Mr. Chairman and committee members, thank you for the opportunity to be here today to present to you on what is obviously very important legislation for the Northwest Territories. I know very well the logistics of moving around between the NWT and Ottawa, so I appreciate your recognition that it was important to take this work on the road and go up to Yellowknife and visit. This is a very hot topic in the Northwest Territories. It's very important; monumental, really. It was important for people to see that work being done.
I am here today representing Dominion Diamond as president of the company, but I'm also here as a proud northerner. I've lived and worked in the Northwest Territories since I was very young. I'm also a former member of the Northwest Territories legislative assembly. I firmly believe that the future of the north is about northerners having more say and more decision-making power over the future development of the territory. I'm also very proud to work for a company that shares that belief.
I want to take you through some of the history of Dominion Diamond. You may remember them formerly known as Harry Winston Diamonds, a venerable retailer of jewellery, now Dominion. We have a long history in the NWT. The roots trace back to the original discovery of Canadian diamonds. My colleague from MAC will talk a little bit more about that in the next few minutes.
In the 1990s diamonds were discovered. We were on the scene and a part of that discovery. We founded and still own 40% of the Diavik Diamond Mine, which is run by multinational mining company Rio Tinto. Our chairman and CEO, Bob Gannicott, was in fact one of the earliest explorers for northern diamonds. He's worked extensively throughout the Northwest Territories during his career. He's worked across the arctic from Nunavut and in fact Greenland to Alaska. Dominion Diamond is the NWT's largest mining company. We are proud of the fact that we have hired and employ more northerners, and in fact aboriginal northerners, than any other mining company in the Northwest Territories; I hazard to say even any other company in the Northwest Territories. We are a very important employer in the region.
Last year our chairman and board of directors made a decision to pursue additional diamond assets in the north. As a result, we ended up selling our jewellery business to Swatch and purchased an 80% ownership stake in the Ekati Diamond Mine. We believe that this decision to invest in the north, when others in the industry clearly were leaving and also during a period of economic uncertainty internationally, reflects our ongoing belief and confidence in Canada's north. Just as important, a decision by our board to move our corporate headquarters from Toronto to Yellowknife after our purchase of the Ekati mine is yet another important indication of this confidence. I ask you to remember that we are traded on the TSX and on the NYSE. I know we are the only company that would be located in Canada's north in that respect.
I would also like to say that this is a pragmatic decision to move north. We took the decision with the understanding that devolution was imminent. We said to ourselves that if decisions were going to be made in the north, and that's where the decision-makers were going to be, then that's where we needed to be. In addition to our interest in the two operating mines we continue exploration, both within our Diavik and Ekati claim blocks but also external to that. We have some additional claims. We are firmly of the belief that all of the diamond mines that are going to be found ultimately in the Northwest Territories have not been discovered to date. It seems incredible that they would have been all found in the first few years of exploration, so we continue to explore.
We also currently have two applications before regulatory boards that would extend the life of the Ekati mine by an additional 10 to 20 years. We can't be sure how long that mine life would be, but at least 10 years of open pit in something called the Jay kimberlite pipe, and high potential that we would go underground after that. That 10 to 20 years is both the Jay-Cardinal project, which is going through a full environmental assessment, and also the Lynx project, which has been pushed to permitting already.
Currently, Ekati is scheduled to close in 2019, which I think is why BHP Billiton was selling. These applications for Lynx and Jay-Cardinal extensions are of critical importance to Dominion Diamond. They can also ensure the continuation of the significant economic benefits that this mine brings to the people, the communities, and the governments in the Northwest Territories. These benefits of course include jobs, both direct and indirect; contracts with many northern and aboriginal firms; and also benefits to communities from impact benefit agreements on the sources, and taxes and royalty payments to governments.
Mr. Chairman, as you can see, we have a very large interest in the bill that's presently before your committee. We fully support the devolution of responsibility for public lands, resources, and water to the Government of the Northwest Territories. As someone who has served as a minister responsible for resource development, I know well the importance of giving northerners the necessary tools and the authority to responsibly development the territory's tremendous natural resource potential.
We would like to congratulate Premier McLeod, his cabinet, and the members of the legislative assembly for a job well done in negotiating this long-sought-after agreement, and as importantly, for working with aboriginal governments to ensure that a “made in the Northwest Territories” approach to devolution was taken.
I am pleased to advise you that our company has developed good relationships at all levels of government in the Northwest Territories, including productive working relationships with the GNWT. We understand that this relationship will change and expand as the GNWT takes on new responsibilities on April 1. We look forward to and are very encouraged and excited about the prospect of working with them during this period.
We fully support the transfer of these responsibilities to the GNWT, but we also recognize that a transfer of this magnitude brings organizational challenges to both governments. Dominion Diamond would encourage both governments to work collaboratively to minimize any transitional issues that would lead to unnecessary delays in the regulatory process.
With respect to the regulatory improvement aspects of this bill, Dominion Diamond is supportive of initiatives to ensure an effective but timely regulatory process. Specifically, we're encouraged that the Government of Canada is bringing forth changes that will ensure clarity and certainty in the review and assessment of proposed projects by establishing firm time limits for these reviews, similar to limits that exist in other regulatory processes.
It's a welcome improvement to the current regulatory process from our perspective, both for investor confidence and in regard to our current operations and expansion plans for our continued investment in the NWT. We also recognize that this brings with it an onus on proponents such as ourselves to provide project plans and information in a timely manner, and we intend to do that.
Another section of the bill that's generated great debate is the restructuring of the land and water boards into a single 11-member board. We recognize some of the concerns that have been expressed in the NWT and are encouraged, however, by the commitments of Premier McLeod and his government to work in partnership with aboriginal governments through the intergovernmental council and by both governments to review the provisions of the MVRMA after five years. We think that's very important. From our perspective, Dominion Diamond has had a very productive working relationship with regulators, and we have every confidence that it will continue.
Importantly for us, it's critical to ensure that there are few transitional issues—at least as few as possible—as devolution occurs, but I will tell you that we're very encouraged thus far. Both governments continue to engage with us to ensure we have early visibility on any potential issues that might arise.
Mr. Chairman, I again want to thank you and your committee for offering me the opportunity to speak today and also for travelling to Yellowknife. This is a bill of critical importance to the future of the Northwest Territories.
Mahsi cho.