{"id":528874,"date":"2026-03-11T10:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T10:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/528874\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T10:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T10:28:08","slug":"ottawas-1-5-million-to-tli%cc%a8ch%c7%ab-govt-just-the-beginning-grand-chief-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/528874\/","title":{"rendered":"Ottawa\u2019s $1.5 million to T\u0142\u0131\u0328ch\u01eb gov\u2019t \u2018just the beginning\u2019 grand chief says"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Ottawa’s recent announcement of\u00a0<\/a>$1.5 million for the T\u0142\u0131\u0328ch\u01eb Government to advance mineral exploration is “just the beginning,” according to its grand chief.<\/p>\n

Jackson Lafferty said members of the T\u0142\u0131\u0328ch\u01eb government will join workers from the Australian mining and energy company Fortescue, with whom the government has signed an agreement,<\/a>\u00a0to look at the potential for lithium mining on T\u0142\u0131\u0328ch\u01eb lands.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, we don’t know exactly what’s there. There are critical minerals all around us. And for sure, no doubt there will be some in our area as well,\u201d Lafferty said.<\/p>\n

Once they find results, \u201cwe’re going to have mining companies knocking on our doors,” he said.<\/p>\n

Lafferty added that other mining companies are interested in doing resource and mineral exploration in the territory, but he would not say who.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll soon hear about it,\u201d he said. \u201cNews to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a news release announcing the funding, the federal government said it will help identify new mining opportunities through geographical surveillance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe project is expected to help attract investment in resource exploration and development within the Northwest Territories by providing recent and accurate geophysical and geochemical data relating to mineral deposits,\u201d the release read. \u201cIt will also offer valuable training opportunities for T\u0142\u0131\u0328ch\u01eb citizens, enhancing T\u0142\u0131\u0328ch\u01eb minerals knowledge and capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n

N.W.T. government missing out on funding, critics say<\/p>\n

The federal government\u2019s announcement came during the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention, which took place in Toronto this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CBC News asked for an interview with the territory\u2019s minister responsible for investment, Caitlin Cleveland, but she was not available before deadline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite the T\u0142\u0131\u0328ch\u01eb Government having received the funding, some leaders in the territory are critical of their own government, arguing it fell short of getting its hands on bigger pots of cash.<\/p>\n

The proposed Arctic Economic and Security Corridor was not included in a federal government announcement during the PDAC conference during which Ottawa pledged billions for critical minerals projects through new programs like the First and Last Mile Fund, which promises to provide\u00a0up to $1.5 billion in federal funding <\/a>until 2030 to support strategic mining and infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n

In the Legislative Assembly last week, Yellowknife MLA Kieron Testart asked Cleveland how the territory keeps “missing the list.”<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy aren’t N.W.T. projects, who are leaders in critical minerals, getting access to these and other federal funds as the federal government continues its aggressive push to develop critical minerals in Canada …?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

Cleveland told Testart she can’t speak for Ottawa’s choices but said the territory is doing everything in its power.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking into all of these funds,\u201d Cleveland said. \u201cMaking sure that we’re connecting, as well, our local Indigenous governments, local Indigenous development corporations and our proponents that are operating here in the territory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cleveland added that many of the projects chosen for funding were tied to foreign investments.<\/p>\n

CBC News also approached Natural Resources Canada for comment on why the territory did not qualify for funding but did not hear back before deadline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528875,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-528874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}