Thank you. I agree with the Member on the excise tax. The previous Minister did write a letter two years ago, I believe, to the federal government with regard to the excise tax. We have been following that up recently at meetings with our Member of Parliament, looking at different ideas on how to approach it. There was talk of looking at a diamond sector council to gain interest in Canada. As you know, we have just been producing diamonds for about three years and the manufacturers have been learning as they go along. There are different high costs of manufacturing up here, and we need to help our manufacturing sector to get the best benefit out of the diamonds from the Northwest Territories that we can.
I agree we should pursue that now. We need to work not only with our Member of Parliament, but we are told that there is diamond exploration going on in the provinces as well, in Ontario and Manitoba. I think there is going to be more interest on the part of the federal government if they start finding diamonds in other provinces as well. Since we are the first jurisdiction to start working with diamonds, we need to kind of lead in that whole area. I agree with the Member in that area.
With regard to the proposal that went out for a discussion paper with respect to a diamond act, I guess those ideas are out there. We are taking the concerns and then we will move forward. Perhaps we may not move with it. The indications now are that we should look at all aspects and options that are out there and choose the right one. Thank you.