On April 14 and 15, the halls at the Yellowknife Inn will witness the gathering of businesses to elect members to the NWT Chamber of Commerce and enjoy a business networking opportunity.

While it is the official Annual General Meeting of the Northwest Territories Chamber of Commerce, the two days will bring together many business leaders, government officials and experts from specific areas of business from throughout the Northwest Territories, Alberta and beyond.

From the breakfast on April 14 to the closing luncheon the following day, there will be a parade of speakers and panelists who are sure to provide invaluable information for the delegates.

The NWT Chamber of Commerce specifically chose Yellowknife as the host city for the event to coincide with the National Energy Board hearings on the Mackenzie Gas Project. With the combination of the hearings and the cast of speakers at our event, we are sure to have something for everyone.

From the City of Yellowknife, Mayor van Tighem will be bringing greetings from the city and Patrick Doyle, President of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, will be highlighting some of the upcoming events at the Chamber.

With the Mackenzie Valley pipeline fresh on everyone's mind, we will hear from Randy Ottenbreit, from the Mackenzie Gas Project Imperial Oil Resources team and Bob Reid, the president of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group.

Both will be offering updates from their respective areas to the delegates. Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Honourable Bob McLeod and Deputy Minister Peter Vician will provide updates, on various initiatives and an Economic Forecast. Grand Chief Samuel Gargan - Dehcho First Nations and Darrell Beaulieu, president and CEO of Denendeh Investments Inc. will address delegates at the April 15 breakfast.

A panel discussion will be held to discuss the Regulatory Regime Reforms in the NWT. The panelists include John Kearney, President and CEO of Canadian Zinc and President of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines, Willard Hagen, the Chair of the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, Stephen Traynor, a Director for Indian and Northern Affairs and Paula Isaac, Director General of the Natural Resources and Environment Branch of Indian and Northern Affairs.

The keynote speaker at the President's Dinner will be Neil McCrank, the author of Road to Improvement, "The Review of the Regulatory Systems Across the North." As we believe Mr. McCrank's message will be timely and important to our business members and others, we have opened up the President's Dinner to include non NWT Chamber members.

Tickets are $75.00 and are available now by calling 920-9505. We are excited about this two day gathering of business leaders and feel it will be a "must attend event" for anyone who has an interest in the business future of the North.