N.W.T. minister attended mining conference in England – was it worthwhile?

The Northwest Territories’ minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment (ITI) says government presence at mining conferences is “critically important” after she and two other territorial delegates travelled to London, England, for five days earlier this month to attend Resourcing Tomorrow.

Resourcing Tomorrow is promoted as “Europe’s largest and most influential mining event.” This year’s conference featured talks by government representatives and investors and executives from organizations like BlackRock, Agnico Eagle and Fortescue.

“These shows, whether it is Resourcing Tomorrow, [AME] Roundup in Vancouver, PDAC [Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada] in Toronto, are incredibly important that we have solid presence at because people need to know that [the N.W.T.] is a viable place to do business, and that there's a tremendous amount of opportunity here,” said ITI Minister Caitlin Cleveland.

“We want to create those personal relationships so that people know that they can get on a plane, they can come here, they can get to know where it is that they're wanting to do business and who they're wanting to do business with.”

But observers question whether the trip overseas was worth the resources, and say the government should focus more attention on creating an environment at home that’s attractive to investors. 

A delegate pass costs £2,499 (about $4,600 CAD), according to the conference’s website.

But the N.W.T. delegation didn't pay the price of admission, according to northern marketing initiative Invest North of 60.

A spokesperson for the group said Invest North of 60 negotiated a number of free delegate passes and gave them to the N.W.T. government representatives.

The group also recommended that the N.W.T. government attend the convention.

Invest North of 60 is a government-funded, pan-territorial undertaking meant to promote mining in the three territories to potential investors. Each territorial government is putting $70,000 toward the project over three years, while the federal government is contributing $420,000, for a grand total of $630,000.

Invest North of 60 sent two contractors to Resourcing Tomorrow and exhibited there. It's spokesperson would not say how much it cost to exhibit at the conference.

An ITI spokesperson estimated that between flights, accommodations, meals and other expenses, the N.W.T. government paid around $21,000 to send three delegates, including the minister and deputy minister, to the conference, though "the exact accounting is still being processed."

Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart said he would support travel to promote resource development in the territory, but not until the N.W.T. has a solid regulatory regime in place.

The 18th Legislative Assembly passed the Mineral Resources Act in 2019, promising it would modernize mineral resource regulation and ensure the territory benefits from resource wealth for generations to come.