Caitlin Cleveland

Mr. Speaker, our ability to foster art preservation, creation, celebration, and sales is key to our territory's success. Art is far more than a thing of beauty. It connects people to themselves, one another, and tradition. Art is vital to our wellbeing and our shared and individual histories.

According to the NWT art's website, there are 912 registered artists across the territory. The preCOVID estimated economic value of NWT arts is a mere $7.2 million. Comparably, the Yukon arts generated $12.9 million and, inspirationally, BC generated $2.6 billion.

In the last year, social media has become...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories implement homeownership programs with personscentered case management to navigate the complex northern housing environment, including mortgage financing, land tenure and affordable home insurance. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories work with community partners to create an indeterminate communitybased preventive maintenance program for homeowners. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories partner with the northern private sector nonprofit and Indigenous governments to develop government lease agreements to support access to financing for the development of housing stock and programs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories increase access to titled land to help homeowners and landlords meet financing and insurance obligations in the NWT communities. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I think that there's some great precedent already within ITI. We have the fur program which works quite well and has been very successful. My last question for the Minister, then, is would the Minister of ITI, given that they do have the film commission and they do have support for entrepreneurs of the arts, would they support an independent arm's length council? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you for the opportunity to speak to this document.

After a year, the NWT was expecting a gold plan to guide the NWT through economic recovery. The NWT expected a transformative document that would detail specific actions with creditable budget lines and timelines. Without these, it makes it difficult for our side of the House to hold the other side of the House accountable. Identifying broadly what sectors the government wanted to focus isn't enough. People want to know how the government is going to create an impact. And for example, what longstanding...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'm very excited about that program. And I'd like to offer, as a Member of standing committee that will be going into communities, to take any of that information into communities with me and I think that MLAs can be a really good resource to get information out on that.

So I guess I'm wondering, too, does ITI know who the primary markets are for NWT arts and who they're trying to attract to purchase more NWT art and who's already paying attention? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories expand and develop the current home insurance benefit allowance to support future and existing homeowners. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has the capacity to complete this work during the length of the 19th Assembly? Thank you.