Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, good afternoon. I am pleased to announce a partnership between the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Aurora College and the Diamond High Council of Antwerp and the Belgian government's Department of Education. We will work together with these partners on two initiatives. The first is the development of standards and certification for occupations in the secondary diamond industry. Those standards outline the knowledge, skills and attitudes a person needs to be certified as a brillianteer, blocker or bruter. The second initiative is pre-employment training. As my colleague, Mr. Kakfwi, said earlier today, Sirius Diamonds will soon open the north's first diamond manufacturing plant. This new partnership will help ensure that we have a skilled northern workforce ready to fill new jobs in the secondary diamond industry. By using the expertise of instructors from the Diamond High Council of Antwerp as well as other diamond experts from around the world, we will train our workers to meet world standards of excellence in the secondary diamond industry.

A key component of the partnership will be the delivery of the pre-employment program for the diamond industry by Aurora College. The Diamond High Council of Canada, together with the college, will deliver this 16-week program in Yellowknife starting in January 1999. Instructors from the Diamond High Council, who are experts in the world of diamonds, will deliver this program in conjunction with Aurora College instructors. Students will have the opportunity to become internationally recognized and accredited to cut and polish diamonds.

There is a great deal of excitement these days about the new jobs and opportunities for northerners which will follow on the heels of the opening of the Ekati Diamond Mine next month. We are planning to be ready to fill those jobs with Northerners and keep more benefits in the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker