Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if what the Minister is telling us is that now the diamond unit has been collapsed and things are better without it, I really can't have that kind of decision. So, you know, now that the expertise that had been assembled over some time has now been dissolved or dissipated, just what is the government doing to grow and enhance this industry, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Well, Mr. Speaker, we're working successfully with our industry partners. Our industry partners said to us, quite clearly, we're not interested in you putting a lot of effort into the National Diamond Strategy. We recognize that and we've moved away from that. They asked us to look for a public relations firm that was professional and capable as compared to trying to do these things in house. That meant spending some money with an outside contractor, but we're doing that. We're working with industry, we're recognizing what they need, we're helping them build brands, we're fully committed to this. I think our success is evident. I think we're getting stronger by the day. Our Rare in Nature Campaign is evidence of that, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, a key factor at start-up of the secondary diamond industry, and I believe in the sustainability of it, is the deals that are in place with the suppliers. We have three of the world's greatest miners exploiting our resource here, doing the best we can to get some value out of it. Now the socio-economic agreements that we've signed have been singled out quite often, Mr. Speaker, for the weaknesses that they have in compelling the mines to do deals that are attractive to cutting and polishing, not just the ones that we have here now, Mr. Speaker, but we should really be looking at what can we do to grow this industry. Are we going to revisit these deals, Mr. Speaker, to help us move forward and grow and enhance this industry? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Mr. Speaker, I think if there's any threat to the secondary industry, any real, credible threat, it's probably that we won't find new mines in future. What do we do in 15 years when the pipes that we know about are gone? Really, that's the threat to the secondary industry. I think we need to focus a lot of our efforts and departmental resources on finding new mines. We continue to support the secondary industry. That's critical. These arrangements that we're hearing today, we hear that Arslanian Cutting Works and the Polar Bear factory are very much happy with the new arrangement and new agreement that they have with the mines. They are moving forward, they're in a stronger position than they've ever been in. I think you can say the same for Tiffany, and the Member is well aware of the De Beers arrangements and agreement we have under the socio-economic agreement. Obviously, De Beers is not in production yet, but we look forward to their support of value-added activities in the North. Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, I share the Minister's hope that we will find new mines and continue on in the future, but what I don't see, Mr. Speaker, are cutting and polishing factories banging on the door out there looking for authorization and ways to get involved. This industry is not one that has a very optimistic future and that's why I'm asking these questions, Mr. Speaker. The Minister referenced the National Diamond Strategy, also something that we abandoned. Now Saskatchewan and Ontario are next to become Canadian producers. Their economies of scale are much bigger; their pockets are a lot deeper than ours. What are we going to do, Mr. Speaker, to protect the industry that we have here today as these other Canadian producers come on line without being involved in some kind of a National Diamond Strategy? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Mr. Speaker, we consulted with the local industry about the National Diamond Strategy and about where we should focus our efforts. The local cutting and polishing industry said to us, you know, national efforts are fine and they may make sense in future; right now, work on supporting our efforts and our brands, this is fledgling locally, never mind about Ontario and Saskatchewan, the time will come. At the same time, they were confused that Members in the House would be concerned about the National Diamond Strategy abandonment, as the Member has said, when they were lobbying for that. Mr. Speaker, I think Members have an obligation to sit down and actually talk to the industry before standing up in the House and understand what their efforts are focused on, because that's what we're doing, Mr. Speaker, and that's who we've been working with. So National Diamond Strategy in future, yes, probably. Right now, support for this local industry in building these brands. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Oral questions. The honourable Member from Nunakput, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I have, and I appreciate the support of the Member. I think Members know that I have written to the Minister of Public Safety, Stockwell Day, asked and pleaded with his folks to help us put some new detachments into some of the communities that don't have them; Sachs, obviously, Gameti, Wrigley, Mr. Speaker. I then also sat down and had the time to brief his chief-of-staff on another trip, sat down with Assistant Commissioner Bill Sweeney, Chief Superintendent Pat McCloskey and we are making progress, Mr. Speaker. We are looking and the RCMP has identified Sachs Harbour as a priority. They've been into the community on May 16th to assess the assets. Unfortunately we've determined that we need a new building there. We can't renovate the existing one, it wouldn't make code, but that doesn't mean that we can't do this. We think that by summer of 2008 we could have a new building on the ground. So now my challenge will be to work with this House and my colleagues to find the operational money to make that a reality. But I appreciate all of the efforts and I think we're almost there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd just like to ask the Minister, 2008 is not very far away, but the people have been talking about that for two or three years now, even maybe further, Mr. Speaker. So I appreciate the 2008 possibility, but can the Minister provide me with a copy of the inspection report that may be conducted since March? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. Bell.

Mr. Speaker, I'll certainly endeavour to do that and I'll see what the RCMP has. New assets on the ground by 2008, we are striving for that, Mr. Speaker, that doesn't mean that we couldn't have an RCMP presence, permanent presence in the community earlier than that, potentially next summer. We'll have to see. Accommodations we think we can deal with. I appreciate the Member's help in that regard. So it really is a matter of sitting down now through our business planning process, talking to committees, talking to my Cabinet colleagues, talking about what it would cost to have that presence on the ground there. But it's an absolute top priority for my department and I appreciate the patience and the support of the people in Sachs Harbour. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Oral questions. The honourable Member from Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement before, I spoke to the concerns of the women's' shelter in Inuvik and I'd like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger, if he would commit to looking into the concerns and seeing if there's anything he and his department can do to help finding a solution for the problems that are going on there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd be pleased to do that. I'll make that commitment that we'll sit down and I'll talk further with the Member and we'll work with the Inuvik Health and Social Services Authority to make sure that we can try to address the issues. I'd also like to point out that we did add out of some of the federal money we had another $100,000 a year to the shelters. The five shelters we fund and the shelter directors got together and, I believe, agreed that Inuvik was one of the shelter's that should get that money as opposed to some of the other ones, but I will make that commitment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.