Premier Caroline Cochrane has appointed William MacKay as Deputy Minister of the Department of Finance and John MacDonald as Deputy Minister of the Department of ECE.
MacKay will join the GNWT from the Government of Nunavut on September 1st. He replaces Sandy Kalgutkar, who indicated his plans to retire earlier this year.
MacDonald moves to ECE this week from the position of Assistant Deputy Minister, Environment and Climate Change with the Department of ENR. He takes over from Rita Mueller who has left the NWT public service.
Cochrane says Deputy Ministers play a critical role in planning and managing how the GNWT will deliver on the commitments it has made to advance the priorities of the 19th Legislative Assembly and improve the lives of residents in the territory.
“The extensive northern experience that Mr. MacKay and Mr. MacDonald will bring to their roles will be invaluable to our government,” she adds.
MacKay served as the Deputy Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs and Secretary to Cabinet since September 2019. Prior to that position, MacKay served four years as Deputy Minister of Justice and Attorney General.
MacDonald has also served 3 years as the Assistant Deputy Minister, Education and Culture with the Department of ECE and several years as an Assistant Deputy Minister in the Government of Nunavut.
Deputy Ministers are the non-elected head of a GNWT department and are appointed on the advice of the Premier.
