Thank you, Mr. Chair. It would have to be calculated on the type of games, where the games are going to be held, and who is all going to be involved, so I can't give a dollar figure at this moment. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wish we could get more information on that, but I understand that you've got to do your homework before you can tell us how much it is. I will move on to my next topic, which is the Youth Leadership Strategy. I understand that the department intends to renew its Youth Leadership Strategy in 2019-2020. What will this work involve? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We will be renewing the strategy for 2019-2020. Creating an NWT youth advisory group is one thing that we are looking at during this process. Obviously, it falls under one of our commitments. We do have funding that is in place for certain programs, as the Member is well aware, obviously, the Children and Youth Resiliency Program, Regional Youth Sports Events, working with our youth centres, Youth Corps, Youth Contributions Program. This is something that we are definitely going to be working on with our partners in terms of developing a strategy moving forward. We want to definitely hear from people who are on the front lines and not create a strategy from government alone, but making sure that everyone that has had a stake in working with youth over the years, and you, as the chair of standing committee, who has worked a number of years with youth, definitely have that input moving forward. Once the strategy is drafted, we will obviously share it with committee to get input and feedback. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Minister talked about a youth council, and he did talk about it in the House. What work has been done? Is it still in the preliminary stages, or have we actually seen work being moved forward in this area? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, we always continue to support our partner stakeholders that do work and have youth representatives, whether it is in sport, recreation, or other youth initiatives. We continue to support our partners, whether it is territorial or national. Moving forward, this is something that was brought up in the May/June sitting, developing a council. I know that the federal government has a strong interest in this, and it is something that we are starting to move on. In terms of an update, I would have to get more detail in terms of where we are with that. We do need to develop a strategy first and then start looking at this youth council. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson, closing comments?
Yes, just a quick question. Will the Minister share the update with us as soon as he gets it from the department? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Briefly, Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As we have heard and as we have deliberated through the MACA department, there is a lot going on within our department right now. As you know, a lot of our staff are currently down at the Canada Winter Games. I am sure that, once that slows down, we will be able to put more focus on the youth strategy, as well as getting that youth council together. Definitely, as soon as we get that information, we will be sharing it with committee. Thank you.
Thank you for that commitment. Next, Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Minister knows that a little while ago I raised in this House the issue with regard to the NWT SPCA making applications or at least inquiries to apply for the Non-Government Organization Stabilization Fund. I am not going to make any kind of monetary ask here today on behalf of that organization, but I do want to get some clarification where I can. I think, first of all, we can recognize that the SPCA does provide a number of services, and they provide it to over 30 communities in the territory. This is an organization that raises somewhere in the neighbourhood of about $600,000 a year in revenue, but they also generate about $800,000 a year in expenses. The difference is covered by donations and by in-kind services and volunteer fundraising. They have to do that year over year. If they don't, then they are at risk of closing their doors and not being able to provide these critical services.
Mr. Chair, interestingly enough, the Government of the Northwest Territories has what is called a Dog Act, in fact. It is a 15-page act that describes within it things relevant to duty of care, dogs in distress, abandoned dogs, protection of dogs, custody of dogs, veterinarian services, and interim custody. These are a lot of the services that sometimes end up falling on the lap of the SPCA when owners disregard their dogs or, for whatever variety of reasons, there is the need for attention for these annals. I guess the point that I am trying to raise is: how can an organization that I think most people would agree is really providing such good and critical services to our territory not be eligible to apply for stabilization funding? The answer is that one of the criteria says that, if in Yellowknife, you must be receiving $50,000 or more in funding from GNWT annually. I find it difficult to understand: how shall the SPCA get other funding from our departments, doing work for other departments, I suppose, to make themselves eligible to get stabilization funding? Can the Minister at least start, maybe, on providing us some insight on how an organization like the NWT SPCA can work its way toward being eligible for stabilization funding? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. It is a little off-topic to ask the Minister to talk about funding sources from other departments, but I will give the Minister a chance to respond here. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As the Member knows, we had a good back-and-forth there last week on this topic, the GNWT did provide a one-time funding source for the SPCA. We also know that it is the responsibility of the municipalities. I did commit to the Member, when he did have this question, that I will be bringing it up this weekend to the NWTAC, as it is a concern, not only here in Yellowknife, but right across the Northwest Territories, and we do appreciate the work that the NWT SPCA does. We will continue to find ways. I know we have met with them. If there are other funding sources that they can apply to, we would be more than willing to share that information with them. As I mentioned, Mr. Chair, I did commit that this weekend, when I do sit down with the membership of the NWTAC I will be bringing this forward and seeing how we can find a solution. I will make sure I follow up on that commitment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Vanthuyne.
All right. Well, that is greatly appreciated, and I hope that they can be some meaningful discussions that actually result in a path forward for the SPCA to be able to access some degree of GNWT funding. With respect to the Chair, it is outlined actually in here, in the criteria with regard to eligibility for the stabilization funding, that, if in Yellowknife, you have to receive $50,000 or more in funding from the GNWT annually. So that is the reason why I raised it. It didn't mean to drag in other departments or whatever for it. I know you can't speak on their behalf, but I do know this much, and that is that the SPCA, while providing good services, is not necessarily tied and/or linked by contracts of any kind with municipalities, so that might be one of the things that you are going to want to raise with the NWT Association of Communities. They are a stand-alone, registered society, non-profit NGO, what have you, that provides a multitude of services and not necessarily do they have links to the communities for which they provide services in.
