Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the capacity of Mezi School is 170, and the current student head count is 142 students. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Thank you for that information. So, Mr. Speaker, are projections for the demand for classroom space tracked by the department?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we look at how many students are in all grades. We have enrolment figures that come in from education bodies every year, and we also track that compared to the capacity of each school across the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister commit to looking at the condition of the Mezi School in Whati?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was very happy to accept an invitation from the Member to the community, to come see the school, when it works for community leadership, and I very much look forward to that. I can also confirm for the Member that there are currently six small capital projects in the 20-year capital plan for this particular school that will be completed between 2025 and 2030. Thank you.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.

Okay, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister commit to ensuring the school receives the retrofitting that it requires? Thank you?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I committed, there are currently six small capital projects on the books for this school that will be completed between 2025 and 2030. And in addition to that, I can also confirm for the Member that there are currently planning funding approved in addition to the two that we're looking at in capital estimates right now, but for four additional schools in the territory. And those four that are getting large capital planning right now are Deninu School in Fort Resolution, Moose Kerr School in Aklavik, Alexis Arrowmaker School in Wekweeti, and MJ McPherson school here in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister of MACA explain how MACA is communicating with community governments and Indigenous governments through regional superintendents?

Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So this review of the formula funding has been going on for a while. Before my time, it's been reviewed a few times. In 2014, it was part of the NWTAC who brought in all the community governments, did a review. They had representations from communities across the North as part of their review. That review was done. It was then decided that changes needed to start happening in order to make the funding more fair and equitable. And since August of this year, our regional superintendents have been meeting and offering to meet with community governments to explain the process and how we're starting to implement this. It's not final. It's to get feedback and to find out what the impacts and feelings are from the communities. So the regional superintendents have reached out to the community governments. Last I heard, I think it's 26 of 33 governments have been communicated to. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's good news to hear that they've been communicating with the Indigenous governments. Can the Minister say whether MACA and its staff have held any other public meetings to engage the public prior to implementing their new funding policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The funding that goes to the communities is managed by the community governments. So the regional superintendents have been meeting with the community governments that have been receiving the funding. We have not had any public meetings. We send the funding to the community so that's who we've been meeting with. We are planning more engagements. As you are aware, we're going to meet with the committees here next week to go over it. So it is still an ongoing process. Hopefully, the rest of the communities get reached here soon. So we're still out there communicating and trying to get the information across. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question, can the Minister identify which communities were overfunded using the old funding model? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I don't want to throw any communities under the bus here, but I will say that we have roughly about six communities -- I think a little bit more -- that are overfunded by -- by over 100 percent they're overfunded. And, again, the goal is not to impact the communities, but the goal is to distribute the funding fairly and equitably based on services provided, equipment being used, infrastructure within the community. So there is a little bit behind it. Again, we're trying to get the information out there, work with the communities, but it is over six communities that are overfunded. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to see if I'm going to follow in my colleague from Inuvik Boot Lake's footsteps of one question.

My question today is for the Minister of ECC. It's really good that we recognize that we're in -- the territory and the world is facing a climate crisis. I am curious, however, about the unfunded actions in the draft climate action plan, specifically those that address changing wildfire conditions, protecting communities, adapting housing assets, transportation, and increasing petroleum storage in our remote communities. Can the Minister explain what work is being done to secure funding for those crucial actions that will keep our residents safe and secure? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. I think it's very clear that climate change has had a significant impact on the Northwest Territories over the last number of years, and certainly the rate at which climate change is happening at three to four times the national average.

The Government of the Northwest Territories Department of ECC is the lead on climate change action in the Northwest Territories, but we certainly can't do this alone. And I think the approach that we've taken as a government are using a coordinated interdepartmental approach so that we're working with all of the departments in addressing these concerns is the one way that we're collaborating and working on finding funding solutions to address these issues. Certainly, our work together in accessing funds through the federal government is key to the success of addressing the funding gaps within some of these items. So some of these items also would fall more directly on the Minister of Infrastructure and have, you know, certainly climate implications but I do have a little bit of information I can happily share with the Member.

So currently, the Department of Infrastructure is having discussions with Transport Canada and is undertaking an assessment there to see what can help to inform the transportation planning study and risks of resilience to the NWT's transportation infrastructure. So I think that's really a key area.

The Department of Infrastructure also is having conversations with Canada on financial supports for a high energy -- high Arctic fuel storage, an increased fuel storage project as part of the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund project, along with Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities Canada. And discussions are ongoing to consider the scope -- the revised scope, as we move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from the Sahtu.

Thank you, Member from Sahtu. Minister of Infrastructure -- oh, sorry, my fault. Minister of housing.