Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions is pleased to represent their report on the Northwest Territories Arts Council.
The Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions supports the work done by the Northwest Territories 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.
Control And Distribution Of Funding
The standing committee examined the issue of arm's-length status for the Northwest Territories Arts Council. This was suggested by the council and is the model used by many provincial arts councils. The standing committee studied the issues of sources of funding for the Arts Council and control over the distribution of that funding 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 is 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.
Therefore, I have a recommendation, Mr. Chairman.