Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Madam Chair. The feasibility study is scheduled to be completed by March 31st. I’ve had discussions about the early draft that’s out there that’s within the department being worked on by the committee, which includes Health and Social Services, Justice and Education, Culture and Employment are also participating. I’m really close to taking that to Cabinet. Once it’s gone through Cabinet we’ll be bringing it to committee for discussion and about how we move forward, and the exact things the Member is talking about is the discussion we’re going to have to have once we’ve got all the...

I do, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. In the Sahtu, from 2011 to 2012 there was a noticeable increase in activity in the Sahtu. I don’t have the statistics in saying how many of them were alcohol related, but it’s interesting that the increase comes at a time of two things happening in the Sahtu. One, the increased activity, which can be significant, and the other being the changes in the rules around the Norman Wells liquor store. Those two things both happened roughly at the same time, so it’s hard to truly quantify what the increased rate in crime is. We feel that much of it is probably related to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my Return to Written Question 7-17(4), I wish to table the following document, entitled GNWT Positions to Population Ratio as at December 31, 2012.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Currently there is, I believe it was back in 2009ish, an extra position was actually created in Fort McPherson to cover Tsiigehtchic. That position is intended to go into Tsiigehtchic on a regular basis. I understand that we had a community policing plan in place with that community and it hasn’t worked out exactly as the community and the RCMP have planned. I have talked to the commanding officer. The commanding officer is going to Tsiigehtchic on April 9th to meet with the community leadership to discuss the community policing plan that was in place and try to find...

Madam Chair, the department has followed up on the program. There are some challenges. Just as a note, it is very similar to the Aboriginal Community Constable Program. There are some differences here in the Northwest Territories. We don’t have a policing act, so having stand-alone police-type professionals in a community that weren’t under the employment or under the designation of the RCMP would be complicated because of the lack of a policing act. The program had some positive aspects, but there would also be some challenges given our radically different models of policing in Canada...

The government will have a continued involvement in the implementation of any action items that come out of the foundation. I won’t commit to a secretariat, but I will commit that the government will maintain being actively engaged. We will work with our partners as we move forward and we’ll continue to monitor the results. Without seeing the final plan, it’s a little hard to say exactly how that’s done. We expect some recommendations on how to monitor it and move forward with it to actually come from the steering committee as part of the action plan.

The first step is to get the foundation document done, which will be March 31st. That will be available for public distribution at that point. The second step is with the steering committee that’s been established that includes members from the Anti-Poverty Coalition as well as Aboriginal governments and other organizations. We’re going to continue to work with them and our working group to actually pull together a response to the framework which will be our action plan which will identify what things the government and other groups need to do to fight and combat poverty here in the Northwest...

Mr. Speaker, the universal skills required to lead people, champion innovation and manage change are becoming even more important, given the GNWT’s complex and ever-changing work context. These skills combine with our staff’s technical skills and knowledge to make them strong, capable leaders. I am pleased to announce that our new Senior Management Competency Model will guide the development of management expertise within the public service as we work to achieve the 17th Assembly’s vision and goals.

The Senior Management Competency Model provides a description of the patterns of behaviours that...

The Member is right; that is pretty much exactly what we’re going for, which is why we’ve engaged a steering committee that does have Aboriginal government representation as well as NGO engagement. We have been, and I have personally been, sending letters to the different Aboriginal governments and organizations of the Northwest Territories seeking additional input. We had Aboriginal governments involved in the working groups as well. I will continue to do that. We know that is critical. We know we have to engage all of our partners.

With respect to industry, our steering committee does have a...