R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And how we're doing that is in partnership. Once again, we were just down in Vancouver at the AME Roundup where I signed an MOU with the Yellowknives Dene and the Tlicho to advance the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor. Of course we have a Minister of Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains -- see, it's not that hard of a title -- to focus on this work with an associate Minister who -- and I have found that arrangement actually to be one of the most effective things that we do as government, to have an associate and a Minister focusing on these specific...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, of course, the Tlicho have tens of thousands of square kilometers of contiguous land and there are opportunities for mines on that land, from what I understand. And so from that standpoint alone, there would be ongoing benefits and benefits directly to Tlicho residents.

In terms of infrastructure, we want to ensure that when there's new infrastructure, if there's maintenance, that that's done locally. For example, roads, we always like to ensure that the communities closest to the roads are the ones doing the maintenance on those. So there's long-term benefits there...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I won't speak about things in front of committee, but the budget contains things to do just that. We're also working on -- we have an MOU with CanNor to help speed up things. We're working -- I am working with my counterpart in the federal government to look at a more detailed MOU to really tackle a lot of these issues that have held things up. We are looking at how we can engage the federal government more so that they can provide direction to the boards in certain areas and provide better support to the boards where we see things held up. One example I always mention...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise the House that the honourable Member for Kam Lake, the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Investment, will be absence from the House today, tomorrow, and Thursday to attend the Arctic 360 Conference in Toronto, Ontario. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I never -- so there's a number of different things going on here. I will address them as I kind of remember them.

So I have heard from -- I have actually heard from leaders in the Member's riding who have told me one thing. I don't think it's a point of order for me to get up here and say that. So I think that one is, you know, an easy one.

I don't speak for the Akaitcho leaders. I've never said I do. So I don't know where that one came from.

I was trying to discredit his line of questioning because I don't think it's a very credible line of questioning. I didn't accept...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I don't accept the premise of the Member's question. We do uphold the spirit of consensus government. Ministers appear in front of committees. Committees give feedback to Ministers. Ministers go and give direction to departments informed by that feedback. Just because a Member is not getting everything they want or they make promises that the Minister can't deliver on for them, it doesn't mean that we're not fulfilling the promise of consensus government, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the department of ITI does review the socio-economic agreements when there is the sale of a mine, and those socio-economic agreements do transfer to the new owner. So, yes, we do review those. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so of course socio-economic agreements don't have enforcement clauses. There's not levers to enforce. There's not fines that can be levied on the mines for not meeting those targets. And so this is about building relationships and ensuring that we're staying on top of this. So I know the Minister of ITI has quarterly meetings with the mines where they go over these numbers, the employment numbers. When we learn about mines looking at changing their workforce, reducing the workforce, of course we ensure that they're going to follow the appropriate legislation. But we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so for quite some time we've known that the diamond sector is going through a transition and the market is not quite as robust or stable as it used to be, and so we have already, for a number of months now, had a partnership with the Tlicho government and the Yellowknives Dene to ensure that we are pooling resources, we're getting information out there, and we're supporting residents the best way that we can. So that work has already begun. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And as I mentioned, a couple of the ideas that the Member gave are reflected in the budget. The idea that the Member just gave, I mentioned that in my first answer when we increased the funding to the interim resource management assistance program, and we're also encouraging the federal government to increase their contribution to that as well. So there are tangible actions that will result in increased efficiencies and projects coming online sooner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.