Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. There is no report that is distributed, but it is measured by the need of the programs. I am trying to think of an example; I'm going to say sports and recreation. We did offer that program. We did offer the land administration program, and then we did end up looking at I don't want to say re-evaluating. I want to be very careful in the choice of words that I have, but looking at the success of the programs is how I would put it. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Can I get, if the Minister doesn't have it now, a commitment to come back with how many people take and have taken School of Community Government courses, essentially? I know there are lots of courses in different areas, but I want to know how much it is utilized. The number of students, I guess they would be called. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I will provide that information to the Member. I just want to say that the other thing, too, is that, for the School of Community Government, it is designed to support the municipalities at the local level. I just also want to kind of explain that we do have a number of employees who work at the community level who are hired by the chief, the council, and there is a limited amount of education that is acquired, I want to say, at the community level. There is a lot of work experience, and that's where the School of Community Government accommodates and recognizes those years of service, as well, at the community level. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I think perhaps, once the Minister has compiled some information, the appropriate committee could request a briefing on this. Also, what I'm looking to get from the Minister is, I know this was spoken to previously, but how the School of Community Government fits in with Aurora College. If Aurora College plans to teach Indigenous governments as one of its core courses, to me, it doesn't make sense to have the School of Community Government using the CIRNAC funding to have a competing course. Can the Minister speak to the plans of any changes or the role of the School of Community Government with Aurora College or at least provide that information in writing? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I could provide that information, but I also just want to emphasize that, with the School of Community Government and the courses that are being offered, it is recognized as work experience where, if we were to apply at Aurora College, you would have to have a certain certification and courses to get into certain programming. For the School of Community Government, it's recognized for on-the-job training. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Is the Minister willing to do some sort of evaluation or, if there has been one, share it? I'm just a little confused about what we're doing. I have no sense of whether the School of Community Government is worth $3 million; whether the 37 staff here are giving training to 100 people a year, 400 people a year; or whether this should be consumed by the college. I just want to try to get a sense of whether this is good value for money, so if there has been an evaluation of the school and all of its work that could be shared or if there are plans to do one. Thank you, Madam Chair. No more questions.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to offer a briefing to the committee, as well, to look at the School of Community Government, but I really want to bring the Member back to living in a smaller community and looking at the elects of the chief and the council and the responsibility and the support that MACA provides for education and training at that level. Also, to recognize that we do have a limited amount of education that is acquired at the community level, and through this way, they are able to acquire certification that is recognizable for jobs for themselves. It's also about building capacity, as well. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.
No. No further questions.
Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. Can the Minister tell me, the text here describing the activity talks about how this is, "Local governance capacity building through partnerships with government departments, Indigenous governments and territorial organizations, professional associations, and educational institutes," but it doesn't really clearly say: are the courses that are offered here open to Indigenous government employees? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister of MACA.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The programs are offered to residents of the Northwest Territories, but specifically for the municipalities within the territory. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I don't think that answered my question. Are the courses open to employees of Indigenous governments, like First Nation councils? Say, a finance director for a First Nation, or I don't know, I'll just pick a community, Lutselk'e or Nahanni Butte, who looks after the power plant or some community government infrastructure. Are these courses open to those sorts of individuals? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, they are. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. Are these courses open to NGOs, non-governmental organizations, and their staff? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, they are.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. Are these courses offered like an individual has to pay a fee, or they are sponsored, or MACA picks up all the costs? How does that work? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The courses are applied to and there is a fee that is required, as well. I will have Ms. Eleanor Young elaborate on further details. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Deputy Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just very quickly, there are fees for most courses, but they are very nominal, $50 a day up to a maximum of $300 per course. Some courses run five to ten days. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Deputy Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I, too, would be interested in getting a briefing. I will leave it at that. Nothing further. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Any further questions under School of Community Government? Seeing none, please turn to page 352. Municipal and Community Affairs, School of Community Government, operations expenditure summary, 2021-2022 Main Estimates, $2,933,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. We will go to sports, recreation, and youth beginning on page 355, with information items on page 359 until the end, which is page 363. Questions? Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I was just looking at the sport and recreation funding line, which seems to have jumped around a little bit over the last few years. I am wondering if the Minister can speak to that a little bit. I am guessing that last year there was an influx of cash from the federal government for COVID-related expenses, and I am wondering if the Minister can elaborate. Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I will have Mr. Gary Schauerte elaborate on the influx of funding.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Schauerte.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The change in the revised estimates from the Main Estimates 2020-2021 reflects the COVID money that we received from Canada, $1.8 million. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Schauerte. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Just to echo the messaging from the Member for Nunakput in regards to getting our kids in communities active and making sure that kids have stuff to do, I believe that that is a huge portion of mental health. Mental health is not just having phone numbers for kids to call. Mental health is keeping kids active and making sure that they have things to do in all of our 33 communities. I am a little bit concerned when I look at, for example, the travel line item down below. That's substantially higher than our sport and recreation number up above. I am wondering if the Minister can speak to what exactly this sport and recreaction line pays for. Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister of MACA.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I will have Mr. Gary Schauerte respond to the travel of $456,000. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Schauerte.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Part of our travel budget related to sport and recreation also appears under regional ops. We do have employees in all regional offices that support community-based recreation programming. We have staff travelling into communities on a regular basis. This travel money will also support other programs, like the Youth Ambassador Program. That's a program where we bring youth together for a targeted volunteer experience where they may travel to a special event. Typically, we would take youth from our communities who may not be part of a multisport games team or their background might not be athletics, but they still want to go to these major events. The Youth Ambassador Program has opened the door for a number of kids from communities to be able to travel outside of other program dollars.
This also supports our effort to manage things like multisport games that are held in locations outside of our community. They could be southern-based, or they could be international-based. Every time we take 300 kids to a major event, there are a number of staff that need to go to something like that to provide the oversight and ensure that our athletes are safe when they travel to those events. The travel dollars in this program area support the implementation of the programming and, in some cases, the participants who are in those programs. Thank you, Madam Chair.
