Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk a little about the secondary diamond industry in the Northwest Territories, specifically the cutting and polishing plants.
The Northwest Territories is a leader in the diamond industry within Canada. The North was the first jurisdiction to bring cutting and polishing of Canadian diamonds to Canada. Bringing the industry here wasn’t without significant challenges, many of which the Territory and the company cutting and polishing diamonds overcame. Others are still posing challenges.
As a government, we provided funding, facilitated training, conducted marketing, arranged for branding. The list can go on and on and on. We have done a lot. Unfortunately, the local industry is still struggling. Fortunately, there are still cutting and polishing plants in the NWT. They are still trying to make a go of it in these difficult economic times. They are still working to employ more workers. Arslanian Diamonds in Yellowknife recently announced that they are starting to rebuild their workforce after layoffs late last year.
You would think that as a Territory, the first area of Canada to pursue and support this secondary industry, we would have adapted and learned from the challenges that we faced. That this Territory would be the strongest secondary diamond industry in the country.
Unfortunately, recent evidence suggests that we are falling behind rapidly. It looks like other jurisdictions have learned from the challenges we faced and have found ways to make the secondary diamond industry work within their provinces, places like Saskatchewan and Ontario. We have forged the way and they have learned from our reactions and responses to the challenges that we faced.
Recently a new polishing plant has opened in Saskatchewan, Embee Diamond Technologies Inc. What is interesting is that they found a way to open a new facility in the same market conditions which almost completely shut down the NWT cutting and polishing industry. Even more interesting is that Embee’s president, Mike Botha, is finding a way to make it work in Saskatchewan. Some of you might actually remember this name. Mike Botha worked as an occupational certification officer for the diamond industry in the Northwest Territories under the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and was also a technical consultant for the Department of ITI for the government Diamond Certification Program.
Mr. Speaker, it appears to me that our former employees learned enough about the industry to make secondary diamond industries work in different Canadian jurisdictions, yet we continue to struggle here. What is this government going to do to reverse that trend and put the NWT back on top as a Canadian leader in this secondary diamond industry? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
