Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If schools meet the criteria, then there shouldn't be an issue. But there is a criteria. It is not just anecdotal evidence that there's changes in student population. And in places like Yellowknife, there are a number of different schools, a number of different school boards so there is movement between those schools as well. Some might see increases, some might see decreases. But it's not a change perhaps in the net population of students. Overall, we've seen about a .4 percent decrease in the numbers across the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I'm going to have to have a conversation, I guess, with the Minister offline to compare information from school boards to ECE as well just to make sure that schools are supported.

I'm wondering if -- so teachers have long indicated that students to teacher ratio includes teachers who are also not present in the classrooms and therefore it does not allow for the number of teachers needed to meet the students where they are at. Students have a lot greater needs in the territory and around the world with COVID. Students are at much different places from missing a lot of school or just from the mental health and anxiety that comes with COVID and the disruption to stability for students, kids, and everybody these days.

So to help improve student outcomes, will the Minister pass a directive reducing the student-teacher ratio in NWT schools and provide additional funding for additional teachers? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the 16 to 1 ratio is a minimum, and it's a legislated number. We actually fund to about 12.8 to 1. And that is just including teachers, program supports, staff. So it is basically instructional staff. So that number is a minimum, and we already exceed that number. And I will be the first to say there's never enough money for education; there's never enough teachers to go around, and so I appreciate the Member's comment and the school board's comments. But unfortunately, we've talked a lot about competing needs today, and we've talked about our overall debt, and our efforts to ensure that we are supporting every area to the greatest extent possible. And so that's what we're working on, and we'll be going through the budget in this sitting, and I'm happy to dig deep into the details of the school funding formula at that time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Final supplementary, Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister's comments, and I think it's important that on this side of the House, we continue to talk about the things we would like to see more money go into because those are the things that are important to the people we serve.

That being said, I know that education is top of mind for many Northerners, if not most Northerners. And I'm wondering if the Minister would be willing to revisit the education funding formula in advance of the modernization of the Education Act in order to address things like inflation and increased needs for inclusive schooling. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the funding formula is quite complex, and the funding that is provided to education bodies is complex in general. There's actually additional funding available for inclusive schooling on an application basis. And I've seen those applications come across my desk, and we've been approved.

We are always looking at the funding formula. There have been some improvements made to the formula during this Assembly. I expect to see some more made before the end of this Assembly. But as for a wholesale revision, I can't commit to that given that the Education Act is become modernized, and it would take a lot of effort to redo the entire funding formula and then redo it again once we finalize that Education Act. So while I can commit to continuous improvements, I can't commitment to a wholesale revision. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Colleagues, our time for oral questions has expired. Written questions. Returns to written questions. Replies to Commissioner's address. Petitions. Tabling of documents. Minister responsible for Finance.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Main Estimates, 2022-2023. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Tabling of documents. Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Thank you, Minister. Tabling of documents. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I wish to table the following two documents: A Media Release from Alternatives North and Ecology North Comments on the Draft NWT Statement of Environmental Values.

And the second document: Alternatives North and Ecology North Comments on the Draft NWT Statement of Environmental Values. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Tabling of documents. Member for Thebacha.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table an article entitled "Volvo Announces Massive 50-Gigawatt-Hour Battery Plant in Sweden".

And the second is titled "Fortune Minerals" from the Edmonton Journal, "Article Aiming to Develop in Alberta after Saskatchewan Rejected Proposed Metals Refinery". Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Tabling of documents. Notices of motion. Motions. Notices of motion for the first reading of bills. First reading of bills. Second reading of bills. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters, Bill 23; Bill 29; Tabled Document 561-19(2), Main Estimates 2022-2023, with Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes in the chair.

I now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I move that the chair rise and report progress. Thank you.

Thank you. There's a motion on the floor to report progress. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. I will now rise and report progress.

May I please have the report of Committee of the Whole. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Bill 23; Bill 29; Tabled Document 561-19(2), 2022-2023 Main Estimates, and would like to report progress, and Mr. Speaker, I move that report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Do we have a seconder? Member for Inuvik Boot Lake. All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion is carried.

---Carried

Third reading of bills. Mr. Clerk, orders of the day