Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been in discussions and have been contacted by a constituent. This constituent is a president of one of the territorial sporting organizations that have soccer for the Northwest Territories. He has raised a number of significant concerns with me in regards to the funding and the new structure that is there. Basically, Mr. Speaker, he paints a picture of an inverted pyramid that comes down and is on the backs of a handful of very dedicated, taxed volunteers that he says are frustrated and burning out.

The president states that the organization and funding of sports and recreation is in a state of crisis in the Northwest Territories, and that the overall system is drastically under funded and the allocation of actual monies to the grassroots volunteers in the territorial sporting organizations results to less than $400,000 out of all the money that the government puts into sports. The president goes on to state that, this year, 22 out of 27 TSOs are penalized $20,000 in late fees and $89,000 in performance penalties for a total of $119,000 being removed from their collective base funding. Mr. Speaker, that comes to 50 percent of the funding for the Soccer Association. All appeals, he says, have been denied. The president goes on to state that it is a bureaucratic nightmare that is taxing volunteers to the maximum. The question is asked, what happens to the $119,000 that the TSOs are supposed to get if they don’t get it? The net effect is that there will be a negative effect on the communities, that they will have difficulty in delivering programs in their communities. He doesn’t anticipate there will be a problem in Yellowknife, but there will be in the communities. These problems have put a stranglehold on the system, he said, not allowing the system to grow or move forward.

The president goes on to point out about a serious overlap of duties between MACA and Sports North, not to mention the feud that exists between them. He suggested the system needs some serious streamlining. The net result of all this, Mr. Speaker, is a burning out of volunteers at an alarming rate. The president goes on to recognize that Sport North has become a games delivery organization, which they do very well, but they are little use to TSOs, Mr. Speaker. May I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement?

Speaker: MR. SPEAKER

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Mr. Miltenberger.

Speaker: MR. MILTENBERGER

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The president goes on to suggest that the TSOs should be dealing directly with government, as they do in other provinces. In regards to the funding and the lotteries, the president asserts that is a fallacy, almost unethical to believe, that lotteries can, or should, fund our system. They help, but the government needs to step up and commit real capital dollars to sport.

Mr. Speaker, this points to some serious questions in how do we work together in this new system to make sure we keep all the players in the tent. I will be asking the Minister questions later today in question period.

---Applause