Yes, that is correct, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Braden.

Mr. Chairman, I would specifically like to focus in on the diminishing level of support for a territorial institution that started in 1982. It was a unique partnership among the government and several of its departments, education, public works, were involved in there. Southern media, I believe it was the Globe and Mail that was very excited and enthusiastic about supporting the start of a northern culture facility. We now have a 330 seat performing arts facility, the only one of its kind in the Northwest Territories. Its mandate is to serve the Northwest Territories as the premiere performing arts facility, and to foster Northwest Territories traditional and performing arts.

A foundation of its creation in 1982, or 1983, was that the Government of the Northwest Territories made the commitment to provide the overhead for the physical structure itself, but also a level of core funding that would enable it to continue to foster these goals and objectives on a continuing basis. The folks over at NACC have advised that the $100,000 annual contribution has diminished to about $20,000 a year. It is arguably, the lowest of its kind in Canada, for a facility of this kind and its role as a territorial facility.

NACC has continued to survive, if not thrive. It has a budget including services in kind and donations and revenues from activities of about $190,000. However, the organization has recently made it plain, and not in a complaining or threatening way, but in a very factual and constructive way, that its long-term future is in jeopardy without the territorial government restoring, not increasing, not adding to, but restoring that original commitment to the success of this facility. I would like to ask the Minister what plans he has to reconsider this very realistic and very necessary request. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I met with the representatives from NACC, the board, and the executive director. I am familiar with the situation that the organization is facing. It is correct that the funding has been reduced substantially over the years and the organization has relied more and more on fund-raising processes.

They presented a budget to me to point out their concerns to me about the funding requirements that they have, and the shortfall that they have. Part of the budget deal was not just the restoration of operational funding, but also in regard to improvements to the facility.

I am still in a position of looking at this. I do not have an answer for the organization as of yet. We do provide the facility and the space to the organization so that there is no cost involved. It is made available for students to access the facility from the schools for various purposes. Certainly, Sir John Franklin makes good use of the facility from time to time. To answer the Member's question, I am still at the stage of having to look at this, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, over the years the government has made a substantial investment, not only in the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre, but in other cultural organizations around the Northwest Territories. What I am concerned about is that over time, as our support for these organizations and these facilities erode, we are basically watching the value of our long-term investment erode. When we are dealing with volunteer organizations, of which NACC is certainly one, and there are many others, I think there comes a point where even the most committed and passionate volunteer is going to lose heart and say where is the partnership and the will to forge on and maintain these very valuable assets.

In my mind, Mr. Chairman, they are not options. They are not nice frills that we can have only when we can afford them. They are part of our infrastructure in the Northwest Territories. They are part of our lifestyle. They are part of why we are here. They give us a point of pride and focus for our visitors, and they deserve our support. I would ask the Minister to go back into these programs. There is a half a million dollars in funding. That is not a lot.

I would ask them to seriously consider how this money is profiled and how we are going to get the best long-term value for continuing and restoring our investment to cultural organizations. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I too recognize the value of the organization. It is unique and it is an organization that provides a great contribution to the arts scene here in the North. It is an important element. I will certainly have a look at what we can do at this end. The budget funding is very limited in this area, as the Member has pointed out. The whole budget area in arts and culture is very limited. It is one of the unfortunate situations we are facing these days. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I have some questions related to SPAR and the PTR that I would like to get clarified. Could the Minister indicate, with the work being done and the money being invested in pupil-teacher ratio, which is actually a funding formula, will there be a decrease, however marginal, in the class size in those communities, in those schools that have classes that are above the ratio?

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Ootes.

I will ask Mr. Cleveland to address this.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Cleveland.

Thank you, Mr. Cleveland. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In regard to special needs, one of the concerns I have heard was the methodology, in terms of doing the survey, which was, I believe, some type of random sample which in some cases missed entire segments of the special needs community, if I could call them that.

I would just like the Minister to elaborate on how the methodology was done. Is that an issue? How do they offset that kind of missing of special needs students? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There was a committee of five individuals who did direct interviews in schools with a population over 150 students. It was on a three level basis. It was done with the schools, the teachers as a second level, and the third level was the classroom level or the school level and directly with the teachers. It was done by telephone for schools with a population smaller than 150 students. That is from K to 9, and it was sampled at the high school level. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Could the Minister elaborate when he says surveys were done in schools over 150, how many students K to 9 in each school would be surveyed? There was a survey as well in the high school. I would be curious to know how that sample was chosen.

The other question would be about the phone surveys. Were you talking to students, or just asking the teachers and principals to identify where the needs were? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will get Mr. Cleveland to elaborate on that.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Cleveland.