Thank you, Ms. Green. Would committee please return to the departmental summary on page 167. Does committee have any final comments or questions on this department? Seeing none, I will call this department. Health and social services, 2018-2019 Main Estimates, total department, $461,000,000. Sorry, committee, I messed up. Let's start again.

Health and social services, 2018-2019 Main Estimates, $461,563,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. Does committee agree this concludes our consideration of the Department of Health and Social Services?

Thank you, committee. Thank you to the Minister. Thank you to the witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, would you please escort the witnesses from the Chamber. Committee, we've agreed to next consider Committee Report 5-18(3) report on the review of Bill 1, Western Canada Lottery Act. I will go to the chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations for any opening comments he may have. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With your indulgence, I will also speak to Bill 1, as it is the subject of this report. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to report on its review of Bill 1: the Western Canada Lottery Act.

Bill 1, sponsored by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, repeals the existing Western Canada Lottery Act, and replaces it with a new act to establish a Northwest Territories Lottery Commission under the direction of the Minister, with the authority to enter into agreements with the Western Canada Lottery Corporation, the Government of Nunavut, and retailers.

The act also establishes a Northwest Territories Physical Activity, Sport and Recreation Fund, pursuant to Part 7 of the Financial Administration Act. This special purpose fund, which will form an account within the consolidated revenue fund, will receive proceeds from the operation of lotteries by the WCLC. The commission will be responsible for the conduct, management, and operation of lotteries, while the Minister will administer the fund and distribute proceeds for purposes related to the promotion and delivery of physical activity sport and recreation programs.

Bill 1 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on October 20, 2017, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review.

The committee held a public review of the bill on February 7, 2018. The committee received 11 written submissions and heard eight oral submissions. The hearing was extremely well-attended, and the standing committee wishes to thank members of the public for their attendance and input.

The Standing Committee on Government Operations concluded its review of Bill 1, Western Canada Lottery Act, on February 27, 2018, with the public hearing held here in the Legislative Assembly building.

At this hearing, the committee moved three motions to amend the bill. One of these motions was a non-substantive housekeeping motion; the other two motions amended the bill. One added a requirement for public year-end reporting on physical activity, sport, and recreation fund; the other removed multi-sport funding as an item for which the Minister may automatically disburse lottery funds.

The purpose of the proposed amendment is to signal that multi-sport activities will be funded, first and foremost, from the department's budget. This would not prevent the Minister from exercising the authority to supplement such funding with disbursements from the fund in appropriate circumstances.

Following the clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 1, Western Canada Lottery Act, as amended and reprinted, as ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole.

In addition to our review, the Standing Committee on Government Operations prepared a substantive report on the public comments that Members heard from the witness submissions, and also the written submissions. Committee members felt it was important to provide the substantive report as the issue of arts funding was a central topic of discussion around Bill 1, Western Canada Lottery Act.

The scope of Bill 1 did not allow for the committee to make amendments that would open up the lotteries for disbursements to arts programs; however, committee is very sensitive to the concerns of the public around arts funding, and has made recommendations to that extent.

This concludes my opening comments, Mr. Chair. Individual Members may have additional comments or questions as we proceed with consideration of committee's report. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. The general procedure is that committee Members can make general comments if they like, and the recommendations contained in the report will be moved as motions to which motions can also speak. So I will open up the floor to general comments on Committee Report 5-18(3). Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I acknowledge that the purpose of this bill was to provide protection from taxation for the lottery funds, but it turned into a different exercise, and that exercise was really about acknowledging the arts community's desire to have the access to the stable funding that the territorial sports organizations have as a result of lottery proceeds. Of course, this bill does not address that question, but I think it puts us all on notice that the arts community wants to have a strategy that lays out what they contribute to our wellbeing generally and economically and how we as a group of MLAs can help them to further their contributions in this area. I take that big public hearing we had and the written submissions in the back as notice that the arts need to be on the agenda for discussion. I think that has to be the next priority. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Any further general comments on the report? Mr. O'Reilly.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to thank the committee for allowing me to sit in. I was not an alternate nor was I a member of the committee, but they allowed me to sit in and provide my viewpoints on this. First and foremost, I have to say that this bill with the amendments is appropriate. I think the Minister has been willing to work with the committee and made positive steps.

I guess I have to make it very clear. These are lotteries for the recreation and sports community, which has a primary focus on youth. That has to be really very clear on that. I totally support that arts needs to be funded more appropriately, but not through this fund. I could not, in good conscience, support that. That has to be focused there.

I also have a challenge with the one amendment. I appreciate that we removed the multi-sport games out of the thing there, but the discretion is still with the Minister. However, I would hope the Minister would never, ever use that discretion. I would hope that we would be able to find the funds within the department or within appropriation. I think I made it very clear in my comments, in my direction there. It needs to be focused on that area there. We need to look at the lotteries for the development in grassroots for people, youth.

As for the definition of "recreation," I really have a hard time going back and having people go out there and look for a new definition. This here is the national definition of "recreation" that was developed over two years of people working on it. It is recognized across Canada, the arts, the music, the recreation and sports world. Fortunately, I was part of the process. I saw it. I was there. Again, it took two years to come up with the definition. The government has supported that. The organizations have supported that. I really don't know if, going out for consultation on the new definition, again, we are going to change something that is already recognized nationally. That there is a concern for me, but I have had a conversation with the Minister on that there.

My colleague talked about the arts world here. I totally agree. We need to put more money into this. The arts world needs to do it. I don't want to have the sport and recreation world competing against the arts world, because that's not what it is. It's about the well-being of our residents. We need to put and find money for that. If we don't, then we're going to have that. If we thought we saw we a lot of people in the arts community into the picture, I can guarantee you if we changed our system of the Lottery Act and allowed it to open, we'd see this whole building filled with the people in the sport and recreation world.

I mean we would see thousands of people coming protesting outside there. I mean we have to be very realistic in the direction. I support the need for putting more money into the arts. I appreciate the Minister for ITI and the Minister of ECE talking about working together and developing and reviewing this. I think we need to put more money in and I thank the Minister for making that first step.

Back to the bill. I support the bill as it is presented, even though there are some things in here I don't agree with. In the overall picture for the well-being of the residents of the Northwest Territories, I have to support this. Again, I'd like to thank the Minister and department and the committee and their staff for doing a good job with this. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommend that the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs develop a funding policy which provides clear guidance as to the funding eligibility requirements, to guide the disbursement of lottery funding under the new Western Canada Lottery Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is being distributed. To the motion.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Thank you. Mr. Testart.

Mr. Chair, I move that this Assembly recommend that the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs make a submission to the Financial Management Board requesting that the Financial Management Board establish a limit on any cumulative deficit or surplus in the Physical Activity, Sport and Recreation Fund and, furthermore, that this limit be made public, shared with the Standing Committee on Government Operations, and reported upon annually by the department in its year-end reporting on the fund. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Thank you, committee. Do you agree that we have concluded consideration of Committee Report 5-18(3), Report on the Review of Bill 1: Western Canada Lottery Act?