SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Robert McLeod says he's glad to be back where he started following a cabinet shuffle that makes him the new minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.

"I worked the front lines for 23 years," he said.

Prior to his career in government, the Inuvik MLA worked for the Housing Association, which is funded by the Aklavik Housing Corporation. He worked maintenance in Aklavik and was a maintenance manager in Inuvik with the town's housing authority.

He said was a little surprised when the premier informed him of the change last Thursday but he's pleased with it.

"I welcomed it. When I first got on as minister back in October, I had kind of hoped that somewhere down the line that I would get housing. I thought with all the years of working there I could offer a lot to the organization as minister," he said.

He said he's seen a refreshing change in the way housing works in recent years, with more focus on design and construction.

"Housing has been a lot more transparent, trying to do what they're mandated to do, which is putting houses (on) the ground … I think there's been a bit of a shift in attitude and that's good to see," he said.

McLeod said he's spent the first days of his appointment meeting his new staff and learning about the organization.

"We seem to have a very good team over there. With all the money we're getting and a lot of good ideas, we're hoping to be able to put more houses on the ground and do a lot more maintenance on the units we already have," he said.

He already knows his president well. Jeff Polakoff, who worked as the deputy minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, has also moved over to lead the corporation.

Michael McLeod, formally in charge of the corporation, will continue overseeing the Department of Public Works and Services and Transportation. The premier's office said the change is an effort to balance out cabinet work loads.

Premier Floyd Roland announced the portfolio change on Friday. He was unavailable for comment at press time.

In addition to his new portfolio, Robert McLeod will continue as minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs and the Workers Safety and Compensation Commission.

When asked how this will affect his own workload, McLeod said it's already increased it quite a lot but he said it's manageable.

"It's already added a few more dates to the calendar … Everyone wants to talk housing," he said. "There's lots of issues. Hopefully we'll be able to address most of them, if not all of them."