Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs how his department supports the administration of the Dog Act in the Northwest Territories. This is an important piece of legislation around cruelty to dogs in our communities. It's the only piece of animal welfare legislation in the Northwest Territories, and the SPCA does a lot of work to promote and protect healthy -- health and wellness in dogs and help their owners out. So how is the department helping communities meet their needs towards the administration of the Dog Act? Thank you.

Thank you. So how many -- I guess I'm pleased to hear that there was some feedback provided. So given that there are people unhappy with this and that it might affect their choices about whether to stay in the North or seek employment in the North or whatever it happens to be, is there an appetite to reconsider this decision? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, going back to my line of questioning with the Premier, when the executive does this work of revising its policies -- or sorry, when will that work happen? Thank you.

Thank you. So, I mean, is this an arm's length academic institution or agency? Because, you know, they -- it would be one thing if you exceeded your grant and required more public -- a public grant to expand it or increase it or enter into temporary funding but what -- so when the Minister says goes to the FMB, is it, like are they providing a specific financial request? Like, hey, we need this amount of money to run this program, much like you would if you were providing a third party contribution to a municipal government, for example, or an Indigenous government, or is it the financial...

So just clarification, this isn't a reduction. It's an elimination of the program; is that not correct? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, thank you for that response from the Premier. That's exactly what I think the SPCA wants to hear. Mr. Speaker, I said their costs per year or last year were around $700,000. $200,000 of that is now staff. It used to be volunteer-driven. That's the kind of range. Is there room in the Premier's budget to provide $200,000 to the SPCA? Thank you.

Thank you. No, that's fine, and I think that's a reasonable expectation. The Minister can't plan for -- I mean, there could be contingencies, but until you don't know what you know. And I think, again, the board could have been -- well, should, most likely, have been a bit less arm's length than this one and at least given a head's up so we weren't dealing with the mess we're in now. This is a very significant issue, and it's a significant issue in the vast majority of our communities where education outcomes are extremely poor, and there's a very real need for adult education.

We have an...

Thank you. And I think I spoke to this in the finance budget as well. I just -- it's always struck me as odd that it's administered through here rather than just a tax benefit. Is there any reason why we could raise the income ceiling here to see more -- sorry, let me go back.

Is the $2 million that's paid out from the benefit, does it come out of what's appropriated for income assistance, or is it -- does it come out of Finance's budget? Thank you.

Yeah, thank you. And I think that's the number in question that Members are taking issue with continuing to provide to the college. So I'd like to know it for sure.

Now, the mandate letter that the Minister provided to the college is adult education -- I don't have the benefit of having it in front of me, but is adult education in that mandate letter? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize my constituent Nicole Spencer. She is the executive director of the SPCA for the Northwest Territories, does great work with animals, and is also a neighbour. So thank you for being here today, Nicole. It's lovely to have you watching our proceedings.