Report on Annual Expenditures for Travel, Hospitality and Conferences

As required by the Treasury Board Directive on the Management of Expenditures on Travel, Hospitality Conferences and Event Expenditures, this report provides information on the total annual expenditures for each of travel, hospitality and conferences for the Northern Pipeline Agency (NPA) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013. It also provides the variance explanations from the previous fiscal year in each of these areas.

This information is updated annually and does not contain information withheld under the Access to Information Act or the Privacy Act.

Expenditures on travel, hospitality and conferences incurred by NPA support its mandate and the government’s priorities.

The NPA was created by the Northern Pipeline Act (the Act) in 1978 to carry out Canada’s responsibilities in respect of the planning and construction (by Foothills, now owned by TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. or TCPL) of the Canadian portion of the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System (ANGTS), or as it is known today, the Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline project (AHGP). The first stage (the southern portion) of the AHGP was constructed in the early 1980s for the initial purpose of transporting gas sourced from Western Canada to the U.S. Stage Two of the AHGP in Canada would comprise approximately 1,555 km of pipeline from the Yukon-Alaska border near Beaver Creek to the British Columbia-Alberta border near Boundary Lake, as defined by the National Energy Board Act (NEBA) certificates granted under the Act.

On March 30, 2012, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, BP and TCPL, announced that they are now working to assess a liquefied natural gas export project from south-central Alaska as an alternative to the AHGP. TCPL however, continues to maintain its AHGP assets while reducing project activities. In 2012-13, the NPA worked with TCPL, other federal agencies, the government of the United States, provincial and territorial governments, Aboriginal organizations and the public, to meet the objectives of the Act and the Agreement Between Canada And The United States Of America On Principles Applicable To A Northern Natural Gas Pipeline (Agreement) and preserve work done to date on the Canadian section of the AHGP.

For more information on NPA Plans and Priorities, see the 2012-13 Report on Plans and Priorities.

Total annual expenditures on Travel, Hospitality and Conferences for the NPA are summarized below:

Expenditure Category	Expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2013 (a) (in thousands of dollars)	Expenditures for the previous year ending March 31, 2012 (b) (in thousands of dollars)	Variance (a – b) (in thousands of dollars)
Travel – Public Servants	$55	$113	($58)
Travel – Non-Public Servants	-	-	-
International Travel by Minister and Minister’s Staff	-	-	-
Total Travel	$55	$113	($58)
Hospitality	-	-	-
Conference Fees	$2	-	$2
TOTAL	$57	$113	($56)

Significant variances compared to the previous fiscal year

TRAVEL:

A. Public Servants: The NPA spent $55 thousand in fiscal year 2012-13. This represents a year-to-year decrease of $58 thousand, or 51%, and due to reduced consultation and engagement activities with Aboriginal groups and other levels of government.

B. Conference Fees: The NPA spent $2 thousand for conference fees in fiscal year 2012-13 compared to $0 in 2011-12. This increase was related to modernizing information management and knowledge management best practices.