Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to get into the school funding formula a little, which was based on enrolment. I know during COVID, the Minister agreed to essentially freeze enrolment at the 2019 numbers because a lot of students, as school went online, stopped going to school. And now as we move into the 2022 school year, I know a number of schools, their enrolment are down. They're trying to get those kids back in the classrooms but the school boards are anxious to know what enrolment numbers will be used. And I was hoping the Minister could provide a bit of an update about whether we're going to be using the pre-COVID numbers, whether we're going to be using some hybrid system, or whether some of these schools are going to see a shock to their budget as kids have not returned or dropped out during COVID? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the Member is correct, there was some hesitancy in sending students back to school. So to account for that, the period over which the enrolment was counted was extended in the hopes that more students would have returned to school. And so we will be using -- we won't be doing the best of two years as we have done previously. We will be using the normal funding formula. However, there are methods to adapt to increased enrolment.

So if a school is funded for a certain number of students but in reality they actually have a large influx of students that they're not funded for, there are ways to ensure that they are provided funding for those students. There are some criteria that they have to meet. But, you know, we don't just leave them hanging. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll have some more questions on the nuances of the funding formula when we get to Education today, the main estimates.

But I wanted to talk about, you know, it's not just the academic that during the last two years students have not been able to do lots of the regular activities in school. And admittedly, Mr. Speaker, I've lost the plot a little on what is currently allowed in schools. I know the schools -- we have new public health orders but the schools have plans, and then ultimately it's up to the school boards what they are going to do for the remainder calendar year. But my question to the Minister is, are children allowed singing in schools yet, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So our goal is to keep schools as safe as possible, because we don't want parents to send their kids to school -- or sorry, we don't want parents to be scared to send their kids to school. Let Hansard reflect that I did correct myself. And we want to ensure that when kids are in school, they are safe and they're not getting sick. So because of that, the enhanced measures and the protective safety measures are still in place in schools and we are working with the CPHO to, you know, provide new recommendations as necessary. Of course, everyone sees things are changing and so I expect that there will be some changes. But as of right now, no singing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Another kind of issue that got brought to the forefront was the terrible quality of internet in the Northwest Territories, and the switch to online learning was difficult for many.

I'll note that the GNWT's IT budget, you know, in the broadest sense of that term, is about $50 million a year. And I know all departments, they get billed back quite a bit from the TSC, something over the $5 million ECE is paying. And I guess I'm just wondering can the Minister speak to what efforts are being done to get better internet in schools? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So this really is a Finance and Infrastructure issue so I don't want to step on anyone's toes. But I can say that there have been substantial increases to the bandwidth in about half of the communities over the last number of months here in the Northwest Territories, and we expect there will be substantial increases to a number of communities still. As well, my colleagues have spoken about investments being made by Northwestel and the Government of Canada in increasing broadband.

So that being said, you know, we've all been on meetings here and sometimes they're great; sometimes everyone has to shut their camera off so you don't get dropped off. So the internet is up and down everywhere in the territory, and it's not ideal to have to learn online. So while we do want to increase broadband, we want kids in school. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.