Masi, Madam Chair. I just had to reiterate that when we're here asking questions to the Ministers and the department, we're carrying a message forward from our constituents. It's their voice, and this is what we're hearing throughout the Northwest Territories. I appreciate that Ministers are bringing forward potentially three, and obviously, eventually, we should be capturing all 13 communities. It is very important literacy, reading and writing. The deputy will be supportive of that, too. Teachers, we need to be supporting these teachers. More of a comment, but I just want to appreciate the Minister dedicating potentially three more sites to be initiated. Thank you for that. Masi.

Thank you, Member. Minister, did you have any comments?

Sure. I'll also note that every school has a library. They're all resourced with reading materials for students, but it's not just the deputy minister who is supportive. I am also supportive of the idea of getting public libraries in every community, and three is a first step. Perhaps in the future, we can get down there. We are definitely not adverse to. Sometimes, it takes a community stepping forward and saying they want it, and that really greases the wheels and makes things easier, as well. If there are communities who are really passionate about it, we can work with them, as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Members, are there any other further comments, questions? Seeing none. No further questions. Please turn to page 36. Education, Culture and Employment, culture, heritage and languages, operations expenditure summary, 2021-2022 Main Estimates, $20,799,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. We will now move onto early learning and child care with information on page 43. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Perhaps, I could just get a bit of an understanding of why the early childhood infrastructure fund appears in the operations budget? I believe that would be that our capital budget really only applies to our capital needs, and since this is a fund going to daycares and private infrastructure, it would be in operations. Can I just get confirmation of that? Also a second part of this question is: is there infrastructure for daycares and day homes in the capital budget? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you. The first part of the question, the answer is: the Member is correct. The reason that it's in here is because this is funding that we distribute to organizations, so it's not our capital. That's why it's not in the capital budget. On the second question: no, three is not capital funding in our budget for daycares. I will note that we have revised school standards, and those standards now allow for the inclusion of early learning childcare space in new or retrofitted schools. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is one of my favourite budget lines, and I'm very happy to see the department brought this forward and it's continuing. Before we even get into the conversation of what universal daycare looks like, there's huge infrastructure gaps, and it's huge making sure those spaces exist. I think this is not nearly enough money to close that gap, but on the other hand, the work being done to schools, I think, gives us a lot of that potential. Can I just get a little more information on this funding? Is this, essentially, an application-based fund? Do we have numbers on how many people applied, and how much they were applying for? I just want to get a sense of the need for this fund? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you. I believe the deputy minister can provide those numbers.

Thank you, Minister. Deputy minister.

Thank you, deputy minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The other aspect of this expansion here is the Housing Corporation has now allowed us to open daycares and day homes in their buildings. Can the Minister speak to any work being done to either open, make sure people who want to open a day home in public housing, and/or making sure that public housing has space that actually would meet the regulation requirements? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you. I don't believe anything's been finalized at this point, but I can ask the deputy minister for details on where we're at and the discussions that have been had. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Deputy minister.

Thank you, deputy minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just also wanted to clarify whether there's other money outside of this? I recognize we subsidize operators, and there's some other, I see a budget line, early childhood contributions. Is there other monies? Say, if I want to start a daycare or I'm an organization running a daycare and I am looking for millions of dollars to build a new facility, is there other money in the budget to do that or to essentially access, or is this kind of the sum total of it? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.