Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, based on the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment's public comments on the proposed Mineral Resource Act, I have to ask: has this act been written with the collaboration of all stakeholders, or is the Minister rushing to check off a mandate commitment for the piece of legislation that nobody is happy with? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That might be his approach, but not mine. From the Government of the Northwest Territories' approach, we have done our due diligence on this act.
As we know, this is probably one of the most important pieces of act coming forward in the 18th Legislative Assembly. We have involved the intergovernmental council right from day one on this thing, along with their technical advisory panel, which is the North Slave Metis Alliance and the Dehcho First Nations, who also attend this meeting. We have met with special interest groups, environmental and non-government organizations, and the Chamber of Mines. We have had public consultation in many communities, with lots of feedback. We had Aboriginal consultation. For the most part, the reason we are bringing this bill forward is that it is part of the devolution process to bring this thing forward, but with all of this consultation that has taken place and in-person public meetings that we have had there is a lot of support for this bill coming forward.
I would expect that that response would be what the Minister would say publicly whenever asked, and yet he gave very different comments in the January 30th edition of the Yellowknifer. Can the Minister explain why he made those comments?
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 consensus and collaboration with stakeholders in the Northwest Territories. With that being said, not everybody is going to agree on everything at all times, and this bill that is going to be brought forward in the life of this Assembly is going to not be supported by everybody. It is no different than everything else and what we did in this House last week.
We will continue to push this thing forward for the best interests of the residents of the Northwest Territories. I think the department has done a great amount of work that will be represented in this bill when committee takes it on the road.
Surely, the Minister is happy with the quality of the consultations and is happy with what the bill is going out there. I acknowledge that differences are what makes this House so strong and what makes our society so strong, but to hear that from the Minister makes me question whether he is satisfied with the quality of the legislation. Can the Minister clarify that?
As I have said in my previous comments, not everybody will be happy with everything in this bill, including me. This bill is built on the collaboration and consensus of the people of the Northwest Territories. I support the bill that we are bringing forward. I believe it is the bill at the right time, for the right industry, that we are doing this through the devolution process. This is a bill that people of the Northwest Territories are clearly interested in. As I have said, this is probably one of the biggest and most important ones in this Legislative Assembly. If the Member does not like the comments that I make in public, that's up to him. I support this bill. We have done our due diligence. We have worked with all of the residents of the Northwest Territories, as I have said, and we will be bringing this forward in this sitting.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is not that I don't like the comments but that the comments are confusing, and I think a reasonable person would assume differently from the logical contrast of the two comments made. Mr. Speaker, the Minister just said that he is not happy with all of the sections of the legislation. If he could speak globally, what would he like to see come forward that wasn't included? Thank you.
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.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
