Views and Speeches

NWT Chamber of Mines
Board of Directors Meeting
October 27, 2000, Chamber Board Room


President Jim Excell in the Chair.

Directors present: Jim Excell, Rod Brown, Todd McKinlay, Mike Byrne, John McConnell, Peter Le Mare, Gord Clarke, and Darrell Beaulieu. Eira Thomas and Bill Danyluk by teleconference.

Call to Order: Jim Excell called the meeting to order at 1:15 PM.

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting of September 29, 2000 were adopted.
Moved by John McConnell. Seconded by Gord Clark. Carried.

No new business arising from last minutes.

No formal agenda was presented. Two matters of business for this meeting:

  1. Nominating committee results
  2. Nunavut Chamber of Mines issue

Financial Statements were not reviewed as they had been considered at the meeting of September 29.

(1) Nominating Committee results:
John McConnell, Jim Excell and Peter Le Mare, as the Nominating Committee, have a proposed slate, which would make a total of 16 board members.

  • Henry Murzyn of Nishi-Khon / SNC Lavalin Ltd.,
  • Bernadette Stewart of Braden-Burry Expediting,
  • Trevor Teed, independent prospector,
  • Tom Hoefer of Diavik Diamond Mines.
  • Todd McKinlay has agreed to stay standing as Treasurer. Rod Brown has agreed to stay standing as secretary. Jim Excell has agreed to stay standing a President.
  • John McConnell has agreed to step in as Vice-President.

No other nominations were brought forward at this time.

(2) Nunavut Chamber of Mines:
Prior to this board meeting, Steven Quinn of Miramar Mining Corporation presented to Mike Vaydik, a proposal indicating the urgent need for a Nunavut Chamber of Mines. Two meetings, one in Vancouver and one in Toronto, were the basis of this proposal which indicates the need for the mining industry in Nunavut to have proper representation. Steven Quinn has indicated he has spoken to 30-40 mining companies, which feel this move is necessary, and needs to be acted upon immediately. Mr. Quinn joined in the board meeting via telephone conference call at 2:00pm.

The following points related to the Nunavut Chamber of Mines proposal were brought forth at the board meeting:

  1. The cost of running a Nunavut Chamber of Mines with no affiliation to the NWT Chamber of Mines is very high. This would involve hiring and paying at least two individuals and renting space etc. The figure of $54,000 proposed was felt to be inadequate to properly fund an office and staff in Nunavut.
  2. Current members working in the NWT, who are working in Nunavut as well, would be asked to pay approximately double the amount in membership fees.
  3. The proposal suggests that the NWT Chamber of Mines receives yearly grants totaling $70,000 to $80,000. This is not the case. In the past, the NWT government gave an annual $25,000 grant, but this was discontinued three years ago. The Chamber now receives no grants from any source.
  4. The NWT Chamber of Mines has recently gone through two very lean years financially, mainly due to the cyclical nature of the exploration business. It continues to get by on a very tight budget and with a minimum of staff. To take on more financial commitments at this stage would not be sustainable unless new revenue sources were identified. It has taken many years to become established and the board recognized the need to move cautiously, at the same time acknowledging the need to better respond to Nunavut issues and service requirements.
  5. The high cost of travel in Nunavut was recognized as a problem and tended to make it very costly for members to travel to meetings there. Bill Danyluk offered to hold some meetings at Lupin Mine. This would allow the meetings to be held at a Nunavut operating location at no cost to the members.
  6. The North cannot support too many organizations. Concerns were raised that we might not even be funding the one Chamber of Mines we have sufficiently to the job we expect of it, without adding another organization. It would be better to pull together as one organization that has sufficient resources than split our efforts at this time. Yellowknife has long been the center of the northern mining industry and will have to recognize a changing role with the formation of Nunavut. We need to recognize Nunavut and build Nunavut ownership and commitment to our industry.

Taking these points into consideration, how could we approach this proposal?

  1. Single Chamber with two names, two letterheads, two identities.
  2. Single Chamber with name recognizing NWT and Nunavut.
  3. An umbrella organization with 3 territorial components: NWT, Nunavut and Yukon, Maybe Arctic Chamber of Mines.


The following conclusions were made at the meeting:

  1. A single Chamber with two identities would not work.
  2. We should not consider taking the Yukon Chamber of Mines into our organization as it has different needs at this time.
  3. A single Chamber recognizing both territories would work, but would need to take points into consideration that Nunavut wants an identity of its own. Therefore, it was decided that a fourth alternative should be considered, in that a Nunavut caucus of the existing Chamber could be formed to represent the Nunavut territory mining industry.
  4. Increase the number of board members, to include more from Nunavut mining and business organizations, not just the mine managers. Also, split the current position of vice-president into vice-president of NWT and vice-president of Nunavut. This would signify clearly that there was a Nunavut caucus and more Nunavut representation. The Nunavut V.P. should permanently reside in Nunavut and would be closely aligned with the industry and accessible to government. We need to approach an individual to take on this role.
  5. Name change to represent both territories. The constitution was changed at the last Annual General Meeting, in November 1999, to include the territory of Nunavut, but the name of the organization has not been changed. Proposals for the name change, including "NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines", will be presented at the meeting to be held at the Nunavut Mining Symposium in Rankin Inlet and then presented for ratification at the Annual General Meeting of the NWT Chamber of Mines on November 23rd, 2000 in Yellowknife.
  6. Some felt the need to establish a Nunavut address where people feel they can reach easily, and not have all contact with the Yellowknife office. Others felt that was not critical at this time but was a logical outgrowth as funding permits.
  7. A meeting will be held at the Nunavut Mining Symposium in Rankin Inlet, to discuss these points and concerns. A conference call will be set up for those directors who cannot attend in person. Nunavut members are asked to lobby Nunavut ministers present at the Symposium to ask for their support and contributions with respect to forming a Nunavut caucus and particularly for establishing a physical presence in Nunavut. This information will be carried over for voting at the AGM in Yellowknife in November.

Adjournment: Moved by Mike Byrne. The meeting adjourned at 3:05 PM.

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