Robert C. McLeod

The department will probably be in contact with the village very soon. It is a priority and I’m sure with the Member raising the issue that we need to expedite this. But I have informed the Member that through correspondence MACA will be in contact with the community to get this moving forward.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was a report done a few years ago that recommended that this be looked into. It’s something that the departments of MACA and Health and Social Services have identified as a priority. Money is available in the budget that we will be hopefully debating on the floor of this House to enhance some of the programming to the communities.

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, 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...

Mr. Speaker, the budget for the Aboriginal Sport Circle…. I mean, if we’re looking at increasing budgets, particularly for youth groups, I’m sure that would be taken into consideration. That would come up during our review. Any increase would come up during the review of the business plans, which we’ll be undertaking in a couple of weeks.

Those commitments are coming back to bite me. I did say that we would do a review, and I commit again to the Member that we will do a review. Once we’re done sitting in the House, we’ll have an opportunity to sit down with the department and give them a schedule of when I’d like to see a review done. I will certainly pass that information on to the Member.

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.