Thank you, Mr. Chair. That $881,000 for inclusive schooling that we had mentioned, when we did put the funding out there for junior kindergarten for funding, we did not get full enrolments of all grades, so there was a surplus of money for that money that the Finance Minister had brought in the last budget. Because we did not get full enrolments in junior kindergarten, that surplus from that money that reallocated for JK, we are using to reallocate internally to fund inclusive schooling. I will go to Mr. Lovely for a bit more clarification. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Lovely.

Thank you, Mr. Lovely. Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand what the witness had to say there, but what I am concerned about is: if enrolment rebounds over the next school year, where will the money for inclusive schooling come from at that point? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is the first year that we have had the territorial implementation of junior kindergarten throughout the Northwest Territories. We did mention that we were going to continue to monitor and evaluate. Should enrolments rebound, we do go through a business planning process with our operations budget on a yearly basis and have those discussions then. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I would like more certainty around the funding for inclusive schooling. I would like it to be added to the base going forward so that there is certainty that there is money for all grades for inclusive schooling, since it is so critical to their success. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I can confirm that the reallocation of the funding that we have put into inclusive schooling for this year is added to the base. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to clarify, does that mean that that money is going to be available for every year going forward? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is dependent on enrolment. We go through the funding formula when we look at enrolments in the school, so it will be based on enrolments. Thank you.

Thank you. Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, what I have heard from the various meetings we have had with school trustees is that there is a great need for inclusive schooling money in order to diagnose and assist children with learning disabilities as quickly as possible. For that reason, I am going to say that this is an area that needs constant support, that the schools cannot be going up and down according to enrolment each year. They have to have a reliable amount of money for inclusive schooling. To that end, will the Minister consider adding a fixed amount of money for inclusive schooling going forward and/or rework the formula to ensure that there is certainty for school boards? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Currently, we fund inclusive schooling at 15 per cent; sorry, we are legislated at 15 per cent. We are currently funding school boards at 17.3 per cent. We did increase this funding for junior kindergarten with an internal reallocation, and we will look at it on a year-to-year basis based on enrolments. We did meet with our education leaders, and we did hear the same thing. I think this increase in funding for this year with the first rollout of junior kindergarten is definitely going to help. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Twenty-three seconds, Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am going to just skip over now to funding for busing. I know the Minister has a territory-wide committee looking at funding for busing. I'm wondering, if he finds that there is, in fact, a need for more busing, whether he will provide that money in a supplemental in the fall. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Your time has expired, but I will allow the Minister time to respond. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is correct. We are going through a territorial-wide survey on busing and transportation in communities across the Northwest Territories. Once we have that report, we will take a look at it. Obviously, it will have to go through Finance. I cannot make that commitment at this time, but we will wait until that report comes out. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Next, I have Mr. Thompson.