Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Madam Chair. I missed literally the first few words of the Member from Kam Lake's question. If she could just repeat the beginning, I wasn't sure what if I could, please, just so I can answer more specifically. Thank you.

In favour.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, Madam Chair, I don't have a detailed breakdown in a way that I think what I'm hearing is being asked for here. There are the costs, of course, for air tanker support, then there's the cost for the helicopter support, and then there's the cost for moving crews around. There are the fires that folks are watching that are impacting Fort Smith, Hay River, Kakisa, Jean Marie River, obviously Yellowknife, but there was also fires that were impacting all the way up the entire valley. This there's been an estimated 70 percent of the residents of the Northwest Territories...

In favour.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, typically leave for that does, of course, fall to the Premier's Office, and I think it was made public, and it certainly was shared with Members that the Premier's Office did meet with the Prime Minister so, you know, in that sense has taken the message about as high up as it can go. And, you know, obviously as we move forward, if there are some individual areas of interest, you know, different Ministers are meeting with their counterparts. For example, the Minister responsible for emergency Preparedness would be meeting with his counterpart in the federal...

Madam Chair, I do have some estimated costs at this point. I know I had an opportunity to meet with several of the Members last week and was provided some of those costs to them. I don't have that necessarily at my fingertips now in that I was planning to focus the discussion today on the fire response and not on the various evacuation costs. Again, that I do expect, as I said earlier, that we will certainly be facing a supplementary appropriation, probably in the Department of Finance, which is where some of the added amounts are, but quite possibly for the Municipal and Community Affairs...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, so, of course, a special warrant would be where it would be on the lead of Department of Finance Cabinet to issue an appropriation without going through the Assembly process. That is never a first choice. Madam Chair, that's my hope where even as I was giving you the estimates of where we're at in terms of our firefighting and the estimated shortfall as of about a week ago, you know, it would put us around $69.5 million shortfall, we are asking for $75 million here today. If this is passed, it is our anticipation, Madam Chair, that this should be...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, that does seem to be directed at the Premier. I'd like to suggest that she address that. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, yes, that is my understanding as well, that, indeed, the emergency response elements, so namely this is where some of the evacuation costs may be covered if they are within the parameters currently existing under the DFAA but, indeed, firefighting response/wildfire response, would not be. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, we certainly can. There is a contracts report that does get prepared every year. Procurement does manage and monitor and ultimately will be able to sort of collate, if you will, all of the spending. Certainly, in emergency times, that spending wouldn't necessarily follow a more formal procurement process, but sometimes it does too. All of which is to say those types of reports are prepared regularly, and I can see that there being one prepared that is specific to the wildfire season. Thank you.