Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, drainage study was done in 2018, which included some of the satellite imagery and topography, observed that runway crossing in several natural water courses. It is expected that runoff collects in these water courses and migrates underneath the runway embankment. However, there's no outlet for the -- this water and softening eroding the embankment.

So yes, we are as a result of climate change observing that, you know, a lot of our airports and drainages do require work. So we do assess it and, you know, ensure that we keep on it. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess where I'm going with my questioning is that we had a really unprecedented year last year with flooding, which while I don't know that these airports are necessarily situated by, you know, water bodies. Anytime you have flooding in your water bodies, you have higher ground water levels, etcetera. There's water everywhere.

So I guess my question is, how good of a forecast is this amount of money that's going to be needed, and do we actually see that -- or think that we're perhaps going to have more issues after next spring freshet with drainage. Is this only going to be an increasing budget item that you may have to come back for more money. Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm going to ask Mr. Moore if he can tell us what's going to happen in the next couple years in terms of some of the result, because this study will be able to assess, and I think, you know, with his engineering background, he could be able to answer the question as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Moore.

Thank you, Mr. Moore. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And yeah, I acknowledge the department does not have a crystal ball to know what is going to happen, but just, again, glad to hear that the importance of it is being heard, particularly given, like, the airports' necessity in our small communities' lives and such.

I guess speaking of airports, this is a great segue into the Inuvik airport expansion. There's the runway extension. There's also the terminal building. These are coming a lot with federal funding. And I'm just curious to know if there's an indication from the DND of further work coming to increase that military presence around Inuvik. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd be happy to answer this for the Inuvik runway extension and ATB building.

You know, the Department of Infrastructure has been working with the Department of National Defence, Department of transportation, government of Canada, even places like NORAD.

So I mean, the department is engaging to work closely because we are looking at starting this. In terms of hoping that National Defence and Transport Canada has a little bit more presence in Inuvik, I would like that. I would hope for that. And I'd obviously be you know, being from the community, I think that's important to engage as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I actually think that the military spending is a great way for the Northwest Territories to get more infrastructure built that's not on our dime. And I do remember there was a conversation earlier about that as well.

I guess my question or maybe comment is that when I was at COP, I had the opportunity to sit down with the MP for Okanagan who is the Conservative Party shadow Minister to environment and climate change. So he plays a role in the opposition in keeping track of these sorts of things.

What occurred to me at that time is the consensus style government actually is a detriment to us in that we have no collaboration with the opposition of Canada in the sense that if we were a partied system, we would have people from that party who would then feed up to their party at the federal level.

So I guess my question/comment is around does the Minister see worth in engaging the Conservative Party of Canada to -- who is more of a supporter of military spending to put pressure on the federal government to increase DND spending in the North and the northern sovereignty. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Pardon me? Okay.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do want to say, though, you know, the Department of Infrastructure and through Mr. Moore, he engages at the federal level, because, you know, infrastructure's a big part of connecting our country and our communities, and it's important that we maintain a presence at the federal level.

And, you know, we have conversations with the federal ministers as well. I mean I've had a couple Ministers, and I do want to say that -- I'm looking at Premier right now to perhaps -- I don't know. With your permission, I think that's mostly her area for the engagement with the Prime Minister and keeping her Ministers informed. Okay, I'll just leave it at that, then. Thank you.

Member for Great Slave.

I mean, I appreciate what you're saying, that it's not -- that it would be more the Premier to do intergovernmental; however, my whole point is not engagement with the federal government; it's engagement with the opposition party.

So I think just a point to be made is that we could be playing both sides, and I don't know that we're doing that. So thank you.

If the chair permits, I don't mind the Premier taking the answer for that question. She does seem like she wants to say something. Thank you.

Let's end it with the Premier.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Absolutely, it's a -- you have to be strategic in all our asks, because we're a small territory, and we have one vote in the federal House. So when the elections was happening, we contacted all of the other parties who were running, putting their names in a hat, and we did identify the needs.

And strategically, I mean, it's a really fine balance. You have to -- we're building the relationship with the federal government, the Liberal Party that's in now, but if necessary, again, it's always important to reach out.

So all depends on what the issues are, but during the election, we definitely reached out to all of the parties and put forward our campaign and our issues. So as needed, we will continue to do that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Member for Thebacha.

So Madam Chair, I just want to ask how much federal money is -- percentage wise is going into page 53 and page 54.

Thank you. Minister.