Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of ITI.
Mr. Speaker, I read in the news earlier today that Alternatives North has been raising concerns with review of the MRA regs and how that process is going, feeling that certain organizations are getting preferential treatment. I am just curious, can the Minister help us better understand how the engagement process has been rolling out for the MRA regs, why the department's meeting with certain organizations perhaps more than others, and just help us understand the process better and the concerns that were raised. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of ITI.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, we have a technical working group within the Intergovernmental Council that is working on the regulations for the Mineral Resources Act regulations. At this table, the GNWT is one party, and as you can imagine the Mineral Resources Act regulations are quite extensive. My understanding is they are currently over 250 pages. And we, in the Northwest Territories, have traditionally had diamond mines, Mr. Speaker, and so as we transition into the next chapter and next generation of mines in the Northwest Territories, it's really important to understand how that changes the needs of the regulations and how they interact with industry. And so, Mr. Speaker, what has happened is that through the Chamber of Mines, there has been some conversations between a couple of members of the technical working group who have had the opportunity to ask questions of industry and industry to ask -- or to provide answers so that the intersection of policy and how it really interacts with industry on the ground can be better understood while still preserving the intent and rights of Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I certainly think that there's merit in engaging specific stakeholders when developing regulations like this, particularly complex ones; however, I think what Alternatives North is pointing out is -- just questioning whether there's a level playing field for all stakeholders who are being engaged. So I'd like the Minister to comment on that. Will Alternatives North be given similar opportunities to engage with the technical working group to share their thoughts and concerns on the MRA rights?
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the policy intentions documents were distributed at the end of last year, and so everybody had an equal playing field as far as being able to provide feedback within the policy intentions documents. The conversations, really, that have happened one on one are about well, what about this part, and what about that part, and how does that work for industry and, you know, what does this mean at the end of the day, how does this impact investments or attracting investments, or how -- you know, based on timing, how much interaction there's going to have to be between Indigenous governments and industry in order to kind of reset agreements and stuff like that. And so making sure, for example, that everyone -- that one another understands each other's mode of doing business has been really important to the process. This is no different, Mr. Speaker, than the conversations that I have, for example, with the daycare sector in regards to the daycare regulations. That's a one-on-one conversation. I am not talking with, you know, families in the same way I talk to daycares or, for example, education bodies in regards to the Education Act regulations as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, finally, I know Alternatives North sent several letters to the Minister's office on this engagement process, raising several questions, raising concerns. Will the Minister be responding to either or both of those letters? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I respond to all the letters that come my way. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
