ENTERPRISE
The next step has been determined in the GNWT's ongoing intervention to get Enterprise hamlet council to run more smoothly and efficiently, and overcome disagreements among members.

Dan Schofield: director of MACA's School of Community Government outlined available training courses for the council of the Hamlet of Enterprise. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

It will involve training from the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA).

A delegation from MACA was at the hamlet council's Jan. 28 meeting to outline what kind of training is available.

"Basically, we can tailor something to whatever the council here wants to set up and schedule," said Eleanor Young, an assistant deputy minister with MACA, who has been attending council meetings since October.

Dan Schofield, the director of MACA's School of Community Government, described workshops that have previously been developed in co-ordination with the NWT Association of Communities.

"They're designed to basically give you an introduction on areas of governance and of things that are most important to new councillors," Schofield told council.

After hamlet elections in December, Enterprise has two new councillors and a former councillor is now mayor. However, council's troubles go back well beyond the election.

The eight workshops, ranging from two to four hours, each cover a particular topic: roles and responsibilities; planning; financial awareness, particularly in preparing a budget; conflict of interest and codes of conduct, a popular course always delivered by a lawyer; legal responsibilities; programs and services; teamwork; and how council can work most efficiently with a senior administrative officer (SAO).

"They're delivered by experienced people in the area of governance," Schofield noted.

Plus, he pointed out the workshops are done on request and there is no cost to the community.

"Personally, I'm in favour of all the courses," said Mayor John Leskiw II.

No dates were set, but arrangements will be made through MACA's regional office for the South Slave in Fort Smith.

Leskiw noted he is hoping more people will become involved in community government, and asked MACA if it has any objection to having the training workshops open to the public.

Young said the department has no problem with that idea.

The assistant deputy minister also encouraged the Enterprise hamlet council to learn about MACA's new accountability framework, released late last year to help all communities in the NWT.

MACA presented orientation sessions for most councils in November and December, but no one could attend from Enterprise at that time.

Young said MACA's regional staff will visit Enterprise in the next couple of months for an orientation session on the accountability framework with the mayor, councillors and the SAO.

"It will help us figure out where to work next in terms of things that we can support the council on," she said.

Young said she will now "step away a little bit" and let Mary Brown, the South Slave regional superintendent for MACA, continue to support the council in scheduling training, working through the accountability framework and co-ordinating other departmental support.

MACA previously made a number of recommendations to Enterprise council to deal with its difficulties, including to stay on the agenda for meetings, to develop a better understanding and appropriate use of legal opinions, to prepare more concise minutes of meetings, and to consider a committee-of-the-whole system to allow full discussion of issues before they go to a regular council meeting.