Debates of March 3rd, 2020

This is page numbers 437 - 482 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was going.

Topics

Oral Questions

Members Present

Prayer

Promoting Importance of Oral Health

Trades Apprenticeships

Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Policy on Rent Scales

Whati Housing Plan

Affirmative Action Policy

Health System Navigator

Regulatory Change to Improve Preventative Oral Health

Implementation and Promotion of Environmental Rights Act

Indigenous Languages Promotion and Revitalization

Ms. Green's Reply

Trades Apprenticeships

Rent Scale Policy Review

Anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) Legislation

Process Convention

Affirmative Action Policy

Promoting Indigenous Official Languages

Oral Health Report

Arnica Inn Transitional Housing Project

Review of Rent Scale Policy on Income Verification

Full-time Psychologist for Children and Youth for Treatment Centre

Written Question 6-19(2): Educational Facilities

Tabled Document 47-19(2): "Our Ever Awesome NWT Brushing Song!" Book by Richard Van Camp and Neiva Mateus

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Tabled Document 30-19(2): Main Estimates 2020-2021 - Justice - Deferral of Further Consideration of the Estimates for the Department of Justice

Tabled Document 30-19(2): Main Estimates 2020-2021 - Education, Culture and Employment - Deferral of Further Consideration of the Estimates for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, carried

Report Of Committee Of The Whole

Orders Of The Day

Committee Motion 3-19(2): Tabled Document 30-19(2): Main Estimates 2020-2021 - Justice - Deferral of Further Consideration of the Estimates for the Department of Justice, Carried
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 448

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister.

Page 448

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you. I'd like to hand it back to Ms. Mueller.

Page 448

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Minister. Deputy Minister.

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Mueller

Thank you, Madam Chair. It does fluctuate, but more and more, each year, we have more visitors going through the museum, and on average, it's around $10,000 or $11,000 that we do receive in donations, and we put that money back into our education programming. That's how we use those funds. Thank you.

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The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Deputy Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

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Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is an issue I will look into further and have further conversations with whether we can either increase that donation amount or look what other museums are doing. I wanted to move onto the line item $6,285,000 for Indigenous languages. Can I just confirm that this is all GNWT funding, or is this also federal funding in there?

Page 448

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister.

Page 448

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you. Could the Member please clarify which page he's on?

Page 448

The Chair Julie Green

Page 37.

Page 448

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

If you don't mind, I'd like to hand it over to Mr. MacDonald.

Page 448

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Minister. Mr. MacDonald.

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Macdonald

Thank you, Madam Chair. If the Member wouldn't mind, just pointing me to that line item again? Thank you.

Page 448

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. MacDonald. Member for Yellowknife North.

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Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm looking at the funding for Indigenous languages, $6,285,000. I believe this is largely flow through money to Indigenous governments to run their programming. I know there's been a number of federal increases to Indigenous languages programming. I'm just wondering if this is all GNWT money or this includes the federal funding that exists for Indigenous languages.

March 3rd, 2020

Page 448

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Mr. MacDonald.

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Macdonald

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe this is the territorial funding. Thank you.

Page 448

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. MacDonald. Member for Yellowknife North.

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Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm glad to see we're spending $6,285,000 on Indigenous languages. I believe Mr. Norn already asked some questions about how this was oversubscribed one year. I know there's more and more federal money on the table, and I believe every time we invest in this, it allows our Indigenous governments to leverage that additional funding for Indigenous languages. I guess my question to the Minister is: are there any plans to increase this amount?

Page 448

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister.

Page 448

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you. The funding is provided by the federal government, pursuant to an agreement that is ending this month, actually, I guess, March 31, 2020. Initial discussions from what we can tell, it looks like there will likely be a one-year extension of the status quo. After that, or during that time, we will enter into negotiations. We will be looking for more money, obviously. We always do. We still have to figure out what the feds want to do. With the reorganization of federal departments, we're not quite sure what their direction is going to be. What they might like to do is fund directly to the Indigenous governments and not flow through the government, so that's an option as well. We're still in the very early stages of this. The bottom line is that we would like more money for Indigenous languages. I always appreciate it when the Members bring up this topic and discuss it because I think it's vital to so many people in the territory, and something that we need to focus on sooner than later. Thank you

Page 448

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Minister. Further questions? Member for Yellowknife North.

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Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate those comments, and the standing committee will be taking out the Official Languages Act, so I look forward to continued conversations. I, ultimately, believe that we don't necessarily need to be the flow through. If the feds are willing to fund the Indigenous governments directly, that's great.

I wanted to switch gears here and talk about the line items. Arts, organizations and operations funding and the NWT arts council. There's a number of fundings for arts here. Just, generally, do we have a sense for every dollar we invest in the arts, what the return on investment is?

Page 448

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister.

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R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you. Currently, we do not, and I can't speak for ITI because ITI is also involved in the arts, but that is something that we are looking at with ITI in the development of the new arts strategy. That's something I've always been critical of myself. I appreciate art. I appreciate artists. If we're doing it as an investment in the economy, are we getting a good bang for our buck? We're doing that work to find out. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Page 448

The Chair Julie Green

Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Debates of March 3rd, 2020

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