Thank you, Madam Speaker. On March 7 and 8, I, along with my honourable colleagues, Mr. Ballantyne, Mr. Dent, Mr. Zoe and the Honourable John Todd, had the opportunity to attend the Prospectors and Developers of Canada mining and trade show in Toronto. Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated and the City of Yellowknife/Chamber of Commerce had booths at the trade show which certainly received their fair share of attention, as the awareness of the NWT and the ongoing diamond exploration developments were a major topic of discussion.

In addition to the numerous amount of business people participating in the conference trade show, Mr. Charlie Lyall, president of the Kitikmeot Corporation and Mr. James Eetoolook, acting president of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, also attended the conference as delegates.

Madam Speaker, during our stay in Toronto, we had the opportunity to meet privately with Dr. Klaus Zeitler, president of Metall Mining Corporation and his staff respecting their plans with the Izok Lake project. We also met with Mr. John Stephensen, president of Kennecott Canada Incorporated respecting their plans in the Northwest Territories.

Madam Speaker, our Minister suggested and received support to form a steering committee of senior officials with DIAND, GNWT and of mining companies to explore the area of options for identifying, financing and establishing transportation infrastructure requirements for the mining industry for the Slave geological corridor.