Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was quite taken with the Premier's comments about land access, amongst other things. Yellowknife is the best place to live on earth. And speaking to that, we need to grow Yellowknife. So I'd like to know from the Minister of Environment and Climate Change -- we often talk about this, memorandum of agreement with the City of Yellowknife on land tenure issues. So I'd like to ask the Minister today, because we've never delved into it, how does the MO -- how much shorter will timelines be because of this MOA? How does the MOA shorten timelines for land tenure applications? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think the key -- one of the key positives of the MOU is the ability to communicate with the City of Yellowknife. We've had very good communications at our officials level. The city is bringing forward their asks and what they'd like to see. Our officials are looking for solutions that will improve the timeline through this process. We also have identified some potential positions in the -- when the budget is passed that will support the land transfer. And this is all part and parcel of ensuring that we are improving our timelines and responding more quickly to these requests. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So how -- again, the Minister just committed that timelines would be shortened with new staffing with the success of this new communication. How much shorter? Because time is of the essence. Again, we are expecting transformational, generational change, massive investment from the military. We need to be ready. So is the Minister -- can the Minister tell me how much shorter that timeline's going to be?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, what we've done here is, as we look at the current challenges and, really, the pressures that we're facing, at last count that I recall it was 560-some-odd applications for land related to housing across the territory. As a result of that, we've identified more resources to assist in this, and we're focusing those resources primarily on the consultation phase, and we're looking at about a 15 percent increase in our operations as a result of that investment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to make sure we're not talking about different issues. Freeing up land for housing is different than freeing up land in the city for development. So how much shorter is that timeline going to be, especially in areas that have been identified for investment from the military? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's conversations that are going on right now with the city, with DND, you know, that relate to the theoretical possible investment in Yellowknife, according to the earlier comments. So, you know, we have really focused on this and working together with the city. I think this is a priority that we've -- the city has identified, we've identified. We've gone back, we've looked at what's currently available, what the interests of the parties are, what other areas will be required to support that investment. So we are certainly engaged in that conversation. We have been for quite a while, and we continue to do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral Questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
