- Value of Canadian production of rough diamonds in 1997: 0
- Value in 2005: US$1.4 billion
- Canada's world ranking as a rough diamond producer, by value, in 2005: 4
- Real personal income in the Northwest Territories in 1996: $28,384
- Real personal income in 2002: $41,053
Sources: 1 Statistics Canada / Northwest Territories Industry, Tourism and Investment; 2 Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
Canada
In just one decade since the first diamonds were mined there, Canada has become the fourth largest diamond producer in the world. Diamonds turned Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, into a boomtown. The people who live on the land where diamonds are found rarely profit from them. But in Canada, multi-national mining companies had to negotiate historic agreements with the aboriginal people for the right to exploit the diamond wealth of the land. The agreements guaranteed the native groups jobs and financial compensation. At the same time, the rapid increase in disposable income, and the long shifts that separate miners from their families has, according to some in the communities, led to increased rates of alcoholism, spousal abuse and crime. A changing economy also means challenges to a traditional way of life. Who benefits, and what those benefits mean to a people, are questions that Chief Floyd Sangris deals with everyday.