Mayor Tim Johnston has removed himself from a trip to Toronto for the Prospectors and Developers of Canada (PDAC) International Convention.

The trip that was slated to run a bill of $11,280.49 for Johnston, Coun. Charlene Lafreniere and city manager Gary Ceppetelli drew some backlash from other councillors when the resolution was brought forth at a Jan. 30 city council meeting.

Johnston had agreed that he would only be making the trip if outside funding could be found, and as of Feb. 13, none had been raised.

“As I promised, if we couldn't get funding to support one position I wouldn't be going, and I won't be going,” said Johnston, “it's unfortunate, I think there are opportunities there, but not the opportunities that we identified.”

In light of the Thompson Economic Diversification Working Group (TEDWG) process, Ceppetelli will not be traveling either, though his travel expenses would have come from his own budget.

Coun. Charlene Lafreniere is still likely to travel on behalf of TEDWG, if she is available.

Johnston, while true to his word, was disappointed at an opportunity missed, especially with the timing, regarding the city's troubling census drop.

“In so many ways we hurt ourselves, PDAC was an opportunity,” said Johnston, “to see ourselves drop 600 (in population), there's an opportunity now that we had better be out promoting Thompson and bringing in any jobs that we can at any time.”