Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am looking on page 126, and it's the NWT Friendship Centre. As I said in my reply to the budget, this is a very positive step by the department to help an organization that has a huge impact on a number of communities. I notice there is $250,000 in there. Is this something that the department is going to look at as an ongoing basis, or is this a one-time budget line? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Premier McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This will benefit all friendship centres in the Northwest Territories. There is an old saying that, if you give somebody a fish, they will eat for one day. If you teach them how to fish, they can feed themselves for the rest of their life. I think this is akin to that, where we are helping fund a fundraiser. We will match the amount of money that they raise up to a further $180,000, then we are going to do it on a two-year basis, and then we will review it after that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Premier McLeod. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the Premier for that answer. That is a positive step. It's a two-year process, and I think that is a very good move by the department. I guess my concern is, if we are going to review it, is the funding still going to be able to be there, or are they going to review it and see if they need to increase the funding? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Premier McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My expectation is we would probably review it after the first year. We would not see a gap in services. I think the expectation is that, with this funding, the friendship centres will be able to fundraise a significant amount of resources outside of the current core funding that they receive from the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Premier McLeod. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Premier for that answer. I greatly appreciate that we are looking at it after the first year and seeing how it works, because I, too, would hate to see a gap in an organization that does a lot of good work across the territories from what I have seen and heard from the people there. This is a very positive step, and I would like to thank the department for that.

My next question, though, again, is about the non-government organization stabilization fund. It is in the Department of MACA. The reason I am asking this is because, I believe, in the January 17th letter that was sent to the department, one of the other recommendations by SCOGO was that the NGO stabilization fund would actually be moved back to the Executive. Can the Premier confirm if this was part of that letter? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Premier McLeod.

Thank you. It was part of a response, and through you, Mr. Chair, I will ask Mr. Courtoreille to talk about our response in that area. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Premier McLeod. Mr. Courtoreille.

Thank you, Mr. Courtoreille. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, and I thank Mr. Courtoreille for that answer. I guess my concern, though, is that PUB is being planned to be moved to the Department of Infrastructure, and the Standing Committee on Government Operations has made the recommendation that the NGO stabilization fund actually go back to the Executive. What is the difference between PUB and the stabilization fund? Why isn't that being moved back, as per recommendation from the committee? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Premier McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess we don't see any difference. We are moving those functions to those departments that have the expertise to deal with those programs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Premier McLeod. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the Premier for that answer. I guess we are going to probably have a difference of opinion, because in my attendance at these meetings, the committee really felt that this should be put back into this department. This work started out and moved to the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, and I think this would be more beneficial as a department looking at this. I have seen some organizations come in to your department and ask for requests. Would this not be a better fit than the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Premier McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My understanding is MACA has responsibilities for volunteerism and other voluntary services, and also dealing with the communities. So they're in a much better situation to deal with the funding requests and the services that are provided through that fund. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Premier McLeod. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have to praise the Department of Community and Municipal Affairs for the great job that they do. They do a lot of good work with volunteers, but this is a different sort of fund. So, again, like I said, I have to disagree with the Premier on this, but at this point in time I have no further questions in this matter. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Testart.