Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today out of concern over the difficulty that some artisans are experiencing with respect to obtaining funds for business development and market expansion.
According to the report of the Standing Committee on National Economy, retail sales for arts and crafts run about $20 million a year. The S.C.O.N.E. report also pointed out, however, that industry sales could improve significantly with more effective promotion, and more attention to ensuring the highest quality of product.
Mr. Speaker, the establishment of new markets for northern products has been an issue raised by my honourable colleague, the Member for Baffin Central. I too believe that this is important, especially for our fine arts industry. I am aware that staff resources do not exist within the Department of Economic Development and Tourism to develop new international and domestic markets for N.W.T. tourism, arts and crafts, and Arctic foods.
However, it is my view, that wherever possible, the private sector should take the lead role in organizing and coordinating market development activity. I know this is not going to be possible for all northern products, but where it is, I would much rather see the government providing contribution funding to northern galleries and distributors; which after all, are the experts in the field, rather than this becoming the exclusive jurisdiction of departmental personnel.
This was driven home for me when I discovered that a Keewatin firm, with a successful ten year history of dealing in fine arts, had experienced difficulty securing funding for badly needed expansion and market development.
Ookpiktuyuk Art of Baker Lake, which is owned and operated by Inuit, has an exciting proposal that would involve mounting exhibitions of works of some of our best known artists. I was concerned to learn, recently, that the people behind this proposal got nowhere in their attempt to access E.D.A. funding, and that they are running into a brick wall with the department.
I hope the Minister will agree with me on the importance of developing new markets for our northern artists, and will look into the matter of the proposal at his earliest convenience.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.