Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have spoken in this House numerous times about the secondary diamond industry in the Northwest Territories and the fact that it is floundering right now. It is dormant. There is not much happening in the cut and polish industry here. I think a lot of that stems from the government’s inability to deliver a policy so that people know what the rules of engagement are, if they are going to invest in the Northwest Territories and if this government is going to back this industry up. I think it can work, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister, I know we had gotten together last September, there has been a framework developed, but where exactly is the Diamond Policy that is being developed by this government? When are we going to get that out the door so that people know what the rules are and how things are going to work here in the NWT? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are very pleased to be able to work closely with committee on developing this Diamond Policy. We have been working with them every step of the way. We met with them in November. We fully briefed them on the old Diamond Policy and what areas needed to be changed. We certainly appreciated the direction we received from committee. We have gone out to consultation. We want to make sure we do this properly, make sure that due process is followed and we have consulted internally first. There are a number of other government departments that play a very important role in promoting and delivering on the secondary diamond industry in the Northwest Territories. We have also consulted externally. We have had to consult with stakeholders such as the producing diamond mines, manufacturers and now we are in the process of analyzing what we have heard. We fully expect that we will finalize our policy within the next two to three months. We do continue to have well-functioning secondary diamond industry. We continue to have people working and cutting and polishing diamonds. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, my fear is the investment that should come as a result of the new policy, the jobs that should be here, my belief is we might be losing these cut and polish folks who have moved to Yellowknife if we don’t bring in the new policy sooner rather than later.
I’d like to ask the Minister if there’s anything the department can do to try to evaluate if we may lose people, and I’m talking about the cut and polishers that have shown up here in Yellowknife and live and work, or they’re not working now, but live in Yellowknife. Has the department done any kind of study to see if these folks are going to be around three months from now when the policy is finally done and people know what’s going to happen? Thank you.
Thank you. It has been a challenge in trying to change, to review our Diamond Policy for a number of reasons. One is we’re working with the express direction that we should no longer provide loan guarantees. So our whole objective with the review of our Diamond Policy is to make a system in place that makes it more feasible for manufacturers to operate so they have a better opportunity to have a sustainable business.
As well, making these changes, we want to find a way to keep the existing cutters and polishers that are in town to continue to be able to find full and meaningful employment. As well, we need to find ways so that we can access more rough that we are entitled to through our agreements with the various producers. So that’s what we are working on. We have a number of proposals that are in the works and we are expecting to be able to come up with something meaningful in the next two to three months. Thank you.
Thank you and I know the Minister is committed to seeing this industry survive and committed to seeing it flourish. It is, I believe, a bit of a shame that we’re taking as long as we are. In the real world, in the business world, things move a lot more quickly than they do at a government pace and that’s unfortunate. I’d like to ask the Minister if, and I know he said two or three months, but the only time that I think Members are going to be back here, there’s a bit of a timeslot mid-June and also at the end of June. Can we get maybe a commitment from the Minister to try to get that finalized product to committee the last week of June before everybody heads back to their constituencies for their summer recess? Thank you.
Thank you. I think that would be an ideal time, now that we’ve committed to having committees meet in June. I think that would be an ideal objective for us to work towards and I’ll certainly commit to the Member that we will finalize or have in place our draft policy in final form to be reviewed by committee in June. Thank you.
