Thank you. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I asked because this is within the fiscal year that we are currently reviewing, and it has been the desire of the Standing Committee on Social Development to address the smoking rates of young people and people who live in small communities, and that's why I'm interested to know whether this program is providing an effective intervention, in general. In those cases, in particular, I understand the Minister is committed to providing that information, so I have no further questions on this issue. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Would committee please return to the departmental summary on page 167. Does committee have any final comments or questions on this department? Seeing none, I will call this department. Health and social services, 2018-2019 Main Estimates, total department, $461,000,000. Sorry, committee, I messed up. Let's start again.
Health and social services, 2018-2019 Main Estimates, $461,563,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Does committee agree this concludes our consideration of the Department of Health and Social Services?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Thank you to the Minister. Thank you to the witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, would you please escort the witnesses from the Chamber. Committee, we've agreed to next consider Committee Report 5-18(3), report on the review of Bill 1, Western Canada Lottery Act. I will go to the chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations for any opening comments he may have. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. With your indulgence, I will also speak to Bill 1, as it is the subject of this report. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to report on its review of Bill 1: the Western Canada Lottery Act.
Bill 1, sponsored by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, repeals the existing Western Canada Lottery Act, and replaces it with a new act to establish a Northwest Territories Lottery Commission under the direction of the Minister, with the authority to enter into agreements with the Western Canada Lottery Corporation, the Government of Nunavut, and retailers.
The act also establishes a Northwest Territories Physical Activity, Sport and Recreation Fund, pursuant to Part 7 of the Financial Administration Act. This special purpose fund, which will form an account within the consolidated revenue fund, will receive proceeds from the operation of lotteries by the WCLC. The commission will be responsible for the conduct, management, and operation of lotteries, while the Minister will administer the fund and distribute proceeds for purposes related to the promotion and delivery of physical activity sport and recreation programs.
Bill 1 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on October 20, 2017, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review.
The committee held a public review of the bill on February 7, 2018. The committee received 11 written submissions and heard eight oral submissions. The hearing was extremely well-attended, and the standing committee wishes to thank members of the public for their attendance and input.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations concluded its review of Bill 1, Western Canada Lottery Act, on February 27, 2018, with the public hearing held here in the Legislative Assembly building.
At this hearing, the committee moved three motions to amend the bill. One of these motions was a non-substantive housekeeping motion; the other two motions amended the bill. One added a requirement for public year-end reporting on physical activity, sport, and recreation fund; the other removed multi-sport funding as an item for which the Minister may automatically disburse lottery funds.
The purpose of the proposed amendment is to signal that multi-sport activities will be funded, first and foremost, from the department's budget. This would not prevent the Minister from exercising the authority to supplement such funding with disbursements from the fund in appropriate circumstances.
Following the clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 1, Western Canada Lottery Act, as amended and reprinted, as ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole.
In addition to our review, the Standing Committee on Government Operations prepared a substantive report on the public comments that Members heard from the witness submissions, and also the written submissions. Committee members felt it was important to provide the substantive report as the issue of arts funding was a central topic of discussion around Bill 1, Western Canada Lottery Act.
The scope of Bill 1 did not allow for the committee to make amendments that would open up the lotteries for disbursements to arts programs; however, committee is very sensitive to the concerns of the public around arts funding, and has made recommendations to that extent.
This concludes my opening comments, Mr. Chair. Individual Members may have additional comments or questions as we proceed with consideration of committee's report. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. The general procedure is that committee Members can make general comments if they like, and the recommendations contained in the report will be moved as motions to which motions can also speak. So I will open up the floor to general comments on Committee Report 5-18(3). Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I acknowledge that the purpose of this bill was to provide protection from taxation for the lottery funds, but it turned into a different exercise, and that exercise was really about acknowledging the arts community's desire to have the access to the stable funding that the territorial sports organizations have as a result of lottery proceeds. Of course, this bill does not address that question, but I think it puts us all on notice that the arts community wants to have a strategy that lays out what they contribute to our wellbeing generally and economically and how we as a group of MLAs can help them to further their contributions in this area. I take that big public hearing we had and the written submissions in the back as notice that the arts need to be on the agenda for discussion. I think that has to be the next priority. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Any further general comments on the report? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I participated in the review of the bill sometimes as an alternate to the committee. I want to thank the chair and the committee colleagues for their hard work on the review of the bill. The chair has discussed how the scope of the bill was really limited to protecting the existing fund from taxation. I know that there was universal support from all the parties that we heard from in the standing-room-only public hearing that was held. I think that is the most people I have ever seen in Committee Room A.
