Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we look at the picture, we know what the problem was between the group that we'd selected going forward and the mining operations. They could not come to an agreement and that's what scuttled the deal. So that side of it is pretty well straightforward. We might not like what happened, but that's the fact. The other side of it, we are doing some work on the cost-benefit analysis of that secondary industry in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my assertion is that the government doesn't know what the problem is today. Nobody seems to know. There are two sides to this story and the government is caught in the middle. I believe an investigation or inquiry would get to the bottom of why the world's largest producer of cut and polished diamonds couldn't get a deal done with our producers here in the Northwest Territories and the government stood by and watched it happen. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Minister when we might

expect some answers and when he will call an inquiry into what happened here. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will not be calling an inquiry into this area. We have done some internal work. We're aware of where our situation is and we continue to work on the cost-benefit analysis. Hopefully we'll be able to come forward with that by early spring and be able to provide the layout of what's happened right from when we got involved as a government and all the programs involved and try to see if, in fact, it was a wise decision or not by the government. That will help formulate where we go as a government. We also know, for example, the socioeconomic agreement that's in place with one of the operations is not very strong for the Government of the Northwest Territories and is a very broad one. So we already have impacts and know where things haven't quite worked and are working on those fronts. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, any type of work like this, an inquiry, an investigation, the work that the Minister spoke of that FMBS is going to be doing, that's a huge piece of work, Mr. Speaker, and I'd like to know if we're just going to use resources that are in house or if we're going to bring in somebody to finally find out where we're at, what we've spent and where we go from here. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's our goal to try to do the work internally; to work with what we have, the knowledge we have and the personnel we have and if we find that we are unable to do it, then we will look at bringing in other resources to do this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, to continue on the area of the diamond traffic here, how much money are we losing, Mr. Speaker? My question is for the Minister of Finance again. How much money are we losing as we keep the Sirius factory open and seek another buyer? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have calculated that and we're aware of the ongoing costs between keeping a receiver in place, as well as keeping the plant operational until we have a new buyer. The receiver has entered into calls now with other interested parties and I don't feel it appropriate to give you the actual number here as that might impact on final numbers that we can come to agreement on hopefully with a new buyer. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Okay, Mr. Speaker. Respecting the confidentiality of that number right now, surely, Mr. Speaker, the government must have some sense of when enough is going to be enough. Could the Minister give us any sense at what point we're going to declare that this is a business that we should not be in and say, okay, enough is enough? When is that point going to be, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we move down this process and I feel that we don't have a solid proposal on the table, I would bring a recommendation back to my FMBS colleagues by the end of March, early April. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Related to this has been the belief and advantage, at least on the surface, that the 10 percent allocation of diamonds by value, I believe, is a great advantage to northern cutting and polishing shops. But as my colleague Mr. Ramsay has pointed out, this has been very troublesome for the Northwest Territories and cutters and producers to really work with. Is this a good thing for us to continue to work with, Mr. Speaker, or is the 10 percent allocation, as strong and beneficial as it may have been, really not the way for us to go? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The 10 percent allocation has been problematic in a number of ways. One, from our side of it and from the information available through the cutting and polishing plants we're involved with, all the plants, I believe, actually, cut and

polish in the Northwest Territories runs about 2.5 to three percent. Now, the mining companies state that in fact they supply much more than that and they may do that. We're unaware of that final amount, but we know that the quality or the size of those stones are not economically cut in the Northwest Territories and are returned. So when we talk about numbers of 2.5 to three percent, that's what is able to be cut in the Northwest Territories at a viable place. So it is one of the areas of concern. If the companies could fully utilize 10 percent, we'd be doing a lot more business in the Northwest Territories, but they have not been able to, based on the economics of cutting some of those stones. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, the dilemma over this is something that a lot of us face. We try to read and understand and listen to all sides of the story, but quite frankly I don't know really who to believe in this. What kind of advantage or leverage do we have as the Northwest Territories government, to try to make this deal work? Is there anything that we have yet to try? Thank you.