Caitlin Cleveland

If the Minister is wondering if I have big dreams for arts in the Northwest Territories, the answer is yes. I'm wondering if the Minister would be willing to have a conversation with the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment about kind of our disjointed approach to art within the Northwest Territories. We currently have culture and heritage housed under as well as the arts council housed under ECE, and then we have tourism, which has a huge cultural piece to it, and, I believe, a huge untapped market for arts in the Northwest Territories and on the global stage. I'm wondering if the...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. During my Member's statement, I referenced additional funding that was earmarked in the fall 2020 federal economic statement. I am wondering how much of the $181.5 million in additional funding for arts and heritage does the Minister intend to request from the federal government, and does the anticipated NWT Arts Strategy support this request? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. One of the things that we seem to hear a lot in our different committees is the need for administrative assistants or a kind of human resource capacity throughout communities and also in Yellowknife, and so I'm wondering if this portion of the SEED funding, this program of the SEED funding, will be continued into the new year and become part of a staple of SEED funding? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I just want to switch now to page 220. On there, we have the Yellowknife Visitors Centre, which is kind of a status quo budget item, but we do have some changes to that still, which are the site of the Yellowknife Visitors Centre, the traditional site, which is still sitting there. I assume that this budget item is to support the alternate location for the Yellowknife Visitors Centre. I am wondering if there is a plan to have a budget item for the legacy site of the Yellowknife Visitors Centre, and if so, when we can anticipate that and what the plan is for...

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I hear what the Minister is saying, but I do think it's a lost opportunity, especially when the rest of the world is sitting at home with chequebooks waiting to fill their days with something other than Netflix. I'm going to move on, though, to SEED funding. I am wondering how many people took part or took advantage of the bookkeeping support through SEED funding? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I am happy to hear that. I am wondering: this past week, the Minister and I spoke in regard to the camping season this year, and I am wondering if there was any movement or further conversation with the department. I believe that was only two days ago, so I understand if the Minister does not have an answer to this but just in regard to a road-trip program for people doing staycations this year.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that this Legislative Assembly calls on the Government of the Northwest Territories to prioritize the review of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation as part of the government renewal initiative; and further, that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation update its mission statement and policies to reflect its role in social wellness; and furthermore, that Northwest Territories Housing Corporation must...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am ready now. Madam Chair, I see that, understandably so, there is a drop of about $2 million from the tourism and parks budget. I am wondering if, within that line item, ITI is still able to or they have already worked on kind of a robust domestic and international marketing plan for as soon as the borders do open so that we are ready to go and say to people, "Come back." Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It's interesting to me that, as someone who grew up in the North, a number of people who decided to become entrepreneurs, whether or not they're men or women, who I went to high school with. When I talk to people from different communities, people have different parts of their life that they're passionate about, and they want to be able to turn that into a business. I'm wondering if the Minister of ITI would commit to working with the Minister of ECE in order to develop high-school-based business curriculum for NWT students? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I really appreciate that information. My next question is kind of a stretch, but I think it has relevance here. My next question is actually in regard to the surface rights board, which I know is a Lands line item; it is not an ITI line item. It is $303,000 that I learned that a constituent of mine and myself almost made NWT history in almost using it, and I think that that is something that could have been mitigated by improving and formalizing a process, an internal and external process, between Lands and ITI. Right now, somebody can come to ITI, and they...