Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of ITI gave a very vague answer to my last question and did not answer fully on the expansion of the Taltson River Expansion. Will the Minister, in her capacity as ITI and the finance Minister, engage with the Salt River First Nation, whom's reserve lands border the Taltson Dam and they also consider this their traditional territory, whether bilateral meetings could take place to bring Salt River back to the table in this very important project with the expansion of the Taltson; and, moreover, we as a government to move forward in a positive way on this project and reinstate their consultation funds in order to do this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism, and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Salt River First Nation was one of the Indigenous groups that had signed on to the Memorandum of Understanding process and, along with the GNWT and other Indigenous governments who are in the area affected by energy generation potentially, and who would therefore have potentially an interest in participating in the design of the program. There have been two steering committee meetings thus far of this group; however, at the first one Salt River First Nation decided they did not want to participate in the MOU process.
That is certainly their prerogative, Mr. Speaker. We can't certainly force anyone to participate in this MOU process that we've designed collaboratively with the other Indigenous governments. And I would love to see them come back to that table. I think all of the members of the steering committee, all of the Indigenous governments as well, would like to see them return to that table, and I am certainly hopeful that we will see them back so that we can collectively design what this project might look like. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In order to do that, I think that there has to be a process that has to be followed to ensure that the main proponent in this whole Taltson Expansion is consulted, and I think that it's our duty as a government to ensure that they are brought back to the table. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I would like to see that. Would the Minister confer on that? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, again, I certainly will commit to reaching out again. And I think that the steering committee also is directing that we reach out collectively and try to ensure that memorandum of understanding is, to its fullest, utilized in the design of the project.
Mr. Speaker, with respect to consultation, absolutely; when there is a project to consult on, if the Salt River First Nation hasn't come back to the MOU process, which again certainly hoping that they do, if that's their choice not to then, absolutely, any and all Indigenous governments on whose traditional lands and territories a project would potentially have some impact will be consulted. We're not at that stage yet, Mr. Speaker. We don't have a project to consult on. But when we do, we most certainly will be consulting with those who are potentially affected. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
