Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today we called for a -- some of us called for a red alert into mining because the situation is dire. We have aging legacy mines that are closing, no new mines on the horizon. Can the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment speak to why the MRA was passed at the end of the 18th Assembly. It's been ten years before it's come into force, and we do not see a clear path forward. Can the Minister speak to the status of the Mineral Resources Act regulations? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of ITI.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Member bringing up the Mineral Resources Act regulations in the House today. The technical working group has been working hard in unison and collaboratively with Indigenous governments, and that is the most important part of this work, is that it's done collaboratively, and I'm happy to say that the policy intentions document is going out for engagement this fall. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Policy intentions are great, but they don't result in new regulations or a Mining Act that's in force. So when will the -- let's just focus on the outdated 19th century tenure system. When will the tenure system be modernized, computerized, and online map staking available to bring the Northwest Territories in to 2025 like other jurisdictions that are doing far better than we are? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the policy intentions document is a very important part because it's really important to give people, residents, the opportunity to feed into the process before the regulations are fully drafted and really baked in. And that was something that was requested by multiple residents and concerns that were brought forward that residents have the opportunity to feed into this process.
So in response to the Member's questions, so the draft regulations will be ready for section 35 consultation in winter of 2027. So once we get the feedback from the policy intentions document, that work will be taken by Department of Justice, and that drafting will be taking place, public posting in spring of 2027, and then it will go through step G of the intergovernmental gouncil secretariat process in summer of 2027, and then from there, it'll be public posting of the draft regulations once that process is done. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So 2027 is the plan. Is the Minister able to work with partners because it's very important that we do; it's part of the devolution agreement; it's part of our co-management system. But is the Minister able to work with partners to expedite this process to indicate the dire state of our exploration? Exploration's dropped by 50 percent since 2018. That's a huge decline. Can the Minister bring those concerns to that table and expedite this process? Because we desperately need reform now. We don't say red alert idly. Will the Minister act and expedite this process so we can have this modernized system in place right away? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, short answer, yes. Absolutely, this is a key focus of mine, it's a key focus of my colleagues, is making sure that we can get this piece of legislation done. I can also say that through Council of Leaders and the working groups that we are -- or sorry, the time that we spend with Indigenous leadership in this territory. The economy is incredibly important to everyone that is at the table, and we're hearing that from Indigenous governments as well. We're not travelling alone as Cabinet in these conversations. We're travelling alongside Indigenous leadership, and we're travelling as a team. And I think that's really critically important. So the short answer is yes, it's very important to me that this work gets done and gets done as quickly as possible. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
