MLAs put Nunavut Tourism budget under the microscope

Nunavut Tourism board chair Adamie Sakeeta, left, and Colleen Dupuis, CEO of Nunavut Tourism, take questions from the standing committee on oversight of government operations and public accounts June 3 at the Nunavut legislature. (PHOTO BY DAVID MURPHY)

Nunavut Tourism’s budget has increased 70 per cent for this fiscal year — and members of the legislative assembly want to know why.

The legislative standing committee on oversight of government operations and public accounts grilled Nunavut Tourism’s CEO, Colleen Dupuis, on the extra $1.28 million going towards its 2015-2016 budget.

That increase brings the organization’s budget to $3.08 million for this fiscal year.

The largest chunk of that new money — $500,000 — is going towards promoting the territory to the rest of Canada “as an awareness campaign of Nunavut as a territory — not tourism,” Dupuis said.

“This will not be aimed at just attracting tourists to the territory,” she added.

“It will be similar to the campaign done by the Government of Nunavut tied to the Olympics on, sort-of, work-live-invest,” Dupuis said.

Another big chunk, $350,000, is going to pay for “product development workshops” and training activities to help Nunavut businesses grow.

“The workshops will be someone coming to us with an idea of a new whale watching product in Pond Inlet, for example,” Dupuis said.

“And we would work with them to develop how that product, what they need to do to get that ready to sell to the customer.”

That’s all designed so Nunavut businesses win out, she said.

“The goal of that $350,000 is to work with Nunavut-based businesses and have them have more product available so that they are selling the bigger package — that they are not just being hired by some of the southern based companies as guides. Which is unfortunately the case right now.”

“And we would like to see them being the ones to deliver the bigger package, they’re delivering the floe edge trip — not working as assistants on a floe edge trip.”

Dupuis said the rest of the money is going towards salaries for two new staff positions, an increase in its insurance budget, travel expenses and general operations such as rent.

This is the first time Nunavut Tourism officials have faced a standing committee since a scathing article by Nunavut News/North that reported Nunavut Tourism paid $70,000 in 2014 for seven minutes of television air time on the Life Time Network channel in Florida.

The article also raised questions about why Dupuis’s husband flew to Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics on Nunavut’s dime, when he wasn’t associated with Nunavut Tourism.

Hudson Bay MLA Allan Rumbolt asked why the 2013-2014 annual report doesn’t have a detailed breakdown of travel expenditures.

“The travel expenditures for the CEO are for particular national meetings or national tourism events,” Dupuis said.

“That is something we can look at if you like for the 2014-2015 annual report, but that is always the way it has been done in the past,” she said.

The standing committee review of Nunavut Tourism continues today, June 4.

Dupuis says she plans on retiring from the CEO position this year.

Nunavut Tourism is a not-for-profit industry association whose members include various businesses involved in the travel industry, such as hotels and outfitters.

They’re funded by grants from government and by membership fees.