Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Almost all of the money that goes out from my department to support the arts in the Northwest Territories is funnelled through the NWT Arts Council awards or grants. There are a number of festivals that make application to the NWT Arts Council and they receive funding through that vehicle.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the information. The last time I looked at the criteria for those there were some fairly severe limitations on the amount of funding, on whether or not multi-year commitments could be made, which was one of the recommendations of the panel, and other things of this nature. I don't know that is a really sufficient area. I wanted to ask the Minister if he could explain why festivals and events weren't more specifically targeted in the Arts

Strategy and in his department's responsibility for them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am aware of awards to festivals that have amounted to tens of thousands of dollars, so I would suggest that the amount of money that is available for festivals is a significant portion of the money, but it takes the festivals to convince the members of the Arts Council that their festival is worthy of support. The funds are then awarded by artists to artist organizations. I think the funding is there for a well-run organization, but it is awarded each year to organizations based on their application. I think it's also important to point out that in the course of the last year, we have increased the amount of funding by $125,000 to the Arts Council and to the tune of I think around $300,000 in the last few years. So we are doing what we can to increase the amount of money that goes into Arts Council funding and making awards to artists is certainly a good way to make sure the right people are getting it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The areas of support that the Minister has outlined are indeed significant and appropriate, but I don't know if they go to the heart of the difficulties that some of these festivals are having, which is in their administration and their ability to hire staff, do promotion and marketing, and this kind of thing. This is the area that I'm really looking at, as I think it is a core problem for our festivals and events. Is the money that is made available through these arts grants targeted for that kind of purpose, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, it's not available for those types of purposes generally. That's one of the reasons that RWED and ECE cooperated on the Arts Strategy. The Education, Culture and Employment side of the strategy is aimed at funding art for art's sake. Not for the business, not for tourism, not for promotion, not for administration, but art for art's sake. When you want to talk about tourism or the business side of arts, that's handled by RWED. So artists and arts organizations have to take a look at what their focus is and where they're looking to have the grants focus on when deciding where to put the applications in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, art for art's sake is a great concept, but it doesn't get us very far if it's kept in a dark room or a stage that doesn't have an audience. Why is it that ECE will not appreciate that artists and cultural groups also need ways to present and showcase their art? Where is the support for bringing their art to the people? Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is accommodated through RWED and that's one of the ways that the Arts Strategy was set out to help people understand where they should go and how to apply for funding to support their project. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development what value-added or secondary industries are being looked at in conjunction with the Mackenzie Valley gas project that will ensure northerners can look forward to lower fuel prices in the future as a result of these hydrocarbons coming out of our backyard. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll stick, I guess, to the value-added discussions around lowering the cost of living. We do know there are some manufacturing options that are being looked at, some things that other communities are pursuing. Pipe coating is a project that the community of Hay River is particularly interested in. But in terms of whether or not communities along the pipeline route will be able to access gas for their utilities, whether that's electrical generation or home heat, I know that discussion is on the table. There are other options. Obviously there are issues to deal with if you convert from diesel to natural gas. You can have stranded assets. The Power Corporation obviously would have assets that would need to be converted, or I guess would become not useful anymore. Appliances in homes would have to be changed over. So there are some costs.

Obviously the benefit would be the environmental cost that we're offsetting. But I think there's also the option, we've had a lot of discussion around hydro. We think the legacy infrastructure in terms of hydro can make a big impact on the cost of living or electrical generation. Waste heat generated, I think, from compression statements up and down the pipeline could potentially be used to generate electricity, as well. So there are a number of

options being pursued. There may be more in terms of access agreements being negotiated by regional groups that I'm not aware of, but those are the kinds of things we're talking about. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know inside the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development there is a position that's referred to as an industrial initiatives analyst or specialist and I'm wondering if indeed this position or this group of people inside of RWED is looking at the possibility of setting up industry here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On a day-to-day basis I'm not sure of the options that are being pursued. There could be work being done with potential private sector interests that I'm not aware of. In terms of setting up industry, I guess I'd need more clarification from the Member as to whether or not he's talking about petrochemical industry, issues that I've just spoken to related to the use of gas up and down the valley by utilities. I need a little more clarification from the Member, I guess, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was trying to keep my questions short. Yes, I was talking specifically about petrochemical facilities and refineries, as well. I'd like to ask the Minister what he envisions staying here. Is there any gas or oil that's going to stay in the Northwest Territories or is it all going to go south and then get shipped back north and we're going to pay a premium for it? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Bell.