Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to speak about the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs’ upcoming Good Governance Conference. This year’s conference theme is Community Ownership. The conference will take place at the Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife from February 26th to 28th and 165 participants representing all 33 communities are expected to attend.
Mr. Speaker, our 33 community governments play a vital role in the sustainability and strength of our territory. MACA, through the School of Community Government, continues to support them as they build capacity to address their increased authority.
We promote and support effective governance and program delivery through initiatives such as the Advancing Local Government Administrators Program, the Community Government Mentorship Program, Occupational Certification and the Recreation Leaders Program. We also provide specific training on a wide range of community government-related topics. From April to December 2012, 450 community government staff from 29 communities participated in courses delivered through the School of Community Government.
Building community capacity requires partnerships with stakeholders, including the Northwest Territories Association of Communities, the Local Government Administrators of the NWT, our own Department of Human Resources and community governments themselves.
Strategic investments in capacity building have resulted in programs that meet community governments’ unique needs. The Public Service Capacity Initiative, through which MACA is hosting the upcoming conference, is one example of the type of collaborative program being delivered through the school.
This year’s conference theme of Community Ownership reflects the importance of asset management and community involvement in planning. Sessions will cover a variety of topics and feature some of the foremost experts in the field from the North and across Canada. We will talk about community capacity and how to keep our communities sustainable, vibrant and safe.
I invite all of my fellow Members to attend what is sure to be an informative conference. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
