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.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

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.

Masi. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the federal government does not pass legislation, the current laws will remain in place. There is not much we can do but continue our work to get ready to implement once they do pass legislation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to ask the Minister what action his government would take, or this government would take, if the federal government recognized that they were not able to pass legislation and decided to decriminalize marijuana by July 1st?

Well, as I said, it is federal law that they are working on. If they decide that it is unable to be done by the time that they have specified, then we would just have to change direction and just continue to do the work that we can to sure that we are ready for implementation once the federal government does legalize cannabis.

I would like to ask the Minister what process, I guess, we would have to do if we decided that there was no way that we were going to be able to pass legislation within this time frame and then the federal government moves to decriminalize the legislation. If the federal government continues on with that, at this point, would this government actually actively try to decriminalize marijuana, too? I am curious to know if that could something that could be done quickly or if that process would be just as slow as actually passing the legislation.

My understanding is that the federal government has to pass legislation to legalize cannabis. I do not think we have the ability as a jurisdiction to do it on our own, because it is still illegal according to the Criminal Code, and that would have to be changed. I do not think we have the ability to enact this legislation on our own without the federal government passing their legislation to legalize cannabis.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I made a statement on the water treatment plant situation in Fort Providence and the problems with the intake line. Of course, the community of Fort Providence, through the hamlet council, has undertaken a study. My question is to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs: what is the department's role in updating the Fort Providence water and sewer system to modern and reliable standards? Mahsi.

Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The role of Municipal and Community Affairs is to support communities as best as possible. When it comes to water and waste water, we provide annual funding to the communities to develop it. We support them in developing their annual capital planning process. That planning process actually usually guides the communities to develop strategies for long-term projects such as a water treatment plant or big infrastructure projects. Then, once that has gone through that process, we will support the hamlets and communities in actually looking at what federal funding they can access to build their large infrastructure projects. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Other communities are likely in the same situation where aging infrastructure from the 1970s more than likely served its purpose beyond its years. One common theme that has been suggested to communities is the idea of reservoirs. Can the Minister explain why a water reservoir may be one option for the community?

The purpose of the study from the hamlet conducted was to look at all options to provide clean water to the residents of the community. The reservoir was one of the options that the hamlet reviewed, so it was one of many options that the hamlet could look at. Then it is the process that the hamlet has to decide which of the options provided in that study would best meet the needs of their community.

MACA, of course, provides funding, as the Minister stated, infrastructure funding to community, and, of course, it is based on federal allocations. What priority does aging infrastructure, like the water treatment plant in Fort Providence, receive when considering community infrastructure funding allocations?

Every community has different needs. Every community has different infrastructure needs. Some of them are more up-to-date than others. During their capital planning process, that is the time that each community identifies which of their infrastructure projects are reaching the end of life and which ones we need to support, then, in obtaining federal infrastructure money so that they can meet the infrastructure needs within their individual communities.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.