Yes, Madam Chair, I do. I am here to present the 2020-2021 Main Estimates for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $10.7 million, or 12 percent, over the 2019-2020 Main Estimates. These estimates support our fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending while matching the modest expected revenue growth over the upcoming years.

Highlights of these proposed estimates include:

• $5.9 million in additional federal funding to support activities related to boreal caribou habitat protection under the Section 11 agreement, new measures to support recovery of the Bathurst and Bluenose-East barren-ground caribou herds, and the establishment and management of three new protected areas under the Canada Nature Fund agreement;
• $4.6 million in forced-growth funding to address increased costs with the UNW collective bargaining, air tanker contract renewals, and wildlife surveys along the Inuvik Tuktoyaktuk Highway;
• $175,000 in funds to complete negotiations for candidate protected areas; and
• $774,000 in funding decreases due to program sunsets related to French-language communications, the Bathurst caribou Jay pipe project, the feasibility work for the Centre for Northern Sustainability, and one-time funding received for climate change reporting and outreach.

These estimates continue to support the priorities of the 19^th Legislative Assembly by:

• strengthening the government's leadership and authority on climate change through research and monitoring to help understand the cumulative impacts on our ecosystems and to ensure these are considered when the government makes decisions;
• ongoing work with the federal government and co-management partners to complete boreal caribou range planning and enhanced actions to support barren-ground caribou conservation and recovery in the Northwest Territories;
• advancing conservation planning through the establishment of two protected areas, Thaidene Nene and Ts'ude Niline Tuyeta, as well as continued work towards the establishment of Dinaga Wek'ehodi; and
• advancing transboundary water agreements; this includes our existing agreements with Alberta and British Columbia as well as negotiating an updated agreement with Yukon and the establishment of an agreement with Saskatchewan.

That concludes my opening remarks. Thank you, Madam Chair.