Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like my colleague here in the House, I’d like to ask the Minister of ITI some questions regarding the GNWT’s support of the secondary diamond industry. Earlier he gave a commitment to the House that he would meet with them, but as this Minister seems to be well aware with full understanding that this diamond cutting industry is day by day, does the Minister of ITI have an action plan that includes financial resources to help support the secondary diamond industry? If he does, could he give this House some details on what that actually means?

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issues with the secondary diamond industry have just come up recently and, as the Member knows, we have committed to working with the standing committees in developing any solutions.

“Any” is a big word, so I wouldn’t mind the Minister of ITI narrowing it down here, not just for my benefit but for the official record. Does any solution mean financial support in this particular case?

We do have a diamond policy which outlines how we would promote and develop secondary manufacturing. As I responded earlier, we’ve also looked at providing loan guarantees and other means of support, which has not met with favour. If the Member has any other suggestions I’d be pleased to undertake them. But we will be working with the committee to find a solution that will help save jobs.

I understand that we have a policy to help promote the secondary diamond industry, but one of the problems is outside of the reach of the normal hand of the Minister, which is the fact that if people aren’t buying diamonds it puts our cutting industry completely at risk. Mr. Speaker, I don’t have to lecture the Minister that Quebec supports industry. They will help move an industry to their area by helping them with establishment costs as well as labour costs. Mr. Speaker, the market out there wants Canadian diamonds. What is the Minister doing to make sure they buy northern diamonds? Mr. Speaker, is this government completely committed to the secondary diamond industry here in the North and are they willing to go to the wall for them? Thank you.

We are committed to working to help maintain and conserve the secondary diamond industry, but they will have to be on our terms. We are not going to cut our policies without making sure that the North continues to receive benefits. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said earlier, the fear is that the diamond cutting industry we have here is really operating day by day. I appreciate the motherhood statements from the Minister but I want to hear that the Minister is going to be aggressive on this file to make sure we don’t lose it because, I have to be honest, once they pack up, they could go anywhere in the world to cut

northern diamonds. They will be seen as northern diamonds. They won’t really care. What is the Minister going to do to be aggressive on this file to make sure it doesn’t slip through our fingers and it is lost forever? Thank you.

I have already indicated we are prepared to meet with the diamond manufacturers. We are reviewing our diamond policy. We are quite prepared to put forward a proposed solution to the standing committee to see if we can move quickly on this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

I want to question the Minister of ENR with regard to several news reports with regard to the moose in the southern Deh Cho which was reported in the Deh Cho Drum and the radio this morning. The concern was that they were reporting some pollutants in the moose. I just wanted to get some clarification on that. It is raising some concern with some Nahendeh residents. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a concern raised by the naturally occurring levels of cadmium that are in the moose, specifically the moose that dwell and inhabit the mountains. The recommendations are to limit the amount of times that you eat kidneys and liver from moose. Regular moose meat is not a concern. The absorption rate is 5 percent compared to if you smoke. You absorb about 50 percent of the cadmium in cigarettes which is many times more toxic but, in this case, these are naturally occurring. Cadmium tends to concentrate up the food chain. It has been identified through testing that has been going on through the National Contaminants Program that this is a sufficient concern that has been in the advisory put out.

I guess the real concern is the fear that these reports are generating,, so people want to know, like the Minister said, about the safe levels and most particularly, for me, how long has this study been going on, Mr. Speaker? How long has the department known about this? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, what is recommended is one serving of valley moose kidney every two months and one serving of valley moose liver per week, one serving of mountain moose liver every three months. It is

recommended that no kidneys from these animals be consumed due to a significantly higher cadmium level. It has been a number of years now that they have worked with the National Contaminants Program getting help from hunters and outfitters to bring back samples of the animals that could be tested. Thank you.

I guess the concern, too, is that the news reports talked about rising levels of these toxins. Mr. Minister is saying they are naturally occurring. Is there a way to assure the public that the increase in these cadmium levels is a natural occurring product as he is stating and his department is stating? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as far as I am aware, there are no other sources of cadmium other than what is found naturally in the rocks, plants and water and it concentrates up the food chain. The National Northern Contaminants Program has been at work for about 15 years. They are looking mainly at barren land caribou and recently have started looking at the moose as well. The issue, I would assume, has always been there. It is just now that they are doing the testing on moose in addition to the caribou. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much. Just in order to get ahead of the fear and the panic that constituents have, is there a strategy in place or will the Minister look at a public awareness campaign, get a hold of the band offices, the leadership and the community to advise them just what he is telling me here today, that it is manageable? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Speaker, in regards to the Deh Cho Bridge and the $165 million hired P3 that we are looking at, it is something that I supported. I think it is a way this government can put infrastructure in place and look at the possibility of unique ways of financing it. I think it is important

that we expand that program to include other regions. I would like to ask the Minister of Transportation how open is this government to realistically look at other areas for similar projects, looking at similar proposals and seeing if people in the private sector who can also deliver bridges at a cheaper price and see what the government can do it for. How open is the Minister to looking at those types of proposals in light of the Deh Cho Bridge project going forward?