Premier creates associate deputy minister positions
New roles designed to have more Inuit in executive positions
Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok announced Monday that the Government of Nunavut is creating a new role to increase Inuit representation in senior ranks. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)
The Government of Nunavut has created new positions to increase Inuit representation in executive ranks.
Every GN department and agency can hire an associate deputy minister, Premier P.J. Akeeagok announced Monday at the legislative assembly.
“The new role is structured to enable qualified Nunavut Inuit to assume senior level responsibilities over time,” Akeeagok said.
The associate will shadow and report to the deputy minister for up to three years.
The GN’s previous cabinet announced a target of employing 55 per cent Inuit in the government’s senior positions by 2023, up 43 per cent from when the target was set in March 2020.
The goal was set to guide the GN in meeting its obligations under the land claims agreement to have GN Inuit employment reflect the amount of Inuit living in the territory.
“I look forward to seeing more departments introduce associate deputy ministers to be the future leaders of our public service,” Akeeagok said.
More red tape and more beaurocrats?
This sounds like a high paying job with little requirements where do I sign up?
I want to be your assistant , and i want all the perks !!!
Everybody was already aware of representative “chair-fillers”, now the GN has gone and made it a real position.
More unqualified people in senior positions for optics? Sounds like the current approach with 90% of ADM as it it. This lowers the bar further.
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What DM or ADM is going to hire more people that can potentially replace them? Who is generating this policy.
I wouldn’t be at all surprise if the average term of a DM was less than 5 years. That is also not a Nunavut thing, it is the nature of spanning both the political and bureaucratic worlds. Top Bureaucratic talent is in high demand, government are fighting to retain them and other governments and business are poaching, talent does NOT need to worry about commentators.
competitors* ( people they train)
The Assistant Deputy Minister position has fulfilled that function of allowing a qualified beneficiary to job shadow and prepare to be a future DM. This new associate DM position is a superfluous thing that only has the potential to create friction and tension in the directorates of various departments. Assistant Deputies may feel devalued and cast aside with these new associates coming aboard. The new associates might have trouble finding where they fit in relation to the assistant deputies. I see only HR headaches with this one.
DMs (Deputy Ministers) and Associate DMs each have one foot in the political world. ADM (Assistant Deputy Minister) should be subject mater experts. These are not the same thing.
ADM “Should” be subject matter experts, but how many actually are?
Anecdotally?: Around half are subject mater experts, with the balance mostly general administrators and a SMALL handful of seat fillers.
The GN has existed for 22 years. In that time:
How many Inuit have been hired into entry level positions?
How many Inuit have been promoted from entry level positions into manager positions?
How many Inuit have been promoted from managerial positions into director positions?
How many Inuit have been promoted from director positions into ADM positions?
How many Inuit have been promoted from ADM positions into DM positions?
How many Inuit DMs have been elected as MLAs?
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Every year the Minister of HR tables the Towards a Representative Public Service report. It shows that Inuit are quite well represented at the Administrative level and at the Executive level. Inuit are somewhat under-represented at the Para-professional level. The GN has relatively few Inuit at the Professional and Senior Management levels.
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This initiative will do nothing to address the real shortage of Inuit at the Senior Management and Professional levels. All it will do is create a few jobs for people with friends in high places. Some of those hired/promoted in this way may be competent, but they will be burdened with the stigma associated with “jobs for friends”. Those unfortunate individuals will have to work 3 times as hard, just to prove that they deserve their position.
Also maybe do a survey of Inuk employees and ask if they would even want to be promoted or want a higher level job… I know I wouldn’t. Why deal with the extra stress and less time for things I see as important like camping, hunting, and spending time with my family. Not to mention probably having to move to Iqaluit for any of the Directors, ADM, DM, or now Associate DM positions.
No amount of money would make me desire that.
Hey there,
There is actually a survey that goes out every couple years. It’s called the Nunavut Government Employees’ Survey.
This survey is available to Government of Nunavut and Government of Canada employees.
Interesting, I have been with the GN for 10+ years and I don’t remember seeing or hearing about that survey, I have heard of a survey for employees that are leaving the GN.
Though that also wouldn’t surprise me that there is a survey but not everyone is told about it, or it is lost in one of the MANY GN communication emails that go out when 99% of them are not relevant.
perhaps you have a link to the report?
Easy there fella, GN is East Coast Institution, don’t get yure ppl kick out…..
I’m sorry, but isn’t the existing hierarchy of the public service (staff > manager > director > assistant deputy minister > deputy minister) in place to provide employees a path to assume senior-level responsibility over time? I fail to see how appointing someone via a non-competitive process to a position with no accountabilities, responsibilities, or direct reports will at all set up the individual — or government — for long-term success. Jesus Christ GN.
An advertisement for PJ’s lack of imagination. The least innovate thing to do is, you guessed it… more of the same. But at least it presents the appearance of doing “something.”
So, lets add one more layer of fat added to an already bloated and overloaded bureaucracy that suffers under its own unbearable weight.
Wow, PJ, you are such a problem solver! Brilliant!
Yes it does but that path is designed and controlled by non Nunavummiut and it hasn’t changed since Nunavut came to be and adopted from the NWT and Alberta policies and practices.
