Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is true that there will be some impact on the Northwest Territories if we are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions within a certain time frame. Going into production at the BHP mines, for instance, dramatically increased the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the Northwest Territories.

Having said that, we also recognize that continued pollution of the environment in Canada and globally has a profound impact on the Arctic and on the northern climate. Here in the Northwest Territories, we find airborne pollutants and contaminants continually coming to reside in our part of the world. We have to take a positive approach to ensuring that Canada takes a strong and positive approach to challenging other countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to find collaborative ways to work together on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and finding less damaging ways of consuming energy. We know there will be cost. Minister Antoine will be providing more information to the House when he returns to the Legislature later this week. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe my questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Public Service, but I may be incorrect in that. Mr. Speaker, in my statement, I spoke about some of the uncertainty that surrounds issues around hiring and disciplining within the public service, also around this government's policy for affirmative action.

I hope that the government agrees that this does not create a healthy environment for our employees. Mr. Speaker, I was wondering if I could ask the Minister if he believes that there is a need for an Affirmative Action Policy in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Chair is having some difficulty in assigning the question. However, I shall take the liberty of assigning it to the Premier, who can further reassign that issue. The honourable Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We believe that there are policies that are necessary in the hiring, recruitment and retention of staff by this government. Certain policies are wanted and should be in place to enhance the presence of aboriginal people, women, the disabled, as well as other sectors of our population that are not, in our view, adequately represented in the government workforce. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the 13th Assembly, a report was compiled. It was called the Report of the Working Group on Affirmative Action and Human Resource Management, and it contains several good recommendations regarding the specifics of our Affirmative Action Policy. To date, I do not believe these recommendations have been responded to.

What is the status of our Affirmative Action Policy in terms of revisions or modifications at this time? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will take that question as notice. Thank you.

The question has been taken as notice. Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister in charge of the Liquor Commission. I am looking at this year's budget and when I look at Liquor Commission net revenues, it appears that if we compare the 2001-2002 mains to this year's, we are looking at a jump from $15 million to just over $17.5 million in Liquor Commission net revenues. I am wondering if the Minister can explain this blip? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Two reasons for the change. First of all, we as a department took a look at our projected revenues over the next few years. Given the amount of activity, the number of people in the Territories, the income and so on, we are projecting that liquor sales will continue to rise at two percent, which is higher than we had projected before.

Second, the cost for administration of the Liquor Commission has remained fairly stable. In fact, have actually dropped slightly from last year's cost, just through good, efficient management.

Overall, Mr. Speaker, the increased economic activity is leading to a situation where we expect liquor sales to continue to rise. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am wondering if he could further clarify if that means that people have more disposable income or we have, in his view, more people in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I believe it is likely both. There are more people here, whether they are staying here full-time or just on work assignments. Second is clearly, with our increased employment rates, people do have more disposable income. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we know, Mr. Speaker, Stats Canada has recently not been as optimistic as the Minister. Given the increased tax revenues that we are seeing, I am wondering if the Minister would go back to his Cabinet colleagues and raise the issue of possibly earmarking some of those funds for research, treatment and prevention of FAS? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you know, we are putting more money in our budget this year into some of the areas, such as FAS/FAE. I mentioned those in my budget address. Exactly where the money comes from is probably one we could debate, but clearly this government is going to put more money, and we have made that commitment in this budget, into areas such as FAS/FAE. We will continue that.

The amount of money that we spend on alcohol treatment and on public education on issues like FAS/FAE is greater than the amount that we take in as revenue. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the good initiatives that the Minister speaks of, I believe, are the health warning labels on liquor. I think we have been doing that since about 1991, Mr. Speaker. I am wondering if we ever surveyed the population to determine the effectiveness.

For instance, I would wonder how many women believe it is still acceptable to have a few drinks at a sitting during a pregnancy. I am wondering if the Minister could tell us, has he conducted a survey to determine the effectiveness of this labelling? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley. I am not sure if that is a proper question for Finance, but I will allow the Minister to answer.