Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this point, we have roughly six months left until our time as MLAs for this Assembly wraps up, and I am happy to hear that the long-awaited Mineral Resources Act will finally be made public. Today, I would like to address the Minister's comments rather than the particulars of the legislation itself.

The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment has spoken at length, in public and in this House, about the benefits of the new act. It will bring:

• improved regulatory certainty, while respecting treaty rights;
• more benefits to communities from mining activity;
• superior consultation with stakeholders;
• predictable dispute resolutions;
• a clear, competitive regulatory framework for the 21^st century.

The list goes on.

Many in the mineral resources industry and Indigenous organizations and governments continue to express their dissatisfaction that one of the most significant pieces of regulatory legislation, the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, remains firmly in the hands of Ottawa and out of reach of this Assembly and arguably out of touch with the realities on the ground. I have not yet heard any Member of the Executive Council make devolution of this crucial and foundational piece of regulatory authority a priority of this government. Until the MVRMA is brought home for Northerners to shape, our regulatory regime will sorely be lacking in predictability and will continue to be difficult to navigate, at best.

I do wonder, though, Mr. Speaker. I wonder if the years of public engagement and collaboration have really resulted in a government who understands the concerns, needs, and wants of the peoples it is here to represent in regards to this new legislation, further, the perspectives of industry and Indigenous partners, for that matter.

The Minister has made some mutually exclusive comments on the MRA which have left me and many members of the public understandably confused. On January 30^th, published in the Yellowknifer, the Minister is quoted discussing the Mineral Resources Act: "I'm not happy with it. Indigenous governments won't be happy with it. Industry isn't going to be happy with it."

Then, Mr. Speaker, on February 8^th in this House, according to Hansard, the Minister stated, "It is the culmination of years of research, public engagement, collaboration with Indigenous governments and organizations, and constant engagement with the industry." So why do we have a clear mutually exclusive definition of the bill based on the Minister's comments? I would like him to clarify this for the record, so we can truly understand if this legislation is meeting the needs of Northerners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.