Thanks, Mr. Chair. I have a number of questions here around support for the mining industry. The Minister mentioned that they're using internal resources for drafting of the petroleum resources legislation that they intend to bring forward. So I'm just curious to know why there's a request for qualifications out for the new Mineral Resources Act. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So first of all, the differences in this particular file, we have the resources and the people qualified within the petroleum resources side to deal with it. On this side, first of all we're going to need some legal staff because the specialist has got to work in conjunction with the Department of Justice when we draft this up, and we have put that out to look for a unique individual who can help us move this file along. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the response. I'm just wondering: what kind of assurance can the Minister give me that this drafting of this bill or this act is going to be done in a way that includes all interested stakeholders? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Like probably most big bills like this, we would be going out to public consultation with this across the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess that is part of my worry. If the public consultation is sort of like what happened with the fracking regulations, that was not a very good job. Again, I guess I am going to ask: how can the Minister convince me that he is going to solicit and ensure that all interested stakeholders, including the environmental organizations, conservation interests, Aboriginal governments, are going to be involved in preparing this legislation? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I have said, this is going to be a big piece of legislation and a big deal for this department to get this thing through. Public consultation is going to have to involve all those exact people that the Member is referring to. Once we get closer to how we are going to be going out there, I am sure we are going to be coming to committee and getting their input on how we are going to proceed. So we will be coming back to committee on how we proceed with this drafting. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I guess I will go on record as expressing some concern about regulatory capture here. Given that all of Cabinet goes down to mining conferences, I want to make sure that the consultation around this is inclusive, that it includes all the interests across the Northwest Territories. I look forward to the Minister bringing forward some kind of a plan to the standing committee to make sure that that happens. Is he prepared to bring such a plan forward to the standing committee? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. ITI has begun its work on research and review legislation from other jurisdictions on this exact policy coming forward. Then we have to process the approach we will be taking, so that is what we are going to do. We are going to look at other jurisdictions before we proceed, and then we are going to develop policy intention papers and have discussions around those papers with Aboriginal governments, regulators, industry representatives, and other stakeholders. The papers are anticipated to facilitate feedback on the GNWT policy intentions with respect to legislation review and any proposed amendments. Once we do that, I am sure we are going to have a lot of input from committee on making sure we are doing this right. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I look forward to the Minister coming forward to the standing committee with a plan for doing all of that. I do want to move on to one other thing here. Our government has publicly supported the UN Declaration of Rights for Indigenous Peoples. Within there, there are some requirements for free, prior, and informed consent, and I am sure our government supports those, as well. Can the Minister tell me how the Mineral Resources Act is going to incorporate the concept of free, prior, and informed consent? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think the UN declaration is probably pretty much recognized by all governments in Canada now, but as we move forward, that is one of the reasons why we are going to have a legal and specialist person drafting this moving forward, to ensure all these things are met. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. In the department's business plan, there is a discussion of a regulatory roadmap that is being developed for mineral development. Can the Minister commit to me, this House, and the public that, again, our government will incorporate free, prior, and informed consent requirements into that regulatory roadmap? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I can't commit to that right now, but we will have a look at it and see how we are going to move this forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I look forward to the Minister getting back to me on that. Our government has publicly endorsed the declaration, and free, prior, and informed consent is an integral part of that, so we want to make sure that our communities are fully informed and that they have the ability to say no where they desire to do so.
