Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, The NWT has always been a resource-based economy. Even before the onset of colonial settlement, the Yellowknives Dene made tools from copper mined on the banks of the very lake that my district is named for. Later today, we will hear SCEDE's report, and my opinion, on the GNWT's approach to the Mining Regime Fiscal Review. In my dissenting opinion, I lay out what I see as the reasons why this has not been a good use of committee resources. One area upon which I touch is exploration.
Mr. Speaker, I'd like to expand upon this point further as I feel that at times residents, and my colleagues, miss the point when it comes to how important exploration is to our resource sector and therefore our economy.
In the NWT, it might be 15 years from deposit discovery to the onset of mine development, a sad fact that has been pushed to the extreme by our robust permitting system. Mr. Speaker, I fully support this regulatory system and the people that participate in it. I'm proud of our efforts towards social and economic responsibility that puts us at the forefront of responsible sustainable mining globally. Our agreements with First Nations and Inuit people are unparalleled to none. However, we must now acknowledge that we have developed a regulatory system so complex that it is expensive to get through, making it extremely difficult for new explorers that may want to come here.
None of this is new. It's been discussed for years; however, the effects of COVID have decimated this already struggling industry. The diamond mines, which in 2020 still accounted for 21 percent of our direct GDP despite COVID, will be sunsetting over the next decade. Add in the indirect economic impact as they leave, and we have a territory that is quickly becoming a welfare state. Currently, NWT exploration expenditures are mainly for advanced exploration projects and deposits, with very few grassroots projects on the horizon. These deposits are generally metallic, and metal mines do not have the same economic impact as diamond mining, contributing one-sixth to one-tenth economically in comparison.
The future of exploration, and therefore mining, in this territory is critically dependent on the partnership between industry and Indigenous governments and businesses, ensuring Indigenous voices are leading the conversation, not bureaucrats or legislators whose ancestors did not walk this land.
I encourage my colleagues on the other side to ensure that this engagement occurs at all opportunities and they actually listen to the people when it comes to the future of this sector.
