Northwest~

No.

15-18(2)

Territories Legislative Assembly

Return to Written Question
THE HONOURABLE BOB MCLEOD
PREMIER

Government of the Northwest Territories Participation in the
Association for Mineral Exploration BC Roundup. January 2017

Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Written Question asked by Mr. O'Reilly on January 31,
2017 regarding the Government of the Northwest Territories participation at
the Association for Mineral Exploration BC Roundup, in January 2017.

Can the Premier provide a list of all NWT Ministers and staff who travelled to
Vancouver for the meetings and;

1. Total cost of travel including transportation, showing air travel by executive
versus economy class; accommodations; expenses; and associated allowances;
2. Any related contract costs for the trip, particularly costs of conference
registration, exhibitor staffing, any fees for consulting services outside of those
provided by public servants, any funding by the GNWT Department of Industry,
Tourism and Investment of the costs of other NWT representatives attending;
3. A description of hospitality events, including costs and numbers and names of
persons attending; and
4. Procedures in place to track and report on accomplishments resulting from trip
activities.

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Mr. Speaker, I would like to advise this House that seven Ministers and 24 staff were
in Vancouver at the time of the Association for Mineral Exploration BC Roundup.
While attendance at the Roundup may not have been the primary reason for
travelling to Vancouver, all seven Ministers and 24 staff attended one or more
events at this year's Roundup. For example, on January 23rct I met with the
Premiers from Nunavut and Yukon to discuss how we might work with Canada
on the development of an Arctic Strategy and how all three territories can work
together to develop a Pan Territorial Sustainable Development Strategy.

I

provided the Legislative Assembly with details on both of these initiatives in my
Minister's Statement of February 14th. Later today, at the appropriate time, I
will table a list of the seven Ministers and 24 staff.

Mr. Speaker, as most Members are aware time is required to reconcile credit
card statements and expense reports, but since only 21 days are allocated to
respond to written questions, I am advising the House of the following
predicted costs on the understanding that the final costs for Ministerial Travel
will be calculated, confirmed and made public through the Ministerial Travel
Report.

Total cost of air travel for the 31 participants was $35,350.47. All travel was
economy class, except for seven legs of southern travel which had to be
accommodated through business class travel when economy class travel was
not available.

Participants' accommodations costs varied by lengths of stay, but have been
calculated at a total of $32,239.46 for the seven m-Ministers and 24 staff. Other

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 15-18(2)

expenses for the 31 participants such as meal, incidentals and taxis totalled
$21,182.95. No allowances were paid.

The GNWT paid $3,614.29 in Roundup registration fees and exhibition costs
charged to the GNWT totalled $26,621. No consultant fees were paid.

The GNWT supported the participation of 14 individuals representing NWT
Aboriginal governments in this year's Roundup, and contributed additional funding
to the NWT Chamber of Mines.

The contributions toward these "other NWT

representatives" totalled $70,636.89.

The hospitality events hosted by the GNWT were a private Cabinet luncheon with
industry and aboriginal organizations, and a public coffee with Cabinet at the Booth,
costing a total $3,717.75. The Chamber of Mines used a portion of the GNWT
contribution referenced above to host an NWT Night Reception.

Mr. Speaker, to put all these costs in some context, I would like to advise the House
that the GNWT's direct costs and contributions associated with the 2016 Roundup
total approximately $137,000. The difference between the 2017 costs and the 2016
costs can be attributed to increased participation of ministers, increased
participation

of staff and

increased

participation

of GNWT

sponsored

representatives from aboriginal organizations.

As I said in the House on several occasions, mining is the engine of the NWT's
economy and we cannot take our mineral potential for granted. Promoting
awareness of NWT priorities and advocating for its interests on the national and
international stage is an ongoing responsibility that Ministers and staff undertake
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by participating in a range of events, including meetings with other government
leaders and dignitaries, representing the NWT at FPT and other intergovernmental
meetings, and attending and presenting at conferences, trade shows, workshops and
other events like PDAC, the Geosciences Forum, Opportunities North, Meet the
North; and later this year the Anti-Poverty Roundtable and the Alternative Energy
Conference. While the GNWT does not track specific results for any particular event,
this is part of the ongoing work of promoting the interests of the Government and
people of the Northwest Territories that is common to all governments.

Thank you Mr. Speaker

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