Mahsi, Madam Speaker. I have a report from the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions. The report is on the Northwest Territories Arts Council.

Introduction

Early in the term of the 12th Assembly, the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions selected the Northwest Territories Arts Council as one of the government agencies to be reviewed by the committee.

The standing committee supports the work done by the NWT Arts Council. By guiding the government in providing financial assistance to northern artists, they play an important role in the development of the arts in the Northwest Territories.

The standing committee considered this matter in meetings in Yellowknife from April 25 to 29, 1994. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, the Honourable Richard Nerysoo, appeared before the committee on April 26th, and the chair of the NWT Arts Council, Ms. Susan Rose, appeared on April 25th.

The standing committee wishes to acknowledge the input of the witnesses and thank them for their appearance at the public hearings.

Control And Distribution Of Funding

Contributions to artists are actually made by the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) and are included in the budget of the department. The council does not distribute the funds themselves; rather, they make recommendations to the Minister, who distributes the funds. As well, all funds come from the government, and there is no provision, as there is in many other jurisdictions, for soliciting funds from third parties.

Committee Members are of the opinion that non-departmental agencies should generally be in an arm's-length relationship with the government. This is also true of the Northwest Territories Arts Council. While the Ministers responsible for this program have seldom overruled recommendations of the council, the possible advantages of an arm's length relationship should still be examined.

Since the committee's hearings, the committee has studied the issues of sources of funding for the arts council and control over the distribution of that funding. The committee considered a number of options and came to the following conclusions:

-The Department of Education, Culture and Employment should continue to provide administrative services to the NWT Arts Council. The additional cost of having a separate administrative structure would overwhelm the limited amount of money available for actual grants to artists;

-The present method of distributing government funds as appropriate. That is, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment should continue to have final authority to distribute government funds to artists, based on recommendations from the arts council.

-The NWT Arts Council should have the authority to solicit funds from third parties (such as corporations or foundations). The arts council should then have the final authority to distribute those funds.

Recommendation 1

Therefore, the committee makes the following recommendation. The Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions recommends that the government grant the NWT Arts Council authority to establish a trust fund through which the council could solicit donations. These donations would then be distributed by the council according to their existing guidelines.

Policy Recommendations By The Council

The council also has a mandate to provide recommendations to the Minister "on issues and policies associated with the arts and artists." But members of the council have difficulty meeting this part of their mandate. Their current practice is to meet for about four days a year (two two-day sessions). This is usually only enough time to review the applications for grants. The council has been able to devote a small amount of time to policy recommendations, but not as much as council members would like.

To allow the council to fulfil this part of its mandate, they would have to meet longer or more often; and this would result in additional exposure to the department. The department should seriously consider the trade-off between spending a little more to allow the council to meet longer or more often and the possible value of policy recommendations which may then be made by the council.

Council Membership

At present, the council has six members. Traditionally, three members have represented the eastern Arctic and three have represented the western Arctic. However, it has been suggested that the council's membership be increased to seven: one member representing Yellowknife, three from the rest of the western Arctic and three from the eastern Arctic. The standing committee agrees with the council and the Minister that this would provide improved regional representation on the council.

Recommendation 2

The Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions recommends that the NWT Arts Council policy be amended to provide for a total membership of seven on the arts council.

Coordination With Other Agencies

The grants distributed by the Minister on the council's recommendations are not the only funds budgeted by the Government for the development of the arts. In 1993-94, over $7 million was distributed on arts and crafts related programs through the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, the economic development agreement (EDA), and the Northwest Territories Development Corporation (Development Corporation). (Much of those funds, however, do not go to individual artists, but rather to businesses such as Ivalu Clothing or Fort McPherson Tent and Canvas.)

The standing committee appreciates that these bodies and the NWT Arts Council have different mandates: the arts council promotes the arts, while ED&T, the EDA and the Development Corporation promote economic development and employment. The distinction between "art for art's sake" and "marketability" is a useful one; however, the result is that artists may be confused by the two separate sources of funding. Committee Members would like to see the arts council and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment work more closely with Economic Development and Tourism and the Development Corporation to ensure that eligible artists have every opportunity to access sources of funding.

There appears to be a lack of coordination and communication between the arts council, Economic Development and Tourism and northern artists. Committee Members feel that it is important for artists to be aware of all resources available to them. We suggest that the departments of Education, Culture and Employment and Economic Development and Tourism find a way to coordinate their efforts in order to better inform artists about the various funds available to them to aid their development.

Recommendation 3

The Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions recommends that, in accordance with rule 93(5), the Executive Council table a comprehensive response to recommendations contained in this report within 120 days of the presentation of this report in the House.

Madam Speaker, that concludes the report of the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions on its review of the NWT Arts Council.

Motion To Receive Committee Report 15-12(6) And Move To Committee Of The Whole, Carried

Therefore, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that the report be received by the Assembly and moved into committee of the whole. Mahsi.