I think, as my colleague from Yellowknife Centre said, this did become a venue for discussion of the needs for both the sports and recreation community and the arts community. I think it is also fair to say that it was a respectful discussion amongst all the parties. That is an important fact that I don't want anybody to lose.
I think we found other ways to begin to address some of the concerns raised by the arts community. I know that the Minister of Finance has made a commitment on the floor of this committee in previous discussion to increase the NWT Arts Council funding by $200,000. That is a welcome addition to their funding.
There has also been a commitment to carry out a comprehensive review of our support for the arts that is basically split between Education, Culture and Employment and Industry, Tourism and Investment and will consider structural changes, as well. Those are two important things that have come out of the budget that will begin to address some of the concerns that have been raised by the arts community. There is more that I think we need to pay attention to in terms of its contribution to wellbeing in all of our communities here in the Northwest Territories.
On the review of the bill itself, the two changes that have been proposed by committee, and I support them, are, firstly, to ensure that there is some greater accountability around the sports and recreation fund itself. That is partly because it is not a revolving fund, but it is a special fund. The current accountability requirements set out in the Financial Administration Act and the policy dealing with these sorts of funds, don't really require full disclosure. I think the committee members were pleased to work with the Minister on this to come up with an annual reporting requirement that is one of the additions that is now in the bill to ensure that there is greater transparency and accountability. I want to thank the Minister and her staff for the collaborative approach on changing the bill.
The other amendment was with regard to the list of designated purposes for the bill. There have been some concerns raised about the inclusion of multi-sport games as one of the defined purposes of the fund. The department also, through its appropriations, has funding for this purpose. Unfortunately, it is declining over the last couple of years and many decline again in the future. That is not something that I support. The removal of that as a specified purpose is something that I can support in terms of the bill itself. I want to encourage the department to stop those cuts, but that is a discussion to be held elsewhere.
The Minister still has the discretion to use the fund itself for multi-sport games. She did commit, during the clause-by-clause review, that the first avenue will be use of the appropriation that the department has. Secondly, she said that the next step would be to seek a supplementary appropriation. Thirdly, if necessary, the sports and recreation fund could be used to support multi-sport games. I agree with that approach. I do support the two amendments that have been proposed. I support the report coming from the committee.
The one area that I think other Members may not necessarily agree with but I am going to say it is: I think there needs to be an inclusive approach to defining the terminology of "recreation." I know there has been some work done at the national level. The committee has highlighted that work in its report.
The Minister has committed to work with the sports and recreation organizations to do some further work on that definition. I think that needs to be a public process. I would encourage the Minister to ensure that there is a more inclusive approach in defining that. Developing some guidelines, I think, around the use of the funds will ensure that they are used appropriately, but we need a more inclusive process for defining recreation.
Those are my remarks, Mr. Chair. Once again, I want to thank the committee and the Minister for their hard work on this bill. I think it has resulted in a good compromise all around. Thank you, MR. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to thank the committee for allowing me to sit in. I was not an alternate nor was I a member of the committee, but they allowed me to sit in and provide my viewpoints on this. First and foremost, I have to say that this bill with the amendments is appropriate. I think the Minister has been willing to work with the committee and made positive steps.
I guess I have to make it very clear. These are lotteries for the recreation and sports community, which has a primary focus on youth. That has to be really very clear on that. I totally support that arts needs to be funded more appropriately, but not through this fund. I could not, in good conscience, support that. That has to be focused there.
I also have a challenge with the one amendment. I appreciate that we removed the multi-sport games out of the thing there, but the discretion is still with the Minister. However, I would hope the Minister would never, ever use that discretion. I would hope that we would be able to find the funds within the department or within appropriation. I think I made it very clear in my comments, in my direction there. It needs to be focused on that area there. We need to look at the lotteries for the development in grassroots for people, youth.