Continuing a yearly exit of transient workers and new transient workers coming into the GN.
The only barrier to Inuit here is drive. There is no cabal of non-Inuit excluding Inuit from these positions, the gatekeepers are, or should be, exquisitely concerned with capacity and competence. Your problem, as I see it, is you have far less concern for the qualities that will ensure success, and a complete fixation on superficial ones.
Designed, yes. But not controlled. Or if it is controlled, it is because Inuit in positions of power have consciously handed over control.
I find it hard to believe that the many Inuit who have held political office over the years are so devoid of agency that they just gave up and handed all decision making over to senior bureaucrats. I suspect the truth is that when you’re making decisions at that level you are faced with real risks and constraints and you adjust accordingly.
The GN already has a particular candidate in mind for every single open position. They’re simply tired of waiting for this mysterious applicant to apply so they’re going to shoehorn them into this new made up position.
This feels like such a forced and desperate move. If you’ve been around for a while, you can probably predict what this will look like inn the real world.
It;s just a numbers game. Everyone can shake each others hand that they have increase inuit participation. the reality is that pajama boy just weighed the system down.
When you put a middling intellect in charge…
Simple question to this initiative –WHY? Where’s the benefit?
Among Western democracies, Canada’s bureaucracies and ministries has nearly the lowest level of productivity and performance relative to income.
Within Canada’s thirteen provincial jurisdictions, Nunavut is at the bottom – by a wide margin. This move just entrenches our standing a little bit more so.
My southern counterpart in Toronto Ontario makes $40,000 to $50,000 less a year than I do with up to 250% more work.
Associate DM = Grocery Stick
Grocery Stick: Hockey slang for a player who sees little ice time. Instead, spends most of the game dividing the defence and forwards on the bench similar to separating people’s food at the checkout in a grocery store.
We’ve reached the “making up jobs as we go along” phase of affirmative action.
This will do it though right? This will make all the qualified, ambitious Inuit who just aren’t applying apply right? Because they’re out there right? They just aren’t applying for the countless open positions that already exist.
Right?
Right?
Yeah, the GN tried this back in 1999-2000 when the territorial government was first stood up. The plan was to train Associates to eventually (5 years or so) take over from the experienced DMs that came over from the GNWT. It was an unmitigated disaster with only one Associate ever going on to fill a DM position with any competence. The rest either left government or were demoted to ADM positions where they languished and were constantly moved around because they lacked the basic skills to fulfill their responsibilities. I cant see this going better.
There was another round in late Aariak/early Taptuna, so 2013.
Only country in the world who needs ministers for other ministers in the world of politics. Self government would not work in their region .
Since we are open to now making up jobs at executive levels with no qualifications other than race for a feel-good news release, let’s just go the extra mile: confirm with legislation that every adult person receiving social assistance is deemed to be an employee of the GN for the purposes of article 23. There, we have now increased Inuit employment numbers but even then it won’t be proportional, since well, child labour is illegal and even if every adult worked for the GN it wouldn’t be proportional.
Don’t forget most of the GN staff are from the Mari times, and most posts are about how workers are unqualified.
I’ve seen those east coasters run circles around you, johnny
Most GN staff are Inuit. The other 40-something percent include lots of Non-Inuit Nunavummiut with the balance hailing from very diverse backgrounds from all over the country and the world.
Some very nervous people on here, I wonder why?
Nobody’s nervous. Nobody in the GN is losing their job, and 99.99% of GN employees don’t have their eyes set on becoming DM, so there’s nothing to be nervous about. I think everybody just recognizes this is not a good idea.
We know who is going to end up doing all the work?
Nervous? About what? I worked hard to be qualified and competent; I’m not afraid of unqualified pity-hires.
You mean to tell me this is different than non-Inuit hiring their friends (Inuit friends included)?
I don’t mean to tell you anything besides the fact that I’m not made nervous in the slightest by this misguided policy change.
Nonsense decisions like this are par for the course and totally on brand for Nunavut.
Prepare for a ton of NS grads as associate DMs
PJ,
How about sending some of the new Associate Deputy Ministers to Kinngaik, Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak to straighten things out at the Wellness Offices?
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How about sending the rest of the new Associate Deputy Ministers to communities in need of health care workers.
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Let your new Associate Deputy Ministers learn by having to resolve real problems being faced by Nunavummiut on a daily basis.
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Give them both the authority and responsibility to make the changes they see are needed, and to revise those changes when they see that their first, second and third solution is less than ideal.
No! They’ll quit right away and then we won’t have any associate deputy ministers!
Some GN leaders spending some actual time outside of Iqaluit? And in the Kitikmeot? You can’t mean that.
Top-heavy bureaucracy at a time when vacant positions abound within the government. Superficial priorities abound also, LOL.
So, a Double ADM.
AADM.
More red tape, great for the resume. not sure where it will go, could be working there years before actual advancement. scary thought, great pay though. can we all apply?
Too many administrators in this town and not enough boots on the ground. Enjoy sipping your tea in your offices! Oh wait – no boots on the ground to fix the broken water system to make your tea!
DM associates = solve the taxi problems going apex
That statement might be more true than funny.