Yellowknife (Feb 10/06) - The minister responsible for the NWT's diamond industry was on the hot seat Tuesday when an MLA suggested the government doesn't seem to support it much any more.

Workers polish diamonds at the Arslanian plant in Yellowknife during the summer of 2004. The government's marketing strategy was called into question Tuesday by Great Slave MLA Bill Braden.

At issue is the territorial government division that until recently, marketed and certified NWT-produced diamonds.

The four-man unit was disbanded last November after two of its members resigned. Marketing efforts have since been handed over to a Calgary-based firm, Imedia.

Last fall, the territorial government pulled out of the National Diamond Strategy, which it helped create.

"Are we leaving something on the table here because one or two people resigned from the diamond unit?" wondered Great Slave MLA Bill Braden.

"I don't think the minister or the department have got a solid, long-term objective on this. They're making some pretty important policy and investment decisions on the fly."

Brendan Bell, minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, said the intent is to give Yellowknife's diamond polishing factories more say on marketing their diamonds.

He said the factories felt left out on decisions made by the government's diamond unit and there were disagreements over issues like what trade shows ought to be attended.

"The factories raised concerns about our internal efforts to market and promote diamonds," said Bell.

"Our main objective is to support their brands. I don't want to tell them how to market diamonds."

The factory heads took part in the hiring of Imedia and they're happy with marketing efforts so far, said Bell.

He pointed to international marketing campaigns such as Rare in Nature, which promotes Northern diamonds, and the trip to Yellowknife offered to Hollywood celebrities at last month's Golden Globe awards.

The government pulled out of the National Diamond Strategy because it was taking up too much of its time and not producing results, said Bell.

"At this point, our priority has to be around supporting and bolstering our local effort," said Bell.

Bob Bies, director of the Arslanian Cutting Works plant - one of the three polishing plants in Yellowknife, said he is fine with the government's efforts to market NWT diamonds.

He said their biggest concern is the price of rough diamonds supplied by BHP Billiton.

"We had to stop purchasing from BHP directly because the prices have increased to the point where we can buy from the secondary market in Antwerp (Netherlands) for less than what we can directly buy from the mine here," said Bies.

"To us, that is the biggest issue threatening our existence right now."