R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And Mr. Speaker knows all about this. I recall in the last Assembly, this hit his constituents hard because there was an increase in fuel prices that was quite abrupt and the change in the way that this was funded didn't quite account for that. So what we did last year, actually, was we increased the amount that seniors are eligible for, and Members in this House should remember that. So there was an increase.

And I also want to say that despite the fact that there is a monetary amount now associated with this, there is a cap. A number of instances have come across my...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is one person in the GNWT who, as part of their duties, works with the arts council to distribute that money. That is not enough money to fund an executive director and an office in downtown Yellowknife, never mind the additional funds for travel for everything else. So no, at this point I'm not willing to do that. It would not be a good use of our funds.

There's other jurisdictions in Canada who operate in the same manner that we do. We are not unique in this sense so it's not like there is one gold standard for arts councils. So at this point, I'm not willing to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is being looked into. The Member points out most I think we're probably the only jurisdiction that funds 100 percent of museum. This is not the way it works. Most museums in most jurisdictions are funded by organizations outside of government who can access millions of dollars from the federal government, from private organizations, etcetera. So yes, we are looking into this.

We have to keep in mind that the Prince of Wales also contains a significant amount of office space for the GNWT and it contains the territorial archives. So there are considerations, but it's...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I expect the earliest those programs could be reinstated would be the 2023-2024 school year, so not the upcoming school year that would begin in September 2022 but the following year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recommend perhaps a written question or sending these to my office because I don't have that information on hand either; I apologize. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, you know, what the Member's talking about, it might be, I'm not going to infer too much, but I think the engagement on the arts strategy, and she's right, what we heard, we want more funding, more infrastructure, more of basically everything. And the fact is that we can't build a plan based on just more of everything. So we need to go out and say this is what we have now. These are the pots of money that we have. This is how we fund artists. Is this working? Is this pot of money working? And then from there we determine perhaps we can put money elsewhere, and it...

Thank you, Madam Chair. We have director of legislation division, Christina Duffy, and director of Aurora College Transformation, Dr. Chris Joseph. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The work has begun under the arts strategy to look at the programs, look at how we fund different organizations, and that is the work to determine whether or not something like an arts council would be the way to go.

We provide more funding for the arts and culture in the Northwest Territories than any other jurisdiction in Canada per capita outside of the Yukon. So it's not like we are not providing these supports. But we also provide we spend twice as much on education per capita as the rest of Canada, three times as much on policing. I don't know how much more on...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 41, Justice Administration Statutes Amendment Act, be read for the second time.

This act amends three statutes administered by the Department of Justice. It amends the Jury Act and the Summary Conviction Procedures Act to reflect changes made to the Criminal Code of Canada. It further amends the Summary Conviction Procedures Act to clarify the role of the Attorney General for the Northwest Territories under that act. It also amends the Partnership and Business Names Act to recognize the authority of an Indian...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a separate process, but it is still income security staff so they are able to assist with that.

I want to point out that this is one of the reasons why the department is dedicated to creating a separate stream for seniors in terms of income security because why should someone have to go and apply for multiple things to get one thing. So that work is ongoing and should come to fruition before the end of this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.