Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my deputy minister and the public administrator are working on this, you know, and I believe that they will be coming forward to me with this information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So can the Minister explain the reason for the delay in the release of the people strategy, especially because it was touted to be absolutely key in health care workforce stabilization and it was initially supposed to be released last June. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the previous health recruitment strategy and the bridging strategy was all within the -- you know, what the NTHSSA could control. And so year after year, staff were frustrated and frustrated and frustrated because many of the issues that they were bringing forward were not in the recruitment strategy. So there are -- the things that we left -- there are still the things that are good that are going to remain in the strategy, but the scope of the people strategy expanded to an all-of-government initiative creating additional coordination. And so there is, like I mentioned, like, housing and different areas. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of ECE. Right now, the way I see it is that the GNWT education, health and -- sorry, education and health policies are overriding our treaty rights.

My question is, in May 2025 the ECE Minister announced DEA to use their surplus dollars for JP cutbacks. My question is what happens -- sorry, my question is what happens when DEA does not have surplus dollars, what will her department do to fill in the gap and shortfalls going forward with all DEAs in Northwest Territories and to uphold and honour the treaty rights on education though? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, when I met with all of the chairs of the district education councils across the Northwest Territories, I endeavoured to pass along to them that if there were emergencies that came up, because often this is what school boards end up using their surplus dollars for, that we would stay in close contact together in order to explore what it was that they endeavoured to need the funding for. Surpluses are borne out of carryovers from unused funds that are distributed to education bodies through the school funding formula. And so what we want, ultimately, is not for those dollars to be sitting in a surplus but to be used for education across the territory and that if there are unforeseen circumstances that arise that we work together in order to sort those out and figure out how we can either fund them or wait for follow-up years but certainly always sticking together and working together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. My next question: Can the Minister explain how she will work with the health Minister to do proper education assessment for students who needs the help? And how will the Minister pay to implement the assessment without taking the money out of the DEA budget? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, yesterday in questions that I received from the Member for Yellowknife North, we explored the question around early assessments for students, especially in the early years, to ensure that we're establishing baselines and making sure that we are discovering any concerns or challenges that might arise as early as possible. And so that is something that we are looking into within education, culture and employment. And I continue to work quite closely with the Minister of Health and Social Services.

And in addition to that, the Member's second question around funding, this relates directly to work being done within the inclusive schooling policy, Mr. Speaker, and so this is work that is currently underway within the department. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister as well. Whenever she gets a chance to go to Ottawa to work with -- and including her colleagues, the Minister of health, maybe when you guys go down there I am hoping that you continue to emphasize the importance of treaty rights on education and health and that we need additional funding. I just want to make sure that we are covered off in that area. So that's my question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, when we travel, whether it's individually or all together as a group or with Council of Leaders, we are certainly making sure that we are explaining the realities of life in the Northwest Territories, the treaties that we honour here in the Northwest Territories, the work that we do together, and the needs of residents of this territory as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to continue on the thread earlier regarding post-secondary. I know the Minister -- one of the tasks is getting the post-secondary funding formula in place. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister share an update with us on the dates and process involved in that and when we can expect to see it. Thank you.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the post-secondary institution funding formula, specifically for Aurora College, is something that would flow from the legislation. The legislation itself would have information about what is expected of the institution and funding that would potentially come from that. And so that is work that would follow the legislation that needs to be developed first. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What I was looking for was perhaps an update on how that work is going, where we're at with it, and when we expect it to come to the floor. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the legislation itself needs to follow the CAQC process. So the CAQC process is currently underway between Aurora College and the CAQC. Once we receive a recommendation either way from the CAQC, we would be able to proceed from there, and that will help form the detail that would be found in the legislation. The legislation then needs to be tabled in this House and go through the process that is laid out by this House. And once that is passed, it would come after that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And if the Minister could comment a bit on how that funding formula might be used to enhance accountability with the college and align funding with the results that we're looking for, speaking to what I was speaking to earlier today. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, we have developed a framework within education, culture and employment that holds post-secondary institutions accountable. It uses metrics. We've just started that in the life of this Assembly. That's information that would continue to flow, and certainly metrics like that, success metrics, would be used in research that would be used to develop a school funding formula as well down the road. Thank you Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Premier about the healthcare system sustainability unit. The unit is diligently working away at inventorying medical costs to the healthcare system. We're now hearing a lot of the decisions that we're asking about on the floor as it relates to the healthcare system are dependent on data or reports that are going to be produced by this unit. So is the unit on track to meet its reporting timelines of a preliminary sustainability report by mid-year this fiscal? Thank you. Or, sorry, calender year. Thank you.