I would like to thank the Minister for that, but he didn't tell me why the report was withheld as part of the public consultations for the development of the act.

One of the major findings of the report is that there "may be potential for a comprehensive NWT strategy for resource-led development" and that "a consultative process could get a consistent approach to tackling the hard questions that might otherwise divide the NWT's various constituents." Does the Minister intend to act on this recommendation, and how will this be included in the development of the Mineral Resources Act?

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. I outlined my efforts to pry the contracted publicly funded report, Policies for Generating Socioeconomic Benefits From Natural Resource Extraction Projects, from his department. First, I was refused the report. Then, because I wanted to make it public, I insisted upon an ATIPP request, and the report was posted deep on the ITI website without public notice.

Can the Minister explain how a government purportedly committed to openness and transparency would only make such a report publicly...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act, be read for a third time. Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Is there any intention then on the part of Cabinet to broaden the exclusions that are set out in the Act using regulations? Is there any intention to do that at this time? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I guess committee heard other information from, and I believe my colleague from Kam Lake, the chair of the committee, talked about how one hotel chain put together information based on industry-wide standards. It had indicated that there would be about a little more than $1.1 million with the existing exclusions. By my rough calculations, GNWT excluding itself, that would immediately reduce the revenue stream by about 25 percent. That's okay.

You know, my position, I think, is that there should be no exclusions. That's familiar treatment, that everybody pays the airport...

Thank you. Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that. Why did the department include GNWT, then, in the exclusions here? Did they actually calculate how much this tourism accommodation tax would cost the government? Let's start with: why did the government exempt themselves from this tax in the bill that has come forward? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to thank the Minister for that, his emphasis on consultative processes, but when important information is not made available, it's withheld, it doesn't help those processes.

The report contains a lot of very helpful comparisons and lessons learned about benefit retention and other jurisdictions. This work may have played, should have played, a major role in the development of the Mineral Resources Act. In fact, it was within the scope of the discussion paper that was released. Given my difficulties in prying this report from his department, can the...

Merci, Monsieur le President. During the summer, my office cobbled together information on the amount of money that our public governments get in return for the extraction of our non-renewable resources.

According to figures from the NWT Bureau of Statistics, the value of diamonds mined in the Northwest Territories since 1999 is $29.4 billion. The value of all mineral, oil, and gas production was $38.6 billion. Unfortunately, the public accounts for both the federal and the NWT governments don't report separate royalty figures for each type of mineral, oil, or gas, so it's impossible to see...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess what we have before us is a bill that was developed in response to reports from the Chief Electoral Officer; the observations and recommendations that she made in running the election in 2015. There were opportunities for the public to review and comment on her report. Maybe they could have been better, and I will agree with the mover of this motion that we probably could do a better job in terms of the public review of this bill itself, but the Chief Electoral Officer did not raise the issue of party politics in her reports. That's not part of why this bill was...

Yes, I would, Mr. Chair.