Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to be able to inform Members of this Assembly this morning, that representatives of the Government of the Northwest Territories, together with senior representatives of BHP Diamonds Incorporated, have completed negotiations on the Socio-economic agreement regarding BHP's/NWT's Diamonds project. On behalf of the government I initialled that agreement yesterday, as did Mr. Jim Excel of BHP.
This agreement is an important step forward in moving the proposed BHP Diamond Mine in the Lac De Gras area towards reality. Together with the anticipated environmental agreement which this government has participated in, I believe we are at a point where we can be comfortable in clearly expressing our support for this project.
Mr. Speaker, the results of the past several weeks were very encouraging. This agreement establishes principles to ensure that to the greatest extent possible, the people of the north will have access to the training, employment and business opportunities associated with the project.
Mr. Speaker, I plan to say more about this next week. My goal today is to make this assembly aware of this important development and I would like to express my appreciation to BHP officials for the strong commitments they have brought to the table to more forward together on this important northern initiative. Thank you.