Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I spoke in this House about my concern with the Department of ITI and its Minister for not sharing a current roadmap of our outdated secondary diamond manufacturing strategy. Recently the Minister took to the world stage to drum up business for the North. Now, as noble as this may sound, the concern of many is what map or compass was he using.
The following questions for the Minister of ITI are to help understand what our course is in the diamond manufacturing area, what is its direction, have we cleaned up the mess from the first go around, and are we ready to proceed on this international stage with this second opportunity.
My first question has to do with the apparent secrecy of the recent signing of Deepak International Ltd. as an approved diamond manufacturer. Now, we are all aware that the Minister has the authority to designate this approved status of NWT diamond producers, but why did the Minister take it upon himself not to consult the Standing Committee of EDI, nor the Member for Range Lake where the manufacturing is taking place, prior to signing this agreement?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Travelling with me on the diamond and pipeline tour we had the deputy chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure. As to the Member’s belief that we negotiated this in secrecy and we didn’t let anybody know, on numerous occasions as I appeared before the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure, when asked about the secondary diamond industry and what we were doing, I made it very clear that we were seeking investment.
When it comes to proprietary and confidential trade agreements with companies, that is something that has to be held in the strictest of confidence until such a time as it can be announced, and I would hope that the Member would appreciate that.
I do appreciate the Minister’s response to that, and I do concur that sometimes things need to be negotiated behind closed doors. However, imminent signing of agreements has customarily been shared with all Members, whether it was the diamond sector or oil producing sector. We just ask that the same courtesy be done with all Members on this side of the House.
We would all agree that our first attempt at the secondary diamond industry was a costly mess for taxpayers. That said, has the Department of ITI and its Minister seen to it that all related links to previous Government Certified Retailer’s Club of polar bear and polar ice diamonds be removed from public and industry stakeholders?
This government is taking its direction from the Diamond Policy Framework, which the last government brought into place in 2010 under the Premier in his capacity as the former Minister of ITI. I remember quite clearly pushing the last government quite hard to get that policy framework in place, which would establish rules of engagement for the government going forward.
Quite clearly, that Diamond Policy Framework states that the government will seek investment in a secondary diamond industry. Gone are the days when government would put taxpayers’ dollars at risk in the development of a secondary industry. Folks that want to get into the cut and polish industry here in the Northwest Territories are doing so of their own volition, and certainly, we believe that it can happen here.
If the Member goes back in Hansard over the nine years that I’ve been here, my vision for what a diamond manufacturing industry here in Yellowknife would mean and what diamonds mean is quite clearly stated. I do believe that we are going to be mining diamonds here in the Northwest Territories for decades to come. I believe wholeheartedly that we can have a flourishing secondary industry here in the Northwest Territories. I think this is a very positive step that the government’s taken and we’re not finished there. I think there’s a lot more good news that is going to come.
Again, I’m working very hard at trying to attract new investment into the secondary industry and into the exploration area so that we can find more diamonds here in the Northwest Territories and get more jobs and opportunities for people.
Again, I do appreciate the Minister giving a great policy statement on how good things are, and I appreciate the fact that there are great things on the horizon. But I asked a question, which was did we clean up the mess, and I didn’t quite think that the Members here nor, I think, the people of the Northwest Territories received that response.
But interestingly enough, one only has to Google key words like GNWT, Retailer’s Club and polar ice diamonds and see that we have today companies like Basal Diamond out of Montreal still selling our alleged government certified polar diamonds. Can the Minister explain how is it this retailer is still linking their products to our defunct government certification program?
I thank the Member for bringing that to our attention, and I’ll certainly have the diamond policy folks at ITI act on that immediately. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister for saying that. I’d also recommend they do a full sweep. There were many more out there in cyberspace.
I believe that it is paramount that the GNWT have a solid secondary diamond industry strategy and policy framework from which to rebuild this international brand. When can we expect the Minister to show to the Members and to industry that we, indeed, have such a roadmap?
Mr. Speaker, I spoke earlier of the Diamond Policy Framework that the last government brought in, one that I pushed very hard to see happen. If the Regular Members want the government to take another look at the Diamond Policy Framework, I would be more than happy to work with the chair of the EDI and the EDI committee to see that through.
Certainly, from where I stand, the previous government did a lot of work in this area. The Diamond Policy Framework is there and it states quite clearly what we need to do and how we are to go about seeking that investment, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re getting out there, seeking investment. We want a vibrant secondary industry. We want that value added. As I said, as things progress here, we’ll certainly be keeping Members apprised of what is happening.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
