Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Further to my colleague's questions, if we do have a bad fire season, and it is our responsibility to pay for it, and we blow this budget, how do we end up paying for a bad fire season at the end of the day? Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of ENR.

We would have to come back to this House and ask for a supplementary. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Hypothetically speaking, if we end up with multiple very bad fire seasons in a row, if we are incapable of increasing our borrowing limit from the federal government, how do we continue to be able to protect the NWT from bad fire seasons, given that we are at the top limit of our borrowing capacity? Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of ENR.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Hypothetically, we don't do hypotheticals. We have to deal with reality. We base it on our 10-year average, and so that's what we're looking at. That's the challenge we would have to face moving forward, if we continuously have a bad fire season. At that point in time, we may have to go to the federal government again and ask them to raise our debt ceiling, but right now, it's a supp, and we have to be accountable for fighting fires. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I guess I was looking for our worst-case scenario, rainy-day scenario, but within the forest management budget, most line items are going up, and there is one notable line item that has come down; it's materials and supplies. I'm wondering if -- oh, sorry, that's purchase services. I'm wondering if the Minister can actually speak to why that line item has come down substantially. Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of ENR.

In 2018-2019, we bought aircraft parts, and that's why we see a reduction in this one moving forward. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Are there any further questions? Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I see we're pulling about $5,000 in timber-cutting licences and permits, which is not that much. I recognize that much of the Northwest Territories doesn't have trees, but there has been, in the past, quite significant commercial timber operations in the South. Can I just get a sense of what the department is doing to, you know, look into further developing our forestry industry?

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of ENR.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We actually work with communities that look forward on it, and so, when they reach out to us, we try to work with them. I happen to know of one specific case, which is the Nahendeh right now. They're trying to work with the department, and the department is working with them to address that, moving forward. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I do think that there is actually quite a bit of potential in working with ITI to make sure that we develop our forestry industry, and there's a whole spectrum here, whether it's community wood lots or a person building log cabins, or the large BC forestry companies who have come up and harvested in the past in the Northwest Territories. I would encourage the department, or the Minister of ENR, to work with ITI to see if there is some potential economic growth there. My other question is: do we presently conduct any tree planting, or are there any plans to do any tree planting?

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of ENR.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We have one study that we're looking at right now. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We've had a number of really bad forest fire seasons and the boreal forest simply is not growing back to be the same forest that it used to be. Also, there is a reforestation fund. We don't require our commercial forestry operators to replant, like they do in many other jurisdictions. There has been a recommendation that reforestation is one of the number one ways we can fight climate change; also, it's a huge employer. I guess my question to the Minister is: do we have money presently set aside for reforestation?

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of ENR.

Thank you, Madam Chair. To get the detail, I'll actually ask the deputy minister to provide that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Deputy Minister, Ms. Kelly.