Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had the pleasure earlier today to talk about NWT films and, more importantly, the NWT Film Commission. I want to make sure, on record, to say that they are doing a great job for local residents and businesses. Their website is actually a great tool. It points out SEED money and a lot of opportunities in links in the industry to get our local industry up and running. But if you drill down a little further in the website, it talks about the mandate of the NWT Film Commission and it points out awareness of promoting the NWT to national and international film markets. Is this enough? Are these words enough? My questions are for the Minister of ITI.
Can the Minister tell us what he and his department are doing with the information gathered with the recent NWT Professional Film Forum? His department was present. His department was listening and taking notes. What does the Minister plan to do with this information?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. David Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I share the Member’s enthusiasm when it comes to the future of the film industry here in the Northwest Territories. The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment has gone a long way to getting us where we’re at today. We’ve established the website. We’ve established the Film Commission here.
The Member talked about his participation in the NWT Filmmaker and Producer Forum that was held earlier this month. We had helped out with hiring a facilitator for that event. The report and the Member talked about a number of ideas and issues that came up through that forum. We’re interested in getting that report from the consultant. Once we get that report, we are also working with our partners at Finance on a joint working group to try and look at possible incentives for the film industry here in the Northwest Territories. We’re anxious to see the report. We’re anxious to move forward.
We’ve gotten some really positive feedback just lately from producers that are filming here in the Northwest Territories and we really do believe that we will continue to see films being produced here in the Northwest Territories and continue to see that positive feedback. On our website, we’ve seen 1,800 hits just since the website’s been put into service in July of this year. We’re doing our best.
I appreciate the Minister’s enthusiasm. I think everyone in the Northwest Territories shares that enthusiasm. If we’re truly going to support the business of professional filmmaking in the NWT, we need to start treating this as a business. The GNWT needs to look at the proper infrastructure and the proper investments to help offset the very expensive budget costs of bringing film crews, bringing equipment and production into the Northwest Territories.
What are the Minister’s specific actions that he’ll be undertaking with himself and his department to deal with these so-called costs to the professional, national and international filmmakers?
I think we’ve done a lot with the website. We’ve got a number of times on there. We’ve affiliated ourselves with the Association of Film Commissioners. It’s an international organization that gives, when we use their logo on our website, us instant credibility to the industry world-wide.
As I mentioned earlier, we are working with and we have worked with ECE. We’re working with Finance. We’re trying to find a path forward. We believe that once we do get the report from the consultant that took part in the producer forum, we will be able to chart a course forward and identify areas where we feel we can improve on.
Certainly, the Member and other Regular Members, when we do start taking those next steps forward, we certainly will be looking to Members to share where we’re going next and their input will be valuable in that approach.
I do share the enthusiasm with the Minister. As we learned in my Member’s statement today, the premise of creating our own infrastructure in terms of new jobs and new opportunity and to ensure the future in our films could start with Aurora College, the Department of ECE, and proper investments from ITI in the creation of such concepts as film cultural consultants and creative staff writer courses. These positions were singled out as being imperative for professional film producers to tell their stories, to understand the land and its people, and to preserve our northern culture accurately. This, of course, was topped off with companies such as Omni Films offering a joint mentorship to advance the spectrum of this new emergent education. Would the Minister commit to work with his fellow Cabinet colleagues, his department, the Department of Finance and the industry to create this opportunity for these new positions?
We’ve been doing all of this on what amounts to a shoestring budget. Certainly, if we are going to move forward, we’re going to start talking about positions. We certainly need to look at finding some additional funds to make us get to where we need to go.
I’d like to, again, chart that course for Members, work with Members, and we want to make sure that we do this right, that we take advantage of the opportunities that are out there.
Again, the Member mentioned Omni Films. That’s been a company that’s done work here in the Northwest Territories. We need to keep getting the positive message out that the Northwest Territories is a place where people want to produce films. They want to come here and do the work. That’s something that we have a reputation for right now. In this industry your reputation means a lot. It means everything. For us, it’s very important that we maintain that good reputation, and by putting some programs in place, by looking at an implementation of film rebates, implementing a film tax credit system, or increasing a dedicated amount through the SEED program, we have to look at everything. I think we will look at everything and we’ll get this right.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, the Minister mentioned a couple of times the information report from this film forum. I think Regular Members would appreciate that and having access.
Finally, the topic that was mentioned of tax incentives. Not as prevalent as we may think, but it would also be an economic benefit for this industry. If jurisdictions like Yukon and Ontario are leading in this area, and provinces like Saskatchewan only learned that by dropping it, their film industry recently dried up, we don’t have any form of tax credit or rebate program in this industry.
Will the Minister commit to this House that he, his department, the Department of Finance will come up with a form of tax incentives, travel rebates, lodging rebates, or expenditure tax refunds to make the NWT a lead player for the future investment of the professional film industry?
Again, we are working toward that. We will continue to work with the folks at the Department of Finance. We will get that information. It’s a work in progress.
I appreciate the Member’s enthusiasm about the film industry here in the Northwest Territories and its importance to our economy here. We’re going to make sure that we get this right and continue to work with both Finance and Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