I want to turn now to a couple of other areas, if I can. Given that the Minister himself yesterday said that there is no prospect of any oil and gas development here for another 10 years, is the department still working on this oil and gas strategy and, if so, why? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, we are still working on this moving forward. We have drafted a strategy that offers a viable balance and a madeintheNWT approach to advancing oil and gas development in the Northwest Territories. I don't know if the Member has any more questions on it, but we are working on it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. So why do we continue to work on this strategy if there is no prospect of any oil and gas development in the next 10 years? I am just quoting from what the Minister said yesterday in the House.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I said yesterday, there is probably no probability of anything happening in the next 10 years, but the truth is that we don't control the commodities markets. We don't know what is going to happen. It is no different than the previous question, why we have employees in the petroleum division. We have to work on a number of things, our legislative proposals and such. We might as well be working on a strategy at this time, as well, when things are in a downturn, so it just makes sense to continue moving that forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I guess I would suggest to the Minister that he divert the resources that are going into this strategy into economic diversification, as one of my colleagues mentioned a few minutes ago. I have some other questions, though, Mr. Chair. I would like to get back onto your list, if I could. I do appreciate the time with the Minister, and I will have more questions for him. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would just like to remind the Members that this is also a mandate commitment in the mandate of the 18th Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly, your time has expired. We will move on next to Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I just want to go back to a couple of aspects to get some further clarification from the Minister and the department. Some time ago in the House, the Minister spoke about a program called Introduction to Prospecting and that these were some courses that were hosted in collaboration with the Mine Training Society, mining companies, and the department. It was to support the development of an educated, trained, and readily available Northern workforce. I am just wondering if the Minister can indicate for us out of what contribution or out of what fund has that program been funded out of and will it continue to be funded out of? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That money comes out of the NWT Chamber of Mines, the contribution that we make to them. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the clarification. Further, and I think this was the point that my colleague was raising earlier, and he may have confused which contribution line he was referring to, so with regard to the Mackenzie Valley development contributions, we have seen that there has been significant contribution in the past and now it has sunsetted. I believe the question was: would there be reconsideration from the Minister and the department to reinstate that sunset? I mean, we know that this is programming that makes contribution to resource predevelopment programs and Aboriginal capacitybuilding, and so I am wondering if the Minister will give consideration to reinstatement to the Mackenzie Valley Development contributions? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This reduction of the Mackenzie Valley Development Corporations was in response to the Mackenzie Valley Gas Project and these drivers no longer exist, so this was taken out of the budget as there's no activity on that presently; but as for helping out Aboriginal organizations, there's money in the Aboriginal Mineral Development Support Program, the $100,000 on the top line. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the Minister for his reply. As the Minister is aware, and as was alluded to previously by my colleague, the Priority and Planning Committee has let the Minister and the department know that we have proposed an increase to the Mining Incentive Program, and the Minister has indicated to this House in the past that that program has been very successful and in fact over-subscribed. He has also indicated that our annual investment of $400,000 has resulted in additional $3.36 million in exploration spending in the NWT by companies and prospectors. I mean, that's some pretty powerful immediate impacts and benefits to be had by the territory, especially in boosting the economic development and support for resource development.
We're indicating that we would like to see an increase to that program, and if the Minister is to accept the increase it's going to be about $1 million in total. The way I look at it, if we were to crunch some basic numbers, that would equal an $8.4 million expenditure in exploration and spending. So I don't know that I would put the Minister on the spot as it relates to will he accept that at this point, but I certainly want it to be on the record to let the Minister know that this is the reason why we're standing by this increase to this particular program. It's clearly a successful one. The Minister even alluded earlier that for every $1 spent in exploration there's a return of $1.50 or more.
We did hear also down at Roundup that, you know, the Yukon and Nunavut's exploration expenditures have gone up significantly in the last couple years, and ours in fact has gone down. It's this kind of contribution to exploration that we think can have some immediate benefits and some immediate effects on our economy, so I just want to put that on the record.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. I'll take that as a comment. Next on our list we have Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I had some questions in regard to the petroleum industry in terms of I think it's been stated that in terms of the potential outlook for this industry to exist and operate in the NWT, you know there's no prospect of, or likely any form of, activity in this economic sector for the next 10 years. So understanding that, over the course of at least the past three years or so we've seen a fairly consistent decline in terms of petroleum resources in terms of how this department engages oil and gas companies in terms of their activity in the NWT plus communities as well. So significantly over the past year the resources and funding for this area has been dramatically reduced.
So I'm just trying to understand, you know, if it is indeed during a period of lull where there is no activity. It begs to question of what's the focus of this department in terms of ensuring, and at the very minimum we have at least maybe a unit that could be mobilized quickly if the markets reach their ideal prices where it's economical for companies to start exploring and working the oil and gas industry in the Mackenzie Valley, or the NWT for that matter.
So I understand the Minister has stated that there is going to be an Oil and Gas Development Strategy. I mean, how much attention and focus should be of this government to ensure that we also explore the idea of developing alternative energies? You know, we just had a dilemma of transporting goods down the Mackenzie Valley and, because of climate change, the water levels have affected the operations of a barging company that brings goods to northern remote communities.
The point is that, you know, our community is very reliant on diesel energy and diesel as a source of fuel. At the same time, should we be looking at maybe putting efforts to remediate abandoned wells in terms of our obligations of taking on more responsibility through the devolution agreement? Mahsi. If the Minister could maybe provide some insight into that. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, I guess the comment about going to more renewable energy, we'll be speaking to that when I'm up here with the Department of Public Works and Services on where we're going with that. As the Member knows, we're out there doing our energy strategy presently and getting input from all the stakeholders in the Northwest Territories and public sessions for public input. When I'm up here as the Minister of Public Works and Services, I'll be glad to discuss that.
As far as reclamation of abandoned wells in the Northwest Territories, that falls under the OROGO regulator, so that's not part of our portfolio. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. Nadli.
