Brendan Bell

Mr. Speaker, no. What the Member is asking me to do is to put in place some sort of change to the BIP that would require immense auditing, policing, would add to the regulatory burden. What we would be asking small businesses to do is essentially share private tax filing information with us. I am not even sure we have the ability to do that. I could consult with the Minister of Finance, but you are adding layers of complexity, bureaucratic red tape, and I can assure the Member that is not what small business wants. What we have to do is find a way to help small business be more...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For specific procurement concerns that are taken up by departments, arm's length agencies or boards, you would have to speak to the Minister involved in that, Mr. Speaker. Of course, we run the contract registry which provides the information. We think it has added a real element of transparency. I think the Member would appreciate that. The kind of information he has at his fingertips allows us to go back and look at procurement practices. That is what we are doing.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, after surveying NWT businesses, came up with a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will take the concerns about the provision of health services back to my department for discussions with health officials. Obviously, the Minister of Health has heard the concerns, and that's something that I'm prepared to have a discussion with him about. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can't tell the Member if in fact the RCMP officers have already taken up their posts in Gameti. I do understand they will be serviced and will be from the Yellowknife detachment, and it will be on a roving basis. So a number of different officers will be involved. Obviously the communities had some concerns about access to the community, increased alcohol in the community, and drugs, because of the winter road. This is something that the RCMP agreed that they would try this year and see how it goes. The idea was to really keep the presence in the community for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the question from the Member. Of course, yes, I will take the leadership of bringing these two companies together. We’ll sit down with the top leadership in the mine to better understand their feelings of how this arrangement is working. I should mention that in Antwerp, of course, core customers get an allocation of rough. Again, they have no choice but to take all of it and have to pay cash right now. I think the mines have been very agreeable to the idea that this was an industry in its infancy. They have held parcels, sometimes for quite long periods of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m hoping that the issue and the concern can be resolved immediately. I’ve asked the cutting and polishing factory group of owners to provide the information that they have that they feel suggests they are being overcharged, provide the company in question with that information, copy me with the information so that I can see it as well, bring the two parties together and have this discussion. I think it’s important that this has been lingering for some time without anybody having a real concrete understanding, just a feeling that they were not being treated fairly. So...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are looking to get to the bottom of the issue. The Ministers prior to myself have had the same concern raised and have sought to address it. One of the difficulties is that it’s not as if this is a commodity traded on the open market and we can see the pricing arrangements made with various customers. The mines have customers overseas that they term core customers. They have private arrangements made with those customers. We are not sure how much the diamonds are sold to those customers for, so it’s very difficult for us to make a determination around what kind...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right; the concern here is around pricing. The factory, of course, would like additional rough. Everybody would like additional rough, but I think they understand that the rough being provided is what was agreed to and it really does come down to the pricing. I think the issue of core customer pricing with core customer status has some requirements, as well. You don’t have the choice of turning back rough or rejecting it. You have to take all of the rough allocated to you. That is not the case with the factories here. They are able to go through the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the problem is an allegation of premium being charged to one of our companies over and above the price that Antwerp customers can pay. Of course, these diamonds are very easy and cheap to move to another location, so it’s not as if it’s onerous transportation costs that would lead to a higher price having to be charged in Antwerp. We are looking at it. It’s hypothetical at this point as to what we might do if we are not able to resolve it. I do think we will be able to sit down with the company and talk this through and get some better understanding if a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right that I, along with the Minister of Finance, met with the owners of Arslanian and Polar Bear factories to have this discussion. The allegations they have raised are concerning for us, so we have asked them to provide us with some documentation and that is something that we can then take to the company to have this discussion. I should point out the factory seems concerned only with one of the mines. I don’t want to make the suggestion that it is all producers. We do have MOUs in place with both mines. Under the terms of our socio-economic...