Yellowknife, NWT – More than 100 former federal government employees have been welcomed into the fold by Premier Bob McLeod.
About 130 people who worked for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development have joined the Government of the Northwest Territories under devolution.
Their actual job descriptions aren’t changing much.
They’ll still deal mostly with land, water and resources which are now the responsibility of the territorial government post devolution.
Premier McLeod says it’s encouraging to know that almost all the former federal employees accepted the offer to work for the GNWT.
“It’s very gratifying. This is something we wanted, we needed to keep as much corporate history as we could and to have almost 100% acceptance will bode very well for our government.”
Deputy Human Resources Minister Sheila Bassi Kellett says the ex- federal employees are the most qualified people for the new GNWT jobs.
She’s not surprised they accepted the positions.
“I know we have a good product. We’ve been recognized as one of Canada’s top employers for a reason. We’re an attractive employer with great terms of employment but for federal employees to look at the nuts and bolts of what we have to offer and make an educated decision to accept that offer, that speaks volumes and we’re thrilled about that.”
The comments came during a ceremony at the Leg Wednesday where the premier welcomed the new employees.
All the goodwill however comes as some Aboriginal leaders threaten to sue over the way they say they were left out of the devolution process.
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