by Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 17/97) - A federal official said recent letdowns for those lobbying for a diamond-sorting facility in Yellowknife should not be interpreted as a sign that Ottawa doesn't listen to Northerners.

Last week, a Yellowknife delegation headed by MLAs Jake Ootes and Seamus Henry, Mayor Dave Lovell and Yellowknives Dene representative Darrell Beaulieu travelled to Ottawa to meet with opposition MPs and Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew.

Though it tried, the delegation could not make a date with Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister Jane Stewart or anyone from her office.

Last month the group was scheduled to meet with DIAND's lead official on diamond-mining regulations, Joseph Lazarovich. That meeting was cancelled.

A member of the lobby said it was cancelled on orders from DIAND assistant deputy minister Jim Moore.

But that should not be taken as an indication Ottawa is ignoring the North, said Hiram Beaubier, the department's director-general for natural resources.

"We are very interested in what Northern interests are and what points of view and aspirations they have," said Beaubier when asked if Ottawa getting tired of Northerners lobbying for a diamond sorting facility.

The final decision on the location of a diamond-sorting plant rests with BHP, the international corporation expected to open Canada's first diamond mine next year, but Beaubier said the federal government has made it clear where it stands.

"We've clearly stated that for the purposes of valuation for royalties it should be established in the North," said Beaubier.

Asked if Ottawa can force BHP to establish a sorting and valuation facility in the North, Beaubier was blunt: "Not under current legislation."

Mayor Lovell said the company should not be blamed for resisting the idea of a facility here, since it was not part of the many agreements that cleared the path to establishing the mine.

"There should have been something in (the agreements) to encourage secondary industry," said Lovell.

"Everyone was sort of asleep at the switch there," he added. "You could say in retrospect that people should have caught on, but they didn't, right across the spectrum, from all levels of government."

Lovell noted huge dollars are at stake, pointing out that mining royalties the federal government stands to collect from BHP amount to about $200 million annually.