should look for ways to solve that very quickly.

I would also like to take the opportunity to go on record as being opposed to the proposed hotel tax, which I know is not in this budget, but was floated in the budget speech as an idea for next year. Mr. Chairman, we are in a very high cost travel area. I think we need to look for ways to reduce costs for tourists, not to drive them up. I do not believe that the net gain we will see through this tax makes it worthwhile. I think, as has been noted, it is particularly galling to me, because I believe that at least 50 percent of the tax will be, in fact, a reallocation from government departments. Those hotels will be paying the tax. I bet they see 50 percent of their business from government travel. It would be far more efficient, if we were going to take money from the Department of Health, the Department of Education, the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, the Department of Transportation. If we are going to take that indirectly through a tax on hotel rooms, as their employees travel, it would be far more efficient to take it directly from them. I would ask the Minister responsible for Finance to consider a reallocation instead of taxing.

I am also concerned that, although we have been assured that we will not hit the debt wall this year, our expenses continue to outstrip our revenues. I do not see the line getting particularly closer between the two. I will be interested in hearing from the Minister when he now thinks we will, in fact, hit that $300 million borrowing limit, based on our current expenditure and the trends there, and the current revenue line and the trends there. I would, at this time, like to ask the Minister responsible for Finance when does he expect that if we see no new revenues, based on current trends, when would we hit the $300 million borrowing limit? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.