Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Lands’ inspection services are essential for responsible and sustainable development in the NWT. Their success hinges on building the capacity of the inspections program through training and professional development planning. Inspections services help companies comply with relevant legislation and meet the specific terms and conditions set out in authorizations issued by the department and NWT land and water boards.
In establishing the Department of Lands, a key consideration was a made-in-the-NWT approach to the inspections process, one that would respond to the 17th Legislative Assembly’s decentralization
priorities: building capacity in regional centres and communities.
With resources approved by this government, a training and development program for entry-level resource management officers, or inspectors, is now complete and ready for implementation. I expect that the recruitment process will be concluded this spring.
This program will establish five new resource management officer positions, one to serve each region. These entry-level positions are targeted to provide opportunities at the community level.
This means that individuals with land-based skills can continue to use those skills in the resource management field as inspectors. The length of training may vary with each candidate, depending on the education and experience of the candidate.
A fully trained candidate will have the minimum qualifications for an RMO II position and will have future opportunities for career advancement within the GNWT. These resource management officer positions, along with other resource management and superintendent positions, open career paths and succession planning opportunities for this department.
This is a new structure, one that builds capacity, and one that enables Lands to further support the Aboriginal employment and regional recruitment strategies and priorities of this government. Thank You, Mr. Speaker.