As for the definition of "recreation," I really have a hard time going back and having people go out there and look for a new definition. This here is the national definition of "recreation" that was developed over two years of people working on it. It is recognized across Canada, the arts, the music, the recreation and sports world. Fortunately, I was part of the process. I saw it. I was there. Again, it took two years to come up with the definition. The government has supported that. The organizations have supported that. I really don't know if, going out for consultation on the new definition, again, we are going to change something that is already recognized nationally. That there is a concern for me, but I have had a conversation with the Minister on that there.
My colleague talked about the arts world here. I totally agree. We need to put more money into this. The arts world needs to do it. I don't want to have the sport and recreation world competing against the arts world, because that's not what it is. It's about the well-being of our residents. We need to put and find money for that. If we don't, then we're going to have that. If we thought we saw we a lot of people in the arts community into the picture, I can guarantee you if we changed our system of the Lottery Act and allowed it to open, we'd see this whole building filled with the people in the sport and recreation world.
I mean we would see thousands of people coming protesting outside there. I mean we have to be very realistic in the direction. I support the need for putting more money into the arts. I appreciate the Minister for ITI and the Minister of ECE talking about working together and developing and reviewing this. I think we need to put more money in and I thank the Minister for making that first step.
Back to the bill. I support the bill as it is presented, even though there are some things in here I don't agree with. In the overall picture for the well-being of the residents of the Northwest Territories, I have to support this. Again, I'd like to thank the Minister and department and the committee and their staff for doing a good job with this. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommend that the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs develop a funding policy which provides clear guidance as to the funding eligibility requirements, to guide the disbursement of lottery funding under the new Western Canada Lottery Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is being distributed. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Thank you. Mr. Testart.
Committee Motion 29-18(3):
Committee Report 5-18(3):
Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of Bill 1: Western Canada Lottery Act - Limits on Accumulated Deficits or Surpluses in the Physical Activity, Sport and Recreation Fund,
Mr. Chair, I move that this Assembly recommend that the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs make a submission to the Financial Management Board requesting that the Financial Management Board establish a limit on any cumulative deficit or surplus in the Physical Activity, Sport and Recreation Fund and, furthermore, that this limit be made public, shared with the Standing Committee on Government Operations, and reported upon annually by the department in its year-end reporting on the fund. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Thank you, committee. Do you agree that we have concluded consideration of Committee Report 5-18(3), Report on the Review of Bill 1: Western Canada Lottery Act?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. That concludes our consideration of the report. Next, we have agreed to consider Bill 1: Western Canada Lottery Act. I will ask the Minister responsible to introduce the bill. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the opportunity to introduce Bill: Western Canada Lottery Act.
The Western Canada Lottery program is managed and conducted by the Concern Canada Lottery Corporation on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories. Since 2009, the Sport and Recreation Council has had an agreement with the Western Canada Lottery Corporation and the Government of the Northwest Territories to conduct and manage the lottery within the Northwest Territories and to remit lottery proceeds to the Government of the Northwest Territories to be used for the purposes of sport and recreation within the territory.
In 2014, the Canada Revenue Agency provided an interpretation to the Department of Finance indicating that the proceeds of the lottery may be subject to taxation in its current format. A decision was therefore made to bring the operation of the lottery within the Government of the Northwest Territories as soon as possible.
Bill 1 achieves the goal of bringing lottery operations in-house and protecting them from possible taxation so that they remain available for programs in the Northwest Territories. The bill creates the Northwest Territories Lottery Commission within the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. The commission will be composed of Municipal and Community Affairs employees and will fulfill the role currently filled by the Sport and Recreation Council.
Together with the Western Canada Lottery Corporation, the commission will mark it and distribute Western Canada Lottery tickets and will regulate and control retailers of Western Canada Lottery tickets. The commission will also enter into agreement with the Government of Nunavut to conduct and manage the Western Canada Lottery within Nunavut. The commission will report to the Legislative Assembly as required under the planning and accountability framework.
The bill also creates the Physical Activity, Sport and Recreation Fund to handle the proceeds of the lottery. The fund is a special purchase fund the Financial Administration Act and will be held in an account forming part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund. The creation of a special purpose fund rather than a revolving fund will ensure that all lottery revenues remain available for sport and recreation and are not considered general revenue.
