Regina city manager joined Mayor Sandra Masters in COP28 delegation

City manager Niki Anderson accompanied Mayor Sandra Masters as the City of Regina's representatives on the government of Saskatchewan's delegation to an overseas global climate change conference, the city confirms.

The Saskatchewan government spent $765,000 on a pavilion space at the United Nations' COP28 climate change conference, currently underway in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 

The government also spent $283,000 in advertising for the trip to the conference, which includes the participation of 55 organizations and companies. 

In a statement, a spokesperson for the city said a public announcement about the city manager's participation was not deemed necessary after it had already been "widely reported that the City of Regina had been invited by Economic Development Regina to participate in this mission." 

In a Nov. 11 interview on CBC's The Morning Edition, Masters said she was not certain if other officials from the city would be joining her at the conference.

She stressed that if other officials came, they would be there in order to communicate Regina's investment in "capture of methane gas to convert to energy or investigating geothermal," a reference to the city's plans for a geothermal heating facility at its planned aquatic centre. 

Masters also said the goal of the trip was to advocate for the City of Regina, discover new technologies that could be useful at the municipal level and "show ourselves as a natural and preferred home for climate-friendly production of food and fuel and fertilizer, and for investment."

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Economic Development Regina said that the possibility of participation from an official from city administration, preferably the city manager, was raised in early November "as part of broader discussions around the city's role at the conference."

"The city manager's schedule and availability for the mission factored into when she was able to confirm her participation," a spokesperson for the arm's-length development agency said in a statement. 

The spokesperson did not give a specific date for when the invitation was extended to Anderson. 

Economic Development's budget for the trip is between $25,000 and $35,000, although a complete total cost of the trip will not be known until all the work is done. 

"All costs associated with EDR's participation in the mission will be the sole responsibility of EDR, which has multiple funding agreements with multiple levels of government that enable this work," the spokesperson wrote.