Mr. Speaker, earlier today I had the opportunity to recognize award recipients within the Government of the Northwest Territories and their collaborative partners from outside the public service with the Premier’s Awards for Excellence and Collaboration in a ceremony in the Great Hall of the Legislative Assembly.
These innovative, engaged staff are essential in providing the best possible service to the people of the Northwest Territories, and I am pleased to announce the recipients of the 2015 Premier’s Awards.
Award for Excellence – Individuals:
• Dr. Sarah Cook with the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority.
Award for Excellence - Employee Teams:
• The Government of the Northwest Territories Deline Final Self-Government Agreement Ratification Team; the Incident-free Highway 3 Forest Fire Traffic Management 2014 Team; the Wellness Court Program Implementation Team; and the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Optic Link Project Development Team.
Award for Collaboration:
• The Lutselk’e Dictionary Project; and the Education Renewal Innovation Education Partners.
Dave Ramsden Career Achievement Award:
• Sabrina Broadhead with the Department of Health and Social Services.
Government service officers from across the Northwest Territories were also recognized for the
important work they do in providing day-to-day services to our residents in the communities. Recently they, as part of the Single Window Service Centre model, were the recipients of the Bronze Award in the Federal/Provincial/Territorial category of the national IPAC/Deloitte Public Sector Leadership Award for 2014.
Also presented this morning was the Commissioner’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration. This new award was created by the Northwest Territories Regional Group of IPAC, with the Commissioner as its patron. Each year it will recognize a public sector practitioner whose career exhibits the highest standard of excellence, dedication and accomplishment. The first-ever recipient of this award was the deputy minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Peter Vician. Thank you to IPAC NWT for establishing this new award celebrating excellence in public service and for recognizing a very deserving recipient.
Mr. Speaker, as we near the end of our term, I invite Members to join with me in thanking our public service employees for a job well done. Their energy, drive and commitment to implement and achieve our priorities are evident throughout the entire public service and together we have accomplished much. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.