Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to point out I think there's an error here. It's actually the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines. So I think it's a really important distinction to make that this is a group that actually promotes cross-territorial economic development and is actually really, really important and critical to our work. So I'm actually quite concerned that we don't fund them more. I note that we do have an $80,000 in the 2020-2021 Actuals, and I know that's a -- I think a COVID boost that was happening at the time.

So could the Minister speak to, given the importance of the mineral resource and extraction sector to our economy and our recovery, why we're not actually increasing the money to this important NGO? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of ITI.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm not sure that there were a lot of -- Madam Chair, I can't necessarily say why we're not increasing to this particular NGO over one or a another. As I've said, there's a lot of program-based dollars that go to them right now, and it may well be if there's further opportunities for them to apply to deliver programs or apply to deliver other opportunities, conferences or whatnot, they may well see that they are able to access those funds for other purposes. So yeah, Madam Chair, I think I'll probably just leave it at that for now. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I'm glad to hear that because another piece of the work that I think that the Members of the Chamber of Mines and such are doing is increasing awareness with our youth around the importance of geology, mining, and resources to the Northwest Territories. Such examples being the Rainy Lake Trail; I know that a lot of those members were involved there. And other sort of facilities that are used around Yellowknife that I'm more familiar with, but I'm sure elsewhere. We only have to look at Norman Wells to see the influence of the resource sector there.

I guess my next question, then, speaking along that line, is I will just sit here and plug again for more money to the Indigenous Mineral Development and Support Program. I think this is really great. I felt it was wonderful to take part in seeing some of the first development in mineral resource strategies but also, you know, mining projects that have kicked off that actually have Indigenous ownership, which I believe is the future of our extraction sector because I was actually just saying to my colleague from Monfwi that, you know, my goal is to support the Indigenous people and what they want to do with their land. So if they came to me and said no mining, then of course that's where I would go. But that's not what I hear.

So can the Minister speak -- and I apologize if she's already answered this, I was out of the room -- to why we're not seeing a larger amount there? And I recognize we didn't have any money spent here in the COVID time. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of ITI.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is the first year that this has been introduced at this -- at this funding level. There wasn't a lot being spent previously. So I think at this point, we'd like to see -- sorry, and it's application-based. So I'd like to see how this goes, what applications come in, what type of requests there are. And it may well be that it is quickly oversubscribed which, you know, was probably a good sign for the interest by Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories in terms of seeing opportunity and wanting to take advantage of it. So if we have a wealth of oversubscriptions then I'm -- then I may well have to figure out what we're going to do going forward and how to manage that going forward, knowing the pressures put upon me by the Minister of Finance. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Member for Great Slave.

We're always hardest on ourselves, I agree with that. I am pleased to hear what the Minister is saying and if it is really well subscribed, she's reading my mind that I would expect to see her back here, excuse me, looking for more money for this as, again, it's a great way to increase regional employment and get money into the hands of our residents versus, you know, keeping it internally. So I think that's great.

And speaking to that then, I'm looking at the Mining Incentive Program, and I'm happy to see the increase of $300,000 here. Can the -- and again, I do apologize if the Minister has answered this. But is it going to be a year where we're going to see all this money spent? Do we anticipate having to come for more money again, or maybe just a little bit of a comment around how is our exploration sector shaping up for this summer? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of ITI.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, there's -- I think there is a lot of good news right now in terms of exploration. You know, even the large diamond mines where you might think there's no more exploration happening are also looking at exploration programs on their properties potentially. There's some discussion of whether there's opportunities for them there. There's lots of opportunities happening in the gold sector, rather a bit to my surprise. I have to say I was quite struck at the amount of exploration happening in terms of gold. And then of course, rare earths and critical minerals and metals, kind of all over the news but this is also an opportunity for us here in the Northwest Territories. So as those commodity prices all go up, that only makes us more attractive where, notwithstanding the high costs, it starts to make sense economically for those projects to be looking here given the strength of the sector that we have, given the strength of the geology. So I do expect this will be oversubscribed. It always has been oversubscribed, even with the increase, and that is a good news story at the end of the day, given the leveraging that happens. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And actually I think that's the first time in a long a time on talking around this topic that I'm feeling a bit of hope that perhaps maybe things are going to start to pick up. And I just want to state that I would be in full support if the Minister came back for a supplemental for the MIP. I think it's a great way to keep people working, and I think it's really important to recognize too, that our exploration and companies, our drilling companies, our construction companies, our ice road companies, all of them do hire Indigenous people. They're the wildlife monitors. They're often the drillers, the drillers' helpers, etcetera. So this is one way that actually does put money into the hands of residents of the Northwest Territories as well as leading to the chance for them to have royalties down the road. So I really can't express enough in this House my support for this sector. And I will leave it at that, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any further questions from Members under minerals and petroleum resources? Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I left the room for a bit too so -- and it sounds like I think most of the talk was probably around minerals. So I want to move to my favorite subject, petroleum. And I know that there hasn't been a lot of activity in that area. But however with what's happening around the world today and the price of crude oil and, you know, countries looking for some independence and, you know, others looking for, you know, to buy the crude, has there been any I guess -- or has the department, I suppose, received any calls or any interest from any oil and gas companies from southern Canada that might be even having an inkling of maybe coming up this way and, you know, maybe going back into some of the areas that they'd been exploring? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of ITI.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Let me turn that to the deputy minister. No one's called me directly. But let me see if there's been any discussion over at department level. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, when I look at the -- at oil and gas, you know, and I look at where it is, it's pretty well straight down the Mackenzie Valley into the Arctic Ocean, and further than that. And, you know, there was a lot of exploration back in the '80s, you know, '70s, '80s, and a little bit here in the last -- last while around -- around I guess maybe Inuvik a bit and in the Sahtu as well. But, you know, when I think about -- about the impact of this is that it may be an opportunity to open up some highways and push them a little -- a little quicker to get -- get some of that work done. So has the department, I guess, had any discussions with Indigenous groups with respect to, you know, potential for oil and gas activities in their areas? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of ITI.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I think deputy minister already mentioned that the Sahtu still has a fair bit of interest in this area. But possibly the bigger area of the conversation would be with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. They of course have the M18 asset that they have in the North and, you know, would be in that area of some liquid natural gas potential. So that would be the one group where, as I said, there's definitely been some conversations with them and looking to continue that. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.