Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's events funding, and it is designed to put northern performers on northern stages. It is not for bringing in a southern act to perform on a northern stage. Shall I continue with the litany of programs?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, there is, Dennis. We have a support to northern performers program, which currently rides at $186,000. That supports about 20 of our festivals and other public performing events in communities in all regions of the territories.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The other programs are core funding support to cultural organizations. Three are aboriginal organizations. These are assigned based on the demographics. There is a Gwich'in Social and Cultural Institute, a NWT Métis Cultural Institute, and a Dene Cultural Institute, which is known as the Yamózha Kúé Society and is based in the South Slave.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I have a table, which I don't have with me now. I would be wrong to try to wing it with the figure, Dennis. But I could provide it to the panel by email. It compares per capita funding for all regions in Canada--all provinces and territories--for arts. That could be useful. I'm not sure about the numbers, but I think right now the Northwest Territories sits next to the Yukon as one of the highest, but our populations are smaller as well.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's certainly a broad objective under the NWT arts strategy to consider tourism. We have a sister department whose mandate is there. From the point of view of the arts council and my department, the conversation is always open. Another conversation that's endless up here in the NWT is the comparison with Yukon and what they've done for their arts community and for tourism, and maybe what the focus is within the NWT.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The arts council has been fortunate in the last couple of years, in that the Government of the Northwest Territories has increased its resources to deliver on requests from artists and organizations in the communities. Arts and tourism is an interesting one, and certainly many would see the opportunity for perhaps sharing the culture with visitors to the NWT.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Right. What I don't think I articulated very well in the presentation was that there is a real lack of infrastructure for the arts in the Northwest Territories. It's not just facilities like galleries or theatres, but it's also human infrastructure in terms of the administrative capacity.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Monsieur, that's a very deep question. I think the arts council's mandate is really to serve northerners first, in the north. What they're seeing as a trend, especially in smaller communities, is people seeing a potential source of income through their art and they need to reach beyond territorial borders in order to find those markets.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. Specifically, the NWT Arts Council was established in 1985 as an advisory board to the Government of the Northwest Territories, and 2010 will be its 25th anniversary. This gives us pause for some reflection as well. The mandate, as I said, is to promote the arts in the Northwest Territories, and the means to do this is by providing recommendations to the Government of the Northwest Territories' Minister of Education.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. Greetings, everyone. I must say that it's a privilege to be here. In our daily work with the arts council, economic development isn't top of mind. It's rather the creative industry. I am the manager of community programs, which is part of the culture and heritage division of the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment in the Government of the Northwest Territories.