Wally Schumann

That is getting into the content of the bill, and the bill has not reached the floor of the House. If the Member wants to ask me that question when I am sitting in the Committee of the Whole, have at ‘er. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 34, Mineral Resources Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I make a lot of comments, just like the Member across the hall here. I have actually used this comment a number of times. This is a very large piece of legislation, that is going to affect a large number of people in the Northwest Territories, from industry to Aboriginal governments, to the person on the street, to the businessperson down the road. When you have that many people involved in a bill that is this important and this big, not everybody is going to agree on the piece of legislation. There might be things in there that we will all agree. No different than this House, this is built on...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents entitled "Northwest Territories Tourism Pursuing Spectacular Potential 2019-20 Marketing Plan," and "Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation 2019-20 Corporate Plan." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I've said, I'm willing to have a discussion with all impacted residents on this project. If we're going to sit down and have a discussion about the Taltson back when it was built, in the '60's, I think, if that's a discussion that some of the Member's riding wants to take place, we're going to have to have all parties at the table for that discussion. That's something that took place prior to devolution. That was under the federal government's watch, and that's probably a discussion that should be taking place with the federal government or maybe even at the Akaitcho main table. I'm willing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not quite clear on the question. What I said in the House last week here, when we talked about the Taltson project, was we are involving the three Indigenous governments that are affected in the region, the Northwest Territories Metis Nation, the Salt River First Nation, and the Akaitcho. I have met with all three of them from their leadership point of view and given them the heads-up about the announcement on this funding. As I have said in the House last week, there seems to be a willingness to work towards supporting this project. That is what this Aboriginal...

As I said, we are putting this thing in as efficiently and as fast as we can. The workforce is contracted out with Little Red River. I will have to see how long that contract is good for and work with the Member to be able to maximize the most employment I can for his particular riding. We have not reduced the capital cost or the budgetary process for putting this road in. We realize the pressure that is on these communities the longer it takes to put in these ice crossings across the Northwest Territories. The Member continually raises it in this Assembly, and we will continually try to work...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have to get back to the Member on what exact piece of equipment, why we brought it in, and why we brought it there. I do know that we have a labour and equipment contract, an as-and-when one with Tsiigehtchic with Arctic Red River Development Corporation. I can look into that matter, what specific piece of equipment the Member is talking about.

I think that might be a little premature, about doing a SEA. These guys haven't even put a drill in the ground yet, but they are very bullish, as I said, on their project. The department has demonstrated time and time again that we want to focus on getting benefits to residents in the Northwest Territories, to the people working, to small businesses, and getting all benefits we can out of resources from these types of projects. We will be following these guys closely.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I am well aware of the Astro gold project in the Sahtu. They have been doing some work out there. They actually accessed our geodatabase that we have housed in the Northwest Territories geoscience department. In discussions with them, when I was talking to them at roundup, this actually came from a presentation when the Premier and I were at PDAC, and the department laid out a water-till sample that they did in the Sahtu region, and that is where these guys got some actual information to start having a look at that district. Evrim also used our Mining Incentive...