Robert C. McLeod

The involvement of the federal government would be on the funding that they have available for this particular highway. It’s called the Joint Emergency Preparedness Program and that is the program that they will be able to access some funding under. When MACA meets with the community they will be able to relay that information on to them and make them aware of all the potential pots of money that they can access.

There is support of communities out there and their support from all levels involved. It’s just a matter of identifying. Also there’s the communities themselves who have their capital money flowed from MACA that they could use for mobile equipment. Also there’s some federal funding that can be accessed. MACA is committed to going into the communities and helping them work out a plan to see what pots of funding they can access.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to welcome my wife, Judy, and my son Ryan to the Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to provide my colleagues with an update on the recent realignment of the School of Community Government, located in the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.

First started in 1999, the School of Community Government was established to suit the unique needs and requirements of community government staff. Programming was designed to be relevant, specific to the mandate of community governments and provide practical experience. Courses were developed in a modular format and designed to be delivered in a community or regional centre, thereby reducing...

Mr. Speaker, arts aren’t presently part of the review. It’s a review done with the NWT Council of Sports and Recreation and MACA.

I think the Member is well aware that there was $500,000 recently allocated to enhance arts and culture funding. As I said, arts are not part of the review process. It’s just between MACA and the NWT Council of Sports and Recreation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. MACA is working with the NWT Council of Sports and Recreation partners to review the overall management of lotteries in the Northwest Territories. As the Member pointed out, the money is earmarked for sports, and that’s a good place for the money from the lotteries to be going. I’m sure the arts are another good place for it to go, but right now the money is earmarked specifically for sports and for the youth. That’s an issue that we continue to try and find funding for.

Mr. Speaker, for a lot of the community youth strategy MACA will have to have a lot of direct input from the community to work together to come up with a plan for a strategy for the community. I did commit that we would start looking into this. As I said in my previous answer, once we’re done in the House, I’ll have an opportunity to sit down with the department and come up with a schedule of all the commitments I have made and try and see how soon we can come forward with strategies and other information for the Members of this Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I admire the Member’s perseverance and commitment to an important issue, and it’s an issue that we all share in this House. Having said that, we are identifying more youth funding, and as part of identifying the youth funding, we’re hoping to come forward in the business plan. That should increase some of the funding to a lot of youth organizations.

Mr. Speaker, the money from the lotteries, as I said, will continue to go to the sports groups. The Member has asked if arts could be a part of this review. That’s something we’ll have to take up with the department and see if there is an appetite to have them as part of this review.

Again, I’ll say to the Member that the money that lotteries collect isn’t a huge amount, and it costs a lot of money to run sports programs in the NWT. It costs a lot of money to have arts and culture in the NWT too. But right now the priority is on the youth. We don’t want to generate more revenue by saying, “Play...

Mr. Speaker, as I said on answering the first question, there is a review. They’re working with the Council of Sports and Recreation and doing a review.

As far as earmarking some of the money to sports goes, I mean, that’s something they would have to come up with once they do the review, if the review gets done, and then decide from there how they’re going to distribute the money.

Like I said — and the Member didn’t disagree with me — the money from the lotteries is not that much. As the Member knows, it costs a lot of money to supply supports to youth across the Northwest Territories: bringing...