Thank you. Mr. Chairman, as a Minister and as a government, I think we are primarily focused right now on trying to help bring to the attention of the federal government that there are many, many economic benefits that Canada can gain through the diligence and attention of the federal government. For instance, they can insist that an valuation facility be located off site in a Canadian community, not a mine site. They can insist that royalty payments to the Canadian Government and Canadian people be made in kind, that Canadian diamonds should be sold in Canada. Those are some of the things that we think the Canadian Government can insist on and provide for in legislation and through its discussions with diamond producers.
So that is the primary focus right now. If we can get that, then I would think that we can then get the Canadian Government to agree that an valuation facility for the purposes of sorting and also for marketing, should be located at a community in the Northwest Territories. We do know that there are people who buy diamonds, who cut and polish diamonds who produce jewellery from diamonds, are prepared to invest in a community in the north, to set up shop here, to train people and to do it without any government incentive and that there are people who think it is very economical to be able to buy diamonds right here and to cut and polish them, and sell them, again to retailers.
We are in the primary focus right now trying to find out, and if there is not any, to help define what the national position of the federal government is. Our position, of course, is that we have to maximize the economic benefits of diamond production right here in the Northwest Territories and that we have to engage people from the diamond industry and ask them to come forward with proposals on how our communities, not only Yellowknife, Hay River and the larger centres, but the smaller communities as well, can benefit from diamond mining. As a Minister, that is really where we are at in this regard. Thank you.