Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Okay. Well, that's interesting to know because the schools do provide a lot of program and services, especially with youth and recreation programs. So I am just wondering if the department ever thought about transferring these to the education body. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So some of the programming dollars that were essentially given to schools all the time have already done that, and we did that last year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Thank you. Well, thank you to -- it's good to know. But, I mean, because it's concerning youth and in small communities, that's where you will find most of our young people, and they're very active so that's why I am saying that, you know, especially in small communities where, you know, the school will benefit more from these programs, and it can go a long ways. So that's why I am asking so if the department have ever considered, you know, transferring these and then allocate it to the regional schools. Thank you. That's it for now.
Thank you. Is there any further questions? Okay, seeing none, we'll continue on. Please turn to page 362.
Municipal and Community Affairs, sport and recreation and youth, $9,961,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. There are additional information items on page 366 to 368. Are there any questions?
I will go to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. My questions are around the GNWT contribution for the revenue. And I know we -- myself and others have done Member's statements around the Arctic Winter Games, just ensuring that the games are funded. I know with the decrease in revenues, we've seen some cutbacks. We saw -- snowshoeing, for example, was no longer in there last year, and I know I and others have made statements on that. I just want a reassurance, Mr. Chair, from the Minister, that now we are -- you know, we feel going forward that we are adequately funded for the Arctic Winter Games and that the important events will get what it needs to continue to be as robust as it should be. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is the goal behind this. Yeah, I would hope that it's successfully funded but I guess we won't know until after everything's all tabulated after the games are done. But, you know, we're pretty confident that it should be fine. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay. I will go back to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And that's certainly good to hear after having to do a supplemental appropriation for it, I think, a couple years ago. I am glad that the department is ensuring that this important -- that the Arctic Winter Games will continue and be successful. So no further questions. I just wanted to follow up on that. Thank you.
Thank you. Are there any further questions? Okay, seeing no further question -- oh, I am sorry. My apologies.
I am going to go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Sorry, Mr. Chair. I didn't get my hand up very quickly there. But I just wanted to -- just to the point that Mr. Rodgers was speaking to -- or sorry, my colleague from Inuvik Boot Lake was speaking to just now.
Yeah, I know in last year, it was a supplemental appropriation. This year I see we're funding to the tune of $2.7 million. I am guessing that that increase is related to the Arctic Winter Games happening this year. Are we anticipating that we're going to have to keep contributing to this fund year over year to sustain it?
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am going to pass this off to the deputy minister to answer. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay. Deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, so just to clarify, the $1.8 million is for the Arctic Winter Games. This year, the $2.7 million is not related to the Arctic Winter Games. The goal for the next three years -- as we indicated earlier, we have three years of funding -- is to come up with a plan of how we can ensure that important events like the Arctic Winter Games are funded going forward and what that might look like. As anyone who can read these financial statements, the PASR fund is in financial difficulty. We anticipate by the end of this year, we'll be at a $2.9 million deficit, and the limit on the fund is $3 million. So we're basically right at the edge of the cliff, so to speak. This funding is going to help us get through the next couple of years and maintain the current level of funding that we are providing our sport partners, including Sport North, Indigenous Sports Circle, Mackenzie Rec Association, and our territorial sport organizations, so that we can come up with a sustainable plan how we fund all of these recreation and sporting events going forward. So thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay. I am going to go back to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thanks. That's it for me, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Is there any further questions? Okay, seeing no further questions, I will now call the department summary.
Municipal and Community Affairs, operations expenditures, total department, 2026-2027 Main Estimates, $135,397,000. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, Minister, and thanks to the witnesses for appearing before us today. And I am going to ask our Sergeant-at-Arms please escort the witnesses from the chambers.
Before we move on to the next item here, we'll just take a 10-minute break, give the interpreters a little bit of a chance to rest for a little bit, and we'll come back. Thank you.
---SHORT RECESS
Order. Committee, we have agreed to Tabled Document 448-20(1), 2026-2027 Main Estimates. We will now consider the Department of Justice. Does the Minister of Justice wish to bring witnesses into the House?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please the witnesses into the chambers.
Okay, thank you. Would the Minister please introduce his witnesses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, on my left I have Charlene Doolittle, deputy minister/attorney general. And on my right, I have James Bancroft, director of corporate services. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. The committee has agreed to forego general comments. Does the committee agree to proceed to the details contained in the tabled documents?
Agreed.
Committee, we will defer the department summary and review the estimates by activity summary, beginning with community justice, starting on page 302, with information items on 304 to 305. Are there any questions?
Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. There's a number of reductions in here in the -- sorry, Mr. Chair, just getting oriented here.
There's a reduction of about $1.7 million to victim services and a significant reduction of over $2 million to victim assistance support projects. So can the Minister help us understand what happened with all those projects, and -- yeah.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will pass that to the director, please.
I will go to the director.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is correct. The reductions -- or sorry, the decrease in budget, not reduction, related to community justice is tied to sunsets related to the victim services federal funding agreement of $750,000, which also encompasses a $647,000 reduction for the independent legal advice under the same stream. There's also an increase in that budget area for community consultative groups, which is a new agreement signed this year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I will go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can you help us -- or can the Minister help us understand what it is we're losing with all of these cuts and who's going to be affected? Is it NGOs that are losing all this money? Are these projects that were completed and now they've been sunsetted but it's going to be okay? Because, yeah, it just seems like pretty significant reductions in an area where we certainly have no shortage of need. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will pass back to the director.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the director.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The victim services agreements are dispersed from the community justice budget to communities. The $750,000 deduction in the budget should be replaced shortly as we have, under reasonable terms, secured an extension of that victim services agreement of $675,000. So a small overall reduction of 10 percent, but the funding in that regard will be reinstated to flow again to communities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So that is good news. And I will just make sure -- so, yeah, I probably should have asked specific questions about each line item rather than jumping around. So the victim assistance support projects, that's over $2 million reduction. What are we losing there?
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Sorry, Mr. Chair, we need a moment.
Mr. Chair, I will pass that to the director.
Thank you. I will go to the director.
