Debates of March 1, 2006 (day 39)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today go to the Minister of ITI. Earlier in this session -- and we have been sitting here for almost a month -- there were some questions about the discussions that need to be held between the secondary diamond industry companies and the diamond producer. The Minister made a commitment to bring them together to see if their differences could be worked out. I would like to know, as we are about to leave this House and we are not going to sit until June, I wondered if the Minister could update this House as to where we are on that file. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Brendan Bell, the Minister of ITI.

Return To Question 493-15(4): GNWT Position For Supporting Diamond Industry

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The dispute between one of the mines and one of the cutting and polishing operations has been ongoing for some time now. I do know that, in Antwerp, the two parties met to try to work through these issues and resolve them. I don’t have a full briefing in terms of exactly what was determined at that meeting. I do know from one of the sides that part of the ask raised some concerns about being able to, or the desire of the factory, to take some of the rough that wasn’t economic to polish in the Northwest Territories and move it offshore. Obviously, our policy as a government is that this is a problem for us, so we want to better understand what they are asking, Mr. Speaker. But I haven’t sat down with the two parties yet. I will endeavour to do so as soon as we are out of the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 493-15(4): GNWT Position For Supporting Diamond Industry

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think I am going to have to ask the Minister to be more forthcoming on exactly what his approach is and where this government stands on this issue. This government is not exactly a bystander on this file. This government has invested a lot of money and the well being of this cutting and polishing plant has many implications for us. I do understand. I don’t even want to call this a dispute. I see that there is a disagreement. I know this is a disagreement between two commercial companies. I want to respect their place in sorting that out, but I am still not clear. I do believe there is a role for the Minister to play. Has the Minister given a thought to this file? What is his approach going to be for the next little while to resolve this issue? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Minister Bell.

Further Return To Question 493-15(4): GNWT Position For Supporting Diamond Industry

Mr. Speaker, we are going to bring the two parties together to try to work to some resolution. It is difficult for me to get into the nuances here and the intricacies of the disagreement, but I have, from the mine at least, the assertion that what was being asked for at the meeting in Antwerp was the ability to take some of the rough they weren’t able to cut and polish here, what they deemed uneconomic, and move it offshore to a lower-cost cutting centre. That has always, from a policy perspective, been a problem for our government because today, what is uneconomic, tomorrow may be twice that amount that is deemed uneconomic. We would have to have some objective way to assess that. It gives us problems. We see it as the thin edge of the wedge and could potentially lead to the downfall of the local industry here. So we work very hard to get an allocation of rough for the local industry here. We want to make sure it’s there. We don't have the interest of seeing that rough move offshore. Mr. Speaker, obviously, it's very complicated. I will sit with the two parties and try to work through the issue, but that gives you some sense of what we're grappling with. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Bell. Final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 493-15(4): GNWT Position For Supporting Diamond Industry

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to say, for the record, that I respect the contribution that both sides do make to our city and our territory. I appreciate we want to make them work and we want them both to prosper. Mr. Speaker, however, in talking to both parties -- and I've had an occasion to talk to them -- I'm not sure if at least one party, anyway, understands that this is an issue that the government has any place in. So I'd like to know what specifically he's going to do to make sure that we are a party to that. We have a great deal of interest in the success of both industries. Could he be more specific about when his next meeting might be and what kind of communication has he had so far with both sides, he's only speaking about one side. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Minister Bell.

Further Return To Question 493-15(4): GNWT Position For Supporting Diamond Industry

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that my departmental officials have been in discussions with both parties. We are going to work to set up a meeting so that we can sit down and go through the myriad of issues. As I’ve said, it’s very nuance. I can't get into what this government will do if and when we start going through some hypothetical scenarios. We think and we are optimistic that we can arrive at an agreeable solution. We think both parties recognize the interest that the GNWT has in seeing this resolved, and we do think there is a commitment on the part of both parties to make this work going forward. So once we are done here in the House, I will sit down with my officials, we will try to set a meeting with the two parties. Obviously, some of them are overseas, so one of the things we have to do is work out schedules and make a determination around where it's easiest to meet. If they were all in Yellowknife, it would be very easy to do, but it's not, Mr. Speaker. So I'll work on that and hopefully we should be able to get a meeting within the month, the month of March. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.