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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ms. Lee already said I do not know, but I have to disappoint her and tell her that I do know.

-- Laughter

I tell you, the first thing I am going to do is a lot of consultation with people in the tourism industry because I think the operators, the business people out there, can give me the best advice on where the money should go.

My own preference in talking with business people is I think it should go in two areas. One being marketing the Northwest Territories as a destination and second is building regional capacity. I look at the tremendous work that one of our operators, Bill Tait, who runs Raven Tours, has done. We have now about 10,000 Japanese coming to the Northwest Territories. He has made a huge, tremendous contribution to the Northwest Territories and to our economy through that. Where, just through the natural beauty of the Northwest Territories, not just in Yellowknife, but everywhere is unique. We can do the same thing with German tourists. We could do the same thing with all Europeans, with Americans, even with many Canadians.

I look at the beauty of the Lutselk'e area, the East Arm. That is something that you do not find anywhere else in the world. I believe that the industry people, the same way Mr. Tait did, with some support from our government, can do a tremendous job working with local people to bring a lot more tourists into the North, so we do not just have government people staying in the hotels.

This is a tremendous opportunity for us to break away from our dependence on the federal government. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now, we have approximately 50,000 tourists that have come to the Northwest Territories. I think by working with the tourism operators, hotel owners, other people in the business, aboriginal communities, and so on, and promoters in the other parts of the world, that we can easily double that amount. I think if we double that amount over the next three, four, or five years, then we start to see business, hotels, and so on, being viable in the small communities. We will see a lot more of the people who were here earlier as tourists watching what is happening in the Legislative Assembly.

The whole thing is good news for the Northwest Territories. We have to take some risks here. I am ready to gamble that this will work and we will see many more tourists in our beautiful part of the world. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. It is in regard to the dilemma that we find ourselves in, with insuring that the policy directors that we have in place for the things such as the Business Incentive Policy or manufacturers' incentive policies, are in jeopardy because of NAFTA. Has the department done anything to see what the impact of the Free Trade Agreement is on the policies and economic programs that we have in place to protect our business community and also benefit the North?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we have taken a look at free trade agreements, as well as internal trade agreements in Canada, and the impact of them. We have to be very careful. It is a very complex arrangement. We have to be very careful with how much we change and what we do to our policies, because there is always a risk that if we change it too much, then we could lose the benefits we have within it.

We will continue to work very carefully to make sure we do not jeopardize our northern preference policies by changing them so much that the Free Trade Agreement kicks in and someone challenges us. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In regard to the other responsibilities that we have, especially in land claim agreements, talking about the economic opportunities. There have been statements made in this House about considering revamping our Business Incentive Policy and our Manufacturers' Directive. When will the government be coming forth with these amendments or changes? Can the Minister state that?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have made a long list of commitments that my staff are putting together, but my aim was to try to have something put forward for the new fiscal year, but I cannot say with 100 percent certainty that we will be able to meet that, but that is what I am going to aim at. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Has the Minister made contact with the business community or the aboriginal organizations that, if any of these changes take place, will be affected? Have we consulted with the manufacturers or the business community to consider the possibility of their involvement and directing us to what consideration could be made? Has the Minister consulted with the business community?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have consulted with some of the business community. I cannot say I have done with all of them. I have consulted with most of the larger organizations, the construction association, Chamber of Commerce, and so on, in Yellowknife. In terms of consultation with the regions, we have not had time to do that yet. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Has the government lived up to its consultation obligations that are under land claim agreements, especially in the economic measures chapters of the agreements, where we have to consult if we are making any changes or implementing any new programs? Has the department or the Minister done that?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have made a commitment to live up to not only the word, but also the spirit and intent of the statements in the land claims agreements. We continue to participate in a tripartite implementation committee, made up of the aboriginal organizations, the federal government and ourselves, to ensure that we are.

Now, having said that, I am sure there are some instances where there will be disagreement or has been disagreement, but we are attempting to follow the full intention and meaning of the land claims agreements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Earlier today, the Minister responded to a question that I asked on June 26th, when I asked what the reason or the rationale was for the ten percent student deduction calculation of the amount that would be paid to student financial assistance.

The Minister's response said that, ''Since repayable loans were introduced approximately ten years ago, there has always been a calculation of expected student contributions." I guess what we are saying is that we take it off because we have always done it.

Mr. Speaker, we call these loans needs assessed. Other than the ten percent deduction, is there any difference in the amount that is paid in these loans to students? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.