Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks. Yeah, I think there's going to be a cash flow problem here. But can someone tell me where we stand at with the supplementary reserve for the operations side for 2022-2023? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I certainly can. So we start off the year -- just to remind the House, we start off the year with the $35 million supplementary reserve, and we right now are in a deficit of just over $42 million. The main reason for that is as a result of the costs of the flood for 2022, and that is -- yes, that is a significant reason for that overage. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. O'Reilly.

Mr. Chair, so how do we make up that $42 million deficit? Is it short-term borrowing that we have to incur to cover that and -- yeah, I'll start there. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So there will be -- well, depending on what the surplus -- our operating surplus position is, we were, you may recall, forecasting at one point a fairly significant operating surplus. So that is the first piece that it gets taken from, is what would have been an operating surplus will now likely not be and anything beyond that would increase our debt. We'd be taking on debt in order to ensure that we can meet those cash obligations. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. O'Reilly.

Thank you for that. So what, if any, lessons have we learned, then, in terms of the size of the supplementary reserve? And I recognize that we wouldn't expect a Hay River flood every year but clearly with the climate crisis on us and so on, we need to find a way to set aside some more money to deal with this kind of stuff that's more likely to happen. So how are we going to try to manage this into the future? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Minister.

Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. It's one last one maybe, and the Minister already touched on this, but for I guess 2023-2024 -- oh, well it looks like for 2022-2023 we've gone now from an operating surplus to probably an operating deficit. How is that going to be in compliance with the fiscal responsibility policy in light of the capital estimates that are also before the House? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So there is within the fiscal responsibility policy, a two year period so it's not necessary -- it doesn't line up -- there is kind of a grace period where if there is an event such as, you know, what we all hope to be a once in a lifetime flood that in those circumstances, we would see that you do get a bit of room. We get these two years where the deficit that we're running now we can catch up on. And so with that also said, the operating deficits, the surpluses aren't necessarily -- we need to actually see where the actuals land to see just what level of compliance we have with the fiscal responsibility policy, and that is -- that is information that we'll be in a position to provide within the next couple of months. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mahsi for that. Any further comments for the general comments section? Seeing no further general comments, we will proceed to a review of the supplementary estimates by department and activity. Committee, please turn to page 3 of the tabled document, Education, Culture and Employment.

Education, Culture and Employment, junior kindergarten to grade 12 school services, not previously authorized, $635,000. Does committee agree?

Mahsi, committee. Education, Culture and Employment, labour development and advanced education, not previously authorized $6,939,000. Does committee agree?

Mahsi, committee. Education, Culture and Employment, total department, operations expenditures, not previously authorized $7,574,000. Does committee agree?

Committee, please turn to pages 4 and 5 of the tabled document. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Environment and Natural Resources, environmental stewardship and climate change, not previously authorized, $150,000. Does committee agree?