Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also extend a welcome back to my colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest this morning to a CBC 7:30 news report on the subject of diamond valuation and sorting.
The one man guru of the federal government knowledgeable on the topic advising Minister Stewart stated and I quote, "we are concerned with whatever amount of sorting is required to assess the value of diamonds for royalty purposes", end quote.
Mr. Lazarovich has got it right so far, but this is the point at which he went off the tracks. He contradicted himself when he went on to say and I quote, "we are not talking about sorting for the purposes of selling because we should not be interfering with the company's marketing decisions", end quote.
Is Mr. Lazarovich going to weigh the diamonds for federal government royalty purposes? Why can we not do like other producing countries and set the value for royalty purposes on the selling price? Why does every other diamond producing country in the world have their diamonds evaluated and sorted in the country of production? Why will Canada not come right out and demand sorting of the diamonds be done to the extent that Canada can obtain the most accurate and fair royalties for its non-renewable resource, and the NWT receive its maximum potential from the sorting and related jobs? Canada is getting involved in one of the most elite industries in the world and the Government of Canada has one person advising it on this initiative. It is vital Mr. Lazarovich along with Minister Stewart visit the NWT and meet with elected Members of this Legislature so she can hear and learn first hand the complete picture on diamond evaluation and sorting.
Minister Stewart's one man show does not have the whole picture. Mr. Speaker, we have more individuals in the Northwest Territories government who, in most cases, have more knowledge and experience of the whole diamond industry than Mr. Lazarovich. They can make themselves available to the Minister so she can have the full picture on what is good for the north and also that which is definitely good for Canada.
Mr. Speaker, is it any wonder that Quebec and British Columbia are talking about separating from Canada and demanding to be heard when it comes to the resources of their jurisdictions? Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.