I do, Madam Chair. Thank you. Madam Chair, this is an unusual supplementary estimates request following a very unusual, and I hope unique, summer for the Northwest Territories.

Low water levels have made the annual barging resupply much more costly. Low water levels have also meant that we've been burning more diesel to provide electricity throughout the Northwest Territories, which is much more costly to the GNWT. And, meanwhile, early in the season, flooding also required emergency response.

Madam Chair, these emergency costs alone would not have required this supplementary request or supplementary estimates because we build in contingency when we put forward a proposed borrowing appropriation at the main estimates stage. In fact, even adding a difficult fire season would not have led to this request.

However, the dryness we are experiencing has contributed to the worst wildfire season we have ever experienced and lead to multiple evacuations for Hay River and K'atlodeeche First Nation and then, ultimately, to the evacuation in total of almost 70 percent of the population from eight different communities with most having to cross into other jurisdictions. Madam Chair, this summer was beyond being merely difficult.

This level of emergency and emergencies and the amount of financial output required to pay emergency responders, for example, and emergency services was extraordinary. Therefore, to ensure that we continue to have adequate cash available to pay all of the invoices that will be coming in over the next few weeks, we are requesting this supplementary borrowing appropriation in order to provide a cushion.

This supplementary request, to be clear, is not a new approval to incur additional expenses. It is only to ensure that we would have the cash available to pay the bills that we have already been approved to incur. For example, during our one-day emergency session, the Legislative Assembly approved an appropriation to the Department of Environment and Climate Change for $75 million to support the wildfire suppression costs. In order to ensure that we can pay all of the contractors and suppliers in cash, we are requesting this supplementary appropriation to the borrowing.

This request does not necessarily mean that we will end the fiscal year with significantly more debt than what was originally projected. We are expecting an advance from the federal government under the Disaster Assistance Financial Arrangement which will provide a significant cushion to our cash balance. We do not, however, know exactly when that cash will be received.

We do continue to monitor all of our expenses and revenues regularly, as we always do, as well as monitoring departmental variances as we have through the floods and previous fires. And as the costs will come in from this summer season, that work will continue. Thank you, Madam Chair.