Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of ITI. I've been looking through Canada's critical mineral strategy that was announced I think a couple years ago now. And like a lot of government documents, it's full of a lot of "we should do this" and "we're going to improve the economy by doing things such as this," but there really isn't a lot of sort of tangible actionable items in the plan. Given that the Northwest Territories contains a lot of those critical minerals needed for Canada's green energy strategy, can the Minister speak a bit more about when we actually will see things happening under this critical mineral strategy, has the government indicated that they are going to deal with our infrastructure deficit or sorry, in our energy deficit that is mentioned as a key barrier to northern development? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. Minister for ITI.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the final version of the critical minerals strategy is still fairly new. I think it was only within the last year they've been doing some consultations on it. And obviously it's difficult for me to say precisely what we hope the federal government may or may not do. What I can say, Madam Speaker, is at this point we have put ourselves in position to be at the second round of tables. They are conducting national resource energy tables right now, "they, the federal government. And we were not initially on round two but we are now. And that process has just gotten underway early this year. That's an opportunity for us to help to define exactly what the Member's getting at where is that money going to be spent, how is it going to be spent, and what can we do to ensure that it's being spent, frankly, right here in the territory? I look forward to that process taking place. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister's comments. I guess I'm a bit concerned that we weren't engaged earlier on in this given, you know, the topics that we've been discussing here around the carbon tax, and a lot of this critical mineral strategy is about transitioning Canada off of fossil fuels and into a greener energy economy. So I guess I'm a bit frustrated by that. But I do know that this Minister is well positioned to be that voice at the table.
Can the Minister speak a bit then about how do we become innovative when we're working with the federal government? We have our own regulatory system that's quite, you know I want to say, like, strenuous a bit at times, and then if we're going to now add on another layer of government bureaucracy with the federal government, how do we actually go about making sure that we're creating one that works together versus two that are on top of each other creating further barriers? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, certainly we don't want to create government barriers or bureaucracy, particularly in a context where some of the criticism we get is that our regulatory systems already have quite a lot of layers to them. Certainly what we found in the last recent while is that there's a shift internationally recognizing the value of having a robust regulatory system, one that involves and engages Indigenous peoples from the very beginning so that when a project goes through that process, they know that it's certain, they know that it's secure, and they know that it respects environmental, social governance, and Indigenous factors. And that is what we have here in the North. What we are trying to do is ensure now that the different parties at those tables, the federal government and the Government of the Northwest Territories, are aligned. I can say, as an example for the Member, Madam Speaker, is the Mackenzie Valley operational dialogue is happening right now. That's an opportunity to bring all these parties together to have conversations to ensure that the way we apply our policies, comply our regulatory processes and work them, is efficient and is aligned and it makes sense to work all together. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. And I'm glad to hear that the Minister is speaking about efficiencies and such. I guess I rise with a bit of a concern that when we look at other areas where the federal government has come in with this great idea or they've made election promises that they want to see fulfilled, and I'll pick on ECE with the Daycare Act. You know, not a lot of flexibility for us to actually do anything or make our own northern or madeinthe-North imprint on it. So how is the Minister, I guess and maybe this is going to be a hard one to answer. How can the Minister ensure that that northern voice is being heard at the table and, if anything, that we're not just the afterthought in this conversation but that rather we are leading the conversation and one of the drivers? And when I look through the critical strategy and I encourage everybody to do so a lot of it is applying to the North. It's reconciliation with Indigenous people, it's lack of infrastructure, it's critical minerals that are needed. This strategy is about us and so how will the Minister ensure that we are leading instead of just following? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, this touches on finance as well because this is an area that's going to potentially drive our future economy.
I have to say we did have the opportunity to comment on the federal critical minerals metals strategy before it was final, and I would suggest there are a lot of elements in there that I think reflect exactly on the submission that we made and reflect exactly on what we wanted to see in terms of being a strategy that is now high level. The next step, obviously, proof is in the pudding where are they going to spend their dollars? Those conversations are ongoing. And as far as what I can do, or what any other member of this government can and what we are doing, is getting ourselves out, being at the table, being at the conferences, being at the speaking events, meeting with other Ministers. I am quite fortunate that I had the opportunity to speak on a panel at critical minerals about the competition and the competitiveness of the North when I was there. You know, the fact that we were invited to that I think shows that there is an awareness now that we are going to be in this space. The line in the strategy itself saying that minerals extracted in the territories could be processed in the prairies and supply manufacturing in other parts of Canada. There is a recognition that the value chain for the future of economy, for a greener economy, can start in the North and involve all of Canada. And that, I think, is an important shift of thinking that we want to capitalize on. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. And it doesn't sound like much has changed in the conversation at Roundup since I went in 2020, which was the same things that I heard from the mineral resource sector. They liked our robust regulatory system. They wanted to invest in the North. And a key piece I think that we need to also remember is that when we go to seek investment, we can tell people that their money spent in northern Canada will actually benefit people. You will literally create lifechanging projects as we've seen in Imperial Oil up in Norman Wells. So I do think that that is a key piece that we need to keep driving home. Our competitors are places like China. There are places that are in developing countries where the law is not as strict, and I think that is really a key message that we need to be driving home as a territory as well. And I know the Minister will do so. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you. And I didn't hear a question in there, so I'll take that as a comment.
Members and Ministers, just a reminder that we have a limited time for oral questions, and Members should have their opportunity to participate. Please keep your questions and answers short and to the point. We've gone through two Members, and we've used up 18 minutes. Thank you. Next on my list is Member for Nunakput.
