R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So one of the first things in the art strategy is to review all of the different funding, how it's working. Now, I had the option to just not put out an art strategy, and I considered that because I knew that people would want something a little more concrete and specific and I thought, well, we can just do this work without sort of telling the public what we're undertaking. But I thought, no, for the sake of transparency let's release the strategy, say, this is our plan; it's going to take some time but it's our plan. And then after we take some of those steps in that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre has two curated shows a year where they display the work of an artist. I would imagine that that would count as an art gallery for the purposes that the Member is speaking about. In terms of a public art gallery, building a new public art gallery, there are no plans to build a new public art gallery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I'm unable to produce that data for the Member right now; I'm sorry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I try to stay up on my files but I don't have that level of specific information for the Member right now; I apologize. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There will be engagement that's going to happen to get that feedback from artists, and that's going to begin likely early in the new year. So we are going to engage, and we're going to talk to them, and we're going to listen. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm here today to present Bill 30, an Act to Amend the Aurora College Act. I want to thank the Standing Committee on Social Development for their interest in and review of this bill.

This bill will result in an arm's length governance system that supports an effective, efficient, and sustainable Aurora College positioned to continuously identify and respond to the needs of northern residents, Indigenous governments, partners, and stakeholders. It will also set the stage for further legislative change in 2024 to create the polytechnic university.

The creation of a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The type of arts council structure that the Member's speaking about, they are usually born out of a grassroots organization, a group of artists that get together and has a vision, has a plan, and it's an organization that then can be supported.

There is currently no organization in the territory that has that ability at this point. There's a number of different organizations, and maybe if they all combine their power, that might be an organization that we might be able to support. But that's just not the case. These are generally grassroots organizations. And while the...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Plain Language Summary for Bill 41: Justice Administration Statutes Amendment Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And Mr. Speaker knows all about this. I recall in the last Assembly, this hit his constituents hard because there was an increase in fuel prices that was quite abrupt and the change in the way that this was funded didn't quite account for that. So what we did last year, actually, was we increased the amount that seniors are eligible for, and Members in this House should remember that. So there was an increase.

And I also want to say that despite the fact that there is a monetary amount now associated with this, there is a cap. A number of instances have come across my...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is one person in the GNWT who, as part of their duties, works with the arts council to distribute that money. That is not enough money to fund an executive director and an office in downtown Yellowknife, never mind the additional funds for travel for everything else. So no, at this point I'm not willing to do that. It would not be a good use of our funds.

There's other jurisdictions in Canada who operate in the same manner that we do. We are not unique in this sense so it's not like there is one gold standard for arts councils. So at this point, I'm not willing to...