Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the Minister's earnest attempts to drive investment in this region, but I don't think that these instruments are working. We have heard directly from stakeholders that they are not working as intended. Going forward, they will work better, but there are still a lot of issues with even the revised forms. At least there is an expiry to the terms, but I am afraid that I am still unconvinced that the current state of affairs surrounding SDLs is the best approach to managing opportunities in our economy.

I wouldn't be encouraging any effort that would drive liabilities up for government or expropriate private property or privately-obtained rights, but we have to do something, and if we can collaborate with these proponents who already have these licences and, again, who can hold them until the end of time, then that would be the best way forward. Even if that is a specific feature of the petroleum strategy or whatever efforts are going forward, we have to do something. People are relying on these opportunities, and to say that we will wait until commodity markets make it feasible or wait until a pipeline is built, we might be waiting a very long time. The economic opportunity is needed now and badly needed in some of our regions. If there is a way to make use of these licences now and to respect that they were granted, to respect that they are federal art facts, but to still make sure of the relationships that they have created, I think that that is the best way forward.

That is more of a comment, but this was a significant concern for me as I reviewed this bill, and it was a significant concern of committee as well. It is not to penalize industry or to drive away investment. Rather, it is the opposite; it is to make sure that we have responsible resource development and that the tools that we create are driving economic opportunity or, at the very least, are driving revenues or benefits for the public Government of the Northwest Territories to benefit the people of the Northwest Territories. We still haven't hit that balance with the existing regime, and that has to change. Thank you.