Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In March, there was a prospectors and developers' conference in Toronto where there was considerable interest generated by the session that the department put on in respect to the issue of diamonds and accessing rough diamonds in the Northwest Territories.
This was followed by another conference set up by the city of Yellowknife and the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce in early May, which provided a forum for northern businesses to get together with diamond manufacturers.
Mr. Speaker, over the last few months there has been considerable interest and profile given to diamonds across Canada and internationally. There are people who are experienced business people, manufacturers. There are people who are experienced in the business of making jewellery, trading in diamonds, repairing and assessing diamonds; who have come to Yellowknife and who have made contact with our department, seeking information and expressing interest in looking at setting up businesses in the Northwest Territories. The department has worked with a number of other departments to set up what you would call a Diamond Review Committee; for instance, the Development Corporation; the Business Corporation; the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and Aurora College. Human Resources Canada has been invited to attend.
We have set out some criteria and guidelines for potential business applicants, people who will be applying for assistance from the governments for financial assistance to set up operations, training programs and businesses here in the north. So far, we have had one applicant that has presented an application proposal to this committee. We are expecting more to come in the future. Thank you.