Kate Reid

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I can understand that answer, but I can only presume that the feds exiting the space, as the Minister just stated, would have been known in advance or was it, indeed, known in advance. It seems like something that you would hope you would know quite a ways in advance, but perhaps I am mistaken. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Perhaps the Minister can clarify.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe that is all I have for this section right now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, in this section, there is $1.75 million to address increased costs for diagnostic laboratory services performed outside the territory. In the tabled main estimates for 2026-2027, we have a new 24/7 laboratory and diagnostic services unit being stood up. Is there contemplation that this sort of supplementary request will reduce or be eliminated by that new ask? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So water management spent $2.9 million more than budgeted, or perhaps it's water management and stewardship and climate change that -- and climate change cumulative impacts -- there's a lot of words there, Mr. Chair, I am sorry. What are the factors that contributed to this overspend? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, yeah, not to put this all on the Department of Environment and Climate Change; this is a recurrent cost throughout many departments. I believe it's in the range of $3.5 million in TSC chargebacks across government in this supplementary estimate. Can the Minister tell me if this is representing good value for money, or what can be done to maintain and manage these costs? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And sort of my last question on this topic. Can ECC provide an update on the ongoing work to update the community wildfire plans, where we are with that work. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And that's good to hear. But how does ECC plan to balance this decrease for a growing need for climate adaptation and cumulative impact monitoring? I am happy to hear that some of the funding is being redirected to Indigenous governments, but do they feel that they are adequately addressing these needs going forward? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I would love to understand more about what sped up the Tulita health centre project and how we can maybe mimic that success to other projects. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, you know, I will note that I was excited to see the regional operations ADM out of Fort Smith be created a few years back. I am hopeful that, yeah, consistency of effort throughout the regions and throughout compliance actions is top of mind for the Minister and that all officers are sort of –- I realize there's standard operating procedures and there's how they do their jobs, and enforcement is very regimented and appropriate but how they educate maybe perhaps not as much. And that's really what I am looking for today is sort of a -- for the Minister to take away...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the budget for climate change cumulative impacts and knowledge is projected to decrease by $575,000, and I'd like to know if the Minister can please elaborate what activities or research areas will be scaled back as a result of this reduction. Thank you, Mr. Chair.