Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister or to the deputy minister.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Great Slave.

Okay. I'll leave it at that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Next on my list I have is the Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, just following up on a previous set of questions, so I'm looking at kind of the arts as a whole on these pages and note that we've got $1.271 million in cuts. We got $1.271 million in adds. So it's not -- nothing's technically being cut, it seems, but there's a whole redistribution and reorganizing. Program funding, I quote from this page here, is redirected towards a set of new programs that better supports the creative sector.

So can we -- can we just get a description as to how we are better supporting the creative sector? Has the creative sector been consulted on this? Do they agree that we are better supporting them? That's my first question.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, before I was even elected in the 19th Assembly, I had the opportunity to sit in on some of the engagements that were done for the NWT Art Strategy. It was pretty nostalgic because I can remember sitting in on them in the '80s with my mother. And so, yes, the changes were informed by the sector. There was extensive engagement done prior to the 19th Assembly. During the 19th Assembly, then Minister Simpson had the opportunity to release an art strategy in junction with ITI and Minister Wawzonek at that time. And so these changes were driven by that engagement. And one of the things that I can note when the changes were made was that I did hear from artists across the sector who found that the programs were more responsive to what they needed. So I hope to continue to hear from artists about funding from the GNWT and continue to hear from them as we work towards transitioning arts funding over to ITI as well. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, the one that kind of caught my eye here was that, you know, the arts organization operating funding. I know that operating funding -- funding for just kind of keeping the lights on, keeping the doors open, is what NGOs and arts organizations alike continue to tell us they need. And so it looks to me like operating funding for arts organizations has been reduced a bit. It was previously $470,000. It seems to be reinstated as $321,000.

Can the Minister just explain, are there any organizations who are losing operating funding through this change? Are there any organizations whose operating funding is being reduced? Or are we potentially even increasing operating funding to some of these orgs? If the Minister could please explain a bit further on that.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, when I went through these numbers, because I did have similar questions to that, the funding that I did note went from about $1.17 million within all of those pots that it has now been distributed to to about $1.426 million. So it did have a slight increase in the funding within those arts programs from one year to the next. And, yeah, I'll leave it there, and I'll wait for the next question. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So just for clarity, I believe the Minister is saying that some organizations are actually seeing an increase in operating funding as a result of these changes. Is that correct? Thank you.

Okay, thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, all of these pots of funding for these grants are application-based, and so it would entirely depend on if there were more people trying to access the same amount of money or less people for any given year. So it would depend on many different factors.

The other thing too to note, because I know there has been some questions lately about having deadlines for applications, and one of the things that's really important is that you don't see all of the money funneled into one region in the territory and that there is some equity in how funding is disbursed the throughout the territory. And so that's what these deadlines enable us to do. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Continuing on the arts theme, you know, as was raised, the switch to ITI has been announced as part of the Budget Address, and so I think that there's -- you know, there's reason for a little bit of concern from the arts community that, you know, the optics of putting the arts under ITI as opposed to, you know, a cultural department is that it kind of indicates that what we're moving toward is trying to kind of treat the arts as sort of a monetized or economic development initiative. And I would say that I think that, you know, investments in the arts is a big piece of economic development. But in terms of the amount of money that the arts are able to leverage, there's a lot about the arts that are culturally-based, and it's not all about just simply monetizing art. There's money that organizations can leverage from the federal government and private investment that they can leverage through kind of growing organizations, through operating funding, through kind of growing a community around the arts. So I just -- I want to emphasize that and just emphasize to the department that there are aspects to the arts that they can use to leverage more funding and bring more funding into the territory that are not necessarily related directly simply to monetizing their work. And I'm not suggesting that the Minister is suggesting that that's what's happening, but it's just the perception that could be had through the switch to ITI. So if the Member has any -- or sorry, if the Minister has any comment on that kind of perception and how the department is managing that, I'd appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. And I'm very happy to have gotten this question on the floor because I think it's an important conversation.

I absolutely do not subscribe to the notion that artists must be starving artists. I never have subscribed to that and believe wholeheartedly that regardless of whether or not it is an elder participating in a cultural day at a school or it is somebody delivering a community performance or it is somebody who is, you know, sewing mitts, all form of arts and crafts and performances and film and writing all have value. Whether or not somebody is actually monetizing them or not, that skill still has value to it. And I think that as artists, we need to ensure that that value is upheld and that respect for the industry is upheld. And so whether or not that is in ECE or ITI, it would still have that same mentality that if you are a painter and you are doing something on the side of a building to increase the vibrancy of your community, your work and your skill has value. And so I just want to start off by saying that.

The other thing, though, that I think the Member is actually after here is reassurance that the MOU with the Canada Council for the Arts will absolutely continue regardless of what department this funding is found in. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll move to the Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With the short little period of time I have left, I just want to say that, you know, I appreciate the answers from the Minister.

Does the Minister or the department have -- or I guess the new department that's taking it on, have any plans, you know, over the next four years to increase funding to arts organizations to help them kind of increase that multiplier effect that can come from leveraging funding into the territory knowing that this is just a piece that I feel helps to contribute to our priorities. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.