Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Simpson.

Thank you. What percentage of a surplus are the authorities allowed to hold on to from year to year? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Cochrane.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Currently, they are allowed to hold on to 7 percent, and as of 2017, the surplus throughout the 10 education bodies was $13 million. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Simpson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. A whooping $1.3 million each. That's amazing. Has the 7 percent amount changed over the years, or has it always been a 7 percent surplus that they can hold on to? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Cochrane.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, it is only a new policy in 2018-2019, and it was because there were concerns. I mean, there are concerns when children are not developmentally ready, when they are not meeting the standards, when they are not showing in the middle years developmental index. There are concerns of children dropping out. There are concerns of children not doing well in school. I have concerns when we are not reaching the needs of children, and yet, we have $13 million in surplus. I think it was about time that we actually looked at saying, "Give us plans for your surpluses," and so I don't think that that is an unfair recommendation. In fact, I support it. I think that we should have plans for surpluses when children are at risk. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Simpson.

Thank you. Each year the schools have their budgets approved, based on estimates of how many students they will get, or based on, I guess, previous years, and at that time, the surplus is also approved. It is my understanding that, after that approval happens, the department came back and then reduced the allotted surplus. Is that the way that things worked out? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Cochrane.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is incorrect. We just told them that this is the policy going forward, and then they had to provide surplus plans for that. The schools are funded by enrolment on the previous year. However, there are exceptional cases. If you had 20 kids in your school last year, we fund you on 20 kids for the coming year, because we can't tell. At the end of September, though, there is a tally done, and then, if there are additional students, substantially additional, then we actually provide additional funding to accommodate that need.

It can work to the benefit of schools if their numbers are lower in the current year, and then, if their numbers are higher, we have additional funding that they can access. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Simpson.

Thank you. I talked about this earlier this sitting in a Member's statement, about how this funding formula might not work so well anymore for places like Hay River, and the Minister said she would look into this. I am wondering: are there plans to look at improving the funding formula so that it works for all jurisdictions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Cochrane.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am very cautious of what I am taking on. Recognizing that we have six months left, this is one that is a priority for me, so yes. I have already asked the department to go cross-jurisdictional and look at how their funding formulas are done.

I do have to give credit to the MLA for Nahendeh, who first brought that to my attention, and it was a concern for me as well. I am looking across jurisdictions to see if there is a better way to fund. We are looking at lower enrolments in the Northwest Territories, so we can't keep basing it on enrolments if our numbers are going down. There will come a time when schools don't have the correct funding to be able to provide core services.

We are looking at doing a cross-jurisdictional review, and then, once that is done, there may possibly be a new funding formula. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Simpson.

Thank you. It is good to hear that there is something happening, but just because something is happening in a different jurisdiction doesn't mean it is the right thing. The right thing is what is going to give kids the best education, so that is what we should focus on, not what PEI is doing, not what the Yukon is doing. Let's develop something based on what is going to give kids the best education.

Finally, I have questions about the Early Childhood Program contributions. As I understand it, the program has been undergoing some changes, particularly the HCI; the ECIP, Early Childhood Intervention Program, I believe. This has been in the news. There is an association in Hay River called Growing Together. It has been around for over two decades, and it has provided great services, similar to the services that the Minister provided in her previous position before getting into government, and unfortunately, the revamping of these programs has seen funding to very useful, very successful programs like Growing Together being cut. I have brought this up with the Minister, and I was hoping that there would be some sort of change to save these programs. You shouldn't be trying to fix one problem and creating another problem. What is being done to rectify this situation? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Cochrane.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The comment that was made that there is no sense in looking at other jurisdictions, and we need to do what is best for us, is absolutely right. However, there is no sense reinventing the wheel. It makes sense. Best practices would say to look at all of the different funding models that are out there and then decide which one works best for the territories, even if we have to adjust it from there, instead of just trying to pick something out of the air and saying how that will work. So I beg to differ; I think that it is important to do research before we make actions.

On the HPI funding, moving into supporting child inclusion and participation, as the Member pointed out, I actually ran a program that actually got this funding. I think that the more that we can do to support parents in learning parenting skills, the better. I think that there is a huge gap in that. It was looking at changing and looking at specializing only in looking at marginalized students or youth, children who are at risk. However, I have asked the department to do a review of that again to make sure, instead of throwing out the baby with the bath. Our goal is to make sure that we are reaching vulnerable youth and that we provide parenting support and cooking support or whatever the support that we think is needed, that can be done within what we have currently. That is one pot of funding that I am actually asking them to reconsider and to just change the terms. I am okay with changing the name. I am not attached to a name, but I am attached to losing great programs that we have currently offered. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Simpson.

Thank you. We will end on a positive note. Nothing further. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Next, we have Mr. Nakimayak.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. A lot of my colleagues have asked a lot of questions that I have been thinking about, but I am looking at this page, and I am looking at the third line down, NWTTA professional improvement. Does that include improvement for staff and teachers who come into the territory? Thank you, Mr. Chair.