Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. All resource projects in the Northwest Territories are reviewed in the same laid-out regulatory regime that we have within the Northwest Territories, according to their scale and scope. We have a multifaceted regulatory system in the Northwest Territories. There is a process to adjust the requirements and make changes within that process, but also, in the Northwest Territories, we have a lot of players. We have the Government of the Northwest Territories and our departments; we have the federal government and their departments; and we have Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories that need to be involved in the regulatory process.

The one thing that I can say, as I said in the House here last week about this project, it is something that is very interesting that I will be following very closely with my colleagues on this side of the House, particularly the ones that manage natural resources. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Specific to that project, will the Minister work with the governments, regulators, and firms like Avalon and Cheetah to facilitate an accelerated timeline at Nechalacho to achieve small-scale production?

We will definitely work closely with them, as we do with many other companies in the Northwest Territories that are trying to get business done here. We want it done right, and we want to help them avoid any red tape unnecessarily to move their projects forward. The nice thing about ITI is that we have developed a Client Services and Community Relations Office within our department, and their role is to help the companies work their way through the regulatory system in the Northwest Territories. We certainly encourage Avalon and Cheetah to work closely with that division and help move their timelines and scope along.

As these companies move forward, the potential for ownership with the Indigenous governments and Indigenous groups, will there still be requirements for impact benefit agreements should these companies have ownership along with the Indigenous governments?

As you know, we introduced our bill here last week, so I want to speak very carefully about what I am going to talk about here, because it is in the standing committee's preview right now of the bill.

In our bill, we proposed benefit agreements, not impact benefit agreements. There is already a process laid out for that, and that is through the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. When you look at our proposed bill, the benefits side of things, we want to make --

Minister, the bill is before standing committee, and it is inappropriate to discuss it at this point. If you could answer the question perhaps without direct reference to the bill that is properly before the committee? Thank you.

Well, as I said, the bill is with the standing committee, and in it is a benefits agreement, not an impact benefit agreement, as clearly laid out, as I said, in the process under the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act.

Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister discuss the possibilities of technology, energy, and green metals becoming a focus of research and study with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment? Thank you.

Technology, energy, and green metals are already on the radar, particularly of this Government of the Northwest Territories, and particularly of our department, through the NWT Geological Survey. We are trying to get a better understanding of what role that the Northwest Territories and our resources can play in this global movement towards these types of resources. The early work on the knowledge economy has also identified the importance of leveraging and taking advantage of the world demand of green metals, and I am definitely prepared to find opportunities to work with my colleagues and add to the discussion further to the research and study of this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.