Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, certainly, I am obviously very eager to see, I agree, very eager to see a return of both of these programs. There's high needs for social workers and teachers across the North, and all the better if they have received their training in the North, have a grounding and a sense of place, and even better if it's, in fact, young people with connections to the North who are perhaps wanting to stay closer to home to complete that education. So agreed, lots of good news stories here. I appreciate those comments. This is why this has come forward as a supplementary appropriation. There was an opportunity to see these programs move forward quickly and move forward in time that they can start to take cohorts in in 2027, but we did have to bring this off cycle, so that's precisely why it's here as a supplementary appropriation.

At this point in time, it's not my understanding, I don't have any information that the board or the college are trying to establish even additional programs. They are trying to get the design work done on course development. That's what this is for. And to do that, having some positions based in Fort Smith and some in Yellowknife to make good on capacity that's available in both of those existing facilities.

As for beyond that with respect to student housing or student child care, etcetera, that's -- I don't have any details in front of me with this supplementary appropriation because for the time being they're just doing the program design and the academic quality assurance processes. Then once the cohort is ready to go in 2027, I imagine it's very likely that in normal business processes we'll see perhaps a need for some additional funding in order to get this off the ground. But, again, that'll come through in business planning in due course. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.

These two programs are very important for many of our community members, so. So if the program is going to be delivered in Yellowknife, you know, I mean -- well, I hope that, you know, this program is going to go back to Fort Smith. But if there was a -- you know, for whatever reason that, okay, the Aurora College board says, okay, we're going to have it delivered in Yellowknife, do you -- how are they going to accommodate our people coming from the small communities with families; is there going to be enough accommodation to meet the needs? Thank you.

Thank you. I am going to go to the Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And an excellent question, Mr. Chair. I would strain to suggest that there is still a housing need in most communities, indeed if not all communities across Northwest Territories so much bigger question but one that has right now, I would say, attention from multiple departments. Certainly Housing NWT is our lead, but multiple departments in order to succeed in their own mandates, whether it's strategic infrastructure projects and whether it's this one, will all be looking to ensure that there are housing available, whether it's for workers coming in or students coming in. So, again, appreciate that this is yet one more area where we need to make sure that we are taking a whole of government/whole of NWT lens on providing housing so that all other programs can succeed. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Is there any further questions from Members on this topic? Okay. I don't see any.

I am going to continue on. Department of Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditures, education, not previously authorized, $26,901,000. Are there any questions? Seeing no further questions.

Department of Education, Culture and Employment, education, not previously authorized, $26,901,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you. Department of Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditures, labour development and standards, not previously authorized, $1,354,000. Are there any questions? Seeing no further questions.

Department of Education, Culture and Employment, labour development and standards, not previously authorized, $1,354,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you. Department of Education, Culture and Employment, operations expenditures, total department not previously authorized, $33,140,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you. Please turn to page 5 for the Department of Environment and Climate Change.

Department of Environment and Climate Change, operations expenditures, environmental management monitoring and climate change, not previously authorized, $261,000. Are there any questions? Seeing no further questions.

Department of Environment and Climate Change, environmental management monitoring and climate change, not previously authorized, $261,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you. Department of Environment and Climate Change, operations expenditures, regulatory assessment and authorizations, not previously authorized, $414,000. Are there any questions? Seeing no further questions.

Department of Environment and Climate Change, regulatory assessment and authorization, not previously authorized, $414,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you. Department of Environment and Climate Change, operations expenditures, wildlife and forest management, not previously authorized, $150,000. Are there any questions? Seeing no further questions.

Department of Environment and Climate Change, wildlife and forest management, not previously authorized, $150,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you. Department of Environment and Climate Change, operations expenditures, total department not previously authorized, $825,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you. Please turn to page 6 for the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs.

Department of the Executive and Indigenous Affairs, operations expenditures, gender equity, not previously authorized, $533,000. Are there any questions? Seeing no further questions.

Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, gender equity, not previously authorized, $533,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you. Department of the Executive and Indigenous Affairs, operations expenditures, governance and services, integration, not previously authorized, $472,000. Are there any questions? I will go to the Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So there's an extra $35,000 in there to continue operations of the temporary transitional housing facility in Yellowknife. Now, I mean, clearly that's not a full operations funding for the year or anything, but I wonder if the Minister can explain what that money is for or why that was not foreseen previously when we budgeted for this initiative. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I will go to the Minister.