Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Does committee agree?

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The motion is in order. To the motion. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. CKLB Radio has been a prominent member of the NWT media community since the 1980s and has been a forum of news, Aboriginal issues, culture, languages, public service announcements and entertainment. The station, with a following of about 20,000 residents, produces Aboriginal language programming as part of its schedule. It plays an integral part of the Aboriginal culture, and with a wide geographic predisposition to deal with, it’s a gathering place of sorts for many.

CKLB also has many Aboriginal listeners who get another perspective on life and culture in the NWT that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee has been considering Bill 26, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act; and Committee Reports 7-17(5) and 8-17(5) and would like to report progress. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the mover, Mr. Bromley, and the seconder, Mr. Nadli, for allowing this discussion to occur today here.

Given almost two pages of whereas within this motion it’s a bit hard to agree with all the points, but it’s easy to agree with some of the points raised, but I’ll try to attempt to take more of a reasonable step back from the specifics of the motion and evaluate the direction we’re asking this government to take and the overall message we’re trying to get through industry.

In preparation for today, I thought bringing back my experiences in science as a...

I thought we were on a roll here, but it seems at a little bit of an impasse. Some of the things that I can introduce to the Minister are simply just indexing what we’re giving annually to this society so we can actually increase with the cost of living.

As I mentioned earlier, CKLB is a Timex watch working in a digital age. Therefore, I’m recommending that the proper funding be provided to assist northern and Aboriginal broadcasters with, specifically, capital equipment replacement costs.

Can the Minister tell me what he’ll do to support this initiative?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I made reference to the state of northern and Aboriginal broadcasting in the Northwest Territories by pointing out opportunities in assisting our broadcast station of CKLB. I made reference that capital funds are particularly hard to come by. The station has struggled to keep up with maintenance of its community transmitters and has been unable to implement new communication technologies. In essence, as I see it, Aboriginal media should not be a second-class citizen in today’s NWT broadcast community and it deserves better. My questions today are for the...

I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. Ms. Bisaro, wish of committee?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In order for us to make sure we do not hit this wall of worry for our northern and Aboriginal broadcasters in the future, it’s imperative that we put in place the right evaluation tools to prevent this mishap from occurring again.

Assuming we can get a new funding model in place, can the Minister indicate to the House by what measures he plans to evaluate progress after this renewed funding is made available?