Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, developing regulations for the Mineral Resources Act is one of the key commitments from the Government of the Northwest Territories to support responsible resource development. This Act represents a new chapter for our mining sector, setting the stage for modernization and shared prosperity for residents, Indigenous governments, and our industry partners.
The Act and future regulation will increase opportunities for exploration by providing more time to explore claims before transitioning to leases and making it easier to collect high-quality geoscience data. This, in turn, will attract investment and support the highly-anticipated move to an online map staking system.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment is working hard, in collaboration with Indigenous governments and stakeholders, to ensure that the regulations needed to implement the Mineral Resources Act are completed within the 20th Legislative Assembly. A comprehensive policy intentions document was completed at the end of 2023.
The document captures the collaborative intent and rationale of the regulations that are being developed collaboratively and is guiding the legal drafting process.
Consensus has been reached with Indigenous governments and organizations participating in the regulation development process for almost all of the proposed policy concepts. The department is expecting an initial draft of the regulations toward the end of this year and in the first quarter of 2025, publicly sharing the proposed regulations for final engagement before they are circulated for Section 35 consultation.
Mr. Speaker, relationships will be foundational to the implementation of the Mineral Resources Act. Understanding this, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment is working to ensure stakeholders are aware of and understand proposed changes and innovations, as well as the timelines for their implementation. Department officials meet regularly with representatives of the NWT's mining industry to address specific subjects or concerns and to ensure that all parties feel heard and see the full value of these regulations.
In May, the department met with NWT regulators to provide updates and advance collaborative discussions regarding the integration of the Mineral Resources Act into the broader regulatory framework. Officials also traveled to Lutselk'e to meet with elders, leaders, and residents to answer their questions and build understanding among Indigenous governments, stakeholders, and regulatory partners.
Mr. Speaker, the regulations that will bring the Mineral Resources Act into force are advancing under a protocol set out in the Intergovernmental Agreement on Lands and Resources Management, a first for our territory. This work includes restructuring the department's mineral and petroleum resources branch for efficiency and supporting the new legislation with necessary software changes for greater transparency and accessibility.
An example of this leading industry approach is the proposed modernization of the
socio-economic and impact-benefit agreements signed with diamond mines. These agreements have positioned the NWT as a leader in the social and
environmentally-conscious management of mining in Canada.
Under the Mineral Resources Act, future benefit agreements can take various flexible forms, including participation, partnership, and equity agreements, all in the spirit of implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The time is right for these changes. There is a desire to chart a new way of doing business in the territory, bringing further clarity to industry and investors. This work is crucial as the territory moves towards a new era of mining amid a growing demand for critical minerals. I look forward to providing further updates on work to develop these regulations as we strive to take our territory's mining industry to new heights. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and Happy Mining Week.
Thank you, Minister for ITI. Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's a bunch of regulatory improvements that would greatly help the industry. I know the Minister has spoken about this before in her Minister's statement. But apart from the mining Mineral Resources Act, how is she working with her colleague, the Minister for Environment and Climate Change, to streamline environmental regulations so we can get these projects moving quicker towards the larger regulatory stage? Get exploration projects moving quicker. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am pleased to present the 2024-2025 Main Estimates for the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $1.9 million, or 3.1 percent, over the 2023-2024 Main Estimates. These estimates support the mandate objectives for the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment while continuing to meet the Government of the Northwest Territories's fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending. Highlights of these proposed estimates include initiative funding totalling $1.2 million, which include:
$529,000 to continue to support the growth and potential of the Northwest Territories film and media sector and increasing the competitiveness of the NWT to generate benefits to the NWT economy;
$521,000 to support the completion and implementation of the Mineral Resources Act regulations; and,
$100,000 to continue our support of the tourism sector under Tourism 2025 towards the five-year investment strategy for the tourism sector.
Forced growth funding totalling $279,000, which include:
$149,000 to address the growing costs associated with the territorial parks’ operator contracts and utilities; and
$130,000 to support the opening and ongoing operations and maintenance of the North Arm Territorial Park.
Other adjustments totalling $3.3 million, which include:
$2.4 million to continue to support the GNWT's commitment to revitalizing the commercial fishery sector to grow and diversify the NWT economy to create jobs and to advance greater food security;
$489,000 to continue to support the growth of the agriculture and Agri-food sector in the NWT through partnership agreement with agriculture and Agri-food Canada;
$298,000 to continue to support the growth and potential of the NWT film and media sector through partnership with Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency; and,
$94,000 to support the increasing technology service centre chargeback costs.
Fiscal sustainability reduction of $2.7 million to support the GNWT's fiscal strategy for the 20th Assembly by reducing expenditures to streamline programs and services, and the department will continue to find operating cost efficiencies and revenue opportunities where possible, and sunsets of $913,000. These estimates support the priorities of the 20th Assembly and vision of the Budget 2024 by including 75 actions in ITI's business plan.
In relation to the mandate commitment and the spirit of collaborative governance, working with partners on an economic vision for the NWT and an investment attraction action plan, ITI is continuing to work closely with the Indigenous governments on an Intergovernmental Council technical working group on the completion of the Mineral Resources Act regulations. This co-development approach will support the priority to build a strong economic foundation in a manner that meets the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and advances the long-term prosperity for all territorial residents.
Some of the other actions ITI will pursue in support of the strong economic foundation priority include working with partners to find regulatory efficiencies for the mineral resource sector and supporting responsible resource exploration and advance and operating projects including for our critical mineral departments. A strong economic foundation also depends on the strength of all our economic sectors. ITI will encourage a diverse range of economic activities by promoting entrepreneurship, fostering research and innovation, building strong partnerships, and leveraging opportunities in all regions.
Some of the actions I'm most excited about include:
Completing a program review of the SEED program with an eye to ensuring that business supports are effective in achieving their intended purpose;
Identifying pathways for entrepreneurship and public housing, as well as through income assistance;
Promoting access and opportunities in nonextractive sectors, including the arts, fisheries, film, and tourism;
Advancing plans to transition the diamond mine workforce; and
Improving the accessibility for arts and immigration programming.
That concludes my opening remarks, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Yes, I believe that that amalgamation of the two was the 18th Legislative Assembly, and then the position from the petroleum director is now the director of mineral -- Mineral Resources Act implementation. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, one of the things that is pretty clear about ITI is it's a smaller department with a ton of creative people who like to do as much as they can with limited funds within the department, because it does do a lot and a tremendous of their funding does go out for grants and contributions. One of the things that they are undergoing right now is doing the Mineral Resources Act implementation, and part of that work is going to be to have to redo the job descriptions that are required in order to fully implement that Act and some of the changes that will come from the staffing to be able to respond to that. And I -- and my point in that is that there are always changes that occur within our economic opportunities within the Northwest Territories. I absolutely hear the Member, and I don't see this as a stagnant department who is not fluid or willing to evolve as the sectors evolve in the territory. And I think you see that through the work that they're doing with the MRA right now. And so I definitely see some evolutions of staffing as we go forward within the life of this Assembly. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, right now we're evaluating I guess to start off with what are the immediate needs of the department. The immediate needs right now of the department are to implement the Mineral Resources Act, and the big piece of that is the regulation work. So that is the primary focus and the primary, I guess, driver of funding right now, getting that done is going to be huge for the territory and has a huge focus. But we are constantly assessing what positions are in high demand and high need within the department and ensuring that we can essentially pivot to accommodate those and to accommodate the demands of the territory to make sure we are being responsive in the economic environment that we are currently in. Thank you.
