Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And then when I turn back to page 49, there's about an extra $200,000 in there. Is the additional $200,000 then funded from within the GNWT? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of ECE.

Thank you. So we are looking at the minority language education and instruction? We are flipping through pages to try and find where that $200,000 came from. So perhaps we can get back to it after the next question, unless the Member wanted to follow this thread. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you for that, Madam Chair. And I can -- I just want to be able to kind of follow investments in French language and investments in Indigenous languages as well. And I see that for Indigenous languages education, there's just over 11 and a half -- or well, almost $12 million for this year's main estimates, and I'm wondering if this is application based and if it is solely accessible through schools or if it's also accessible through other organizations or NGOs outside of a school-based setting? Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister of ECE.

Thank you. So the Indigenous Languages and Education Secretariat sort of has two roles. One is to work on Indigenous language revitalization and eventually services to government and the other role is in the JK to 12 system. And so that's what this funding is intended for. It is directly provided to school boards, and it is a separate item because it can't be used for other activities. So, you know, we provided the school boards with a lump sum and for the most part, they can do what they want with it but not when it comes to this. This has to be used for Indigenous language and cultural activities. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for frame -- or Kam Lake.

A little farther at the other end of the town. Thank you, Madam Chair.

My next question for the Minister, so I understand it then is distributed through schools only and to all 33 communities. Can the Minister speak to how these funds are distributed as far as whether they're distributed to all 33 communities, is it number of students per school, and how the department decides how much is given to each community or each school board?

Minister of ECE, did you get that?

I will answer the parts that I got. So there's no school in Enterprise yet so we don't have schools in 33 communities. But this money is distributed according to the funding framework. And so it would be distributed directly to the DEAs according to the framework or the DECs if that is the applicable regional body. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I should have said this on a previous section, and if you'll indulge me, can I just say one quick thing about language application programs here -- application-based programs?

You can say it, but we're not going back to -- go ahead.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair, sorry, and I should have clarified in the other section whether or not language-based programs were application-based or not. And I see now that I should have asked this -- or said this before.

One of the things that we've heard on our side of the House is sometimes the application-based Indigenous languages funding programs, the -- it can be difficult for NGOs to maintain Indigenous language speakers if it's not multiyear funding or if the timeline of the application coincides too closely with the end of the school year, it can be difficult for people to maintain access to those language speakers. And so I think that's worth noting, is the length of the application for funding. And then also the time of year that applications come up can be challenging for some NGOs. So I just wanted to just leave that there.

And then I -- with my last two minutes, Madam Chair, the only thing I wanted to add is just that I absolutely fully support the healthy food for learning budget line item. And I know that in the constituency I serve that one of the schools, even before COVID, had spent well over $20,000 trying to help feed families and help them with food insecurities even here in Yellowknife. And so food insecurity is definitely top of mind for many Northerners and kids who are hungry, it's hard to focus on learning. So thank you.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister for ECE.

Thank you, and I agree. That's why right before I came out here I made sure I had a snack because I didn't yesterday, and I felt it. So I hear what the Member's saying, and I thank her for her support.

Thank you. Any further questions, Member for Kam Lake? Okay.

Are there any further questions under junior kindergarten to grade 12 school services from Members?

Seeing none, Education, Culture and Employment -- oh, sorry. Yeah, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Madam Chair, just so I understand, so we -- we're going through the document by page here and so I have a couple questions. I don't know if it's -- how do you want to proceed? Do we proceed by page or -- just so I understand.

So we're just under the section. Anywhere under the JK to grade 12 section. So that goes right up to page 52. So you can ask a question on any one of those pages from 48 to 52. Okay? Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Oh, oh, sorry. Okay. Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. Just a quick question for the Minister.

Since this -- his announcement on December 12th, '21, in regards to the curriculum from Alberta to BC, I just want to know if he -- has he got feedback from Indigenous governments about this curriculum here in the Northwest Territories of opting out from Alberta to BC? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Member for -- or sorry, Minister of ECE.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I made great efforts, and the department did as well, to engage with as many Indigenous governments as we could last summer. I personally attended every meeting where I knew leadership would be in attendance so I could hear directly from them. I spent hours of time discussing the curriculum. And so yes, I met leader to leader and the departments met at the officials level. Of course, no one ever has enough time, and I wish there was more engagement, but we did do our best to engage. And when we sent out invites or requests to meet and we didn't hear back, I would make personal calls to try and set up meetings. So I did my best. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.