Thank you. Mr. Nakimayak.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I am looking at the health, wellness and student support. I am just wondering: I know that a lot of schools, especially in my region, have applied for funds through Jordan's Principle. I am just wondering if this is the right section to talk about it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is not in the mains, because it is in the individual education bodies' budgets. It is usually external funding. A lot of the schools actually get external funding, such as Jordan's Principle. However, within this area, we do provide support to them in things such as filling out the applications and reviewing the applications. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Nakimayak.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would just like to express some, I wouldn't say concern, but some of the issues that we have been facing in the remote communities where funding like this could help a lot of students. Maybe 20 or 30 years ago, it would have been great, but now it is good that the federal government is recognizing it. It is administered through the schools. I would recommend that the schools across the territory maybe take a stronger role in this. Once the support is done and the teachers are home for the summer, I am just wondering: what is next for students? What is coming from the education boards and the teachers once school is out, basically, in the summer and these students have some time on their own? I am wondering what the next steps are for that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is a three-year program, I believe. I am not sure what will happen with the new election that comes up. I agree that it is important programming. I think that we need to try to lobby to make sure that it goes further. I also think that we need to work better towards this.

I have heard comments that some schools are taking it and some aren't, and I think it is something that we should bring to the education leaders' table. I think we would be a lot better off if we coordinated within the regions and actually did it through councils and then assimilated to the schools versus the individual schools applying on their own. One school may apply for $500,000, and the next school may apply for $10,000, and you are only getting approved for what you ask for. We need to be more coordinated in this funding, and we also need to lobby for any funding that we can get to address the healing that is necessary for Indigenous people. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Nakimayak.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that response. I was kind of going in that direction. When we recruit teachers for remote communities in the territories, sometimes you don't see what you get until they walk off the plane, basically. Sometimes it is amazing. There are some schools that have amazing strengths in writing proposals and some that really don't.

As we move toward the fall and the new school year, seeing that there are two years left of this program, I think that we need to really utilize the strengths that we have in some of those educators early. That might mean adding more money to the professional improvement of the system so that we can actually start prepared rather than react as the school year progresses and have it defined and running well by the end of the school year. I think we need to look ahead and plan so that we can hit those milestones as we move ahead on track, and we will hit the ground running. Just more of a comment on that, Mr. Chair. I don't know if the Minister wants to comment on it.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I agree. My commitment is that I will put it on the agenda for the education leaders' table, which has all of the education bodies' chairpeople and their superintendents. I think that we need to be more strategic in this. That is our biggest problem. Leaving it to individual schools is not the best way to deal with this funding. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Next, I have Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On page 44, I see that there is only a part-time position for early childhood and school services. Can the Minister explain why it is only a part-time position for eight communities? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This position is part-time, but we do have the regional early childhood development coordinators who actually provide the support necessary to the region, as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. What is the difference between the Sahtu and the Beaufort-Delta? They all have a full-time position, and I am assuming that they get the support from their staff, as well. Why is it a difference of only a half-time position for the Deh Cho? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The difference would be the number of licensed childcare providers and the demand for the services. Like I said, we do have 11 communities. Once those 11 communities, if we can get to a point where they have licensed childcare centres, then we would need to review it to make sure that our staffing is equitable. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you to the Minister for coming into that world because that is where I was coming. I know those four communities. You need actual support to get these. Four of my communities that I represent don't have licensed daycares. With a half-time position, how can that individual support the ones that actually have daycares and the ones that are trying to get them in there? It is kind of: well, we want to get 11 more licensed daycares going, but we are not going to give you the supports to it. How can we actually achieve that if we only get a half-time position? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.