Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to comment today on the development of a Northern Accord and the reasons why we need it. Mr. Speaker, last week the Premier and a couple of Cabinet Ministers made a presentation to the Dene chiefs here, in Yellowknife. They had indicated that they had wished to develop some kind of, what we have called in the past, a Northern Accord, to bring control of the northern resources to northerners. In the past the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development has indicated that she would not proceed unless all the aboriginal governments were in agreement.
Mr. Speaker, a good example of why we need to act quickly in this regard is that the federal government refuses to act in the best interests of Northerners. You just have to look at the federal government's refusal to include recommendations on the secondary diamond industry in its comprehensive study of the Diavik Diamond Project. Mr. Speaker, 80 percent of the socio-economic benefits from diamond mining come after the diamonds are taken from the ground. If we cannot ensure northern access to rough diamonds, we may as well just leave those diamonds in the ground.
--Applause
Right now, we receive virtually nothing, no benefits, while the federal government receives over 90 percent of the royalties.
Mr. Speaker, the guidelines for the environmental assessment of the Diavik project state that the project must provide opportunities to diversify the northern economic base to produce and supply new goods and services. The federal government is refusing to put this into their guidelines and we cannot force Diavik to provide rough diamonds for a local secondary diamond industry or to provide jobs to Northerners because the federal government has legal control of our resources currently. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.