Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Krutko on November 16, 2000, regarding how many employees of the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) are taking part in the federal election.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to indicate with any degree of certainty how many employees took part in campaigns during the last federal election. Political activity is permitted unless an employee is restricted from participating in such activities by the terms of the Public Service Act or its regulations. Further, employees are not required to seek approval from their supervisors or their deputy ministers to participate in political activities.

Therefore, unless an employee discloses his or her participation voluntarily, or applies for leave without pay and indicates that he or she intends to use the time to work on a campaign, there is no way for the GNWT to track those statistics. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.