Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Presently, it's confidential under the Mining Regulations, but as part of our broader context, like we said, going forward the review and reporting will be part of the discussion. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The short answer is no, because there was a short period of time since the clause-by-clause review. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am unable to speculate on the outcome of the creditor protection process as the matter is the subject to the proceedings under the Companies' Creditor Arrangements Act. I can confirm that Strategic Oil & Gas is required to submit a revised closure and reclamation plan to the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board today for review and approval. During the review of that plan and upon its approval, financial security will be assessed to ensure that security held by the Government of the Northwest Territories is sufficient to cover the work required to remediate.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are going to continue prospecting permits. What we are changing is making this not just a tool for our government, but an Indigenous-led partnership to attract responsible exploration, and we'll continue to do that when we do the regs development and have a look at it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Some of the concerns that we have around this is what and where activities are happening on a claim and what could potentially come about from that activity. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This advisory group comes from the Intergovernmental Council, and as part of that working group, as well, we talked to TAP, the Technical Advisory Panel, which consisted of the Dehcho and the North Slave Metis Alliance as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I myself have a whole lot of confidence in our partners and Indigenous governments to effectively represent their interests. It seems that certain Members may not share that confidence.

Zones cannot override requirements under any other legislation. The favourable terms are limited to how mineral interests are acquired and maintained. They cannot cover things like water or environmental rules, which are rightly enshrined in other legislations. We plan to set out the baseline of what kind of incentives are allowed within a zone in regulations in partnership with Indigenous...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Confidentiality, as we said, was identified as an issue, so we chose to tailor this provision to have a provision obligation to circulate the notice to Indigenous governments as a way to demonstrate our commitment to their inherent rights and relationship to the land. As I have said earlier, we will look at this in the regulations. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Comment noted.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Zones can be created by a nomination from Indigenous governments. Zones were included in the bill to create a method for Indigenous governments to drive where and how they could attract investment within their lands if they so choose. Zones were intended to provide greater certainty for industry by indicating where Indigenous governments would welcome greater exploration. We are trying to encourage early exploration, which is fundamental to our government's position that we need exploration to foster new, responsible development and hopefully results in discoveries that...