Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, the Government of the Northwest Territories recognizes that the arts play an important role in the creation of healthy and vibrant communities. Traditional arts in particular, I would say, play a big role in that because they are a source of income and economic development in many of our small and remote communities. We want to advance and encourage that as part of our economy.

My next question, and I thank the Minister for that answer: does the Minister see the arts sector as one that can play a role in building our economy?

As I said, I see it as a source of income and economic development, but, in particular, I think where I see a role in the arts community playing a significant role is around how we represent and promote ourselves around tourism. That is a big part of it. A lot of these people come here and buy mementos and souvenirs before they go home, and this represents the traditional artists of the territory. With that, though, we also reach out to help these people in the small communities to get the right pricing and marketing for their communities. We have these regional sessions, workshops, to help them get the right value for their product.

In my statement earlier, I had mentioned both departments, ECE and ITI. My next question is: what joint funding initiatives are available for traditional artists in the Northwest Territories by a strategy that includes both departments?

Last year, ITI provided $1.6 million for funding for artists in the Northwest Territories; $250,000 of that was invested regionally to support specific arts and fine crafts. We also have the SEED program, which has huge uptake, to help support the arts program. We have a bunch of other stuff that we do. We support venues and events where artists can promote and sell their products, like the Great Northern Arts Festival and a number of music festivals in the Northwest Territories. Also, last year I had the opportunity and maybe a number of Members of the House did: we had a pop-up art show in Yellowknife, and we brought in regional artists from across the NWT to promote that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am thanking the Minister for the information here so we can relate that back on to the leaders that I represent in five communities. My last question: what is the government doing to promote traditional arts in the area of, say, music and painting, for example? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the Member for his question. We have the NWT Arts Program and the website that we established. On there, you can register your product or what you do, whether it is selling your CD or whatever, at no cost.

On that website, we also do the marketing campaigns and advertising for NWT artists through that web page. Also on there, we have a "where to buy NWT arts" page which will direct people who are looking for specific types of products to which NWT outlets they can purchase these types of things at. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.