Thank you. That seems likes a very good return on investment. Since the -- when was the fund increased to $1.5 million? Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Sorry, just a sec, please, Mr. Chair.

Why don't I pull that information and provide it to the Member? I'm fairly certain that it was within the life of the 19th Assembly where it was slightly increased. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.

Thank you. Yeah, I think that's correct. I think it's probably 500K that went in in the 19th because it was increased to a million in the 18th Assembly. So given that there is quite a bit of interest in this fund, given that it's at times an economic multiplier, and that it hasn't been increased for some time, why isn't the Minister seeking an increase to this fund at a time when we need to get the exploration projects moving quickly to take advantage of the critical -- the interest in critical minerals and the significant amount of funding that's out there for critical minerals projects and that we're going to see, you know, a substantial local spend from this money. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I agree with the Member that we definitely want to put our fund where we have high return on investment. That said, there is a significant amount of interest in the Northwest Territories right now at a time where we are also working to be fiscally responsible within the GNWT. And so, you know, we will certainly continue to assess the program as we go throughout the life of this Assembly, but also ensure that we are really riding on and encouraging further momentum. I don't think that at the end of the day this is going to make our break somebody's decision to invest in the territory. I do think it is a help but I think, though, that some of the other work that we're doing as far as, you know, bilaterals with myself and the Minister of ECE and work with the federal government may stand to go to get us there as well and to help us continue to move forward. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Range Lake.

Thank you. No, I think our resource speaks for itself, and the regulatory environment is certainly -- or regulatory improvements is certainly welcome and one of the issues that needs to be addressed. But access to capital is another one. So any -- I think every -- and any dollar that goes towards building a stronger economy through resource development is a benefit, and when you have -- I know we're in fiscal restraint, so we have to make wise use of our dollars. And, again, a times eight multiplier is a significant -- significantly good return on investment. So I would strongly encourage the Minister to bump this funding up as much as she can with -- in short, well, as soon as she can granted she's not in charge of supplementary appropriations but she -- I'll put in a good word for her department with the Minister of Finance.

Turning to another area of resource development, petroleum resources. Are there any petroleum projects on the horizon with the shuttering of Norman Wells soon -- or the winding down of operations in Norman Wells? Of course, we don't get any of those royalties as a territorial government, but is there any interest in petroleum resources in the Northwest Territories that the department is aware of and planning for? Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, there is interest. There is the M18 up in IRC region. There's also conversation in regards to the offshore accord. And there is also some really unique research projects that are going on right now in the Northwest Territories through the carbon capture, so carbon sequestration in the territory where we have a type of rock essentially in the territory, up in the Beaufort Delta, that can take carbon dioxide that is a by-product of the processing of this material. So there's some really neat stuff going on. There is also meetings happening this week with companies that are building awareness on LNG happening in Calgary at the global energy show. So this is definitely an area that ITI is very much involved in and is also working with Indigenous governments and different regions within the territory to work together to see where this is going to go. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.

Thank you for that. And I think as much as I appreciate the other areas of the department working on economic diversification, there's only so many people working in the Northwest Territories that can ever be working in the Northwest Territories, and these resource projects are always going to deliver the biggest economic activity, the biggest bang for our buck, because we just simply can't compete with larger jurisdictions with significant workforces or substantial enough workforces to fuel the whole economy. So mining, of course, has a robust presence. There's plenty of low carbon opportunities with the minerals industry that are being seized right now, especially around critical minerals. So I think petroleum resources and energy resources can somehow feel lost in the shuffle of that because they're, of course -- they create plenty of emissions that we are trying to tamp down on.

So it's -- but I like to hear about these things just for those who are interested in these other -- you know, in the many petroleum resources and energy resources we have in the Northwest Territories that there is a plan for them. So thank you for that update. Please increase the mining incentive program. Nothing further. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my question's around the scientific collaborative research projects. Given that Inuvik obviously is a research hub, a lot of research is actively done through the Aurora Research Institute up there, and it also provides an economic benefit for Inuvik and the region as well. I note in 2022-2023, there was $403,000 spent. I'm wondering why it's been reduced to $150,000 this year. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, the difference in the main estimates come from a decrease of total of $200,000. So the first bit of that is $150,000 that is fiscal sustainability reduction. So what we're looking at here is rather than funding research for everything that kind of comes through our doors, really looking at making sure that we are funding collaborative research projects that speak to the priorities and goals of the Northwest Territories because a lot of these are driven by universities down south and might not be aligned with what we're wanting to research.

So one of the examples we talk about is rather than just researching a rock because it is pink, researching the rock that helps get to where we want to be tomorrow.

The next piece of that is a sunset of $50,000 in CanNor funding that was accessed for assessing NWT geological materials for cement production. So it was, like, a pre-feasibility study done on that. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

I guess -- thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess specifically, I mean, I know a lot of research is being done around permafrost degradation in my region around the -- as the Minister said, around the geoscience, around the knowledge economy, and around the mineral and petroleum potential in that region, particularly around the petroleum potential. So I guess my question is does the Minister feel that that will have a negative impact on the amount of research programs now happening -- ability for research programs to happen at the Aurora research institute, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, no. And the reason for that is what we're looking at doing is continuing to use this funding but to leverage it to source other funding mechanisms, for example through CanNor as well. There is even a permafrost project that is on the go just outside of Yellowknife here as well. And so there's a ton of opportunity. And not only with CanNor but also with Enercan to be able to combine our budgets together in order to do more. And so that's what this is looking at is how can we use what we have in order to leverage additional funding from the federal government. And there's a tremendous amount of research to be done in the Northwest Territories because we all know we are at the forefront of change that's happening around the world. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And that's good to hear. Thank you very much. One other -- just a quick comment. I know the mineral and petroleum resources -- sorry, petroleum resources, I think it was a director position was in Inuvik. That position, the person who was filling that position relocated to Yellowknife and is now actually, I think, in an ADM position. Has that position been filled in Inuvik and is there still plans to fill that position there? Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.