Rylund Johnson

I do believe that is a mandate commitment that is well ahead of schedule, so I congratulate the Minister on that. However, Mr. Speaker, the process guide is really only the first step. It is how and when we will transfer the land that matters, so what I am looking for in order to stop asking this question of the Minister repeatedly is: can I get a firm date when we expect the land transfer to the City of Yellowknife to be completed?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the Department of Lands is the single most important department in the GNWT. Now, I think many would laugh at that. I think perhaps even the Department of Lands might laugh at that, Mr. Speaker, but whether it be land claims, on-the-land healing, agricultural land, municipal control of land, land tenure so people can get mortgages or insurance, our own residents' spiritual connection to the land, increasing mineral exploration on withdrawn land, or habitat protection for caribou, land lies at the heart of many of our solutions. Yet, the Department of Lands...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 11, Legislative Assembly Officers Standardization Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That's not quite the answer that I'm looking for. That would be an answer that we are going to get rid of the lease-to-own policy and replace it with something that allows fee simple title. In this same vein, presently, about half of Akaitcho territory, half of the southern Northwest Territories, is withdrawn. Does the Department of Lands have any role or plan to decrease the amount of land that is presently withdrawn in interim land withdrawals?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will continue my questioning of the Minister of Lands. He refuses to create a process guide for transferring land in fee simple for Aboriginal titled Indigenous governments because presently he cannot. We have a land lease only policy in the Northwest Territories. I believe it is a Cabinet policy. My question for the Minister of Lands is: is he willing to get rid of the lease only policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I look forward to that work, and I recognize the complexity. I hope we can get most of this done by June, because we're about to pass hundreds of millions of dollars of capital and, every year we wait and we have not refined our procurement process, more of that money will flow down South. One of my concerns with this is that a lot of our contracts are 75-cent dollars. They have federal conditions in them. Some of our bigger projects, such as Giant Mine, are purely federal contracting, and I don't think this government has worked to lobby the federal government to make sure we are capturing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I spoke earlier today in my statement, the Government of Nunavut has an Indigenous procurement policy. The Government of Yukon is developing one. Alaska's business development corporation has done amazing work in this field, and for some reason, despite having constitutionally protected land claims with human clauses in them, we have not developed a comprehensive Indigenous procurement policy. My question for the Minister of Finance is: will we develop an Indigenous procurement policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government in its mandate has a number of very large capital projects: the Slave Geological, Taltson, Mackenzie Valley. We saw a P3, which had a good start to Aboriginal business in its contracting. My concern here is also Giant Mine, which is largely federal-run. Can I get the Minister to provide an update on whether perhaps there is a way to speed up this work and put a little bit more of a focus on Indigenous procurement and northern benefits for our major infrastructure projects? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, and I fully expect this work to be done in consultation with both Indigenous governments, whether they have that clause, and Indigenous-owned businesses. I recognize this is a large piece of policy work, but can I get a sense of when we expect that work to be completed?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If there's one constant in the modern economic history of the Northwest Territories, that is monopolies and foreign ownership, whether it be Northmart, Northview or Northwestel, or sometimes it's Chinese state-owned entities and American billionaires. However, Mr. Speaker, I believe that tide is starting to turn, and it is being led by our Indigenous-owned businesses.

It is often said that government should not be in the private sector and should not be in the business of business, and I believe that. However, there is an exception for our Indigenous governments. Built...