Thank you, Mr. Chair. So this is required to meet debt servicing or, colloquially, the interest costs on debt. So a couple of different reasons have contributed to this being higher than what was projected in the original budget. One is there's a component under the Deh Cho Bridge Bond for CPI and, of course, CPI has remained fairly volatile and much higher than what many experts across Canada continue to predict. So that bond, as a result, has been paying out much higher than what we might have projected and certainly would have hoped. Notwithstanding, in addition to that, there is a much higher amount of short-term debt being used as a result of having to carry the initial costs for the low water events both -- for example, with NTPC, there was additional funding with the impacts on MTS, evacuations, the wildfire suppression costs, some of which we're seeing here. Some of that before it was covered, for example the $84 million before we got that in from the federal government, the Government of the Northwest Territories was covering those costs and so that is contributing to a significantly higher short-term debt amount than what we would have otherwise had. That requires paying interest on that much higher amount, and so that brings us to where we are now. Thank you.
Caroline Wawzonek on Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
In the Legislative Assembly on February 27th, 2024. See this statement in context.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th, 2024
Page 295
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