Thank you, Minister of Finance. Final supplementary.

Oral questions. Member from Deh Cho.

Thank you, Member from Deh Cho. Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that it's clearly a public safety concern. If you need to contact someone because of an accident or because of an incident or because you see a wildfire that you want to report and there's no cell service, then that's an issue. And it's recognized as an issue not just here in the territory but really across Canada, because if you look at a map of cell coverage of Canada most of it is empty. Most rural areas do not have highway cell coverage, so it is a public safety issue that is known across Canada. Thank you.

Thank you, and thank you to the Premier for that. Mr. Speaker, can the Premier tell us if there are any plans within the life of the 20th Assembly to improve the telecommunications capabilities within the NWT highway system? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And this is actually something that's within the Department of Finance, and the Minister of Finance has answered this question many times before. So I would like to defer to her. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again echoing what the Premier said already, telecommunications is a known challenge across highways all across the Northwest Territories, across Canada. One of the roles that the Department of Finance has is as the liaison point or an advocacy point with the CRTC. I can say the CRTC recently with their representative member for the region was in the Northwest Territories, and we had an opportunity to meet, and finding a better path for telecommunications was one of the topics on that agenda. One of the challenges we've had -- O and M funding for cell communications towers, just between here and Behchoko, was over $500,000 per year back in 2021. That has no doubt gone up and would no doubt, of course, be significantly higher if we were to try to cover all of the highways across the North. That said, the federal government does have some pots of funding, which to this point did not apply to telecommunications. They were only available for fibre and for internet communications. We are advocating to see some change in that regard, if there can be a bigger pot of larger funding from which -- whether it's GNWT or Indigenous governments or regional governments could apply, we might be able to make some traction on this. Thank you.

Thank you, and thank you to the Minister of Finance for that. Mr. Speaker, will the Premier commit to work with Cabinet, the private sector, and the federal government to finding solutions to improve cell service on our NWT highways? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I'd like to send that to the Minister of Finance. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, at the risk of it, I think I've probably already given away a bit of the answer, and the answer is yes, we will continue to do that work. There are -- there is some interest in the telecommunications space in the Northwest Territories on this but, really, again, there's not a private market that would support having this kind of service in the North. The market is just too small. We will really be looking to the federal government on this one and, again, really partnering likely with regional governments on whose lands or in whose regions these impacts would be most felt. So, you know, happy to go forward and continue to have that, but we are going to, first step, want to continue to advocate that the funding pots available, through ISED or otherwise at the federal government level, can actually apply to telecommunications and so that they can see improvements in this space. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Finance. Final supplementary. Member from Deh Cho.

This question I have is for the Minister of MACA from my -- okay.

I could put you on the list for the next. Thank you. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the question is for ITI for the mining industry.

We know there is a set date for a couple of mines in the NWT to close. So with that in mind, I want to ask the Minister how is the Minister working with the mines and the Indigenous governments to support mine workers in this transition?

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Minister of ITI.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories has a cross-departmental working group because we acknowledge that the impacts of the diamond mine closure date will have an impact on multiple departments. In addition, ITI has regular meetings and meets with Diavik, as have I. I've had four meetings now with Diavik in order to discuss multiple things, closure being one of them. And in the meetings with ITI, they discuss how Diavik is supporting its workers to ensure that we have an understanding of how many people we're talking about at the end of the day, and what they would like to do. And I'll wait for the Member's additional questions to provide more information. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will ask this question anyways, and I know she likes to talk.

So, Mr. Speaker, our economy is depending on the mining sector. So what is the government doing to ensure the NWT economy can withstand this loss, this loss of labour, and economic development? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's a really big question. ITI is constantly working to support other sectors. As well we heard today in the budget address additional dollars going to film. That said, there is an absolute recognition that other sectors within the Northwest Territories do not even begin to replace our mineral resource development sector. And that being said, I think there is also -- it's also important to acknowledge that any other one of our mines do not replace a diamond mine. These are world class billion-dollar diamond mines being operated by huge international companies, and we have been incredibly lucky to be home to three of them over the last two and a half decades. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the NWT we need to retain these mining investments that we have, but the budget doesn't show any increase for mining support. How is the Minister encouraging the diamond mines we have to extend their operating life? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was just under $400,000 mentioned in the budget today that went towards finishing the regulations for the Mineral Resources Act. Our role as government is to create a landscape for development to happen. And in my role as the Minister of ITI, it's a role that I take very seriously and work hard with my colleagues across the floor in order to make sure that I'm keeping my ear to the ground and responding to industry as best as possible and making sure that I'm working with my colleagues to make changes that are being asked of me from the industry. That being said, Mr. Speaker, it's also -- I agree with the Member, it is crucial that we maintain the workers who are working at these mines who are Northerners. Our diamond mines have worked hard to make sure that they are providing learning and training opportunities to Northerners and mines have committed to ensuring that they are maintaining their socio-economic agreements, maintaining their apprentices right up to the final days, and ensuring that they are working together as well so that when Diavik does close its doors, its skilled workforce migrates to, for example, other mines. Some people want to go work for Indigenous governments or for community hamlets. Some people might want to start their own business. And so the question is how do we, together, as Diavik and the Government of the Northwest Territories support residents to stay here, live in the territory, and do the jobs they want to do. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of ITI. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister attends conferences to support and development of mining industry in the NWT. Can the Minister describe to the House the outcomes from these conferences and how is the Minister supporting new mines and projects to come online? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Two questions, but I think the Minister can answer that question. Minister of ITI.