Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, as a Member, it is sometimes difficult. We end up critiquing many things in the budget and sometimes we don’t take a minute to say thank you for some of the great things that are being done in this government. In my humble opinion, this division – sport, recreation and youth – is definitely under thanked many times, even though we get to see them in action out in the communities, especially our Youth Ambassador Program, by watching the kids do such a fantastic job, especially in the Summer Games and we are waiting for the upcoming Arctic Winter Games in Alaska. I just want to, again, commend the department on doing a great job here. If I could find money, I would definitely put it in this area. This would be a definite return on our investment. Given our obesity rates that I keep talking about and everything else that is kind of a barrier for us to become healthy, this is one area where we should be spending more money and more attention.
I do have a question. Most recently, the Yukon launched their sport school. This is a school that involves an accelerated version of the academic component and integrating it with a number of different sports to create, in essence, a kind of “own the podium” within the framework of education. I have asked similar questions to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and there seemed to be a willingness to consider some research in this area.
My question to the Minister and delegation here is: Has the department considered and done the research? Have they seen exactly what the Yukon school has offered? If so, is there a likelihood that we could see something of similar value instilled here in the Northwest Territories in some of our communities? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We appreciate the Member’s comments on some of the good work that this division does. I think we see the results. I am always proud of the fact that when we go to the Arctic Winter Games, in the last couple of games that I’ve been to, 27 of the 33 communities are represented by athletes. I think it speaks volumes to the fact that our folks are getting the programming out in the communities and they’re going from community to community and having all of these Get Active programs. We appreciate the comments.
You can’t say enough good things about the Youth Ambassador Program. I totally agree with the Member there.
We have had very preliminary discussions. Actually, I just had a meeting with a couple of folks over at Sport North last week I believe it was. We made some preliminary discussions. We were just chatting back and forth. In our discussions, I think some of this is tied in with the fact that Northwest Territories, Yellowknife in particular, is going to be hosting the 2023 Canada Winter Games, so there are opportunities there for us to have a look at programs like this. We haven’t seen the Yukon model yet and I’m sure we will have opportunity to look at that. So we have to ensure that we do all our homework and put a program in place that is not only best for the Northwest Territories but what is good for the kids and their own personal development. I think there is some merit to it, I just think we need to look into it a little further and be prepared to own the podium in 2023. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Next on my list I have Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m sorry; I have the wrong page up.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Committee, we are on page 6-33, activity summary, sport, recreation and youth, operations expenditure summary, $5.42 million.
Agreed.
Page 6-34, activity summary, sport, recreation and youth, grants and contributions, $3.607 million. Sorry; that is all the way to page 6.35. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to comment on the high performance athlete grant for $100,000. I know that is super appreciated by our athletes that are now competing, and winning, at the national and Olympic level. I am wondering if there has been any thought to increasing that, given the levels that our athletes are competing at and the number of athletes that we are starting to see. You know, just in the last year I can think of constituents that have won Western Canada and national championships in their sports. I know many of us could say similar sorts of things, so is it time to relook at that and see if there is opportunity for an increase there? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I totally agree with the Member that we are seeing a number of our athletes compete at a higher level now, and again with the fact that we do have the Canada Games coming in 2023 – and it seems like a long time away, but as we all know, it will come awfully quick – I think there are opportunities there for us to develop a lot of our high performance athletes, starting with the community level and as they go through the system.
During the upcoming business plans, there are opportunities there for us to have this discussion as to whether we could increase this or not, because I think the last list I saw we had quite a large number of our athletes were accessing this program. I think we had four or five of them that were competing at almost the international level, then we had a number of them that were competing nationally, so I think we should use the business planning cycle that is coming up to have discussion as to increasing this amount. We are always willing to increase it with committee’s support. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, thanks to the Minister. I guess I agree that it would be worthy to have that discussion. What would be useful would be to know the number of applicants we have had in recent years and the amount that they have applied for, just to get a trend and see what’s happening. I think the Minister started to provide that information in a general way, so it would be good to have that in advance of those discussions. That’s all I had.
[Microphone turned off] …provide some of that information. I can tell you in the last couple of years we had 35 applicants in 2012-13 for a total of $105,850, in 2011-12 we had 34 athletes come out with $98,050. I think as we go into discussions during the business planning cycle, we could probably break them out there. I’m not sure about providing the names, we’d have to check on that, but we can provide whether they are competing internationally. We’ll try to provide as much information as we can so we can have a pretty detailed discussion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Next on my list I have Ms. Bisaro, followed by Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to echo Mr. Bromley; I had the same questions. I am really pleased to hear that the department is willing to look at this because it has been a number or years where it has sat at the same level, so I’m glad that there is an opportunity to perhaps increase it.
My question on this page has to do with the youth corps money. I see that the department has changed the descriptions of various things somewhat and made them more obvious, so I don’t have to ask the question about what things mean, but I do notice that on page 34 we have $675,000 for youth corps, then again on page 6-41 there is $500,000 for youth corps and the description seems to be exactly the same. I’m just wondering why we have money in two different parts of the department, some in sport, recreation and youth and some under regional operations. Are these two different programs, or is it one program and the money is just split up? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister Miltenberger.
