Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Public Works and Services, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the price in the Delta right now is different in different communities partly because there is an outfit in Inuvik that is delivering to Tsiigehtchic and Fort McPherson at 25 cents a litre less than what we charge.

That is because they are able to pay the rack price in Edmonton. It is all controlled by Esso. Therefore, the communities of Tsiigehtchic and Fort McPherson are taking advantage of this and they are purchasing their fuel from, I believe it is Arctic Dove. Right now, Public Works and Services is not selling. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister, does he have a list of what the prices are in all these communities that supply fuel products through POL?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Public Works and Services, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a list of the prices in every community and I can supply that to the Member if he likes.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, right now there are some three million litres of diesel fuel sitting in Fort McPherson that are not being sold. I would like to ask the Minister what the department plans to do with those three million litres of fuel in Fort McPherson?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Public Works and Services, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, right now we are holding on to that inventory because we are not sure how long the supplier in Inuvik is going to be able to supply that low price of fuel. It may go up, depending on the price of fuel at the rack in Edmonton. We are holding it in inventory. At the same time, we are looking at options as to how to make a deal with the local contractors, if necessary. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow up to Mr. Dent's question with respect to the Premier's attempts to acquire further quota from the diamond mining companies for rough diamonds to be processed here in the North, my question to the Premier is, if he is successful in obtaining more rough diamonds, will these diamonds necessarily be processed in Yellowknife? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is our intention to continue with the direction we set, which is to have BHP continue to allocate a portion of their monthly production and make it available to businesses that they chose to do business with locally for cutting and polishing purposes.

It was possible that BHP could have picked partners that would locate in places like Edzo, Fort Rae, Providence, Deline, Hay River or Fort Smith, but they did not do that. The businesses they chose set up shop in Yellowknife. We will continue to seek ways to see whether we can encourage business in the future that would do business with BHP and Diavik to ensure that a portion of that monthly allocation is made available for businesses in places other than Yellowknife, if that is possible.

Right now, it is done on an agreement basis. BHP, for instance, has the final say in whom they choose to do business with. I am sure Diavik and Aber Resources would do the same thing. We are hopeful that De Beers will also come around and agree that it is in their interest as a business to go the way that BHP and Diavik have done. It will take some further work. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if new quota is obtained as other companies go into production, and as the Premier says, if these companies have the ability to determine who they are going to deal with in terms of secondary processes, I understand that these companies who are interested in doing this would go through the Government of the Northwest Territories looking for these opportunities. The companies who are in existence now have been assisted by this government.

Would it not be correct then to assume that the government does have an avenue by which they could influence where these companies that are interested in processing diamonds would locate? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has been the view of this government that not only Yellowknife should benefit economically from the agreement that we have made with BHP. Fortunately for Yellowknife though, that is the way that particular arrangement played out. I know there was at least one proposal that had been made from Hay River during the time when business proposals were being entertained and weighed by the people at BHP.

This government will continue to find ways to encourage and support businesses outside of Yellowknife where possible, to take advantage of the future opportunities. If there are monthly allocations available in the near future for cutting and polishing, we will do everything we can to ensure that not only Yellowknife benefits but other communities in the area. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in order to support the establishment of these businesses, it has been the practice of parties interested in the processing of diamonds to contact the GNWT and express that interest. Would the Premier commit to sharing the names of those companies? I understand they have a number of them on file now, with communities such as Hay River, so that Hay River could explore opportunities for developing diamond cutting and polishing outside of Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We should allow the Minister for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Jim Antoine, to respond to that question later. It is his prerogative to decide how to handle the specifics of people they do business with. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we had previously written to the former Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development and had sought a commitment from him to ensure that kind of information was shared with the community. I appreciate the Premier's answer. I would just ask that in the interests of fairness, and it is within the capability of other communities to benefit from this industry, that they would support any kind of sharing of information that would be helpful to us. Would they commit to that? Thank you.