Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my questions there -- or my statement earlier, my first question to the Minister of Infrastructure is will the Minister share what has and is being done since the federal government has created the regional energy resource tables? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this was an initiative of the federal government meant to provide a vehicle by which provinces and territories could explain our priorities for the federal government and hopefully to be a pathway to unlocking federal investment. It was a bit slow getting off the ground. There was back and forths about how to get organized and who should be on the tables. But I am pleased to say that the GNWT was part of the second round of these tables that were launched originally and that they have been fairly active now since the spring of 2024 in order to scope out what areas of priority we have here in the Northwest Territories and be able to share them actively with the federal government. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks for that information there from the Minister there. My next question is what good has come from these tables for the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said they certainly have been a little slower to get moving than what I might have hoped. That said, I've certainly spoken to my department about them to get updates, and I'm assured that one of the biggest things that's happening is these have been an opportunity and a vehicle by which our officials are actually able to engage with the appropriate counterparts in a context of identifying priorities in this space, identifying areas where a federal investment can unlock some of our priorities rather than being only a one size all -- fits all approach coming from Ottawa. So, for example, with the Critical Minerals Investment Fund, these tables have been an opportunity to be able to say, look, where -- what kind of projects do we have, where do we need your investment, and been an opportunity to do that in a more effective way so that the money is flowing and being unlocked more quickly here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks for the information there from the Minister. My next question is with this package of information, and I really want to thank the Minister of ITI for issuing support to some of the developers, or potential developers in my region along with the other regions of the Northwest Territories. Has the department taken steps of consultation engagements with other NWT industry stakeholders, for example the Chamber of Mines, are they aware of the progress from the tables? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is firstly a shared initiative between different departments and one where we've -- although Infrastructure has been the lead under the element of being an energy -- the energy lead, ECC and ITI are both also engaged from the GNWT's perspective. One of the critical steps that we had to undertake was to ensure that we were properly engaged in aligning with priorities from the Council of Leaders and meeting therefore with IGOs and, indeed, the next step, I'm told and, in fact, is to take the -- what we've got from this group now to industry, and I expect that that will include the Chamber of Mines. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Final supplementary.
Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
