News Releases
New Program to Assist Local Governments in the NWT
YELLOWKNIFE (May 12, 2010) – A new program under the Public Service Capacity for Local Governments Initiative will be launched at the upcoming NWT Association of Communities (NWTAC) Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Hay River from May 13-16, 2010.
Through the Public Service Capacity for Local Governments Initiative, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA), the Department of Human Resources, the Northwest Territories Association of Communities (NWTAC) and the Local Government Administrators of the Northwest Territories (LGANT) are implementing a series of programs and services to address challenges in the area of recruitment and retention of key senior administrative staff.
The new program being launched at the AGM is the Advancing Local Government Administrator Program (ALGAP). With ALGAP, 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.
“Local governments in the Northwest Territories have undergone a significant evolution and transformation in a relatively short period of time,” said Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs Robert C. McLeod. “As a result, the skill set required to manage a local government has expanded significantly and at this point, many NWT community governments are struggling to recruit and retain competent administrators. This initiative is intended to provide community governments with targeted funding to address this challenge.”
“Partnering with community and Aboriginal governments to build capacity at all levels of government is a priority of the Government of the Northwest Territories,” said Minister of Human Resources Bob McLeod. “In addition to the programs currently being launched, the GNWT is actively promoting and supporting secondments of employees to and from the GNWT with community and Aboriginal governments. To support this initiative, links to employment opportunities with both community and Aboriginal governments on the GNWT’s Employment Opportunity Website are currently being developed.”
“We are excited that a number of these programs will be launched at our AGM in Hay River,” says NWTAC President Gordon Van Tighem. “The NWTAC, LGANT, and the GNWT continue to be proactive in addressing the issue of human resource capacity that all Local Governments within the Territory, and across the country, are struggling with. It is through these types of collaborative efforts that we aim to increase capacity and strengthen training of administrators ultimately leading to stronger, healthier communities across the north.”
“Employee retention and recruitment of Local Government Administrators (LGA) is critical to the long term health and success of our community governments. Effective strategies to retain well-trained and effective LGAs can be the single biggest cost savings and advantage a community government and the GNWT can have,” says LGANT President John McKee. “Working together - we are 33 Strong in the NWT!”
Other initiatives launched to date include Good Governance training for elected leaders; human resources contracted services; national job postings; and a new website with information on all of the programs at www.33strong.com
The Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to Refocusing Government by investing in initiatives that strengthen human resource recruitment and retention activities, and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of government operations. Refocusing Government is a key component of the 16th Legislative Assembly’s vision of Northerners Working Together.
A copy of the NWTAC Annual General Meeting agenda can be viewed at www.nwtac.com.
For more information, please contact:
Rebecca Alty
Communications/Website Advisor
Municipal and Community Affairs
Tel: (867) 920-3092
Brian Desjardins
Executive Director
Local Government Administrators of the NWT
Tel: (867) 765-5630
Gordon Ross
Communications and Policy Coordinator
NWT Association of Communities
Tel: (867) 873-8359
