This fonds consists of records documenting the activities of the Department of the Executive in the functional areas of leadership of the GNWT and support to Cabinet, oversight of the GNWT’s regional operations, indigenous and intergovernmental relations, human resource planning, and gender equity. There are also records from the Audit Bureau and the Bureau of Statistics, as well as publications and records of several special projects undertaken by the department.
Government leadership
Records from the Directorate include meeting minutes, correspondence, and other materials from interdepartmental Deputy Ministers’ committees, including the Social Agenda and the Committee for Aboriginal Rights, as well as meeting materials for the Department of the Executive Senior Management Committee, the Special Joint Committee on Non-Tax-Based Community Affairs, and the Special Committee on the Implementation of Self-Government and the Sunset Clause, and the Public Committees, Boards and Councils Handbook. There are also transcripts of meetings of the Electoral Boundaries Commission held in several NWT communities in 1989 and community reports, meeting minutes and files pertaining to community transfers generated by various regional GNWT departments throughout the NWT, including Sachs Harbour, Paulatuk, Tuktoyaktuk, and Arctic Red River (now Tsiigehtchic).
Records from the Cabinet Secretariat include minutes, agendas, and other materials from interdepartmental Deputy Ministers’ committees, including the Division Review Committee. There are also reports commissioned by the Corporate Review and Transition Project in 2002-2004, along with departmental responses to the review and recommendations. Files from the Protocol section document the 1994 Royal Visit and 2004 Deputy Commissioner's swearing-in ceremony.
The fonds includes chronos of the Government Leader/Premier and the Deputy Minister/Secretary to Cabinet, originating from both of the above divisions. There are also chronos of ministers holding various portfolios, particularly from the Minister of Renewable Resources, and files containing correspondence between officials of the Executive and the federal government.
Records from the Corporate Communications division include Senior Management Committee records, Deputy Ministers' Steering Committee on Trademark and Copyright Policy records, GNWT-wide communications plans and strategies, workshop material, related job descriptions, records relating to the Visual Identity Program, and briefing binders.
Records from the Legislation and House Planning division include Cabinet House Strategy and session preparation files, briefing materials for MLAs, legislative agendas and files related to the development of legislation, materials from the Legislation and House Planning Committee, and results of the Legislative Review Survey conducted by the Division Review Committee in preparation for the creation of Nunavut. The records date from the 11th through to the 15th Legislative Assembly.
Records from the Priorities and Planning Secretariat relate to GNWT policy and program development, land claims issues, parks development, Constitutional development, decentralization and natural resource projects. Some of these records are meeting minutes, correspondence and records of decision produced by the Priorities and Planning Committee, a committee within the secretariat which reviewed initiatives, policies and programs before they were put before the Executive Members and the Executive Council as a whole. There is also a report from the Program, Policy and Planning Division entitled "Government as Communicator."
Records from the Executive Secretariat date from 1967-68 and consist of copies of the transfer guideline documents concerning the formal transfer of responsibilities to the Government of the Northwest Territories and a copy of a Task Force Report on the organization of the Northwest Territories Public Service.
Regional operations
Records from the Regional Operations division consist primarily of minutes from settlement and hamlet meetings in the Mackenzie Delta, Western Arctic, Baffin and Great Bear Lake regions, monthly reports from regions and specific communities, minutes of regional council meetings, and records from regional associations such as the Keewatin Organizational Committee, Regional Management Committee in Inuvik, and the Inuvik Regional Health Board. There are also files relating to resource development projects, including the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, Nanisivik Mines, Polar Gas Project and Beaufort Delta Oil Project.
Records from the Corporate Services Division are primarily from the Keewatin Region and consist of minutes of meetings from the Executive Committee, Regional Director's Meetings, Annual Management Meetings, Senior Management Committee Meetings, various hamlet meetings and board meetings. Furthermore, there are minutes from the following Regional Councils: Baffin Regional Council, South Slavey Regional Council, North Slavey Regional Council, Deh Cho Regional Council, Shihita Regional Council, Kitikmeot Regional Council and the Keewatin Regional Council. There are also files relating to Commissioner's Tours and Ministerial Tours of the Baffin and Keewatin Regions. Records from the Finance and Administration section consist of policy and planning files and records relating to Regional Decentralization.
In addition, the fonds includes files containing correspondence from Regional Administrators concerning the administration and implementation of the Liquor Ordinance and alcohol abuse problems at Frobisher Bay (Iqaluit). There are also reports dating from 1971-1973 about the community of Port Burwell and the Kennuayuak Association .
