Shane Thompson

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending and refereeing the Paul Stipdonk Memorial Soccer Tournament. It was the first time since the pandemic cancelling the last couple of years. As I stated previously in this House, this tournament is a bit unique in that we don't keep score, teams are mixed up, and we do not have a winner or loser. The focus is on the youth having fun and playing the sport; something the namesake was all about. Besides playing the sport, the youth are given the opportunity to attend a skills competition event on Saturday.

This year we had...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to have to clarify something here. Our regional recreation coordinators do go away to the communities. They do work with the schools. They do work with the recreational staff. They come in when they're invited, when they're new so they get into that there. In regards to hosting territorial events, yes, there was some confusion out there. But, again, it got fixed. Territorial organizations work with the communities to see if they want to host it, if they're able to do it, if they've got the venues, they got the places, accommodations for the food...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it was very exciting to be at the Arctic Winter Games this year. It was the first time in five years that we've had it because of COVID and the situations like that. So the department of Municipal and Community Affairs works with Sport North, the Aboriginal Sport Circle, Mackenzie Recreation Association, Beaufort Delta Recreation Association, and the Territorial Sports Organizations to develop and foster coaches and athletes in the communities. The department also supports Sport North by having the MACA regional recreation coordinators work with the...

So I got two minutes and five seconds to go here? Just joking. I'm make a commitment again. I thought I made a commitment to the second question. But, yes, I will go to the Member's I'll go with the other Ministers as well. I think the Member is doing a great job, and I'm more than willing to work with his communities on this. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

No. I'm just joking. Yes, so the process is very much communitydriven. The community needs to reach out to the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, the sport and recreation and youth coordinators. They do work out to them. And start working on it, working together. The staff is available. I can tell you from my experience in 1994 when I became the recreation development officer, I started working on the Mackenzie Rec Association, and it is a very valid organization, and so is the BDSRA. It was a very valid organization. It addressed some of the things that the Member talked about...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Municipal and Community Affairs does provide funding for 36 youth centres across the Northwest Territories under the Youth Initiative Program. We contribute about $14,000 to each facility to support their operations. MACA is committed to establishing an interdepartmental working group on youth to provide the GNWT a forum that will be able to coordinate youth programs and services to support local community priorities. And that's part of the youth strategy that we're working on.

However, the question that the Member asked, if there's a community that wishes to establish...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, this program continues to support children, primarily from the age of 0 to 5, for program opportunities to support physical literacy, an important part of development in long you know, lifelong active lifestyles. As I said previous in the other question, I can commit to work with the department and committee during the main review to consider future funding for this program. It is very important. It does some really good benefits. It starts at a young age and the work that's done in the community. So, yes, I will work with committee to review this...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, again, it just reverts to the first question. When the Member reached out to me, we had a conversation and we looked at their oneyear proposal. And one of the things we talked about was we need to expand it. We can expand it for up to three years. So I guess I can commit to a new multithreeyear agreement with the Kole Crook Fiddle Association on top of the one year we already got right now. The association submitted a proposal. We're going back and forth to fix up the second and third year again. So again, I would like to confirm that we are working on...

Thank you, and I thank the Member for that. I'm really good at TV control, the stereo. I can play the fiddle perfectly that way. I can actually find it on YouTube. I started out very young trying the fiddle, and I was told to go play sports. So I enjoy it. I enjoy the fiddle, but yeah, that's all I can say. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, with COVID pandemic moving to an endemic we are seeing the closure of events moving to opening of events. I'm happy to advise the House that Open Sky hosted its 20th festival at the beginning of September. I was able to partake in some of the events during the September long weekend. The festival is usually celebrated annually, and this was the first festival since 2019 and the beginning of the COVID pandemic.

They celebrated with a weekend full of workshops, vendors, and music. For this special festival they chose the theme of "Deh Cho Boogie" with a...