I’m just committing money here, so I can’t be Minister Miltenberger.
The Member is correct; there is one pot of money divided into two. The $500,000, when we get to 6-41, is regional programs and the $675,000 is territorial initiatives, so there are regional initiatives and territorial initiatives. It’s the same pot of money and I know you are going to ask the question, well, can’t you just combine them. If we combine them, you will tell me, well, can’t you break them out and provide us more detail. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Thanks for thinking for the Member, but I think the Member has another question.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Member has no comment. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Next I have Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. These line items are unusual in the fact that they are exactly all the same in the actual and revised estimates as well. I’m just wondering: is that because these programs are fully subscribed?
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Member is correct; they are fully subscribed.
Mr. Chairman, that was my next question. Are all these programs fully subscribed, because I, as well, wanted to kind of build on the momentum of our NWT and northern athletes, especially the one from Alberta as well. I think a lot of the children saw it, as well, so how can we continue that momentum as we develop our northern youth and northern athletes? I don’t know if there is movement in the federal area, as well, to help out with the future Canadian athletes. Like I said, if there is a question there, that will be the one.
Mr. Chairman, our federal contribution has not really changed much over the years, but the federal government is actually starting to help with some of the travel costs of sending our athletes to the games, like the Arctic Winter Games. The North American Indigenous Games, my understanding is that they have decided to assist with travel costs to get our team down to Regina. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Committee, we are on page 6-35, activity summary, sport, recreation and youth, grants and contributions, $3.607 million. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You did say 6-35? Yes, on the Healthy Choices Initiative, I see that has increased a bit here. Generally I’m supportive of this sort of work. I just want to mention that there is a lot of research coming out, you can hear it on the radio these days, CBC, on how the effectiveness of learning programs and physical activity conducted outdoors has exceptional benefits above indoors, both for academic and physical activity. There’s something that’s more calming and has some unexpected attributes. I know this is probably an application type of fund and I’m wondering if the Minister would look into that and consider giving extra points to those proposals that are for outdoor programs recognizing that research if it holds up to the Minister’s scrutiny? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That’s something that we could look at, but I can tell the Member that from the applications and the money that we allocate, a lot of this money goes to programs such as the Member is describing and we normally have a list where a lot of the money went. I can say that a lot of the money did go to, it actually went throughout the whole Northwest Territories. It doesn’t really have it broken down as to what the actual activity was, but I’m sure we’d be able to find some of that information and share it with committee, but I do know there’s a pretty good balance there. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Committee, we are on page 6-35, activity summary, sport, recreation and youth, grants and contributions, $3.607 million.
Agreed.
Page 6-36, information item, sport, recreation and youth, active positions. Questions?
Agreed.
Page 6-39, activity summary, regional operations, operations expenditure summary, $80.980 million. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. With regard to the community government grants and contributions at the bottom of this page, there has been an increase from ’12-13 to ’13-14 and then again in ’14-15, so is this like a cost of living increase or is it for some other reason? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is all as a result of forced growth with community O and M funding and the water and sewer funding and grants-in-lieu of property taxes so it’s all forced growth. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks to the Minister. So, do communities apply or is this a fixed percentage of forced growth that goes to every community across the board? Thanks.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Director Schauerte.
The funding in these particular areas is not application based. It’s provided to community governments through contribution agreements established early in the fiscal year. The formulas for the particular programs are contained within the policy base for this and it’s those formulas that dictate the proportion that each community government receives for each respective program.
Thank you, Director Schauerte. Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks to Mr. Schauerte. I guess I’m trying to understand, it’s based on a formula, that I understand, but if it’s forced growth, how does the formula address forced growth? I mean, generally if there’s a formula, you’ve got a pot of money and you apply the formula and divvy it up to the communities, but this explanation suggests to me that the communities are indicating forced growth and, therefore, the pot of money increases, so I’m just trying to reconcile how this works. Thank you.
Thank you. There are factors within the formulas that recognize community-specific factors. For example, the cost of fuel or population changes over time. It’s those community-specific factors that determine the need for the community government relative to the operation of water and sewer or O and M funding, so when those community-specific factors are taken into the overall need of community governments, that’s what establishes the department’s forced growth ask on a go-forward basis and when we receive forced growth it’s applied back into the allocations to community governments.
Thanks to Mr. Schauerte. That’s great. That’s all I have.
Thank you. Committee, we’re on page 6-39, activity summary, regional operations, operations expenditure summary, $80.980 million.
Agreed.
Page 6-40, activity summary, regional operations, grants and contributions. Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I have a couple of questions here. The first one, the grants-in-lieu of taxes has increased quite a bit, about $600,000. Could I get an explanation of the rationale for the increase in this? Thanks.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Director Schauerte.