Aboriginal affairs, intergovernmental relations, and strategic planning
Records from the Aboriginal Rights and Constitutional Development Secretariat and its successor, the Ministry of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs, date predominantly from 1974-1996. These records relate to land claims, including the Inuvialuit (COPE), Dene/Metis, Sahtu, Gwich'in, Tlicho, Deh Cho, Denesuline, Makivik, Hay River Dene, and Treaty 8 organizations, and the creation of Nunavut. The records also document self-government by Indigenous groups (including the creation of the Western Arctic Region Municipality (WARM) or Western Arctic Regional Government (WARG)), constitutional development (including involvement with the Constitutional Alliance and Western Constitutional Forum), intergovernmental relations, and devolution of airports, land, water, and resource management from the Federal government (see also Office of Devolution).
The fonds also includes newsletters and reports created by the Aboriginal Rights and Constitutional Development Secretariat and Equal Employment Directorate. The newsletters consist of 10 issues of Building Blocks, and discuss varied issues of devolution and compensation. There are three reports on equal employment, dating from the mid-1980s.
Records from the Office of Devolution date from 1993-2014, documenting negotiations between the GNWT and federal government over the devolution of lands and resources and implementation of the devolution agreement. Records include correspondence, committee records, briefing materials, reports, and communication plans.
Records from the Strategic Planning division and its predecessor, Intergovernmental Relations and Strategic Planning (IGRASP), include briefing packages, minutes, and other materials related to a variety of meetings and projects. These include meetings between the Premier and federal ministers, other Premier meetings, Intergovernmental and Arctic Circle meetings, and the Deputy Ministers’ Senior Management Committee, as well as planning materials for the National Aboriginal Women’s Summit (NAWS II). There are records from the Boards and Agencies review in 2004-2006, including meeting minutes, agendas, reports, drafts, and interviews with departments and agencies. Also included are files on the Living History Project, a project to reflect and celebrate NWT progress since the Berger Inquiry, and one file which outlines the activities and strategies of the Social Envelope section in 1997-1998. There are also files related to departmental policies and a proposed reorganization of intergovernmental affairs functions.
Human resource planning
Records from the Personnel Secretariat Division include reviews of personnel policies, reports on conferences, workshops and seminars, files on employment equity, the decentralization of the Highway Transport Board and Liquor Licensing Board and several files on the restructuring of various GNWT departments.
Records from the Corporate Human Resources division comprise annual reports on the Affirmative Action Policy for the GNWT, an evaluation report and guidelines for the Northern Graduate Employment Program, reviews of staffing services and employee benefit administration at departments and agencies, and a file relating to the creation and organization of the division.
Women’s Advisory
Records from the Women’s Advisory include reports, decision papers, briefing notes, correspondence, and policy statements documenting the roles and responsibilities of the Women’s Advisory, its relationship to the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, the restructuring of the Women’s Advisory in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the 5-year Action Plan on Equality for Women, and the implementation of Gender Based Analysis. There are also reports from the Status of Women Committee and from organizations funded by the Women’s Advisory, including the Status of Women Council, the Native Women's Association, the Pauktuutit Inuit Women's Association and the Women's Community Action Team.
The fonds also contains two audio reels dating from 1974-1975, including a panel discussion on the Status of Women as a lead up to the International Year of Women (1975) and an NWTCC board meeting discussing housing, waste management, air transportation, and business/government relations.
Audit Bureau, Bureau of Statistics, special projects and publications
Records from the Audit Bureau consist of audit files for various Hamlets, Hunters and Trappers Associations and craft shops, as well as files relating to Audit Committee Meetings, Manager's Reports and organization charts.
Records from the Bureau of Statistics include population statistic and projection reports, Yellowknife apartment surveys, spatial price surveys, food price surveys, personal income statistics, labour force surveys, census results, a report on interprovincial/territorial trade and a business directory. It also includes an incomplete collection of volumes of the Statistics Quarterly, from volumes 1 through 26.
Also in this fonds are records generated by the History of Education Project that was undertaken by Norman McPherson and resulted in a book on the history of education in the Northwest Territories (Dreams and Visions: Education in the Northwest Territories from the Early Days to 1984). The records consist of original files and copies of reports from schools in many communities throughout the Northwest Territories, as well as copies of transcripts from oral history interviews.
There are also eight audiocassettes and a fifteen page summary report of a Traditional Knowledge Elders gathering held in October of 1993 at Fort Providence.
The fonds also includes a small group of miscellaneous documents and reports relating to auditing, management, cross-cultural training, the Beaufort Sea Drilling Program, and research subject headings.
Northwest Territories. Department of the Executive (1967-2017)