Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we have a diamond project section in RWED. It's been very helpful and useful for our government. We have no plans at this time to downsize it or eliminate it. The reason I say that is the whole diamond industry is totally unique and different from any other mineral producers in this country to date. The NWT is now one of the largest producers of diamonds in the world. I think we are going to be third. There are a lot of national issues in terms of the Competition Bureau definition. There are also other jurisdictions in this country, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Manitoba where there is major diamond exploration going on and I would like to say that we are the leading expert in Canada on diamonds. There is also international work through the Kimberly Process to track the whole area of blood diamonds. At a national level as well, there is the excise tax matter that we need to keep track of.

There is a lot of work, not only in the North to monitor our existing arrangements with BHP Billiton and Diavik and the work that needs to continue with De Beers and Snap Lake. We have a framework policy requiring the different producers to have a memorandum of understanding with us, so that 10 percent of the rough they produce every five weeks is allocated to northern manufacturers. We also have a certification program to track the diamonds from the mine to manufacturing to the finished product. I think this is a very useful tool for us. Through the work of this project we are able to get the different diamond mines to supply rough to manufacturers in the North. I know there is work to be done in looking at that policy with regard to the smaller diamonds. We need to look at that. There is still a lot of work to be done in this sector. Thank you.

Yes, the definition of Canadian diamonds under the Competition Bureau, which is an agency of the federal Department of Industry is threatening our secondary industry, in that the Competition Bureau about two years ago came out with a definition of Canadian diamonds as a diamond that is mined in Canada, but you can take it anyplace in the world and cut it and it would still be a Canadian diamond. So we have a very big problem with that. There is ongoing work we are doing to try to change the definition of Canadian diamond at the Competition Bureau. We are working with the federal government. The Minister of Industry, Allan Rock, is responsible for that, but the Competition Bureau is at arm's length from him, so there needs to be work there.

There is also the whole area of the certification program and certifying the diamonds that are mined, cut and polished in the North by our existing manufacturers. That is ongoing as well. Thank you.

On the Competition Bureau's definition of a Canadian diamond, they have already done that. They have already identified it about two years ago and we have been opposed to that definition from the beginning. It's an ongoing process and we can't just do it on our own. We have to convince the board and we are working with the federal Ministers. We are also talking to our counterparts in the other provinces, as they are eventually going to become Canadian producers. Our intention is to try to change this definition. The way the Competition Bureau views it is you can take a Canadian diamond that is mined from BHP or Diavik and you can take it out of the country and have it cut and polished outside the country and bring it back and still say it's a Canadian diamond. We are saying the true Canadian diamond should be one that is mined in the North and cut and polished in the North, preferably here in the NWT in Yellowknife where the existing manufacturers are. This will create a secondary industry and have more diamonds cut here. We have employment here. We have training here. We already have some manufacturing facilities out at the airport. They are expanding them and there are new ones coming up. So it's frightening us. If that definition sticks, then we are going to have a problem in the future. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

We have written to the Competition Bureau, we have met with them. We have written to the different federal Ministers and the Competition Bureau is saying they are not going to change the definition. The federal Ministers we have contacted have indicated support for the Competition Bureau. We will continue to raise this issue. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, on the Competition Bureau, I will welcome any suggestions from the Member on how we can proceed. We have approached all the different MPs in the different provinces. Our task here is to try to educate southern politicians. That's what we are doing at this point in time. On the question regarding Tiffany & Co. and the other process, there is currently, for Diavik, a process in place for the companies that want to be considered for manufacturing the 10 percent of rough for Rio Tinto. So there is a process in place. The different companies that are applying for this allocation are told that we do have a framework agreement policy. We, in the NWT, are a small territory, but we still have our own policies to try to maximize the return from our natural resources. We are telling them that we expect them to follow criteria and framework agreements. So nobody is getting any special treatment. Thank you.

We have a memorandum of understanding with Diavik that Rio Tinto Diamonds is going to be allocating their share of Diavik diamonds. The MOU with the Government of the NWT is similar to BHP Billiton where 10 percent of production every five weeks will be made available to manufacturers in the North. The framework sets out criteria that we follow and the manufacturers, in order to be approved, will have to be within those criteria. Thank you.