Thank you very much.
It's true that the regulatory aspect is problematic, but there's also the fact that the department may not be nimble enough. That's what I've heard from people in the mining sector. For an early-stage mining project, the challenge is to get to the feasibility study. Some people call it crossing the valley of death. To do that, you already have to have a financial structure that allows it, and since this is often done in such a way that you can't use the money for the feasibility study, there's a barrier.
I know that companies that mine minerals considered critical receive a significant boost, particularly because of the tax benefits associated with them. However, I think it would be entirely in your interest to have discussions with the Department of Finance to make it simpler, since a number of people thought that including them on the critical minerals list meant that they would have tax benefits afterwards. If you have any information on that, I would appreciate it if you could table it with the committee.
On the other hand, in your opening remarks, you talked about the rare earth reserve in Canada. A little later, we'll be hearing from people who have a rare earths consortium project that would enable them to pool risks and thus facilitate the development of this sector, which is quite complex.
What kind of funding does Natural Resources Canada provide for research and development projects aimed at reducing risks prior to market entry?