On parks, thank you, Mr. Chair. How is the department better promoting parks for residents outside of the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. We have an excellent relationship with Tourism NWT who does wonderful work. We also have -- sorry, and I should toot their horn a little bit. They've done a tremendous amount of work promoting even on things like Good Morning America. And as soon as they have done that work, we've seen access to our tourism operators shoot through the roof and some of those people, of course, are using our parks. We also have a tremendous amount of marketing on social media. We also have information in visitors centres in other jurisdictions. And a great way to also promote it is to ensure that people are having a great experience when they travel to the territory and they tell their friends. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from the Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Community -- visitor information centres, are communities encouraged to open up those up or do they just make the request themselves to ITI to get a visitor information centre in their communities? Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it's certainly up to the community, and we're always happy to lend some suggestions and some expertise from our staff, and we can certainly support through a contribution agreement. But ultimately it is up to the community. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from the Deh Cho.

So it's up to the community. Is that through the hamlet office or the IG, or who makes the request from the -- at the community level? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I would say that it could be different from different communities. But certainly, you would want to ensure that the community is aligned in that request and ultimately working together because then you have certainly a better product at the end of the day if you have community support for it. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from the Deh Cho.

If one were to open in, let's say, the Deh Cho going between Enterprise and Fort Providence, somewhere in between there, what support is provided to open up a visitor information centre? Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, we can certainly help in the form of a business plan to ensure that all options are considered and that, you know, there's a robust plan that goes with it. I know that in the Member's area, there is incredible areas to go and visit. There's incredible artists. I know when I am in the region and I'm -- I get to see some earrings and stuff, I always wish I could buy them all, and so I think something like that would be incredibly successful. And so I would certainly say that having a conversation with the regional office and there can be conversations about stacking funding, say with CanNor, and certainly the region has the traffic along the road, so I think there's some great opportunities for some business ventures over there. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Deh Cho.

Okay, thank you. Is there any further questions from Members on this one? Seeing none, fno further questions, please turn to page 248.

Industry, tourism and investment, tourism and parks, operations expenditure summary, 2025-2026 Main Estimates, $18,575,000. Does the committee agree?

Thank you. There are additional information items on page 252 to 256. Are there any questions? Seeing none. Thank youf, Members. Please return to the department summary found on page 229 and revenue summary information items on page 230. Are there any questions? Yellowknife North member.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have to be really quick.

Okay, so I see in the revenue summary under minerals, oil and gas royalties, you know, last year we ended up getting $1.6 million and this coming year we're expecting $1.7 million. But then I look at how much we're spending under minerals and petroleum resources on diamonds, royalties and financial analysis, and that's $4.3 million. I do understand from ITI's previous information that we have a diamond valuator contract to valuate the diamonds that has been increasing this year and we're up to $2.7 million just for the valuator contract this year. Can the Minister explain how it makes financial sense to spend $2.7 million to valuate diamonds that we're only getting $1.7 million on royalties from? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Well, first of all, I would have to say that I'm legislatively required to have diamonds valuated in the territory. And the perks of diamonds or the revenue from diamonds is certainly greater than what it is seen here under the revenue summary. So, you know, example, we have hundreds -- well, over -- we've got thousands of Northerners working at our diamond mines, and Diavik alone for example, is 1200. And in addition to the people that are working at the mine and the benefits of that, or working for the mine, there's also all of the contract opportunities that exist as well.

The way that our royalty system works in the territory is it is a revenue-based royalty system which means that if mines are investing in the territory, that is deducted from their royalties so that they're able to apply that to the royalties that they're paying to the Northwest Territories. Diamond markets right now are certainly not where we'd like to see them be. They continue to go down, they continue to struggle, and that is for geopolitical reasons around the world. We're not the only jurisdiction that is struggling as far as diamond mining. But ultimately I am -- I'm legislated to ensure that our diamonds are valuated, and that is something that is done consistently through all of our diamond mines.

Okay, thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife North.