Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was an extensive review of the use and of the costs. I must point out that the remand facility has been used not just for the South Slave. I believe that there are people who have been housed there from all across the Northwest Territories. So we have used remand facilities around the Territories depending on their specific client and where they best fit in the system. It hasn't been just used for South Slave, but, yes, we have taken a very good

look at the facility and its use. We are convinced that this is the right move to make. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just can't accept that kind of superficial answer, "We think this is a right move to make." I would like to know what other people in the Northwest Territories think about whether this is the right move to make. How much community consultations went into this decision to remove these services from the South Slave region? How many communities did his department visit to find out how people feel about the delivery of justice services and not having those services available close to their homes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member and Members of this House will know, we don't do consultation on the budget. That is an issue that we have to undertake as part of the operation of government. So when reductions are proposed, they are considered by the government, and we take a look at the information and make the decisions based on the criteria that we have. In this case, we looked at what the impact would be on those who use the service, and it was determined that this would have the least impact on users across the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, now that these reduction initiatives are out there, they are in the public again. I asked the Minister if he would consider putting this reduction initiative on hold until further analysis could be done. I had asked the Minister again. I am not asking him to withdraw it. I am asking him to put it on hold until open and proper consultation and analysis can occur. Would he commit to that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can't put the budget process on hold. So, no, I can't commit to do that. Mr. Speaker, there are a number of reductions in this budget. We are not going out and consulting with the public on all of them. We have consulted with MLAs. We started that process in the business planning exercise last fall. That is the consultation that the government does on its budget. This move will have a limited impact on people who have or are alleged to commit a crime. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, my questions are for Mr. Bell, the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development in follow-up to his department's responsibility for arts and cultural funding and, specifically, festivals and events. Mr. Speaker, what avenues of support does the RWED department make available to festivals and events in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

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

Thank you. I think, as the Member will remember from our discussion yesterday in Committee of the Whole, the debate that we had around the Arts Strategy, we do have funding available. We provide money to the Great Northern Arts Festival, I believe it is called, in Inuvik on an annual basis. I can't remember the exact number. Under the Arts Strategy, we identified $75,000 in additional funding, reprofiled $50,000 of existing funding. We have $125,000 initiative broken down into five regions, $25,000 per region that is application based. It is for artisans who want to procure raw material in order to develop crafts. If there is a festival that has an initiative that could fit the criteria of this program and it is a schedule under the BDF, then I assume they would be eligible, but it would be a matter of meeting the criteria. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Okay. So if I am a volunteer and I am trying to sort my way through all of this, what I gather here is that there is a business development fund that has some criteria under which my festival event could be supported. Have I got that much of this correct? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

There is a schedule in the business development fund that speaks to funding arts by allowing people to, as I mentioned, procure raw materials for their activity. If somebody was involved in a festival and wanted to put on, hypothetically, a demonstration of tanning hides, we might be able to provide them some money in order to get some hides so that they can contribute to this festival in that activity. This is just a hypothetical, in the theoretical. I don't know the various different possibilities or iterations, but that is what this BDF schedule is intended to do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What I am not hearing is that there is a specific place or part of RWED's array of resources that a festival or event can directly go to to get help. I make the point again that, where events are in trouble, Mr. Speaker, is it in their ability to administer themselves and come up with that kind of support? Mr. Speaker, would the Minister of RWED, perhaps in collaboration with the Minister of ECE, undertake to look at this whole area of festivals and events, the significance, and where our government can really come in and help them where it is needed? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This was the first initiative that we were able to respond to in terms of funding the Arts Strategy. As the Member has pointed out, there are other recommendations that remain unfunded. I anticipate that our departments will have a discussion of those issues with their respective committees. Where there can be logical collaboration between the two departments, I do agree that that makes sense. We could potentially look at some joint initiatives. In terms of funding festivals, the Member has made the point that he doesn't believe that there is adequate support for festivals. I suppose, from our department, our mandate is economic development. If a festival came forward and it was interested in a festival as a business and was in the business of making profit, they can go to our BDIC and apply for a loan or grant funding to make that happen. We have other business support programs, but our mandate is economic development. You can see that we have found a way to support the Arts Strategy by providing raw materials for economic development's sake. That is how we have been able to support this strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister's answer outlines the dilemma that we are in with the shared responsibility between his department and ECE; that this is one really large area that has fallen in between the cracks. Where does he think the responsibility lies for GNWT to come to the aid of festivals and events? Thank you.