Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to speak of the largest contributor to our economy, the source of continued growth and the real economic engine of the Northwest Territories. I am, of course, speaking about our mining industry, and I do appreciate the advocacy that our Ministers and government do to support the continued growth and development of the industry, which is why I was shocked to read the most recent Fraser Institute annual survey of mining companies from the year of 2017.

It's a survey that was electronically circulated to approximately 2,700 individuals between August 22nd and November 10th of 2017. It's an attempt to assess how mineral endowment and public policy factors such as taxation and regulatory uncertainty affect exploration interests. Jurisdictions are scored on an overall investment attractiveness index that takes both mineral potential and policy perceptions into consideration for a total final score. Respondents consistently indicate that 40 per cent of their investment decision is based on policy factors, which means geology matters most, but policy still plays a key factor.

Mr. Speaker, we score 8 in Canada; we score 42 in the world for policy perception; and 19 for geological potential, for a total score of 21 out of 91 respondents. Middle of the pack, Mr. Speaker, saved largely by favourable geography.

This is something that the Minister has addressed previously, but continues to dog our regulatory environment. The concern from industry is that it's just too hard to get things moving quickly in the Northwest Territories, and although we have a Premier who has travelled 20 times internationally, more than all other Premiers except two, last year alone, you would think we would have more investment opportunities to show for it. You would think that these lengthy trips to mining expos and to conferences would allow us to communicate that NWT difference, and yet we are still middle of the pack for investment, behind the Yukon, behind Saskatchewan, behind Ontario, behind Quebec.

We need to do a better job. If mining is the cornerstone of our economy, we should be number one in Canada, Mr. Speaker, and I'll have questions for the Minister to find out if he has a plan to take us there. Thank you.