Thank you, Mr. Chair. The reason I am asking these questions is because I don't understand, given the current level of oil and gas activity in the NWT, why we are staffing an office with seven people, given the low level of activity. Why is it necessary to have seven people in this office? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We still need to have staff in the oil and gas office. You know, we tend to say 10 years until oil and gas comes back, but we don't control the commodity markets. There is still some interest in it. We are sitting on billions of dollars’ worth of reserves in the Northwest Territories, and when the markets come back, they will have the ability to jump on it and take best advantage of that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Schumann. Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have never seen the government jump on an opportunity in my life in the NWT. Crawl towards it is more the speed that it goes. So why staff this office on a what-if basis if they are waiting for the future to unfold? Why not put that money into the economic diversification that my colleagues have talked about until oil and gas is a going concern again? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess the other side of it is, besides just waiting for the markets for commodities to come back, we are developing an oil and gas strategy legislation. That is going to take a number of people to put that together and bring it forward. As the Member is well aware, there is a lot of pressure on Cabinet to get our LPs to the table, and we have got to work on these initiatives and moving them forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Schumann. Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, can the Minister confirm that the legislation is being developed in-house from existing resources and not contracted out? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, this is correct. We are doing it in-house. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Schumann. Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister confirm that all seven staff are engaged in the development of this legislation? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would say yes, but some of the staff is also engaged with some of the register of the active leases that we have as well, too. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I remain concerned that this division is overstaffed vis-a-vis other priorities of the GNWT, and I would encourage the Minister, in the next budget cycle, to consider how these non-specialist positions could be redeployed to economic diversification portfolios. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As the Member is well aware, we have had some cuts in this department already in this fiscal budget. We continue to work, like I said, on legislation and stuff moving forward, plus we can't forget about the possibility of the Mackenzie valley gas pipeline and the possibility of that still moving forward with the extension of their licence. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Schumann. Ms. Green.

I have no further questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Next we have Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Mineral Incentive Program has remained, I would say, stagnant; I am sure the Minister would say stable funding at $400,000, whereas our neighbouring jurisdiction, the Yukon, for fiscal year 2017-18 has invested $1.6 million into this fund. How is the Minister ensuring that this incentive program is competitive with other jurisdictions in Canada and is attracting exploration here in the Northwest Territories compared to other jurisdictions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister Schumann.