Julie Green

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Hay River South, that notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns today, June 9, 2016, it shall be adjourned until Monday, June 13, 2016;

and further, that at any time prior to June 13, 2016, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should begin at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact...

Thank you to the Minister for his answer. At the beginning I thought that I heard that he would be interested in having a public conversation. What would it take to get that conversation started?

Mr. Speaker, Mahsi. My questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. First of all, can you update the House on the status of the review of lotteries to bring them into compliance with the CRA? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for that. Mr. Speaker, I don’t expect the sport organizations to say that they would like to give up any of their revenue so I’m not sure that really will achieve the ends that I’m looking for here. The information I have is that lotteries contribute $4 million a year to sports organizations, and I take the Minister’s point that this is physical activity. I don’t know how the money invested in sports compares to the money invested in arts, all things being equal for that same age group. I wonder if the Minister could commit to producing...

Thank you to the Minister for that answer. Mr. Speaker, to my knowledge we’ve never consulted with the public to determine whether there’s a desire to see the funding eligibility opened to the arts as well as to sports. Program review seemed to involve only sports organizations and, of course, they have a vested interest. Is there an opportunity to have a broader conversation on how the proceeds are allocated? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the money raised in the NWT through the Western Canada Lotteries Program, like Lotto 649, Lotto Max, and all the scratch tickets, is administered by the NWT Sports and Recreation Council. About $4 million a year has been disbursed to the territorial sporting groups and events for each of the last four years. These lottery profits go only to sports organizations here in the NWT. In all other jurisdictions except Nunavut, lottery money is also dispersed to arts organizations and community service groups. The question of whether sporting organizations should...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have no reason to doubt that the Minister is speaking to me in good faith a propos to what Mr. R.C. McLeod said. I happen to know the person who is in the position, and I know that she works more than halftime to deliver the programs here, in Yellowknife, and on behalf of the department around the Northwest Territories. I feel that, while it is very valuable to have an additional position in the South Slave, that it is also valuable to keep the regional and the headquarters at strength in this role in order to ensure that everybody is wellinformed, is welleducated...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, today there are or have been, since it's late in the day, 300 children in the Somba K’e Park here, in Yellowknife, for World Oceans Day, and the reason that they're there is because ENR has a public education program that is aimed at teaching children and people of all ages about the different aspects of the ENR mandate, such as wildlife, water, environmental protection, and so on. To that end, I'm very dismayed by the proposed loss of the parttime public education specialist in the department's field support unit, which we spoke about yesterday when we were...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The difference of opinion between Cabinet and Regular MLAs with the 201516 budget reflects some unfinished business around the mandate. Our problem is what then-vice president George Bush Sr. described as “the vision thing.” As an interesting aside, I want to provide some context for this quote. Bush was considering a run at the presidency as Ronald Reagan's second term in office came to an end. You might recall that Reagan was known as “the Great Communicator,” but up to that point in 1987, Bush hadn't been very effective in articulating what he stood for, so a friend...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for that. Mr. Speaker, to give a specific example here, the Housing First project in Yellowknife plans to house 20 people in the next three years. Does that mean there will be a decline in the shelter capacity of 20 people?