Madam Speaker, I'm in receipt of information from Ecology North. On March 14, Mr. O'Brien, director of Ecology North, received a letter from the law firm, Fasken Campbell and Godfrey, indicating they have been retained by De Beers to inform Ecology North that its public showing of the film The Diamond Empire on March 15 could result in a claim for damages from De Beers.

The company claims the film contains material which is a subject of dispute between De Beers and the British Broadcasting Corporation. They claim it relies on inaccurate, incorrect and false research, often supplied by disruptive and dubious sources. It alleges by defamatory inference that De Beers uses disreputable and illegal methods to make their control over the diamond market. It alleges by De Beers conduct during World War II denied the United States access to required quantities of diamonds for its war efforts, it alleges that De Beers exerted pressure to effect the closure of a diamond mine in Arkansas for improper purposes, and it goes on with other claims against this particular film, The Diamond Empire.

Madam Speaker, this film has already been broadcast on our local cable network. Although the information from De Beers claims that this film has not been shown in Britain and in Australia because of the concerns expressed by De Beers, and the fact that anybody who shows it would be liable for damages, it seems now that since this information is on the record and in the local newspaper, and since I've made this statement about concerns in the House, that northern people being wise and not country bumpkins will look at it and make up their own mind. We have all had a history of, in fact, being quite immune to propaganda. Thank you.

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