Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. With that detail, I am just going to pass it off to the deputy minister, please. Thank you.
I will go to the deputy minister.
Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So in the business plan, we committed to increase our number of inspections by 25 percent to the end of 2028. We do an annual report that I do believe is made public. And I don't have the information with me today about where we ended up last year. But there were some delays in getting that position filled with job description reviews and whatnot. That position was recently filled. Unfortunately, it was a current person that ended up getting -- being successful. We're making progress with other AFM -- sorry, assistant fire marshal positions and getting those fully trained and to increase the inspection. So I don't think we'll see a significant increase in this fiscal year, but we expect good things in 2026-2027.
And one of the other things that we did in the program this past year was to have the assistant fire marshal positions, because there's one in each region, report directly to the Office of the Fire Marshal to allow for more consistency so that we can support other regions better and be more consistent in how we do business, including aligning up the work and the number of inspections. So I think we're in a good place going forward on that one there. So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you to the Minister and the staff for providing that additional detail. I will be looking to monitor improvements in services going forward. That's all. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you very much. Any other Members? Okay. No further questions, please turn to page 354.
Municipal and Community Affairs, public safety, $4,126,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Moving on to regional operations, beginning on page 357 with information items on page 359 and 360. Are there any questions? Continuing on, no further questions, please turn to page 358.
Municipal and Community Affairs, regional operations, $106,612,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Moving on to sport and recreation and youth, beginning on page 361 with information items on page 363 and 365. Are there any questions?
Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I know the Minister and his staff have briefed the Standing Committee on Government Operations on what I am about to ask, but I think some of it should be out in the public and so I will start with is the increased funding plan for sport and recreation expected to be a one-time adjustment, or do we expect this to be a multi-year trend to support sport and recreation; can the Minister and his staff paint the picture of what they expect to do with PASR? Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. It's planned for three years and to review and plan, go ahead after that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go back to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, so it's my understanding that the PASR fund has faced ongoing challenges because lottery revenues have dropped. And the reason the GNWT is funding is to sort of maintain, I guess, equilibrium for that fund so we can support athletes and coaches, which is good. But is there anything the Minister is willing to talk about here today that the department is looking to do to address this ongoing problem? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Maybe I will start, and then the deputy minister can maybe just add a little bit.
I would say a couple things. We're always looking at ways to, you know, save money or get more money. I've had conversations with the federal minister in regards to, you know, added costs, like with travel and all that kind of stuff. But I guess, you know, one of the big things that we've noticed the last little while with the increase of online gambling, with all the sports betting and everything like that, we're starting to see an impact to our lotteries. And the hopes here is maybe some of the stuff that we're doing with the online lottery and online gambling work and studies that we're doing with the money that's coming forward, you know, we're able to grab some of that and slow down some of this online gambling resources that are going and leaving the territory. So with that, hopefully we can either increase it or balance it out and help protect funding sources for sports and youth activities in the territories. That's the overall picture goal, I guess. But I don't know if you want anything? No? Okay, so that's it. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay. Did you want to -- okay, good. Thank you. I will continue on with Member from Great Slave.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yeah, so can the Minister speak to whether or not there's any evaluation, performance monitoring of the fund, any policy work that's happening? Any -- like, this is -- beyond just saying, you know, iGaming might come in and fix everything, which I have some general doubts about, what other work are we looking to do on this fund? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, we're planning on doing a couple reviews. The multi-sport game review is what we're also looking at doing. So I think there's an overall big picture of work being done here to try to stabilize the funds and help support them even more. So thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Great Slave.
I don't have anything further on this item for now. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. Is there any further questions? I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Okay. Maybe I am jumping ahead here, but I was trying to go to page 368. Is that for the next section?
Yes, go ahead. To the Member from Monfwi, yes, we can do that section. Thank you.
Okay. Okay, community capacity building fund, okay, it's a federal government. It's coming from Infrastructure Canada. So can the Minister explain to us how this fund is being allocated? Thank you.
Yeah, just before I go to the Minister, I just wanted to let the Member know that page 368 is just a little further down. But if the Minister wants to respond, right now we're on page 363 to 365. Minister.
Yeah, thank you. I guess just the simple answer to that is it is all part of the community funding, so we use the community allocation model to distribute that fund. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Monfwi.
Okay, thank you. So formula funding, so then it's probably, like -- probably small communities probably do not get a big chunk of that $18.7 million so -- with the formula the way that it is set out. So it's a disadvantage for small communities. And we have lots of aging infrastructure too as well, so that's why I thought I'd just mention it because -- yeah, so -- but I do have questions for sports and recreation.
Okay. You know, recreation funding, it's 4.0. It went up from last fiscal year to the upcoming fiscal year. The recreation funding, is it being allocated the same as the MACA formula for community operations? Is that part of the community government -- the formula that they use to allocate money to small communities? Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, this funding is not used that way. Thank you.
All right, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Monfwi.
Okay. So this funding, it keeps our recreation programs operating in small communities, regional youth sports events, youth centres. In the budget, they all stay the same. Why there -- you know, with the high cost of living, with the fuel, with the electricity, and some of them they have their own standalone youth centre, I am not too sure why, but can the Minister explain to us why the funding never really, like, increase. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So, yeah, this is, I mean, a general fund for the sports and recreation. You know, through fiscal sustainability, we've all applied for funds, we've all sat at the table to try to get funds for certain things, and then this has pretty much stayed the same. So, yeah, there's no increases here other than a couple things. So, thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Okay, thank you. You know, in small communities we have addiction issues, especially with young people. So the addictions and diabetes is on the rise. So these funding, does the community have to apply for these funding? Is that how it works or -- thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. Not all of them. Some of them are application-based but yeah, so they're -- some of them are application-based. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Well, thank you. Because I know we need more programs. We need more fundings to operate some programs. And it is getting expensive for -- to access some funds or to operate some programs too, you know. So these are really important. So if it's -- if they have to apply and it's based on a first come/first served basis, then some of the smaller communities, I am just wondering if they're -- if they're ever considered, or do they -- does anybody get left out with this funding? Thank you. Or communities, I mean.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. For, I mean, that detail, I couldn't tell you. But like I said, a lot of the -- you know, some of this is all application-based so they might get some funds. They vary through the communities on how active their community sports and recreation programs are and who's at the helm of their recreation programs in the communities. Some communities may get more funding from different NGOs across the territories and different -- yeah, different funds from the federal government, so. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Monfwi.
These programs, they're for youth so I just wanted to ask the Minister if the MACA are working with -- for allocation of funds, are working with the school. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So we don't work directly with the schools. The regional coordinators may be working with the schools, but essentially the schools would be the ones applying for the programs or applying for funding. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
