Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I'm going to raise a number of the same concerns that my colleague from Yellowknife Centre has already expressed. We did have a good briefing at noon today from the Minister of Education and his colleague the Minister of Health and Social Services on the youth mental health support investments. It will require transitioning some of the money that's now given to the district education authorities to support that work, and there is additional money that's coming in, and I think that's all a good effort, but there is still a number of outstanding issues with regard to...

Thanks to the Minister for that. I can help him with his memory there. It is $13.46 million. It is found on page B14 of the budget address, and I am sure he is going to have the main estimates in front of him shortly. Tobacco taxes are $16 million. In the interest of transparency, can the Minister tell us who actually calculates and predicts these royalties?

Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks again to the Minister for that, but we do not have a firm schedule from the Minister. He has admitted there is a lot of work that has to be done. We do not even have the results from the discussion paper consultations. He has to work with committee. He says he is going to talk to the public. Can the Minister commit to table a schedule of these sort of consultations leading up to the March 30th deadline in this House as soon as possible? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Apologies for not offering the question properly. I appreciate the response from the Minister. He did not really address the issue, though, of carbon pricing as an essential tool. Earlier today I tried to jog the memory of our Cabinet colleagues on the issue of carbon pricing. The public commentary for the discussion paper and survey closed on September 15th of last year. Can the Minister of Finance tell us if and when a "what we heard" report is going to be released and whether the written submissions received will also be released?

Merci, Monsieur le President. I'd like to start with something really simple: can the Minister of Finance tell the public whether our government actually believes in climate change and that carbon pricing is an essential tool to address this threat? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Once again, I would like to thank the Minister for his response. That is good news. Yesterday he committed to reviewing GNWT support for the arts, and he has made some additional commitments here, in my view, today. I really hope that this review is going to be more than just pulling together the current support across at least two departments and then concluding that everything is just fine. Clearly, structural change is needed to bring an improved focus to this sector and to better leverage federal funding. Can the Minister tell us just what he is going to...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I don't think I can top that. I appreciate the response from the Minister, and I know staff work hard to get money out the door and so on, but we could be accessing a lot more federal funding, as well. There are over 15 funding programs listed on a Heritage Canada website that could be used to support arts activities and initiatives in the NWT. They cover everything from performing arts to capital investment opportunities. Can the Minister give us a snapshot of what federal program and capital funding the NWT received this year for arts-related activities and...

Merci, Monsieur le President. A Legislative Assembly e-petition has been started asking that some of the funds raised through the Western Canada Lottery program, which now go entirely to Sports and Recreation, be used to fund arts activities. This issue was also raised during the recent public hearing on Bill 1, the Western Canada Lottery Act. At that hearing, the MACA Minister left open the door a crack to develop a definition for recreation, but only in consultation with the sports and recreation groups. So how can we go about improving our government's investment in the arts?

Later today I...

Merci, monsieur le President. I have two documents I wish to table. The first is a letter dated November 20, 2017, signed by over 40 individuals and organizations involved in the arts to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment regarding funding increase and comprehensive strategy for performing and multimedia arts in the Northwest Territories. The second document, Mr. Speaker, is a letter from the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment dated December 19th in reply to the...

Thanks again to the Minister for that commitment. He will pull together the information. We will get it. The currently prevailing plan for promotion of the arts is the 2004 NWT Arts Strategy, and it states as its goal "the coordination of programs and services that will ensure more effective and efficient use of available funds." As a means of achieving this goal, will the Minister commit to examining the amalgamation of all GNWT arts funding, production, and marketing programs under the leadership of an arm's-length NWT arts council?