Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to provide my colleagues with an update on implementation activities related to the Public Service Capacity Initiative.
This initiative includes a series of programs, all intended to strengthen and support the capacity of local government administrators as well as the leadership and governance capacity of mayors, chiefs and councillors so that they can provide effective direction and support to their staff.
Municipal and Community Affairs is leading the work on this initiative in full partnership with the Department of Human Resources, as well as the Northwest Territories Association of Communities and the Local Government Administrators of the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, the largest program under the initiative is the Advancing Local Government Administrators Program, and I am pleased to announce that this program will be formally launched at the upcoming Northwest Territories Association of Communities Annual General Meeting being held May 13 to 16 in Hay River.
With the Advancing Local Government Administrators Program, community governments can apply for up to two years of funding to support either a trainee or mentor for their senior administrator position, depending on the current needs of the local government. Using funding available in 2009-2010, seven community governments are piloting this program already.
Retention and recruitment of the local government administrator position is critical to the long-term health and success of community governments and the Advancing Local Government Administrators Program is designed to ensure that community governments have ongoing support, tools and resources to assist with attracting and maintaining staff in this key position.
Mr. Speaker, another initiative that was started in 2009-2010 is the Good Governance training for elected leaders. This program was successfully piloted last year by the School of Community Government, and a total of 29 Good Governance workshops were hosted in 26 communities with 425 community government personnel in attendance. The Good Governance training is now offered to every newly elected council on an ongoing basis so that councillors can obtain a common knowledge base around roles and responsibilities, especially in relationship to their local government administrator. This year’s NWTAC AGM is featuring a full day of training and information related to Good Governance.
Professional development workshops are also being held to build the skills and expertise of administrators. The first professional development workshop was held in 2009 to coincide with the Local Government Administrators of the Northwest Territories Annual General Meeting. Future AGMS of LGANT will continue to feature a professional development component for local government administrators, all with the general theme of recruitment and retention challenges in local governments.
Mr. Speaker, a wide variety of promotional materials have been developed, including brochures and information on LGANT’s website; a video featuring council-administrator engagement is planned for 2010-2010. A marketing strategy has also been developed to assist with recruitment and retention initiatives at the local government level. A common look and feel is featured in all the promotional materials related to the Public Service Capacity Initiative and I encourage all my colleagues to view the new website at www.33strong.com that is being launched at this year’s NWTAC AGM. The promotional material is targeted primarily to Northerners, to encourage them to consider the interesting and challenging work opportunities available in local government in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, while there has been a significant amount of work done to date on the Public Service Capacity Initiative, there is still more work to do. I look forward to providing you with information on the Public Service Capacity Initiative as this program progress. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Deputy Premier, Mr. Miltenberger.
