Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, looking at some documents given to various partners regarding the Western Canada Lottery Program Funding Framework. I notice the department is looking at a five-year average and not a three-year average on giving their supplement, or their funding. This doesn't seem fair, as the lotteries during the 2012 to 2014 fiscal years were not as successful as the past three years. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister direct her department to go back and do the recalculations based on the past three years' deal that they had with the Sport and Recreation Council? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Actually, at this point we won't consider to go back and look at lowering the average of the years, and that is based on knowledge that we have. The Sport and Recreation Council used to control the funding, and their contributions for 2014 to 2017, so that was the three years, were based on ticket sale projections that were not achieved. This resulted in reduced contributions for 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. So using the five-year base for the funding is actually more appropriate; people can more count on what they're getting. So we have promised to every organization that they will actually get the same amount of funding they got last year regardless, and we are projecting that there will be more funding for the organizations based on the tax savings that we will be taking in. So at this point, no. We will look at it after a year or two, but right now we will not do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for her answer. I'm a little disappointed that they won't look at it, because I know the lotteries and they seem to continue to grow. So I'm hoping that at least we can look at it a couple of years down the road anyway. In looking at the proposed allocation of lottery dollars, it seems to be weighted heavily towards the sports sector. This needs to be explained. Can the Minister please explain how the lottery dollars are being invested and the rationale used by the department to make these decisions?
As the Members may know, taking in the lottery funding into the governance of the Northwest Territories is a new endeavour that we're doing. It is basically to save the taxation that may come out if we leave it within an independent organization. So that will result in hopefully about $1 million in savings that we might have had to pay for taxation.
So like I had said previously, we have promised that the Sport and Rec programming will receive the same amount of funding for this year, and probably more. Given that many of the organizations that we work with actually provide both sport and rec programming, the department will monitor future allocations and make necessary adjustments in the future.
I would like to, again, thank the Minister for her answer. The funding framework that I have received from various organizations, I've noticed that 80 per cent of the lotteries over $5.1 million will be allocated towards multi-sport games. In my opinion, this doesn't address needs for more inclusive and substantial sport and recreation physical activity programs. I firmly believe that we need to develop a more inclusive program for women, girls, and older adults. Will the Minister have her department re-look at this decision of putting the money back into new initiatives that look at these areas of concerns, plus maybe some arts and culture programs that can be offered by these organizations?
Yes. At this point, yes, we will be. We actually have already called a meeting of the five sports organizations, so we're going to sit down, we're going to talk about the overlap that there may be and gaps within services and to try to help them with their long-term planning and also the planning that we need to do within the MACA, Municipal and Community Affairs, itself. So, yes, I can commit to that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
I'd like to thank the Minister for her answer. I believe these organizations are going to be very happy to hear that. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I spoke about the consultation process. I firmly believe the consultation process will improve this important area of our lives, and the residents of the NWT. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister make a commitment to do a thorough consultation process in the developing of a new sport recreation and physical literacy and physical activity policy with the five partners and their members?
As stated previously, we've already called for the -- or we will be calling for the five partners to come together and work on issues that we're facing. So, yes, I will commit to having the department work with the sports and recreation organizations on the development of a wide sectorial policy in full consultation with the organizations.
Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
