Thank you, Mr. Devitt. Ms. Lee.

Thank you. But that amount isn't just for special needs, I assume, because it says instructional and support services, so it must include special needs plus something else, because we're seeing about a $5 million increase from 2004-05. But that's enough information there, Mr. Chair.

I just have a last question on official languages. We see quite a bit of fluctuation there. The budget was for $1.7 million in 2004-05; last year it was a little more, but actual money spent, I'm assuming that's what the revised estimates is, is $3 million more than that, and this year we're going to be going back down to $2 million. I'm wondering if this is the area where the GNWT negotiates with the federal government for aboriginal...No, actually, I'm not going to assume that. I'm going to ask the Minister what that's about. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Devitt.

Thank you, Mr. Devitt. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Maybe this is a good place, then, to ask what's happening with that negotiation, because last time we talked about this, the Minister, I believe was talking to Minister Frulla, and there were some discussions as to what the federal government was requiring. What does it mean now that we have a new government? Is the negotiation on hold? That's going to be a pretty big cut there of $3 million this year; actually, 3.4, 3.5 from last year. Although the year 2004-05 was substantially less. So what do we do? What kind of things do we fund under that program, and what kind of impact would that have, and could the Minister give an update as to where do we see this negotiation going?

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The biggest funding here would be for the language community itself; there's some for schooling. But just in response to the Member's question about whether or not negotiations have stalled, in fact, we're engaged this week with the Department of Canadian Heritage to try and resolve this. We've been assured that the agreement will be concluded for this current year, and there's a commitment to continue with negotiations for next year. At the annual meeting of the FFT, the director general for the department was there, Mr. Lucier. I talked to him about my discussions in the past and how we were anxious to move this file along. So we are continuing to work on trying to conclude the negotiations.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Ms. Lee.

A follow-up to that, Mr. Chairman, I believe the sticking point with this negotiation was that the federal government wanted to separate the French language component and aboriginal language component which would not work to our benefit. I'd like to know if the Minister could give us an update on how he's doing in that area. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In the current year, we will have an agreement that is similar to what we've had in the past. So it is still our position that it should be a government-to-government negotiation, and we will continue on with that position as we negotiate near year's funding.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't think it was clear there as to what inroad we're making with the federal government in terms of keeping it together. Is that still the sticking point, or is that still the department's negotiating position? I'm not sure if the Minister answered that question. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's not a sticking point. By the way, it's one we've discussed with Nunavut and share with Nunavut, so they're taking the same position that we want to keep the French and the aboriginal language agreements together. The concern arose out of the report that was done for the previous Minister that made the recommendation that the funding be moved to a non-government agency. So we've made it clear that that is not what we see as the best way to ensure that the funding continues to flow properly for the North. At this point, it's not a sticking point. It was a suggestion that had been made by the previous government. We made it clear that we're not in favour of that position, and we've not heard that the current government is advancing that position at all.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Ms. Lee.

Thank you. Just to conclude that, then, is the Minister...Does he feel safe in assuming that the new government will not pursue that, or we could expect some kind of confirmation from the new government that they would not be suggesting that?

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't know what the new Minister will take as a position on this. Since the paper or the recommendation was prepared in a paper that was done for the previous government, I'm not certain that they would automatically to adopt it. But it is a situation that I will discuss when I have the opportunity, with the new federal Minister. At this point, though, it hasn't made any change in our process for negotiation. We are conducting negotiations with the Canadian Heritage this week to try and move this process along.

Thank you, Minister Dent. Mr. Braden.

Thanks, Mr. Chairman. On page 9-18, the reference to the NWTTA professional improvement fund shown in the main estimates for the coming year, $1.232 million. Mr. Chair, two years ago, or in the last fiscal year, this amount was $957,000. So showing, by my rough math, somewhere between a 25 and a 30 percent increase. I know this is a negotiated item in the contract with the teachers, but I'm wondering if the Minister or his people could give a little bit of background in terms of what is the objective, or the function, of this allocation, and how is that we're seeing a 30 percent hike in such a short period of time, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Minister Dent.