Thank you, Mr. Speaker. CKLB Radio has been a prominent member of the NWT media community since the 1980s and has been a forum of news, Aboriginal issues, culture, languages, public service announcements and entertainment. The station, with a following of about 20,000 residents, produces Aboriginal language programming as part of its schedule. It plays an integral part of the Aboriginal culture, and with a wide geographic predisposition to deal with, it’s a gathering place of sorts for many.
CKLB also has many Aboriginal listeners who get another perspective on life and culture in the NWT that is provided by mainstream media. Its small revenue helps support its operation, but not much more. Luckily, it receives some core funding from Heritage Canada; however, this core model has not increased in over 30 years.
Its owner, the Native Communications Society, is always on a lean funding base and the station has struggled to keep up the maintenance of its community transmitters and, sadly, has been unable to implement new technology for communication. To draw an analogy, the station is a Timex watch working in a digital age.
There has been a long-standing relationship with the work of the society and CKLB in supporting many GNWT initiatives over the years. Some of these initiatives include promotion, use of Aboriginal languages, education, information of GNWT programs and event broadcasting.
Admittedly, the GNWT, through inconsistent community broadcasting grant programs or broadcasting contribution programs, has played a very small role in revenue stabilization. It has never contributed in ways to help upgrade CKLB to current technology. Clearly, it would be a tragic loss to all in our territory if CKLB wasn’t able to maintain operation.
Therefore, at the appropriate time, I will be asking the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment for his role in the state of northern and Aboriginal broadcasting in the NWT, with the hopes of a renewed commitment from his department and the GNWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.