Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 27/02) - Five councillors will represent Yellowknife at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference.

In a 5-2 vote, council voted last night to increase the number of attending the conference in Hamilton, Ont., May 31-June 3. Coun. Robert Hawkins abstained.

The motion overrides an earlier decision to only send four delegates to the conference, at a cost of $14,598, or $3,598 per councillor. Council has a $45,000 travel budget for 2002.

The problem arose two weeks ago when five people said they wanted to go. The ensuing recommendation was to increase the contingent to five. Councillors Kevin O'Reilly, Ben McDonald, Dave McCann, Robert Hawkins and Wendy Bisaro will represent the city at the conference. Coun. Blake Lyons is also attending, his trip paid for by the NWT Association of Municipalities.

Coun. Dave Ramsay Ramsay accused some councillors of piggy-backing personal vacations on city-funded airfares. "As much as we might not want to admit it, (location) does have a bearing on whether people want to go or not," he said.

Recent conferences have been held in Halifax, N.S., and Banff, Atla.

It was a suggestion that McDonald and O'Reilly denied.

"Attending these conferences is not only about receiving information. It's about being there and having attitudes changed," said McDonald. "If members of council had the opportunity to grow in the same way that everyone else who attends these meetings, there's a good possibility that we would have a better-run city."

"This is like packing our toolkit," said Hawkins. "You go to a job, you bring the right tools."

Ramsay and Coun. Alan Woytuik argued that councillors could learn just as much by reading reports written by those who went.

"I don't buy the argument that you learn something new every year," said Ramsay.