Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Supplementary appropriations, of course, are anticipated in the Financial Administration Act as being a normal part of doing business. What gives rise to them is the fact that we do most of our planning quite a ways in advance for a fiscal year. We do our business planning in a normal cycle, upward to a year in advance of the fiscal year. Then we do our main estimates. Usually we are putting them together and doing the calculations and forecasts from three to six months in advance of the fiscal year. The budget is approved before the start of the fiscal year. You are always looking forward anywhere from 12 to 24 months. You are forecasting many variables, such as programs and enrolment. There are many things that you are anticipating and forecasting. It is a planning process and an estimating process.
As the year rolls out, those estimates sometimes need to be adjusted. Reality or actual results or enrolments may differ from what we forecasted 18 months in advance. These are all factors the government has to react to. That is why we have the concept of supplementary appropriations built into the Financial Administration Act. It is in recognition that the main estimates are that. They are estimates. As the year progresses, those estimates will be refined and we will have to adjust to that. Unforeseen events may come up. We have a perfect example to illustrate this for the Member. In regard to forest fire seasons, we anticipate what an average might be. We build that into the estimates. Then each year is different, depending on the conditions in the year. That is why supplementary estimates are required.
Why we need four is more tied into the Legislative Assembly schedule than anything else. The act requires that for every sitting of the House, we have to bring forward any special warrants we may have approved in the intervening period and that then provides us with the opportunity to refine our estimates and to advise the House, at the earliest possible time, of changes in those estimates. The supplementaries include both increases and decreases. I hope this gives as thorough an explanation as the Member was seeking. Thank you.