Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to take an opportunity to speak to the bill. I just want to start by thanking the Minister and his department and all those who have provided input to date with regard to getting the bill where it is so far.

I do want to remind folks that, in the early days when the LP came to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment, in fact, we did have concerns. We shared them with the Minister. We had to do that a couple of times. I commend the efforts of our committee and the efforts of the Minister for taking a number of the ideas and recommendations that we shared and incorporating a number of them into the bill as we see it presented today.

We had others who had the opportunity to speak to the bill, or not speak to the bill but to get consulted with regard to the forthcoming legislation, the Chamber of Mines has shared their position as has some, if not all, Indigenous governments. Their input has been very valuable.

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to devolution legislation, we need a starting point. We have to start somewhere. We need to respect that not always will every piece of legislation that we are taking on for the first time be perfect out of the gate. There is considerable work that will take time as we move forward that will evolve this legislation through amendments, et cetera, as we learn how the act itself will apply to industry. We have to be lenient in that regard and allow some wiggle room so that we can start to shape it as the future unfolds.

Mr. Speaker, we are at the end of this Assembly. We are in the last handful of months. We have put a lot of tremendous effort into the work so far on this bill. It wouldn't be very becoming of us as a government who has this in our mandate to not get this bill presented and get it over to the hands of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment, because we have a lot of work to do, taking it out on the road for further consultation before we pass this bill. We have a lot of regulations, even policy, that will stem from passing this bill. It is going to be significant. It is going to take years, as well, to develop. Delays in passing the bill would be detrimental to that process.

Mr. Speaker, just lastly, I want to remind folks that I had the opportunity to join Cabinet colleagues and Indigenous governments down in Vancouver at the annual roundup. That is a place where we learn a lot from investors. We learn a lot from junior exploration companies, mining companies, but also from Indigenous governments about the importance of responsible and fair development and the opportunity to be able to share the great resources that we have with the world. It is taking this responsibility, this next step of responsibility, that is incumbent upon us to do what we have to do so that those who have the interest in what we have to offer the world can get on with doing their business.

The last thing is: I know that we have, in the past, shared some concerns with the government with regard to royalties and why the royalties aspects were not included in this. Mr. Speaker, we have more work to do as it relates to the discussion around royalties and how that might even tie in with our territorial financing formula and future negotiations around that. I would suggest that it might have been a little bit premature to try to tuck royalties in here. Royalties deserves its own time and attention, and we will get to that.

Mr. Speaker, that is really all that I have to add today. As I have mentioned, the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment is certainly looking forward to getting this put on our agenda and taking it out for further public consultation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.