My last question here has to do with the proposed move of the NGO Stabilization Fund from the Executive to MACA. I have to say strongly again that this is a bad move. I think this particular fund reaches across many departments, as does the Department of Executive. Not that I have any qualms about the ability of MACA to handle this, but I just don’t think that the focus in MACA is as broad as it needs to be. The NGOs that access this fund provide very basic services on behalf of the GNWT, emergency shelters, housing, it’s quite varied and it’s not the focus that MACA has. I know the Premier has said that it’s being moved because MACA is where we have placed our volunteers and that is where we place our volunteers, but these NGOs are not strictly volunteer organizations. Several of them are businesses and they operate like a business. Although they have a volunteer board, they have staff, and they have staff who are employed and who are providing the services the GNWT has asked them to provide.

I want to say again that this is not the right place for this to be. I’ve heard from a number of organizations that have stated that things were going extremely well through the Department of Executive. Relationships have been built up; NGOs understood what was supposed to be done by whom and when and how. Basically they’re going to have to start all over again and work things out again. We went through quite a difficult time initially to get the applications dealt with in a timely manner and I certainly hope that we can keep that so that NGOs can make an application early in April and get the money long before September, or December, which I think it was in that very first year.

I guess my question is: Is MACA willing to send it back to the Executive? This is not where it needs to be. Thank you.