In order to account for fluctuating lottery revenues within a given year, the bill allows the Minister to take the fund into a deficit or a surplus position, ensuring that funding commitments can be met on a consistent and timely basis. Limits on any accumulating deficit and surplus will be set by the Financial Management Board. The Minister will table an annual report of the fund, which outline payments paid into the fund, amounts dispersed from the fund, and the balance of the fund.
The bill empowers the Minister to disperse money from the fund for the purposes set out in the bill, all related to the advancement of sport and recreation within the Northwest Territories and in accordance with any agreement with the Government of Nunavut.
Municipal and Community Affairs has consulted with the Department of Finance on the development of the bill and continues to work with the Department of Finance and the Department of Human Resources on the task of transitioning the operation of the lottery into government. Municipal and Community Affairs is also appreciative of the time that the standing committee on government operations took in reviewing the bill and proposing amendments.
Thank you, Minister. I will turn to the chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations which considered the bill for any opening comments that he may have. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have no other opening comments besides the comments I made in the review committee's report that just occurred. I believe that we are ready to proceed with review of the bill. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister, do you have witnesses you wish to bring to the Chamber?
Yes, I do.
Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, would you please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, you may join them at the witness table. Minister, would you please introduce your witnesses for the record.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my right is deputy minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Ms. Eleanor Young. On my left is Ms. Christina Brownlee, who is legislative counsel for the Department of Justice. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Welcome to the witnesses. I will open the floor to general comments on Bill 1: Western Canada Lottery Act as reprinted. Members must keep in mind that comments must remain in the scope of the bill. Do we have opening comments? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Look, I don't want to prolong this, but the Minister did say in her opening remarks that she was prepared to answer any questions about this. I want to speak to the definitions of the bill. Not what's there, but what's not. There's no definition of "recreation." The Minister at committee had talked about a process for developing a definition in collaboration with a sports and recreation organizations for the word "recreation."
The committee has now reported on this issue as well and notes in its report on page 7 that there is a framework for Recreation Canada 2015, Pathways to Well-Being, Definition of Recreation. Has the Minister had a chance to consider this definition and has she reconsidered her approach to looking at this issue of defining recreation? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I did have a chance to review the national definition of "recreation" and I agree with the national definition, but my issue is that it is pretty broad. The framework that goes on to define it a little bit more concise. What I committed to doing was to bring the definition to the five sports and recreation organizations. At that point, we will look at the national definition, decide if we will accept it as is, if we need to expand it, if we need to do more measurable outcomes within that. That process will continue. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that from the Minister. Look, I agree that this national definition is a good starting point. I'd probably be happy even with this.
She's talked about how she's going to work with these sports and recreation organizations to talk to them about this definition of "recreation." Is the Minister prepared to include others in that process, more specifically, the arts community? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I said in committee that I would bring that to the five sports and recreation organizations. I will put it on the table when we meet with them if they want to open it up to a broader sector. It is important to recognize, as one of the MLAs stated, that this funding is really specifically, and has in the past been specifically, for children and youth within the Northwest Territories. The arts sector is bigger than that and actually tends to be lot more adult-focused.
I will commit to bringing it to this sector to the five organizations. We will discuss the option of opening it up further. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, that's consistent with what the Minister said at committee. Again, I would encourage her to expand the scope of those consultations to be more inclusive and include the arts community. Look, I support the use of these funds for, as one of my colleagues had talked about, youth-focused activities. You're probably going to have to face or deal with this question in terms of the first recommendation from the standing committee. I just want to go on record as encouraging the Minister to have a more inclusive approach in looking at this issue and defining recreation and the focus of how the funds will be used into the future.
I'm not suggesting that they be used for other purposes, but recreation is quite broad. The Minister has recognized that herself. I think that we would be better served by having a more inclusive approach on that, and I want to continue to encourage the Minister to do that. Thanks. That's all I have, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Thank you. Anything further? Seeing none, we will proceed to a clause-by-clause review of the bill. Committee, we will defer the bill number in title until after consideration of the clauses.
Please turn to page three of the bill, which can be found in your legislation binders. I will read out each clause. If committee agrees, please indicate. Clause 1.
---Clauses 1 through 10 inclusive approved
Thank you. Clause 11. Committee, to the Bill as a whole, does committee agree that Bill 1: Western Canada Lottery Act, as reprinted, is now ready for a third reading?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Bill 1 is now ready for third reading. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 1?
Agreed.
