Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, some of it is in the business plan. So we would have a look at that and if that is complete and up-to-date, then you have already got it. If not, we will update it. Thanks.

Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was going to touch on that same issue of strategies. That is one thing that has got my interest up since I have come into this job, as far as what the different departments are doing, in particular this department with strategies and studies as to how we are operating, spending our money and how we are helping the people that we are supposed to be helping. Now that Mr. Roland has touched on it and the Minister is going to supply some of that information, I know we did see some of it in the business plans and there may be other ones out there that the Minister could supply some information on.

I know the Business Development Corporation is spending money in developing projects in the diamond industry and manufacturing and marketing. I was wondering if the Minister could just inform me whether this department is open to spending money in the diamond industry outside of Yellowknife, if there were proposals that came forward to the department in that area?

Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, yes, we would be interested in providing financial support to any proposals that make good economic sense, if we perceive them as such. We are open to wherever we can have a good business proposal from.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My understanding is in the diamond industry, if you want to set up a business in that area as far as cutting and polishing, one of the first things that has to be obtained is -- from my understanding, the government has input and there is no guarantee where they are going to set up businesses -- in the area of diamond quotas to be able to set up a business. Could the Minister explain for me that process of what you have to go through to get quotas to be able to set up a diamond industry? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

In order to get a quota, the main thing is to get the agreement by the mining company to sell you diamonds. They sell some diamonds, in fact most of the diamonds are sold offshore in Europe and so on. If you want diamonds for polishing in the North, then it is the same thing. You would have to have an agreement with the company. If you want assistance from the GNWT, and the assistance is mainly in the form of a loan guarantee to enable the company to do the cash flow of buying the diamonds, polishing and selling them again, if you want that kind of assistance, then we would have to become involved and be sure that the business proposal is sound and that we are not risking our money unnecessarily.

There is also a due diligence review that is done jointly by the mining company and by our government during a case where we are both involved. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess I will have to get further clarification on that. In looking into it in the past, I was under the impression that to get a quota, the government is involved in getting a quota as far as diamonds are concerned. To be able to set up a business, you need the quota. That is where the government comes into it. I could be wrong there, but that was my understanding before.

I would like to ask the Minister, does he ever receive or know of any proposals that were put forward through business ventures out of Hay River to get into the diamond industry? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, yes, I am aware of some initial proposals that were put forward a few years ago. Just to be clear for the Member with regard to getting access to diamonds for northern polishing, we negotiate an amount of diamonds that we want the company to leave here for northern polishing. If a company wants a share of those, then they have to go through a process with us.

If they just want to buy diamonds from a company, BHP or whoever it is, and set up a polishing plant in the North or somewhere else and need no assistance from us, then they could just work that out with the company. The company sells diamonds internationally. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Does the government have a supply of diamonds right now, or are they all spoken for and already in business? They do not have any further diamonds to give out as far as quotas to other businesses?

Mr. Chairman, we have an agreement with the company that they will leave a specified amount of diamonds in the North. We never actually own the diamonds. All we have is an agreement that the company will make that amount available.

Presently, at least two of the three diamond polishing plants are not using up their quota, so there are diamonds that are allocated for the North that are not being polished in the North because of capacity. The companies are reluctant to enter into any long-term agreements because eventually they may not be able to fulfill their obligation on that.

If someone wants to polish, that is an issue they should take up with the mining company themselves, first of all. We would be happy to put them in touch with the president. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I think every company has equal opportunity with the exception of situations where, through a land claim agreement, they may not have equal opportunity for various reasons. There are also situations as we had with the Mackenzie Valley winter road bridges, where the money came out of an aboriginal economic development fund and there had to be an aboriginal component in the work. So it depends on where the funding is coming from. Generally speaking, there is a level playing field except where people have special rights through land claims, aboriginal rights.

With the private sector, I cannot speak on that one, but I expect that the private sector tends to operate very much by who gives the best product for the best price.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In promoting the oil and gas industry and getting opportunities out in the region in that sector, the Minister mentioned in his opening remarks that there were three positions. How many of those three positions were actually new job creations? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.