Mr. Speaker, I have a return to Written Question 16-18(2) asked by Mr. O'Reilly to the Honourable Bob McLeod, Premier, on January 31, 2017, regarding the Cabinet's November 2106 trip to Ottawa. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Can the Premier provide a list of all GNWT Ministers and staff that travelled to Ottawa for the meetings and:

1. Total costs of travel, including transportation showing air travel by executive versus economy class, accommodation expense and associated allowances;

2. Any related contract costs for the trip, particularly costs of lobbyist support, including contracted services,organizational research, presentation preparation and writing services;

3. A description of hospitality events, including the costs and numbers and names of persons attending; and,

4. Procedures in place to track and report on accomplishments resulting from trip activities.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to advise this House that seven Ministers and 15 staff were in Ottawa at the time of the meetings with the Federal government. While attendance at the Federal meetings may not have been the primary reason for travelling to Ottawa, all seven Ministers and 15 staff did attend one or more events at these meetings. Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table a listing of the Ministers and staff who were in attendance.

Total cost of travel for these 22 participants is $32,407.68. All travel was economy class, except for eight legs of travel which was on business class, which is allowable as per directive 4.8.5 c. of the Financial Administration Act.

Participants' accommodations costs varied by lengths of stay, but are estimated at a total $38,900.03 for the 22 participants. Other expenses for the 22 participants such as meals and incidentals totalled $13,509.09. No allowances were paid.

There were no lobbyists or consultants engaged in the planning or coordination of this trip.

The hospitality event hosted by the Government of the Northwest Territories was a lunch presentation, totalling $576.74 for the members of the Liberal Indigenous Caucus on the importance of recognizing the unique and respectful relationship the GNWT is committed to with its NWT Aboriginal government partners.

Promoting awareness of Northwest Territories priorities and advocating for interests on the national and international stage is an ongoing responsibility that Ministers and staff undertake by participating in a range of events, including meetings with other government leaders and dignitaries, representing the NWT at Federal-Provincial-Territorial meetings 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.

Following our trip to Ottawa the federal government announced $20 million dollars in funding for the Canyon Creek road, as well as $60 million dollars for the Whati all-weather road. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.