Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A couple of weeks ago I had the honour of heading into the community of Ulukhaktok with the Minister to open up our new facility for arts and crafts with the Co-op. We provide the venue for traditional crafts and fabric and other sewing materials that are hard to get.
Currently the arts and crafts centre employs two people and plans to be expanding soon. The possible applicants eventually will work on the arts and crafts in the centre. They will require some training. These workshops are taking place now and start within a week; knitting qivuit right in the community of Ulukhaktok, which is really good to see; printmaking and carving, carvings being made right on site. Eventually the community hopes it will employ six printmakers, three knitters and hopefully 10 carvers, which is all good employment and I really want to commend the Minister of ITI for all the hard work he’s put into this project.
The connections between arts and crafts and the Inuvialuit tradition are deeply connected. Traditional patterns and images on everything from cloth we wear, the sleds that we build, Mr. Speaker. When the community has pride in arts and crafts that we create of our ancestry, these creations result in a prouder community. This arts and crafts centre will be critical in preserving and promoting skills in traditional arts and crafts. If we lose these skills in the community, we lose it forever. Mr. Speaker, that would be a big loss for the Territory.
Mr. Speaker, Ulukhaktok Arts and Crafts received funding from the Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation under the Subsidy Companies Program to operate and manage costs. BDIC also provides accounting, marketing and operational support as the arts and crafts centre goes through the early stages. The arts centre will be governed by the directors selected for the community, by the community: Louie Nigiyok, Warren Wright and Pawan Chugh and Joseph Perry. Under the governance of these dedicated people -- and also Nellie Cournoyea, our CEO and chair of IRC, who was a big help in this program -- will provide employment to residents and exposure for the community...
Mr. Jacobson, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. The Arts and Crafts Centre will be governed by dedicated people and the crafts centre will continue to provide employment for the residents’ exposure, community pride in our arts and culture and preservation in traditional skills.
Again, I’d like to thank the Minister, Bob McLeod; MLA Hawkins; chair of IRC, Nellie Cournoyea; and the Co-op board, and all who have helped in this project. I know in the whole Territory, my carvers and printmakers are the best in the Territory.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
