Brendan Bell

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do know that the Department of Transportation staff have met with the trail riders group from Great Slave Snowmobile Association. Those folks have endorsed this public education campaign, but they've also said that they'd be willing to be involved in an interagency working group that DOT plans to establish. In the longer term, there are a number of initiatives planned, but a discussion around legislation is certainly on the list and it is something that they are contemplating and want to discuss. So I do know that DOT plans to go out to the other snowmobile...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a very serious and concerning problem not only across the North, but, indeed, in the entire country. More and more people are being hurt in snowmobile accidents, ATV accidents, and there is some merit in getting the word out to people so that they recognize they probably need to slow down and drive more safely, and be aware that at all times they need to be wearing helmets. Mr. Speaker, one of the things our government is doing, the Department of Transportation and the Department of MACA are working together to put together an education campaign and get out to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will certainly commit to coming back to committee with some timelines for this review of justice committees. I know the Member is well aware, but he and his community leadership in Fort Res petitioned the community to talk about the increase of not only crime, but the number of probation cases. We have responded and provided some funding for a probation worker in that community because it hasn’t been adequate to receive a service from Hay River. There is too much of a workload there, so we are working with the leadership. We are working with the Member to respond. We...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right; different communities have different needs and caseloads. On top of it, it can fluctuate quite dramatically from year to year. It is something that is a concern for us. We are currently looking at the funding to justice committees. I have asked the department to undertake a review. One of the things that I think we know, anecdotally though, is that some of the communities that receive funding have very active community justice committees, and others receiving funding, as well, have ones that are not so active. We are trying to better...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right; the concern here is around pricing. The factory, of course, would like additional rough. Everybody would like additional rough, but I think they understand that the rough being provided is what was agreed to and it really does come down to the pricing. I think the issue of core customer pricing with core customer status has some requirements, as well. You don’t have the choice of turning back rough or rejecting it. You have to take all of the rough allocated to you. That is not the case with the factories here. They are able to go through the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the problem is an allegation of premium being charged to one of our companies over and above the price that Antwerp customers can pay. Of course, these diamonds are very easy and cheap to move to another location, so it’s not as if it’s onerous transportation costs that would lead to a higher price having to be charged in Antwerp. We are looking at it. It’s hypothetical at this point as to what we might do if we are not able to resolve it. I do think we will be able to sit down with the company and talk this through and get some better understanding if a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right that I, along with the Minister of Finance, met with the owners of Arslanian and Polar Bear factories to have this discussion. The allegations they have raised are concerning for us, so we have asked them to provide us with some documentation and that is something that we can then take to the company to have this discussion. I should point out the factory seems concerned only with one of the mines. I don’t want to make the suggestion that it is all producers. We do have MOUs in place with both mines. Under the terms of our socio-economic...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the question from the Member. Of course, yes, I will take the leadership of bringing these two companies together. We’ll sit down with the top leadership in the mine to better understand their feelings of how this arrangement is working. I should mention that in Antwerp, of course, core customers get an allocation of rough. Again, they have no choice but to take all of it and have to pay cash right now. I think the mines have been very agreeable to the idea that this was an industry in its infancy. They have held parcels, sometimes for quite long periods of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m hoping that the issue and the concern can be resolved immediately. I’ve asked the cutting and polishing factory group of owners to provide the information that they have that they feel suggests they are being overcharged, provide the company in question with that information, copy me with the information so that I can see it as well, bring the two parties together and have this discussion. I think it’s important that this has been lingering for some time without anybody having a real concrete understanding, just a feeling that they were not being treated fairly. So...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are looking to get to the bottom of the issue. The Ministers prior to myself have had the same concern raised and have sought to address it. One of the difficulties is that it’s not as if this is a commodity traded on the open market and we can see the pricing arrangements made with various customers. The mines have customers overseas that they term core customers. They have private arrangements made with those customers. We are not sure how much the diamonds are sold to those customers for, so it’s very difficult for us to make a determination around what kind...