How does the Minister know? He didn’t talk to them. Clearly, the Minister is not interested in speaking to residents. He said it himself. This is talking to the industry, saying what is our wish list here. I think we all agree that mines should produce a net benefit for the public, not a liability. The Mineral Development Strategy Industry Panel Report, on behalf of our 42,000 people, proposes at least seven new government subsidies for the mining industry.
Could the Minister explain which of these subsidies provides the best return on investment for the public? Is it the publicly funded marketing campaign, the full-time GNWT mining industry assistants we’re going to hire for them, or the power lines, highways, airports that we’re going to construct for them on taxpayers’ backs?