GNWT honours NWT public servants with annual Premier's Awards

News Releases

Yellowknife — February 23, 2022

Today, the Premier’s Awards for Excellence winners were announced. Due to COVID-19 public health restrictions, no award ceremony was held this year. Instead, the recipients were notified by email and the physical awards are being mailed out.

The annual Premier’s Award for Excellence program recognizes the outstanding achievement of Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) employees or teams who continue to strive for excellence.

This year, honours were presented in two separate categories.

  • Collaboration, which recognizes the outstanding achievement of GNWT employees who work in partnership with other government and non-government employees to improve services to Northwest Territories residents.
  • Indigenous Partnerships, which recognize the outstanding achievements of GNWT individuals and teams who work in partnership with Indigenous governments and organizations to strengthen programs and policies, to improve access to services for Northwest Territories residents, and to enhance intergovernmental cooperation and bilateral relationships.

The GNWT remains committed to providing excellent public service to the residents of the Northwest Territories and is proud of the contributions of all the NWT public servants.

Quote(s)

“Everyone recognized and honoured by this year’s Premier’s Awards for Excellence has committed themselves to ensuring the strength, sustainability, and prosperity of the NWT. The contributions made by these individuals, teams, and organizations exemplify and embodies the values that the GNWT seeks to uphold in its service to the residents of the Northwest Territories.”

- Caroline Cochrane, Premier of the Northwest Territories

Quick facts

  • The winner of the Premier’s Awards for Excellence (Collaboration) is the team who developed and launched the new GNWT training program, Living Well Together – Indigenous Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity Training.
    • In 2017, a review was completed on the GNWTs Aboriginal Cultural Awareness Training and it was determined that the content needed to be updated with a greater focus on addressing the history of colonization, the legacy of residential schools, reconciliation, and cultural competence.
    • The Departments of Finance, Education, Culture and Employment, and Health and Social Services collaborated for the development of this training including building relationships through community engagement sessions as well as consultations with Indigenous governments.
    • Living Well Together was launched in March 2021 and over 1,000 employees have started the training since that time.  The training is also available to those outside the GNWT and many outside organizations including various Indigenous governments, schools, and municipalities, have expressed interest in the use of this training.
  • The winner of the Premier’s Awards for Excellence (Indigenous Partnerships) is the Our Languages Curriculum and Program of Study.
    • Officially launched in October 2020, the Our Languages Curriculum and Program of Study displayed exceptional performance and service excellence by supporting Indigenous language acquisition within the context of NWT Schools. This program is the results of over 25 years of hard work and collaboration from many passionate individuals, including Indigenous elders, teachers, education bodies, language champions, neurological experts, curriculum coordinators and other advocates.
    • These individuals, who were instrumental in the creation of the Our Languages Curriculum and Program of Study, are being recognized due to their dedication, advocacy, and determination in seeing this decades-long project become a reality and be placed into the hands of Indigenous language instructors across the NWT.

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For media requests, please contact:

Todd Sasaki   

Senior Communications Officer

Department of Finance

Government of the Northwest Territories

todd_sasaki@gov.nt.ca

(867) 767-9168 ext. 15015