Thank you, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to make a few comments. First of all, with regard to the question of due process, we mentioned it yesterday that committee was offered briefings on three occasions but chose not to take advantage of them. The last letter that we sent was December 18th . There was no response
from committee as to the feedback and the response to the previous correspondence.
Communications in the public sector is about ensuring that citizens have access to their government. It means providing them with information they need to access programs and services and to benefit from the work government does. Communications is also about providing services to each of your constituents. Effective and strategic communications will deliver the right information to our communities in timely and relevant ways. Public sector communications is also about getting clear, accessible authorities’ information to residents during emergencies, and an organized, strategic approach to the use of social media is one example of how these positions will bring effectiveness to the role of GNWT communicators.
You may recall when we had a blackout around New Year’s. There was a lot of criticism that we didn’t use more social media. We want to bring our communications efforts up to modern realities. Also, last year’s fire season is a perfect example of how social media could work for us. Twitter and Facebook played an important role in notifying residents instantly, and this can and should become the standard practice of other departments, other issues, other information.
As a government, we are still in the dark ages when it comes to the use of social media. We did not have the resources to standardize and manage this well, as was pointed out in the after action reviews that recently came out. Using radio, television and newspapers to build awareness about important services is important. Reaching out to citizens through online surveys to hear their thoughts on new policies and programs or regulations will help us immensely. Ensuring that our tourism and economic opportunities are shared nationally and internationally will benefit from these additional resources. Helping citizens understand the regulatory system in the Northwest Territories and opportunities for participation is important. We also have about 20 GSOs in the communities that we use to pass information on to their clientele, and these additional resources would improve those services in those areas.