Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, since raising the issue of the Mineral Incentive Program, I have been flooded with correspondence from the public in support of increasing this program. I am going to ask the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment today if he will commit to increasing the Mineral Investment Program to $1 million, support our industry, and grow our exploration sector? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we have had this conversation in Committee of the Whole, I said we had a great opportunity at mineral roundup to get input from all stakeholders in the industry. We put our budget forward. This is what we have in there. I made a commitment that, in the life of this Assembly, we will look at what we can do towards increasing that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister. His predecessor said the same thing. Furthermore, the mandate says, "makes a commitment to implement the Mining Incentive Program." Could the Minister clarify what that commitment means? How are we going to implement the Mining Incentive Program? Is it currently not implemented? What does that exactly mean?
I think there is a play on words here. The Mining Incentive Program is already in place. It is well received. It was actually oversubscribed in the past year. As I said, I commit to looking, in the life of this Assembly, to find a way to put more money into this program in coming years.
I would argue that the line of the mandate for implementing the mineral would be expanding it. A million dollars to this program would increase the return on investment to somewhere around the level of $8 million. Does the Minister agree that an additional $5 or $6 million injected directly into our economy through boosting this important subsidy would be a benefit to our economy and to our mining industry?
I am going to make it quite clear: I see the significant value of this program. It is under my portfolio. It is very important for us to bring mining to the Northwest Territories. We have a line item of $400,000 currently in this program. I have said I have made a commitment to the Members that, during the life of this Assembly, I will look at ways to try to increase that to bring more economic opportunities to the residents of the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister's strong commitments. Let's have more than words. Let's see action. Let's see dollar-for-dollar investment in this program. Every dollar he adds is going to dollars into our economy. Again, I will ask: will he commit to including that in a supplementary appropriation before the end of this calendar year? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The short answer is no. I told the Members that I would look into expanding this program, putting more money into it to the life of this Assembly, not in this budget.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
