Surprise! Industry minister quietly folds N.W.T. mining advisory board

The N.W.T.'s minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment (ITI) says he has disbanded the Mining Industry Advisory Board, agroup of industry people who gave his departmentstrategic adviceon mining policy.

Minister Wally Schumann, who inherited the ITI portfolio from Premier Bob McLeodlast September, made the surprise announcement in the legislative assembly on Friday.

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"One of the first things I did was actually put a pause and disbanded the board for now," he said.

"I've met with them since then but not as a board but as individuals, and moving forward andgetting their advice I will continue to look at how this board operates and how it suits the mineral developmentstrategy moving foward."

On Friday afternoon,Deborah Archibald, assistant deputy minister of ITI's Mineral and Petroleum Resources division, provided CBC News with more details.

"The Mining Industry Advisory Board was disbanded in October 2016 in order to review the structure, rolesand responsibilities of the board," she said.

"We look forward to determining what will work best for the minister and board on a continuing basis and are pleased to do so to best manage the fortunes of our territory's largest industry."

Concern about conflict of interest

Schumann's news which comes as a surprise to the N.W.T. and Nunavut Chamber of Mines came in response to a question from Frame Lake MLA Kevin O'Reilly.

O'Reillybrought up the recent news that the department will extend itsWork Credit Program for another two years to April 2019.

Under the program which was originallyrecommended by the advisory board the credit or value of mineral exploration work conducted by companies is multiplied by 1.5. That means companies need to spend less money to keep their claims in good standingthan before the program was in place.

"We still need to come over the perceptionof the N.W.T.being a difficultplace to do businessand this is one of the avenues that we can see where we can attract investment," said Schumann in defence of the program.

O'Reilly replied, "There's a potential for conflict of interest when a mineral industry advisory boardprovides advice to the ministergenerally or in the specific case of the Work Credit Program.

"What is the minister prepared to do to deal with this issue of potential for conflict of interest to provide improved transparency around recommendations he gets from this board?"

That's when Schumann dropped the news about the board.

"Well, that certainly comes as a surprise!" said O'Reilly, whoflasheda big grin and thumbs-up sign after Schumann said he'd love to hear hisadvice on the board's future.

Positions now vacant

Former ITI minister Dave Ramsayannounced the board and appointed members to it for one-year terms in early 2015. The board was to meet twice a year.

The original members were:

• Brendan Bell, CEO of Dominion DiamondCorporation (chair)
• Darrel Beaulieu of DEMCo Limited Partnership
• Rod Brown of Discovery Mining Services
• Leni Keough of Olivut Resources of Hinton, Alta.
• Don Bubar of Avalon Rare Metals of Toronto
• John Kearney of Canadian Zinc of Toronto

The government's web page forthe board cites renumeration of $250 a day for members and $300 a day for the chair.

But Brown told CBC News members of the board were not paid.

The same pagenow lists all those positions as vacant, and Schumann did not say for how long the board might remain "on pause."

O'Reilly encouraged Schumann to follow in the footsteps of Yukon, which posts annual reports including recommendations of its minerals advisory board online.