Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate that commitment from the Minister. I guess what's driving my concern or issue here is that the department is committed to develop a Mineral Resources Act, and that's something that I support as well, but there are some, I think, fundamental issues that are going to arise during the development of that legislation such as whether we want to continue the free entry system as the preferred or the only method of managing mineral resources. I'm just a little bit concerned that the Minister would be getting advice on that legislation primarily from the Mineral Industry Advisory Board which is made up of the mining industry, and I'm just worried about the fairness of that sort of process. That’s why I'm raising these issues. I'd like to ask the Minister if the Mineral Industry Advisory Board is going to be giving the Minister advice on drafting and putting together this legislation? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's one body not the only body that will give us advice. We'll go out for a broad range of input so I don't see it as only relying on one body. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I don't want to prolong this. I appreciate the commitment from the Minister. So would the department be prepared to provide its communications plan on how it's going to put together the Minerals Resources Act to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We work very closely with the committees and I fully expect that we will share that information. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.

Mr. Chair, that's the questions I have on this page. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Further questions? Recognizing none. Moving on. Page 246: Industry, Tourism and Investment, minerals and petroleum resources, active positions. Any questions? Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. There’s some significant changes in the staffing levels. Can the Minister or staff explain generally what's going on and how many of those positions are vacant? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Seventeen positions reductions, 12 are filled, five are vacant. I provided this information the other day, but I'm pleased to present it again. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I've probably been asleep at the wheel for a while here, but 17 and 12, it looks to me like there's a difference here of 11 positions in this section. Can the Minister tell me what happened with those 11 positions, generally what they are, and whether they were vacant or not? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chair, seven headquarters positions; two South Slave positions; two Inuvik positions; one administrative assistant, vacant; one manager petroleum royalty administration, filled; one manager industrial initiatives, filled; one industrial initiatives analyst, vacant; two mining recorder clerks, filled; two district geologists vacant-- one vacant, one transfer of a mineral DS position to MPR, vacant; two South Slave positions for Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Petroleum office; filled two, transfer of marketing promotions to MPR from corporate management; filled two Inuvik positions; one oil and gas offshore specialist, filled; one rights administrator, vacant. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. No more questions.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Questions? Seeing none. We shall go back to activity total on page 244: Industry, Tourism and Investment, minerals and petroleum resources, operations expenditure summary. Activity total: $16,078,000.

Agreed. Okay, moving on. Page 249: Industry, Tourism and Investment, tourism and parks, operations summary, expenditure. We shall move on detail starting with page 249. Industry, Tourism and Investment, tourism and parks, grants, contributions and transfers. Questions? Recognizing Mr. Vanthuyne.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the convention bureau, under the description it notes that "the contributions to NWT Tourism to establish a convention bureau for the NWT." I know that the convention bureau aspect of NWT Tourism is having some very positive effects on the Northwest Territories. That department, amongst other things, does a lot of work as it relates to promoting the North and then attracting outside associations to host their AGMs and the like here. I just wonder if this is funding that we'll see on an ongoing basis? Thank you, Mr. Chair.