Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My colleague the honourable Member from Yellowknife North brought up some funding dollars. Every Member on this side of the House has brought up more funding for the arts. I am going to ask the Minister again, this time from me, if he is going to hear the majority of the House and provide more funding dollars for the arts within the life of this Assembly? Thank you.

I am glad to hear there is a whole government approach. It sounds like the Minister is committing to taking this on. We have brought this issue before. Today is not the first time it is brought up. What work has he been doing to fulfill these new arts commitments that he is talking about today? I don't see anything in today's budget around the arts.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, art is a reflection on society and the aspirations, beliefs, and observations of its members. The expression and enjoyment of art is an essential element in the health of any free and democratic society. Art is not created or defined by government, and government's role is to recognize the social, cultural, economic, and spiritual contribution that art makes to our communities. These communities of individual artists, art organizations, and art consumers, they serve in a system and the achievement of these objectives.

Mr. Speaker, the reason I am talking...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to request unanimous consent to move to item 6 on the order paper, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When is the Minister going to come back to the House with all this work, tomorrow, the next day, the day after that? Can the Minister give us a timeline?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I also have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Similar to my honourable friend from Yellowknife North, I want to talk about arts as a generator of jobs. This also involves the Minister of Labour. This is an important issue. The Conference Board of Canada estimates the annual contribution of Canada's arts and culture industry is 7.4 per cent. As a gross total, that is more than Canada's mining, forestry, fishery sectors plus the Canadian Forces combined. We talk about transitioning, diversifying our economy. We have the artists...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the recipients of the Governor General's award for corrections exemplary services in correctional officers. They are here today, and I thank them for their tremendous work in our correctional facilities here, in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

I didn't get a clear answer from the Premier, there. I'm looking to see, you know, if the future of the Northwest Territories is going to be a complex one with many different levels of government and many different responsibilities. How is this government ensuring that we have an equity of service provision across the territory with the negotiation of these self-government agreements? It's important that Northerners can expect the same high-quality service from every level of government regardless of whether it's federal, territorial, or Indigenous. So what are we doing to ensure that our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the pillars of reconciliation is the drawdown of powers from governments in Canada to Indigenous self-governments, and that is, of course, a component of the work of reconciliation here in the Northwest Territories. Yet it seems that there is some resistance from this government to a true nation-to-nation relationship as it relates to GNWT funding authority and programs and services.

I would like to ask the Premier: what specific programs, services, and authorities is this government planning on negotiating in self-government drawdowns? Thank you, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Premier providing clarity on this. It seems like this current federal government is taking a very proactive approach in reconciling with Indigenous governments in Canada and Indigenous nations in Canada. Would the Premier agree with that assessment? Because it sounds like all the funding for self-government in the Northwest Territories is coming from Ottawa regardless of all the top-ups of funding that we need to ensure equity of service. Would he agree that the federal government is fulfilling its mandate towards reconciliation? Thank you.