Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. All of these services are well subscribed to and I do have detailed information on the numbers of adults who are living with these various supports and would be happy to provide that to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister give some information, some idea of what kind of trends we are looking at in the number of FAS/FAE cases over the next ten years? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time it is not possible to project the future needs of people affected by FAS/FAE. This is mainly due to the fact that we do not have any hard data on how many people are currently affected and many of the cases that we deal with we suspect are alcohol-affected but we do not have, as Mr. Ootes referred to, the medical diagnosis. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not have the specific numbers with me here, but I can assure you that we spend considerably, in fact a lot more on these sorts of programs than we ever collect in liquor sales. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Finance Minister provide the details of what is actually spent on drug and alcohol programs? We know we have closed a number of facilities over the last couple of years and we have reduced funding in the drug and alcohol area. There is little to be said on the specific issue of FAS/FAE. So can the Minister of Finance provide the information to substantiate his claim? Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, I will work with my colleagues to try to put that together. Remember, we spend a lot of money directly on drug and alcohol treatment. We also spend a lot of money on other programs that are directly related to alcohol abuse and so on, in justice and in a number of areas. My point is that we spend much, much more on these programs than we do ever collect in liquor sales. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is the concern, that we are spending on the after-effects of the problem. I would like to know if the Finance Minister will provide information on what is spent on prevention. Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, yes, I will work with my colleagues and try to put together an estimate of how much money we spend on treatment. Thank you.

Merci, Mr. Handley. The time allocated for question period is over. Item 7, written questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to request consent to return to item 5 on the order paper.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to return to item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Are there any nays? There are no nays, Mr. Braden, and there is no one in the gallery.

-- Laughter

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been trying to identify someone who would very much deserve recognition, but I hope that that person will return later. Thank you.

Thank you. I am sure she is in the building. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 7, written questions. Item 8, returns to written questions. Item 9, replies to the opening address. Item 10, petitions. Item 11, reports of standing and special committees. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lakes, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development is pleased to report on its review of Bill 13, the Hotel Room Tax Act.

This committee report was prepared by members of the Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development: Floyd Roland, chair; Sandy Lee, deputy chair; Bill Braden, Paul Delorey, David Krutko, and Steven Nitah.

The Minister of Finance, Joe Handley introduced Bill 13 for first reading in the Legislative Assembly on November 7, 2000. On November 8, 2000, the Hotel Tax Act received second reading on the principle of the bill by a narrow margin of a 10 to 8 vote. The bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development. Under the Rules of the Legislative Assembly, the standing committee has 120 days to review and report on the bill.

The standing committee met on several occasions to discuss and review the background research material and legal issues. The committee also conducted public hearings on Bill 13 during the week of February 5 to 9, 2001 in Inuvik, Hay River, and Yellowknife.

Prior to the hearings, the committee placed advertisements in every newspaper in the Northwest Territories informing the public of the committee's review, inviting oral presentations and written submissions and advising that applications for travel assistance would be considered by the committee. Public service announcements were also aired on northern radio stations and notices were placed on community television channels, where available. Media advisories were sent advising the press where hearings would be held. The committee also provided packages with detailed explanatory material about Bill 13 and an offer of assistance to appear before the committee to over 200 identified interested parties.

The Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development would like to thank all of the individuals and organizations who made their views known to the committee at the public hearings or by written submissions. The comments and suggestions were of great assistance to the committee and were carefully reviewed by the committee during its deliberations.

Appendix 1 to this report contains a list of witnesses who appeared before the committee. Appendix 2 is a list of the individuals or organizations that provided written submissions, which were received and considered by the committee. Copies of submissions and/or transcripts from the public hearings are available upon request.