Caroline Wawzonek

Well done, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, thank you. First of all, we're not second- tier, Mr. Speaker. We are on -- we're on the side of the list that puts the major projects office directly responsible for making sure that our project, in fact, gets moving and gets going. We've already met. Staff from strategic infrastructure were in Calgary to meet with the new major projects’ office. The YKDFN and the Tlicho are deeply involved in this project. We meet with them regularly. There's a significant plan that's been developed conjointly with those two nations on whose lands and traditional lands...

Thank you, Madam Chair. So, again, Madam Chair, the application process is one that goes through the same as it would have been for Jordan's Principal which is that it needs to demonstrate that the students are -- or that the application is one focused on Indigenous students. I mean, the reality is more resources in a school are more resources in a school, but to the extent that there's going to be students or education assistants assigned more directly to Indigenous students, then right now if there's one teacher with no education assistants in a classroom, if there's a majority of Indigenous...

Thank you, Madam Chair. On my left, deputy minister of finance, Bill MacKay. And on my right, deputy secretariat to the Financial Management Board Mandi Bolstad.

Thank you, Madam Chair. To the extent that Jordan's Principal system was being previously used to support these education assistants, then yes. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, back again, on my left is Bill McKay, the deputy minister of the Department of Finance. On my right, Mandi Bolstad is the deputy secretary to the Financial Management Board.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So I'll say at the outset I am trying to avoid saying exactly the number that the boards don't want to spend. I don't necessarily have their blessing to say those numbers that are on the floor for them or that are before them for decisions. So what I can say is this, that right now what was requested in order to participate in this program which, again, is, you know, us stepping in for the federal government when we're really ill-funded to do so. So I hear the frustration, and I appreciate the frustration from the boards, but we also weren't expecting to be filling...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we are as a government working towards a position where right now the health authority does run a deficit budget, most -- well, all departments and agencies do not. So we are trying to put ourselves into a position where the health and social services authorities would be in the same position, namely, not running any form of deficit budget. But before we do that, we are wanting to do the work that's happening both within the authority of the public administrator to determine the appropriate complement of staffing, for one, but also work that's happening in...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have that. The $58.6 million number that I had put forward is based on the current fiscal year and really for education authorities only. And when adding in 2025-2026 but then also considering that there would have been some elements, for example, if there's diagnostic services or treatment services or care, health care related services, I don't have that number. So the number certainly does start to grow when we add all of that in. I can see if we can put that together. It may be that it is -- I don't have in front of me right now. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So no, Madam Chair, this is not. And there's a couple of different line items that we see in the course of reviewing the Department of Health and Social Services broadly, including where they would put money to support the authority. But this is where if someone who has Northwest Territories health care and they go anywhere outside of Northwest Territories, we are billed back. So this is out of territory hospital medical services. It's not residents who are permanently in other facilities or who may be residing in other facilities, you know, sort of longer term for...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the item that came forward from education, culture, employment in response to the federal government's decision to take away money from Indigenous students did not apply to Yellowknife exclusively. It does not apply to any individual community or education body exclusively. It is for school boards who are being denied their funding that they were receiving through Jordan's Principal. If a school board is being denied funding anywhere in the Northwest Territories, they can apply to this fund. It so happens that the two largest school boards in Yellowknife...