Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The people who I serve or many of the people who I serve in Kam Lake generate their income either directly or indirectly from the mining industry, so my first question today I know is very important for them. Mr. Speaker, I am wondering if the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment can speak to how the GNWT is working to increase mining exploration and development across the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are quite a lot of initiatives underway. One of them that I think I have spoken to recently would be in terms of the Mining Incentive Program. That is a program that is within the government's mandate to increase funding to, and funding was increased and modified to adapt to COVID-19 so that it could be better accessed and more useful for those who are having to adapt their systems and their processes to continue to explore, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, there is a wide variety of other initiatives underway. Not knowing quite where the rest of the questions might go, I don't want to take all of the MLA's thunder, but the Mineral Resources Act, of course, we are looking to develop those regulations, looking to review the mineral development strategy and certainly continuing work in regions so that there can be regional mineral development strategies, so a number of things across the board, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
In my Member's statement, I spoke briefly about the Fraser Institute and their survey of the mining report. I am wondering if ITI has a desire to address the concerns outlined in this report, and if so, how will the GNWT effectively increase transparency and consistency in the NWT regulatory process?
When that report came out, certainly, anytime there is a public statement of that kind, any kind of report-card-type document, we would certainly take that seriously and want to look at it and analyze it. I have actually already set up a meeting with the department to do exactly that. That said, Mr. Speaker, I also want to just ensure that the public messaging around what we are doing with our regulatory processes and the efforts within the department to provide pathfinding. There are staff specifically assigned to pathfinding, and there is already work being done to having a roadmap for those looking to bring new projects online. That work exists. I am conscious that, although, as I said, I'm going to take this report seriously, the department has a knee on it, the responses that were given in terms of permitting times, there were between five and seven responses. It might have been as little as five. Recently, at the online geosciences roundup forum, we hosted a forum where, in fact, the proponents of projects were saying they were impressed by the time in which they had their permits issued. It is a complex issue. Each project is unique. Each project is going to have its own challenges, but I believe we are taking steps already to improve the process and to continue to use the systems that we have and continue to make them even better.
I appreciate the Minister's due diligence in having already set up that meeting and look forward to hopefully having a conversation about that with the Minister. In regard to the people who the Minister was able to converse with who were impressed by the timelines, perhaps the Minister can encourage them to participate in the survey next year and we can improve some results for the Northwest Territories in that report card. One of the things that was highlighted within that report card was that the GNWT wasn't even meeting their own timelines within the regulatory process. I'm wondering if the Minister will commit to looking at the timelines associated with our own regulatory processes within the GNWT, look at the processes, how the department is working through them, and see if there is room for improvement and perhaps speeding up some of that process, as well.
That comment stood out to me, as well, and so certainly, again, that's one of the points of getting together with the department, is to identify where, in fact, there may be some areas for immediate work. It's not only us, of course. Up here, we also do rely on the federal government for part of the regulatory processes, and as for us, it's not only ITI that is responsible; the Departments of ENR and Lands are also involved. What I will do, as I've said, is, firstly, have the meeting with my department to look at what exactly is it that is at issue and then ensure that we are bringing all of the relevant departments into that conversation. It is always our goal to ensure that we are meeting our timelines and our processes, so to the extent that there is a challenge, we are going to figure out what it is and then find out the answer.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister alluding to the fact that she is willing to work with other departments. I think it's important to see, for other departments, what role they play within that process and how their involvement in that process affects the overall timelines, as well, so I appreciate that. It would be amazing if we could get our mineral exploration back to the level it was in the mid - to early 2000s. That would be very exciting. It feels different when the North is exploding with economic development. Everybody has some bounce in their step. There is less draw on social programs. There is more community involvement. Definitely, I think everybody here would be game for a ton of exploration and mineral development across the Northwest Territories. I'm wondering if the Minister would be willing to commit, for whatever dollar comes out of programming for mineral and resource development within ITI, to making sure that, if it comes out of one program within that section, it goes into another program within that sector? Thank you.
Obviously, government budgeting is dear to my heart, but we're about to go into the process of reviewing ITI's budget and reviewing ITI's proposals for going forward in the next year. I don't think this is a question of a dollar-for-dollar in the Department of ITI that is going to advance mineral exploration alone. I appreciate the effort to look for creative solutions, look for ways to advance this. It is something that is already one of the priorities of the 19th Legislative Assembly. All of us know that this continues to be an anchor industry, and everyone is seeking solutions to see it advance. There is a lot of work happening. We are renewing the mineral development strategy. That's from way back in 2013. It's time to look at a new one. We are looking, again, as I said, at doing regional mineral development strategies to be led by regions themselves, to seek what supports they need to do that. There is the pathfinding; there are the road maps; there are mineral resources. It's not necessarily about whether there are enough dollars out there. This work is happening. I want to assure the Member that the work is happening; the work is under way. We know areas that are in need of some supports. We're trying to put our efforts into them, and I have every faith in my colleagues that, as we do the main estimates for ITI, if there is an area that I have described that doesn't have the resources, then I will have every chance to detail that and explain it in the course of the reviews. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
