Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the interim appropriation is calculated based on when we actually expect to spend the money. Historically, the department's interim appropriations have been approximately one quarter of what the total budget is expected to be from the upcoming year, as a significant amount of the department’s funding flows to the health and social services authorities through regular monthly cash flows, something that we have to do. However, the budget for out-of-territory hospitals sit in the ambulatory care service item line, the line the Member is talking about. We don't actually need to disburse funds for the out-of-territory hospitals until we actually get invoices from the provinces and territories, and these payments are made directly by the department rather than by the individual authorities, and it doesn't come out of the funding that goes to the authorities.

Accordingly, the department delayed appropriating most of the budget for ambulatory care until such time as we expect to spend the money and get the invoices from the out-of-territory services in the provinces and the other territories. In past years, we have not actually needed these funds for the first three months of the year. We usually spend these dollars later in the year, so we're comfortable that the allocation in ambulatory care services is going to meet the needs of our residents and our services here in the Northwest Territories.