Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think I agree with most of what the Member said, but I would like to point out that the comparisons with the diamond mines, the reason we focus on value added is the fact that that’s the only way we can get benefits from development. The royalties go to the federal government, so if we want any benefits, we focus on the value added. With the diamond mines, through the environmental assessment process, we got the regulators to agree with what we were doing to provide for value added. I expect we would do the same thing with the Avalon project once it goes for regulatory review.

Now, what has been talked about with Avalon is they are looking, in addition to the mine, that they would have a hydromet facility in the Pine Point area. That would provide for something in the neighbourhood of 50 jobs plus a whole bunch of investments. My understanding is the communities of Fort Resolution, Hay River, and Fort Smith have already given their support to this project. What we need is a business case. We need to know what the benefits are and with that we can come forward and get the necessary approvals so that we can support it.

In order to diversify our economy I think it would be great if we could have a project where we could sell

rare earth minerals and lithium and all of these kinds of minerals. Certainly I’m very pleased that the Member is supportive of our government investing in those kinds of things. When it comes time to identify resources, that would be very helpful.