Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of ENR. Mr. Speaker, within the work hours currently going to southern workers, I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to whether or not there are trends in the type of work hours that are going to southern workers over northern workers? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ITI completed an analysis of the GMRP arson contract in June of 2022. The results showed 68 percent total spending had gone to NWT Indigenous businesses and that is on par with the diamond mines. Categories of spending that has gone to southern businesses include construction, air quality monitoring programs, medical sampling and analysis, minerals such as lime, sulfate and dust suppression, drilling and installation specialized equipment, specialized water pumps, and pylons I think I guess I got that one wrong. This helped us identify opportunities for the GNWT and NWT business to help build capacity in these areas, but it is important to note much of the work is specialized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I'm happy that the Minister was able to read my mind because I just realized I gave him zero context about what we're speaking about. So just for Hansard, we're talking about Giant Mine. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister can provide some clarity as to what rate these work hours are going to southern workers because of available northern workers are either being underbid versus there being no NWT bidders? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ITI analysis showed that the reason contractors went south included not receiving the highest score on the contract evaluation, no northern companies submitted a bid, noncompetitive processes work, technical capacity is absent in northern firms. These contracts were limited to the specialized equipment items. Through Indigenous Opportunities Consideration, or IOC, the Giant Mine project aims to provide benefits for all work packages to the Indigenous community in the area of the contract. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement today I spoke about how it can be difficult for local proponents to be able to bid on the large scale of work that is happening out at Giant Mine, and this can be because there's just not the required clarity around the size, scale, scope, and timelines associated with some of the bidding that's happening out there. So I'm wondering will the Minister push the federal government to provide a more detailed budget and timeline so that local proponents can properly prepare and bid on this work? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ENR along with ITI and ECE participated in the socio-economic working group and the socio-economic advisory body group. These groups provided the Giant Mine project with specific geo-economic advice and input. ECE, with the support from ENR, has developed the North Slave regional training hub to support trainers and funding responses to large scale projects. Canada and Yellowknife Dene First Nation are in the process of finalizing a procurement framework agreement which will finalize Canada's commitment to providing socio-economic benefits to the Yellowknife Dene, by confirming the procurement approaches that will be used for the project, giving the Yellowknife Dene First Nation a role in the decisionmaking process by reviewing and commenting on planning procurement methods before they are implemented and creating a mechanism way for projects to monitor and report to the Yellowknife Dene socio-economic process. The project is currently in discussion with the Tlicho government and the North Slave Metis on similar agreements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I was furiously writing and so I am going to have to go back through Hansard as well. And I appreciate that the government is working with YKDFN on a socio-economic agreement. One of the things that I am hearing, and that I'm talking about right now, is that there's not really a clear understanding of whether or not a project is going to be $1 million, if it's going to come out and be a $100 million, and the capacity of northern businesses to be able to kind of play ball in those ball fields is much different, right? If you need a team of five people versus a team of 50 people, well, you're talking about much different projects there.
And so what industry is looking for in the territory is a better idea of what is coming down the pipe what is showing up at the doorstep and coming out in tendering processes so that they can actively be part of that. And so I'm wondering and asking the Minister if he will be an advocate for northern industry and advocate to the federal government for more clarity on the size, scale, scope, and timelines associated with the projects so that Northerners can participate in the remediation of the mine? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is part of the Giant Mine Remediation Project team and is involved in all work planning, including consideration of timelines. The GMRP timeline has recently been lengthened to maximize Indigenous and northern business opportunities. The GNWT will continue to pursue opportunities associated with the Giant Mine Remediation Project that will create opportunities for Indigenous and northern businesses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
