Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, when the federal government changed a program that was legislated earlier this spring, the resulting impacts to just the education system alone, not including necessarily what may have been funded under sort of a more health care sort of focus, but this left a gap of $58.6 million, which is one that built up over the course of several years as school boards became more aware about Jordan's Principal and were able to develop programs to support Indigenous students. And so when the changes came down that altered the way in which school boards could line up to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's so much happening on many fronts on this. And so what I'm going to suggest is that we perhaps need to do a better job of telling our story on this project here. We were just in Ottawa. We spoke with a number of Ministers while we were there, with Council of Leaders. Council of Leaders are getting the word out. The Tlicho are getting the word out. YKDFN. But, again, there's a lot that's been happening. Both of those nations have gone through elections in just the last few months. Those processes are done now. We're all ready to get moving, and I...

Thank you, Madam Chair. So Madam Chair, I'm not sure if I have that level of the operational details of this plan here in front of me. I'll just simply to -- I believe this would be really an operational sort of level discussion and perhaps even bring it down into the departments. It was -- again, I acknowledge that certainly not every surplus is necessarily created equal. School bodies do get their funding via the school funding framework and formula, and that does give them some flexibility to maintain their surplus so that they can obviously, you know, within appropriate parameters, but...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, there's no delay in terms of receiving or processing per se. I understand that one element of the request is that there be some amount contributed from school boards, those that have surplus funding available to them within their own budgets and that there's some discussion happening with at least some of the school boards in this regard. So, again, until that discussion is concluded, that's the state of some of this. Others, I think, Madam Chair, my understanding is that the funding should be already processed and already flowing, and then there's some...

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...