Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The lack of arts funding dominated recent budget discussions but Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger warns there isn't that much money to go around these days.

Michael Miltenberger: Says drafting the territory's budget is about balancing the wants and needs of Northerners with what is financially viable.

Responses from public meetings organized in Yellowknife by the territorial finance department last fall were made public last week.

The meetings were designed to inform Miltenberger about what residents want to see including in the 2013/14 budget, which will be tabled when the legislative assembly reconvenes in February.

While a wide range of issues were brought forward, the meeting was well-attended by members of the Yellowknife arts community who want to see more arts funding and culture programs reflected in the budget.

"There were a fair number of people representing the Yellowknife arts and culture community and the support for additional investment into various arts and culture budgets," said Miltenberger.

Among the two dozen residents present for the Oct. 23 meeting was Travis Mercredi, a sound designer and arts advocate who has lived in Yellowknife for most of his life.

"We as a territory underfund (arts and culture) in general," Mercredi told Yellowknifer.

"It's not just investing in people's hobbies, when you invest in the arts you invest in small business because every artist that I know is a small business person."

During the meeting, Mercredi argued that investing in artistic and cultural projects for young people now could alleviate the burden on social services in the future.

Specifically, Mercredi would like to see the lottery revenue in the territory be split between sports and arts, as is done in every other jurisdiction in Canada, rather than go straight to sports programming as is currently the practice in the NWT.

While Miltenberger said he recognized that arts and culture funding was a hot topic, one of the main points he aimed to get across during the session was that any money used to pay for new programs has to be taken away from somewhere else.

"What we wanted to do was have a little bit more serious, in-depth conversation," he said about the budget dialogue sessions, which were also held in several other NWT communities.

"This is a complicated process. There are a limited amount of resources and a great long list of requests, demands (and) needs that far exceeds those resources."

All feedback from the public sessions have been amalgamated into a budget dialogue report, available on the Department of Finance's website, and will be used to inform budget discussions.

Northerners can expect the next budget to show a surplus for the first time in several years, Miltenberger said.

While there will be some cuts, the government will focus on protecting the staff and services that are currently available.

In terms of major investments in Yellowknife, residents will also have to wait and see. Once Health Minister Tom Beaulieu's addictions forum wraps up next spring, recommendations on new addictions services will likely require investment, said Miltenberger. Also, Stanton Territorial Hospital is about to undergo major renovations, estimated to be at least $200 million.

In general, investing in Yellowknife has a wider reach than it would in many other communities because such a high percentage of NWT residents reside in or visit the city throughout the year. This will likely be reflected in the budget, Miltenberger suggested.

"There's no doubt that a lot of the services in Yellowknife are territorial services," said Miltenberger.

However, the finance minister was tight-lipped about what specifics the budget will contain.

"Stay tuned," he said.

Where the money goes

• Total operations expenditures: $1.4 billion
• Health and Social Services: $350 million (25 per cent)
• Education, Culture and Employment: $289 million (20 per cent)
• Community, government and infrastructure: $189 million (13 per cent)
• Other/administration: $168 million (12 per cent)
• Transportation: $120 million (nine per cent)
• Justice: $114 million (eight per cent)
• Economic development and the environment: $115 million (eight per cent)
• Housing: $65 million (five per cent)

Where the money comes from:

• Formula financing from the federal government: 67 per cent
• Taxation: 17 per cent
• Other transfers: nine per cent
• Other own-source revenues: seven per cent

Source: GNWT Department of Finance

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.