Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all I will get the name of the consultant, it is a consultant out of Alberta, who has done a lot of work with Alberta on their hotel tax. But I will get it for the Member.

When we talk about Regional Capacity Building, I think as Mr. Nitah has said, we have a lot of communities in this Territory that are very poor. They do not benefit from the non-renewable resource sector that is so important to our economy. We have such an opportunity to do more with tourism. It is a way of getting money out to those communities so that they can build the ability for the people in the communities to be able to welcome tourists, to have facilities for them, to have trained people who can deal with them and operators who can help.

I hope as we do consultation that, as many of the Members who have not travelled widely in the North as possible, get a chance to come out with me or come out on their own and talk to the people in the communities. We need to support that sector of our economy. We need to diversify our economy. We need to get something to the little communities, otherwise the people there will just continue to be a drain on our whole economy where they could be self-sufficient, contributing financially to our whole economy.

We have done some great things in some areas. I can tell you that Bill Tait's initiatives in bringing Japanese tourists is a real good example. I tell you the work that the outfitters have done in the North is great. They bring $30 million a year into our economy. Unfortunately, it does not get out into the little communities in any big way.

The comment that it comes out of the hotel operators' pockets and their utility expenses is incorrect. It comes out of the pockets of the occupants of the hotels who to a large extent are tourists.

I am very committed to tourism and I want to find money to help diversify our economy and build this important piece. I think that we have a tremendously great Territory to live in and this has potential and we need to work together to make it happen. That is how we are going to get communities moving towards greater self-sufficiency.

To find it from somewhere else in the budget, it is easy to say find it from somewhere else, find it from within. But, we are stretched to the limit in the government in terms of what we are asking departments to deliver on and expecting good quality programs. We are asking this year for departments to identify $5 million more in cuts in the 2000-2001 year. They have to find another $5 million.

We cannot keep going back and asking them to find more and more, because like an elastic band, after awhile the thing just bursts. If you stretch them too much, you have no quality left at all. In future years, unless we get revenue from somewhere, whether it is federal government or from economic activity, we are going to go broke. That is just the bottom line of it. So we have to take some chances do some things that are going to generate some economy here.

This is not a surprise attack on anybody. I did bring it up in standing committee. I mentioned it in this Budget Address, even though it does not come into effect for a year, because I want to consult. When I talk about consultation then I am open to do that anyway at all, but I certainly want to talk.

Personally, I want to consult, through Finance, through Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development and so on, with as many people as possible to design the best tax possible before we implement anything. I am not out there to sell it. As I said in my opening comments, the Legislative Assembly has a chance when we bring legislation forward, to give me their approval for it or not. Depending on what they decide in November, it is not something that I am going to go out there and sell to people but I think it is a way of building out tourism economy. Thank you.