Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the requests to correct the decline in mining is financial incentives that will help support the industry, lower costs with very high cost jurisdictions. We hear that all the time. So can the Minister inform us of the mineral incentive program, how -- what its uptake was or is currently and what the economic benefits have been to our communities as a result. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of ITI.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, we have $1.5 million in our mineral incentive policy program that provides funding to people who are, for example, doing exploration in the territory and working to advance projects. Typically, in an annual year, we see some of the funding for the MIP program actually return to the territory if people are unable to use it. So events in the territory like forest fires can actually have an impact on whether or not the proponents can use the full amount. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Has the Minister spoken to industry or done analysis of why those funds aren't able to be accessed and bring policy reforms to correct that so we can get all the money out the door? Thank you.
Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, industry, tourism and investment staff do get the money out the door. The question then becomes whether or not proponents can spend it in the calendar year that they have, and there's different reasons why that could be impacted. It could be impacted by their ability to stack with other funding that they want to stack with based on commodity prices. It can also be impacted by events here in the territory. Like I explained before, wildfires had an impact on people's ability to spend some of those dollars as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister believe this program -- sorry, does the Minister believe this program should be expanded at a time when mining is in decline, at a time when exploration has dropped by 50 percent when we need more people out there looking; does the Minister believe this program should be expanded? Thank you.
Absolutely, Mr. Speaker, I want more exploration in the territory. I think our biggest wins in speaking to Chamber of Mines, in speaking to proponents, in speaking to industry leaders in the territory, our biggest wins is to get on infrastructure projects that should have been completed decades ago. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Oral questions. Member from the Sahtu.
