Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of ITI, or as my colleague likes to call her, the Minister of mining. Can the Minister which I think is a good thing, Mr. Speaker.
Can the Minister speak to how the GNWT is facilitating the purchase of the excess hydro power from the Taltson hydro dam for mines or other development projects in the South Slave Region? It seems like a real untapped potential there. Thank you
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to speak to this. I mean, obviously just, you know, noting firstly that the NTPC obviously is responsible for managing its own affairs. That said, I do have the opportunity to meet with their officers and staff and the Minister responsible, and it just so turns out that the Minister responsible and myself are on the steering committee for the Taltson hydro project. So lots of opportunity in that respect to ensure that all the right parties are alive and aware of what projects are in the region, the timeline of the various projects in the region, what their potential needs for power and power generation might be, and it certainly has been my experience in this role, Mr. Speaker, that NTPC's very interested in signing MOUs with projects that they, I believe, have advanced doing exactly that, signing MOUs both for excess power as it is already, but also with an eye on the Taltson refurbishment and the Taltson expansion. So all of which is to say, Mr. Speaker, it has been my experience that these things are happening in conjunction, one with the other, and that all the right players are speaking to each other to be ready to take advantage of this opportunity. Thank you
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm super glad to hear the Minister speak about a coordinated approach and sort of being proactive with the players in the region given that I can't think of how many times I've heard oh, if we just knew that was going on, we would have jumped on board. So great to hear that the Minister's coordinating that.
Given that our dependence in the next while is going to be on metal mining as the diamond mines sunset, can the Minister speak to what is being done and how the GNWT is supporting the expansion or exploration for new metal mines? I can't stress enough how important it is given that they are seven to ten times smaller than a diamond mine's revenue output. Thank you
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let me just quickly start by saying that I certainly haven't shut the door on the possibilities around the diamond mines, that there is still exploration happening. And while it looks likely that at least one of them will be on its closure date, the others are, you know, I'd like to say that let's just not shut that door just yet. My hope is a little more positive and optimistic.
But as for metal mining, Mr. Speaker, we do have a mineral development strategy. It does need to be updated but it is there. It was developed in conjunction with industry. It is helping to guide some of the programs that we have now. There's the mineral incentive program that continues to be well subscribed that leverages private funds. There, of course, is our CSCR folks, client services client relations, who we always hear good things about, to support projects at all stages moving through the regulatory process. There, of course, now is Indigenous capacity building to help support Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations to build their capacity in this space. And, Mr. Speaker, and in general a lot of what we do, and certainly what I am responsible for doing, is getting the word out about the incredible potential that is there. We take that very seriously. And with COVID restrictions behind us, there's been no end of interest and opportunity both for people to travel here and learn about our opportunities and for us to take ourselves to the right organizations and to the right conferences. So, Mr. Speaker, I am, in short, quite confident that there's a lot of interest and that investments will follow with that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm really glad to hear that the Minister's feeling optimistic about the diamond mines. You know, I guess I'm at a point of preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. So it is good to hear that there is a potential but we do know that with the ones that will sunset, it is going to create a bit of an economic hole for us.
Given that the Minister brought this up, I think it's a good opportunity to speak to the Indigenous capacity building. It's my understanding in the past that that money was used for us to take people from Indigenous governments and organizations to conferences like round up; however, now that money is being put in the hands of those Indigenous people themselves for them to decide how they want to spend, which I think is great. So can the Minister speak a little more to how she sees that rolling out and the reception from the Indigenous governments to those changes. Thank you
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a fairly new roll out. There certainly has been funds available prior to now but it was ad hoc whereas now there is a more formalized process by which interested parties can apply. There are, you know, maximums and some eligibility requirements. But in short, Mr. Speaker, it is meant to be a fund that formalizes an opportunity. So precisely as is asked, that governments and organizations can apply, have money to attend conferences, to attend training, to bring training into their communities and to their people. It is being run as a pilot. And I just say that because that allows an opportunity, if there's things in the eligibility or things in the process that the relevant organizations want to see changed, then this is an opportunity to do that so that going forward this program can achieve its goal of better empowering the people on whose lands these projects potentially would be on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the Minister knows I'm a really big fan of the iterative process. So I'm glad to hear that, you know, we are looking at this as something that we are going to adapt and change as we get more feedback from the users of the system.
My last question I think just has to speak around Indigenous ownership. I believe there's been some information in the media around, you know, people sort of being window dressing as they take part in ceremonies and such but I think it's really important to clarify the record that the rare earth mine that is operating in the Northwest Territories is run by an Indigenousowned organization through Cheetah Resources hiring them.
So can the Minister speak a little bit more, do we have any more of these types of agreements in the works or coming down the line? To me, Indigenous ownership in mining is the only way to go forward in this territory so I hope to hear that there's some coming. Thank you
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can't necessarily speak to what might be happening mine by mine or project by project. Certainly what I can say, Mr. Speaker, is that indeed, yes, at the Nechalacho Project, Deton Cho are, indeed, the miners of that project. They are the ones running the contract and doing the mining. That is, I think, perhaps maybe a first in Canada; certainly a first in the Northwest Territories. And I can't agree more, this is the way of the future, and it is you know, I think it is something where we are starting to see access to equity change, access to whether it's low interest loans or various other forms of capital opportunity. The federal government seems to be live to that. They seem to be looking to create these types of funds. They've put a lot of money into the First Nations Major Project Coalition. So I think there's a lot happening in this space right now, Mr. Speaker. It is certainly an opportunity for us to make sure we are at the frontend of that. That is my message when I go out, is that the federal government and projects need to be, from day one, working with the people on whose lands their projects are on and they will, indeed, see that that brings certainty and prosperity to the projects and to the whole of the project.
So there's, I think, a tremendous possibility here in the Northwest Territories and with a lot this is where having mines at the early stage means we're at the right stage to see that happen here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.
