Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition dealing with the matter of public service lay-offs and wage reductions. Mr. Speaker, Petition No. 5-13(3) contains 62 signatures and the petitioners request that MLAs oppose the government's initiative to cut positions and roll back wages of UNW members. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Finance. I'd like to thank the Minister for his return to oral question today where he states as examples that the Workers' Compensation Board and Northwest Territories Power Corporation, their excluded employees and managers would be part of the package. My question to the Minister is what method is proposed by the government to obtain any of these wage and benefits savings back to general revenue. As an example, the Workers' Compensation Board is a separate employer/employee program; how are these savings, that are proposed by the government to be implemented on April 1 st, coming back to GNWT coffers? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can't see him but I'm assured that Dave McCann is in the gallery. I'd like to recognize Dave McCann, Mr. Speaker.

--- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had the opportunity last evening to meet with a number of my constituents. I would like to thank those people who took the time to come out and express their concerns and give me some direction and, in some cases, suggestions of approaches that I should have taken. I will share with the Members of this House some of the issues brought forth. I have little doubt that there are many common threads which each of us hears from our respective constituents.

First, on fees and licences, there was not an objection as much as a concern expressed as to the speed at which some increases to fees and charges are being implemented by this government. Examples are the increase in the rent at the Aven Seniors' Centre and annual increases in licensing fees. Another item that was brought up was school taxes; questions were raised as to why Yellowknife is the only community in the NWT paying school taxes, representing approximately 30 per cent of the total cost. While I was not able to answer that question directly, I gave assurances to my constituents that I would address their concerns later.

On the question of MLA compensation, I gave my constituents assurances that we are in the process of reviewing MLAs' salaries and benefits and that this review will hopefully reflect the government's financial situation. With regard to representation, my comments in the House were noted by constituents regarding suggestions that we put the business incentive program on hold for a year as this would clearly be a cost-saving measure for this government when faced with the deficit proposed. On departmental consultations, it was understood that while deputy ministers meet on a regular basis, it was suggested that a stronger relationship be created between departments to discuss cost-saving measures, which some departments may be undertaking, and share these ideas with the others.

Mr. Speaker, these are just some of the ideas that came forth last night and I wish to, again, express my gratitude to those constituents who came out to the meeting. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. For the record, I would like to declare that I was out of the House for the total operations and maintenance on page 7 and I declare a conflict of interest in Public Works and Services.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I noted Mr. Todd's comments earlier that it would not substantially add or detract from the present projected deficit. Would he put a caveat on that as regard some negotiations with the federal government that are still going on? What are the implications there on that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Finance. In his statement in the House last Thursday, the Minister indicated that non-unionized employees of the Government of the Northwest Territories will have their remuneration rolled back 6.5 per cent. Do these rollbacks include Hay Plan employees of Workers' Compensation and the Power Corporation?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Finance. The Minister talks about fair and compassionate Guts. Both the Premier and the Minister of Finance told us in this House that cuts would be fair and that all segments of the economy and communities would feel the effects. Why does Yellowknife take 50 per cent of the job cuts when it is 35 per cent of the positions and when 37 Communities in the Northwest Territories have no job losses? I would like to ask the Minister where the fairness is in that approach.

Thank you, Mr. Minister, for answering a question I didn't ask. My questions was could you tell me what 72 is of 150. 1 realize it may be a technical question, but that's around 50 per cent.

Mr. Speaker, I have supported and realized right from the beginning that job cuts would be necessary. I supported that. I think it's imperative that we get our fiscal house in order, and one component of that work would be to, unfortunately, lay-off some of the people who provide services to the government. With that, my question would be, when most other provinces or territories in the country where the capital city is -- and I will read examples of Alberta, where 53 per cent of their total government employees are located in their capital city; in Manitoba, 56 per cent of their employees are located in their capital city; in Newfoundland -- which has a large number of small communities -- 75 per cent of their government employees are located in their capital city; in Nova Scotia, 68 per cent of their government employees are located in their capital city; in the Yukon, 82 per cent of the government employees are located in the capital city. What does this government know better about the economies of scale that would see Yellowknife's numbers go from 35 per cent to much less?