I think at the end of the day, one thing that you could suggest, too, is that, while they are not receiving funds from any other government department, that actually could be considered a good thing in that they are not being a burden upon any of our finances but that they would certainly appreciate getting supports that are similar to those that are given to NGOs through the stabilization funding. You know, NGOs, this will assist them with management, governance, organizational development, extraordinary operations. These are clearly things that an organization like the SPCA could use assistance with. So one of the recommendations that I will make, and you can take it if you like, is that I would suggest that in circumstances where the consideration might be made is that this $50,000 requirement, of having to receive funds from other GNWT departments, be scratched because I think we need to commend those NGOs that don't require assistance from the government. If they are able to operate on their own, but then, when they come to us for a little bit of assistance, we shouldn't be burdening them with the idea that, "Well, you have to be receiving other GNWT funding to the extent of $50,000 in order to be eligible for this pot." So I would just ask that the Minister and his department take that into consideration as they move into discussions with the communities and others with regard to potentially finding resources, funding resources, for the SPCA. Those are my comments. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Would the Minister care to respond?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think all of Cabinet, I think all Members, have heard. I will definitely look at the policy. I think a good-news story on this one is that we have increased the funding to the NGO Stabilization Fund, but it is something that we do need to also look at. Thank you.
Thank you. Is there anything further from Mr. Vanthuyne? Nothing further. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just need to clear something up in the response from the Minister just now, responding to the honourable Member from Nahendeh. The Minister said that, on the multi-sports thing, they would look internally first, before a supplementary appropriation was brought forward for the multi-sport section, which was deleted from the budget this year. We spent a lot of time as committee members talking about that, and we have talked to the Minister of Finance. We had an agreement that that will be brought forward in the supplementary appropriation for the actuals, so I need that cleared up. With one response, the Minister has put us back to where we are looking for the money internally. Our committee, priorities in planning, had said that we didn't agree with that, that it had to be coming through a supplementary appropriation in order to move forward. That is what the Minister of Finance agreed with prior to starting the budget deliberations. I need the Minister to clear that up for us. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the Member for seeking more clarity on that. Yes, we would be looking at a supplementary appropriation, For clarity, yes, a confirmation. Thank you.
Thank you for that clarification. Anything further from Mr. Beaulieu?
Okay, thank you, and I guess I didn't hear the full thing. Again, this is based on actual costs of the multi-sport events? Thank you.
Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, that is correct.
Thank you. Mr. Beaulieu.
Nothing further, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Municipal and Community Affairs; sport, recreation and youth; operations expenditure summary, $5,442,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We have a couple of information items at the end. Mr. Beaulieu, to the information item.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a question on the information item on page number 362, referred to as, "New Building Canada Plan – Small Community Fund." My understanding is that Building Canada Plan has a different meaning for a small community. My understanding is that the small community fund is for communities over 10,000/under 100,000 population. I would like to ask the Minister if my understanding is correct. Thank you.
Thank you. Ms. Young.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, for the Northwest Territories agreement, the Building Canada funding under the Small Communities Fund is available to all communities, and we have an allocation identified for each community under that funding program. So each community had access to that program under the agreement with the NWT. In southern Canada, it was only communities under 100,000 that were able to apply for the Small Communities Fund, but we had a different interpretation for the bilateral in the North. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you. That is what I said. I thought it was under 100,000 but over 10,000, so what the deputy is saying is that they have removed the bottom, so it is from 100,000 to 44? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is correct in terms of the Small Communities Fund. What I can do and will commit to is I will share the information and the allocations of that funding with Members so that they know what their communities are getting in their ridings.
Thank you. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe that, if it is allocated to all the communities in the Northwest Territories, I am fine with that. I don't necessarily need to see it in writing. A commitment here is sufficient as far as I am concerned. Maybe, if the Minister wishes, share it with other Members. I just knew that that was the criteria at one point when we looked at this fund, when it first came out. The only community that was eligible for this was Yellowknife, and so, at one point, all of the money in this fund went into Yellowknife. So, since then, obviously there has been a change at the federal level, so I suppose that it is now going to all communities. If it is going to all communities, I am happy with that. Thank you.
Thank you for that. Minister, would you like to respond at all?
If any of the Members want to see the allocations for the riding, just send us an e-mail. Actually, we could just get this out to everyone, just so you know where the allocations are going and what projects are in their communities. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Nakimayak.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On page 362, on the information items, I see that national disaster mitigation for Tuktoyaktuk was $48,000. I'd just like to get a little update on that, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is right. There is an agreement with the Government of Canada to support the Flood and Shoreline Erosion Mitigation Plan for the community of Tuktoyaktuk under the National Disaster Mitigation Program. We continue to work with the federal government and, as I mentioned, I was at an FTP meeting not too long ago where we were focusing on trying to get more support for some of these types of federal dollars. I do believe that it should be completed in March. Obviously, we just had a new election in Tuktoyaktuk not too long ago, and we are just getting their new elected officials and staff updated on the application and the plan that was submitted to the federal government, and we will continue to work with them to address that concern.
Thank you. Mr. Nakimayak.
