Mr. Speaker, I guess the question has to be: now that we've had a delay in receiving these generators, what kind of costs are we incurring? What kind of costs have we had to incur to date? I'm not talking about the deposit or what have you that was put down; I'm talking about locally. These were intended to replace aging infrastructure. Have we got temporary generators in place? What kind of costs have ratepayers incurred to date to take care of this void that was supposed to be filled by these new generators?

The Power Corporation, when they became aware of this, this problem of delay, went back to the company, and the company to its credit, to compensate for the lack of delivery, the vendor, Virdi, agreed to cover any additional costs, including the costs of the modular rental units that were brought into Jackfish for the winter of 2017 to ensure reliability. So the company will be absorbing those costs.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had a separate question for my final question, but I now have to ask: what are those costs? If they're going to cover them and we are notably incurring them, what are the costs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, the company, Virdi, which is a very reputable firm, has been in the business for many years, supplies American military among others, has agreed to cover those costs. I do not have a detailed list of the costs, but I can seek that from the Power Corporation.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Masi. Minister of Lands.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The lease rates are determined by our land pricing policy, which is based on 10 per cent of the assessed value of the land. I understand this is consistent throughout the NWT and, in fact, is the practice across Canada. Thank you.

Can the Minister explain what's involved in determining that rate?

Yes. The rate is determined on the assessed value which is established by the Department of MACA.

Earlier I spoke of this being akin to a 10 per cent mill rate. So can the department look at ways to make the lease rates more in line with what are in other parts of the territory? By that, I mean, Mr. Speaker, we don't pay 10 per cent of the value of the property that we live on here in Yellowknife or in some of the larger centres, so I'm not understanding what the Minister means by applications similar across the territory. Can the Minister tell me how that could be brought more in line with other parts of the territory?

I think we're talking about two things here: taxes and lease rates. The lease rates, as I say, are based on 10 per cent of the assessed value of the land, and that is consistent throughout the Northwest Territories. They are different things, obviously, taxes and leases, as anybody who owns property knows, and 10 per cent of the assessed value of the land, I suggest, would be a reasonable rental or lease rate.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is Lands working with Aboriginal governments involved with the issue around the land titles moving forward with settlement of land rights and all of the other things that are involved in the negotiation? Currently, it appears as though, if you do not have a negotiation position, then it is just 10 per cent.

I guess I am kind of wondering if it is different for the areas where the land rights are settled. Can the Minister tell me how his department can work with the Aboriginal governments to look at this policy? Because it is a very unfair policy to have 10 per cent of the value of the land as an annual cost to either rent or lease the land. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, it is conceded that tax and lease rates are controversial in that they can be different in different areas in the sense that, certainly with respect to taxation of properties outside settled boundaries of communities, that is often the subject or sometimes the subject of a treaty or settled land claim. As to progress with respect to those unsettled claims, perhaps that question could be best addressed to the Minister for DAAIR.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week, during the public meeting on junior kindergarten funding, ECE advised us that junior kindergarten would be funded according to a pupil-teacher ratio of 12:1, but, in the same discussion, the ECE also advised that the funding formula was an allocation tool, not a tool to determine whether or not funding that ECE delivers is adequate to meet schools' and students' needs. So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain how this impacts schools and school boards who have identified where funding is inadequate to meet the needs of the students and the schools? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we continue to work with all of our education authorities on the roll-out of junior kindergarten for the 2017-18 school year. It is the responsibility of the education authorities to decide how they are going to best staff their junior kindergarten classrooms with the funding that we provide. The money that we are providing this year, that we committed to.

I am confident that the funding provided to these education authorities will be adequate for these authorities to offer quality early childhood programming for four-year-olds, as I mentioned, that is optional for parents.

More specifically, Mr. Speaker, for the Member's riding, where we have implemented junior kindergarten for the past three years in a lot of our communities, we have spoken with the superintendent and had discussions with her, and we have heard from the superintendent that junior kindergarten is working; it has shown success, great outcomes. As well, she has mentioned that the JK in the Member's riding of Nahendeh is adequately funded. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the Minister for that answer, but he has to also realize that I speak for the territories. I sit as the chair of social development, and I am hearing these concerns across the territories. I have to agree with the Minister. It is working well in my region, and I am not saying that. I am saying, across the territories, there are concerns, and this is why we are asking these questions.

Mr. Speaker, ECE has indicated that it will take $5.1 million to implement junior kindergarten in all of the remaining NWT classrooms, not including some one-time spending to make classrooms physically ready and other investments. Can the Minister explain how many junior kindergarten students the ECE is expecting to be enrolled in 2017-18, and how does that compare to past enrolments? When we are looking at including all of the schools, how is it going to be related to the enrolment?

As the Ministry of Education, Culture and Employment, we want to provide the best services for our teachers, our families, and our students, and we represent all communities across the Northwest Territories. Junior kindergarten has been implemented in 20 of the communities to date. It is working well.

We are seeing some good results, and we are going to continue that. With the 13 communities that are remaining, we want to offer them the same opportunities that we are providing to all 20 communities. Any concerns, questions, we are continuing to consult with our education authorities moving forward.

Mr. Speaker, in the 2017-18 school year, we are looking at estimates of about 533 junior kindergarten students that are going to be enrolled in schools right across the Northwest Territories. Since we began piloting the project, on average we have had about 94 students in the Northwest Territories, in all the schools where we are currently providing it.

I thank the Minister for his answer. When we look at the $5.1 million plus one-time spent to prepare classrooms, communication, advertise, and all of the other expenses to implement junior kindergarten in 2017-18 plus spending on junior kindergarten to date, what is the total amount the government has invested in junior kindergarten, Mr. Speaker?

Since we have started the pilot program in the previous government, we have averaged about $1.4 million to fund the continued operations of junior kindergarten throughout the communities that have been offering it. Our one-time costs that include advertising, review, evaluation, the upgrades of infrastructure, classroom equipment, as well as the engagement that we have had with school boards and the communities, that is an extra $1.14 million that we have had for junior kindergarten since it started.