Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm going to ask Ms. St-Denis to answer that. That's in her department. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Ms. St-Denis.

Thank you. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I look forward to seeing that Arts Strategy and continuing these conversations. On to the Northern Food Development Program, can the Minister inform me if this has been fully subscribed to over the previous year? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe that the food program one is one that is application based, so, therefore, sometimes we have the amount of money, we think we're going to spend it all, and then somebody doesn't meet their obligations or retracts their application or such. That's why you would see different numbers there. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, the Northern Food Development Program is application based. A number of the South Slave where we have fertile land have been unable to access this. I know it's not fully subscribed to, so I think it's a bit of a problem with the program as opposed to a lack of desire to develop more food and food security. Could the Minister update me if whether there will be a review of this program to make sure that, when we have this $550,000 here, it's actually going to get out the door? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Food security is obviously a mandate priority of our Assembly. Yes, we are currently actually reviewing all of our programs around food security. We are creating, I don't know what we want to call it at this point, but maybe a secretariat, maybe not the right word, but a group within the department whose focus will be solely on food security, then to liaise with the other departments, with health and others, that would have roles to play in that. We're recognizing that food security is no longer just a little section tacked onto the side and that it does need its own focus and it needs somebody looking at it from an overarching umbrella, from building greenhouses all the way to food inspection, to home gardening, to commercial gardening projects and such. We do see that this is much needed. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. I will move on to the Member for Kam Lake now.

Thanks very much, Madam Chair. I am with my colleague from Yellowknife North: this is a very exciting page. Your comments about how ITI considers themselves allies to northern entrepreneurs and business community was not lost on me. Without further ado, the Great Northern Arts Festival was unfortunately, like many of our festivals, cancelled this year. I'm wondering, with the line item of $25,000 that was associated with that, what is ITI's plan for that money now? Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. At this time - actually, it's funny, we've just had this conversation - we don't want to say no funding for that program because we want to give the opportunity to the organizers to see if they can somehow adapt their program and still manage to put it on. If someone is going to be creative and come up with a COVID solution. We've been encouraging. We don't want to be like, "Oh, sorry, we already took your money and spent it somewhere else." We still plan to flow that money to that group so that they can do with it and see how they can adapt. Of course, we will encourage social distancing and such when they do so and provide them guidance and any help they need in order to adapt. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That makes me very happy to hear because I feel like, if there is anybody who can figure out how adapt, it would be an artist.

My next question is in regard to Northern Food Development Program, like my colleague discussed, that food security is a priority of this Assembly. Food security has also been identified as something that is going to be top of mind throughout our COVID recovery. One of the things that we have seen in many communities throughout the North, Yellowknife, Hay River, Inuvik especially, is there are people who have really mastered creating businesses around food security. One of my questions is: has ITI looked at maybe working with some of these people who have really had success in some communities to help create business plans that can be transferred to other communities and used within other communities? Because, while we know that people might be really great at their craft, not everybody has the capacity or skill set to be a business owner. Is there any way that we can put together, kind of, cooperatives amongst business owners to help support one another might be a really big positive in the Northwest Territories to be able to grow business, especially within our small communities? Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think this was actually a conversation we also had as part of our priorities, was sort of almost a mentorship-type program and pairing up maybe people who are new to the business world with those who have great experience. I am open to that, and I do encourage my department to put those relationships in place. Maybe, at this time, it would be a little bit more informal than it would be a formalized program, but I am definitely open to having a conversation about formalizing the program.

I did just want to point out that the northern food fund is for commercial growers, and we have been working with them to do that. For example, the Inuvik greenhouse was a community-ran greenhouse with a coordinator, and we helped with that. We are also assisting in a new territorial agriculture association. I think that would actually be a great avenue or venue for this mentoring and networking type of situation to evolve. We will definitely ensure that is part of that discussion. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. My next question is in regard to the Support for Entrepreneurs and Economic Development, the SEED Program, which we did just discuss a couple of days ago here in the House, so I will make sure that I don't overstep on those questions. This, to me, is one of the most exciting programs that ITI has, especially right now where we have a lot of businesses needing support in the Northwest Territories.

One of the concerns that I have heard from my constituents in regard to the SEED Program is that there isn't a northern, kind of, commitment clause within there. People really could come and take advantage of the public purse and really set themselves up really well for opening a business down south. Is ITI open to revisiting some of the clauses within the SEED Program to make sure that, if people are benefitting from this program, they are committed to the North and they are committed to staying here and operating their businesses here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I am open to having a conversation. Right now, I do know that we do have the northern residency requirement for some of these programs. All of the focus within the guidelines are for northern retention or use in the North. I do recognize, though, that you can tell people all you want that this is the way that you should do it, and if there are no teeth or penalties in there, then people will take advantage. I do commit to the Member to reviewing the program policies for myself and seeing where we can incorporate, I don't want to call it penalties, but accountability into these programs. Thank you, Madam Chair.