Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a follow-up to my Member’s statement, I am gravely concerned that we’re not doing enough for our NGOs who provide critical services for the Northwest Territories. Further to this, our Executive website is now over a year old and provides no information for funding for the upcoming 2014-2015 fiscal year. We need a firm, renewed commitment from our government that sends a clear message to support our NGO sector. With that, I have questions today for the Premier.
Given the paired down Executive, which now has divested itself of devolution and the program review functions in the 2014-2015 Main Estimates, will the Premier commit to a renewed approach to NGO support and funding?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to advise the Member that in addition to the $350,000 that he referenced, this government spends millions of dollars on third-party agencies. Not only that, through the Anti-Poverty Strategy we’re going to put another $500,000 to put towards use for our NGOs. We have so many third-party agencies that we have a Third-Party Agencies Accountability Framework and to ensure consistency of dealing financially, we’ve developed criteria for determining the level of accountability and we use that accountability to determine the level of funding. Thank you.
Thank you. It’s a given that we have many NGOs offering similar programs, sometimes overlapping mandates and duplication of synergies. What is the Premier prepared to do to assist these NGOs streamline their operation and stretch our funding dollars? Thank you.
Thank you. The Government of the Northwest Territories does not prescribe NGO mandates or activities. What we do is we assist them. So with the NGO Stabilization Fund, for example, we provide short-term support to NGOs for governance, management, organizational development and extraordinary operations so that they can continue to provide the essential services.
Thank you. Will the Premier commit to developing an NGO support office similar to what we see with the BDIC, but which helps emergent NGOs get on their feet and address my earlier questions assisting existing NGOs streamline their operations and maximize their funding? Thank you.
Thank you. Yellowknife used to have a storefront for voluntary organizations and it was not very well utilized. At the end of the day it was shut down, so we’re using other processes to assist NGOs. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Premier share what the Department of Executive is doing right now, because their website is currently a little outdated, and what are they going to do to reach out and assist NGOs seeking funding for the upcoming 2014-2015 fiscal year? Thank you.
I’m not sure when the Member checked the website, but I checked it today and it looked like it was updated. But for the Member’s information, for 2013-14 there were 16 applications and 11 organizations were granted funding. For this upcoming year we have guaranteed that we will have our request for applications before the end of May and that we will have the money out before the end of July. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
