Two local government administrators in the Northwest Territories are being recognized for their leadership and work in Hay River and Nahanni Butte.
The Local Government Administrators of the NWT (LGANT) recently named Nahanni Butte’s Soham Srimani as recipient of this year’s band manager mentor award. He was also recognized with the award in 2022 and 2021.
Speaking about this year’s achievement, Srimani thanked the community government in Nahanni Butte for their support through the years.
“I dedicate the award to Nahanni Butte Dene Band staff and Chief Steve Vital. Without their support, I would not have been successful in helping the community to achieve its goals,” Srimani told Cabin Radio.
“It has been really insightful being a part of LGANT and it feels great to win this award for last three consecutive years.”
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Hay River’s Glenn Smith was recognized with the NWT senior administrative officer of the year award. This is the first time since 2012 that a senior administrator from Hay River has received the award, according to LGANT’s executive director Melanie Murphy.
Smith, who has been the senior administrator of Hay River for a little over three years, said he was humbled to receive the honour.
“More than anything, I’m accepting the award on behalf of our our staff, even council for the town. We’ve got a really tremendous leadership team and engage staff work really worked hard for the residents,” he said.
“If there’s anything I personally pride myself on, it’s recruiting and building a strong and engaged team.”
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Residents of Hay River have been affected by multiple evacuations related to fires and floods in recent years.
Smith said the town’s plans in the coming years will include more than a dozen recovery and mitigation projects. He said the town is currently looking into outside funding.
“The new reality of climate change will occupy our ways for some time as we build stronger and more resilient communities,” he said.
Hay River is also working to tackle housing challenges in the community.
Last year, the town revealed a five-year housing plan, developed in consultation with the Hay River Métis, Kátł’odeeche and West Point First Nations. Smith said this year, the town will work on implementing it.
“It’s us as an organization getting much more involved in what is becoming a real issue, not only for our community but nationally, is to create affordable and diversified housing,” he said.
