We will go back to advanced education and careers. Mr. Krutko.

In regard to my earlier question, can the Minister give us some assurances that the $339,000 will be distributed fairly and equitably to all regions and schools in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley, you are indicating you will refer the question?

Mr. Chairman, I will refer the question to Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The program will be by application, of course, so it will depend to some degree on where applications come from. We will ensure that there is an across-the-board, across-the-territory fairness in this whole thing and that it is not concentrated in one or two particular communities, if we get the applications from the various communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Krutko.

Can the Minister state exactly where these applications will have to be filed and who will approve the applications?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am not quite sure of the process, but I believe there will be a committee of the department and, in all likelihood, the representatives from the SPAR committee may take part in this. I stand to be corrected, but I will check that out for the Member to see who exactly will be a participant in the selection process.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Krutko.

Maybe the Minister could clarify what the SPAR committee is? Is that a fencing committee or a sparring committee?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Ootes.

The SPAR Committee is an acronym, and pardon me for using that. It is the School Program and Resource Committee. It is made up of representation from the various regions of the district education councils, as well as the department. I believe the Department of Health and Social Services has a representative on that as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Advanced education and careers, $1,619,000, not previously authorized.

Education and culture, not previously authorized, $611,000. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I was wondering if we could get a bit of a breakdown on how this $611,000 is proposed to be expended, what the programs are and some descriptions of them, whether or not the money is going into schools or will be expended through NGOs, for instance? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, it is broken down into the education and awareness activities, speech language development activities, and community support activities. We will have to get details on exactly where the money is being spent, whether it is in the school or in the community. I cannot tell from the information I have exactly what goes where.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think that goes to highlight my earlier comments when we were talking about the early childhood expenditures in Health. It is difficult for Members of this House to approve expenditures without having some clear idea of how those monies are going to be expended. We are asked here to basically trust the department to do the right thing. The Early Childhood Development Action Plan is a good enough initiative and important enough that we have to support it, but it is very frustrating to sit here and not have good information in front of us about how this money is going to be spent. I wanted to see if there were any more details. Since there are not, it is disappointing. I certainly look forward to hearing a much better explanation of this program in committee. I hope we hear it soon. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, while Mr. Dent was speaking, we did break out some of those that are education. First of all, there are the Read To Me kits that are presented to parents of all children. They are provided to families in all communities, $185,000.

The Language Nests are to develop and enhance early childhood programs that immerse toddlers in preschool in aboriginal language and culture. That is an ECE one. It is at a cost of $170,000. It will be going to all those situations where we have aboriginal language and culture situations, virtually every community.

In terms of community support, there is the child and family resource centres. That is to build on existing best practices and provide incremental funding to bring together resources at a community level. This is work with the communities who express a desire for support. That is at $75,000.

Then there is a parenting and literacy program. That is to work with the NWT Literacy Council to develop community-level programs that encourage early literacy and parenting skills. That is $181,000.