Job cuts likely with N.W.T. gov't department merger

Merging the departments of Transportation and Public Works and Services into a single Department of Infrastructure would "probably" lead to some job cuts, says Wally Schumann, the N.W.T. minister for both departments.

The cuts would come on top of the 97 positions the territorial government is already cutting (on a net basis) this fiscal year.

"There's similarities between the two departments," said Schumann Friday. "Both of them have engineering departments, both of them have policy departments. You know, there's duplication everywhere."

Together, the departments currently employ just over 600 people. Public Works is among the largest departments in the government, according to the 2016-2017 main estimates:

The number of cuts has yet to be determined, Schumann added, and they need to be approved by MLAs when they vote on the 2017-2018 main budget in February.  

The earliest the merger and the cuts could take effect is April.

The territorial government announced last week it's considering other departmental mergers, too: the Department of Human Resources with the Department of Finance, and the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations with the Department of the Executive.   

No timeline for those potential mergers was provided.