Good afternoon, Colleagues. Today, I am going to recognize another long serving member of the public service, Mr. Gary Schauerte. Some of you have known him as the younger brother of Doug Schauerte, a former clerk of this House. I realize that I am not going to get everything said in the next two and half minutes about him so I'm just going to start.
Gary started his career with the GNWT way back in 1987 where he worked for the department of personnel for the summer.
In true Gary fashion, he had a goal to work for Municipal and Community Affairs sport and recreation division, and his pursuit of a kinesiology degree was deliberate. His hard work paid off in 1997 when, following graduation, Gary began his time with the sport and rec division. This is where I got to know him. Unfortunately, he was the new kid on the block and before you knew it, his nickname was The Rookie even though he had ten years of government experience under his belt.
After five years in the sport and recreation division as an advisor, Gary assumed the manager's role. It was in the manager role where Gary supported several projects and programs which continue to have positive impacts on the residents of the NWT. Some of these include:
Dene and Inuit Games cultural and coaching resources;
2019 Western Canada Lottery Act;
2010 Olympic and Paralympic projects; and,
Youth Ambassador Program
Although there are many notable memories of his time in the sport and rec youth division, attending the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Vancouver as part of the Canadian Northern House was a highlight.
Through his career, the NWT proudly offered daily demonstrations of Arctic sports and Dene games which drew large crowds and long line-ups of people who wanted to enter the Canadian Northern House to watch. Shortly after returning from the Olympics, Gary started to show an interest in pursuing new opportunities and the director of corporate affairs at the time, convincing Gary to take on the manager of policy position.
Being respectful of the time, I will ask the next part of my statement be demeaned as read and print in the Hansards.
I would like to thank Laura Gareau for sharing this next part of Gary's career.
In 2012, Gary accepted the Director of Corporate Affairs position given his strong knowledge of the department's programs and services, and corporate affairs processes.
Some of MACA's successful initiatives that were supported by Gary during his time in Corporate Affairs, include:
Amendments to legislation: The Dog Act, the Emergency Management Act, and the city, Towns and Villages Act;
Devolution and the transfer of functions and employees to the Department of Lands; and,
Supporting the early onset of the GNWT's response to COVID-19.
After several years working in Corporate Affairs, Gary moved to the Director Sport recreation and Youth position he was just barely in that position when Laura first started at deputy minister in May 2021 and, what did she do, but ask him to come back to the Corporate position to help with the response to the 2021 flood.
Gary has always gone the extra mile in our lengthy time working together, but I really want to thank him for the support, both professional and personal, he provided to me when I was a new DM and working on such a challenging file.
In her speech, she spoken only about some of the highlights of Gary's career. There are many, many others, including being the recipient of two Premier's Awards: One for the 2009 Youth Ambassador Program, and the second for his role on the 2011 Royal Visit Team.
She spoken a lot about Gary's work, but she spoke about Gary the person and understand the two are hard to separate. What makes Gary such a great person also made him the employee he is or was.
Gary took his job as a public servant very seriously and undertook his work with professionalism.
No matter how big or small the issue, Gary had a real passion for his work, and the work of the GNWT, and was strongly committed both to the department achieving its goals, and to the work the department does to support its clients.
There is no one who was more committed to supporting the department. He was a strong defender of it, and a strong contributor to making MACA what a great department it is.
On a personal note, she spoke about the outstanding support Gary provided to her in various roles in MACA. She always knew that Gary had her back and there is no more loyal co-worker or friend to be had.
She went on to thank him for always being the first to make the team laugh to help lighten a heavy load or help make a tough situation better.
She thanked him for the example he set for her, and so many others, about how to approach the work with professionalism and commitment.
As well, she thanked him for his passion, loyalty, and support for the work they did and for his many years of public service.
Like most good stories, there was always others that would say nice things about you. I would like to add Dave Earle's comments:
One thing that I think really deserves mentioning is Gary's dedication to the GNWT and MACA, his drive and desire to serve the residents of the NWT far exceeds anyone I've ever met in government. As he climbed the corporate ladder, I watched him devote countless hours in the office, weekends, evenings and to the detriment of his own personal and family time, he put his tasks with MACA first. Tina, Katie, and Matthew deserve recognition for standing by his side and supporting him through his desire to achieve excellence in the work he was so passionate about.
As a colleague, he could be difficult to work with at times, he pushed to get his decisions through and always stuck to his priorities. While he was firm in his stance on everything, the results in the end were always positive and Gary was a major part of that. He was able to see the bigger picture in ways that others couldn't.
As a supervisor Gary was incredibly supportive of all his staff, provided praise and recognition for efforts and worked through tasks as part of a team, he truly is great leader. He took great pride in organizing staff events to recognize the hard work of staff, notably the SMC Christmas breakfast where he would be up making bacon at 3am to be sure he had enough for all employees. At the end of every session, Gary would provide a lunch for all Corporate Affairs staff which he covered personally to recognise the extra effort everyone put in during the months leading up.
Gary worked for, earned and deserved every role he held as he advanced his career, and his accomplishments were nothing but exemplary. The positions Gary held have been his identity for the last 35 years, and I know there's a big hole left in his life now that he is no longer working for MACA.
Colleagues in closing, there is not enough time to recognize his 35 years, so I am going to say: "MACA has been so lucky to have had you these past many years, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Colleagues, I'd like to thank Gary for his time. For the residents, he's done a great job. Thank you very much.
