Brendan Bell

Thank you. One of the difficulties, obviously, with diamond pricing is that it is not as other commodities that are traded on an open system where you can see the actual value of product very easily. There have been some suggestions by the local industry that they believe they may be charged more than what customers in Antwerp are charged. We really have no way of knowing. The prices charged in Antwerp are commercial deals between site holders and the producers. They are confidential. We have no way to compare those prices to the prices that our local industry is being charged here. I...

If the Member is aware of specific incidents where he believes the Wildlife Act has been breached or the Forest Management Act or the Forest Protection Act, bring them to my attention if I’m the easiest point of contact, and I’ll make sure they’re investigated. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If people’s lives are at risk, if people’s cabins are being burned down, if people are being shot at, being threatened, they obviously have to call the RCMP. I would suggest they do that. In all seriousness, Mr. Speaker, we can sit down and work through some of these issues. The Member is well aware of our legislated requirements and our abilities and areas of responsibility. I think the Member has his response to the question, but, as I’ve indicated, we’ve talked to the RCMP and want to make sure that people’s lives aren’t at risk and that their safety is ensured and...

I would suggest to the Member that the RCMP will respond if people’s lives are in danger. If the Member rejects that, disputes that, we can certainly raise the issue with the Minister of Justice who can take it up with the RCMP. But to my knowledge I have not heard of people whose lives are in danger or that the RCMP has suggested that they’re not interested. Obviously it’s difficult to respond in a timely manner. It is a fairly long drive to the location the Member is speaking of, but I’ve never heard of the RCMP suggesting that they’re not interested or don’t want to. So if that’s the case...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a complex question. Obviously, it’s federal land. There’s the Forest Management Act. I have responsibilities under that act. There are issues around the highways out there and what you can and cannot do on highways that fall under DOT. There are MACA issues. There are environmental protection issues. I think it is collectively a problem that we have to come to grips with. It’s a very serious issue. I had asked our department to sit down and engage in a dialogue with the RCMP to talk about how we would respond to some of these concerns on the Ingraham Trail because...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely. It would be my pleasure to do so. I expect that our Sahtu regional staff are in current discussions with the planners of the conference. I know that we have a Sahtu regional petroleum advisor who was working on this initiative, as well. I will certainly ask them for an update. If there is anything I can do personally to lend my support, I am more than happy to do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I’d like to thank the Member for the question. The Member knows and I thank him for his interest, but the Member will remember the meeting that we had in my office with some conference organizers who were proposing to do and put on just the type of conference that the Member is speaking of. That was back, I believe, Mr. Speaker, last October. We did have some discussion about what their plans were. I thought it was a very worthwhile initiative and agreed to help them in planning the conference and had provided them some funds to do so. We are waiting on an...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Opportunities for Prosperity, Community Futures Program 2003-04 Annual Report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The delivery mechanism I think that we have in mind, should it be successful in getting through the House and getting support of Members, is the new BDIC which will have regionally-focused program delivery. Largely the mechanisms used to deliver economic development lending and programs in the regions now would be those going forward, at least initially. I think there will be some evolution and some progression there as regions and communities gain the capability to deliver the programming themselves.

But we think as a transition, it would make sense to keep the current mechanisms in place...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is something that I have been having a fair amount of discussion on and the department has been working on for a number of months now with the DIAND officials. There is a Northern Development Ministers’ meeting being held in Chibougamou, Quebec, right now that I wasn’t able to attend because of session, but my deputy minister is there in attendance, working with the two Ministers from the other territories, Ministers Kenyon and Simailak. They are in agreement on several fundamental principles as to how this money should role out. We have communicated those to...