Employment Opportunity
Regular Competition
Tłı̨chǫ Government invites
all suitable qualified
candidates, to apply for the
RegulatorySpecialist
position.
Tłı̨chǫ Government is committed
to attracting and recruiting
the best possible candidates
for available positions.
The principles of fairness,
qualifications and Tłı̨chǫ
citizenship guide the hiring of
Tłı̨chǫ Government employees.POSITION TITLE: Regulatory Specialist
DEPARTMENT: Culture and Lands Protection
LOCATION: Yellowknife, NT
STATUS: Full Time, Permanent
CLOSING DATE: November 22, 2019; 5:00 pmOUTLINE OF POSITION:
Reporting to the Manager, Lands Regulation, the Regulatory Specialist is accountable for conducting technical
assessments; making recommendations on land and water use submissions; reviews for mining and other land use
developments on Tłı̨chǫ lands and within Mǫwhì Gogha Dè Nı̨ı̨tłèè; providing technical advice relating to industrial,
mining and other developments; and monitoring and evaluating compliance of land use permits, water license and
access agreement conditions. The Regulatory Specialist has significant latitude in conducting technical reviews and
making recommendations concerning land, water and resource submissions and reviews.SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED:
- Post-secondary degree in civil, environmental or mine engineering, environmental science,
management or equivalent - Familiarity with conducting technical reviews of environmental applications, submissions and reviews,
particularly for mining and industrial developments - Familiarity with land and resource management systems and approaches, and the legislative and
regulatory regime (Tłı̨chǫ laws, MVRMA) applying to Wek’èezhı̀i and Mǫwhì Gogha Dè Nı̨ı̨tłèè
especially the land use permitting and water licensing processes - Familiarity with mapping systems and the concepts and techniques of land and resource management
in northern Canada - Highly developed analytic and practical reasoning abilities
- Sensitivity to and willingness to be guided by Tłı̨chǫ geographical and land and resource use concepts
and traditions - Good mathematical and problem-solving abilities
- Very good interpersonal and communication skills and ability to work as ateam member
- Very good computer skills and the ability to use electronic data bases and filing systems
- Ability to work with Tłı̨chǫ community members, particularly elders and harvesters
- Ability to speak the Tłı̨chǫ language is an asset
For a copy of the Job Description, email [email protected] • To apply, submit your resume and cover letter to [email protected]Human Resources, Department of Corporate Services, Tłıc̨hǫ Ndek’àowo / Tłıc̨hǫ Government
P.O. Box 412, Behchokǫ, NT, X0E 0Y0 • Tel: 867.392.6381 • Fax 867.392.6862 •www.tlicho.caWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019 | THEGLOBEANDMAILO CAREERS B13
M
att Mosteller hails a hel-
icopter the way most
people flag a taxi. As a
leading ski resort executive and
influential blogger in the Cana-
dian Rockies, Mr. Mosteller does
a lot of work that feels like play.
Ask to chat with him about it,
and you might find yourself on
the Eclipse heli-pad in Cran-
brook, B.C., piling into a sleek
French A-Star for a high-alpine
picnic near iconic Fisher Peak.
“My heart is here, along the
Powder Highway,” says Mr. Mos-
teller, up since 4 a.m. and vibrat-
ing with energy. He’s referring
not only to the renowned ski
runs of the Kootenay Rockies,
but also the chain of funky ski
towns, including Cranbrook, that
string together the community
of like-minded mountain souls
in this region.
He’s famous here for taking
guests, from celebrities and CEOs
to average Joes, on tours through
the Rockies’ high, dry, soft and
deep winter dumps of snow, and
has embraced his own nick-
name. “I’m Powder Matt,” he
greets everyone, with a smile
that creates perma-crinkles
around his pale-jade eyes. He’s a
hugger.
Mr. Mosteller is quick to say
he’s not a professional guide, but
as the senior vice-president of re-
sort experience at Calgary-based
Resorts of the Canadian Rockies
(owners of ski resorts in Fernie,
Kimberley and Golden, B.C., as
well as in Quebec and Alberta),
he spends 80 per cent of his time
in the mountains, where he’s ac-
cumulated more experience and
hair-raising close calls than the
average Canadian would desire.
He connects with fellow moun-
tain aficionados on Steller or In-
stagram to help craft their own
small-group treks, seeking those
moments of privacy and discov-
ery that make city people feel
like “pioneers” in the mountains,
he says.
The star-studded client list of
people he’s taken into the wild
includes bosses of banks and ma-
jor companies, NFL players,
members of Congress, Kennedy
family members and celebrities
such as actor Cillian Murphy and
filmmaker Christopher Nolan.
When in the office, he leads
his team in creating inspired sto-
rytelling opportunities around
mountain life in and around the
company’s properties, always fo-
cusing on the “three Ps” (pas-
sion, purpose, people) and re-
specting the environment, which
he calls “foundational” to what
they do. “If I’m not doing some-
thing that’s adding value to one
of those four baskets, and creat-
ing good, then I’m not doing
what’s right for both me and the
company, and adding real value,”
he says.
As a person who seems highly
attuned to being present in the
moment and keen to look for-
ward rather than back, Mr. Mos-
teller is reticent in talking abouthis childhood, but confesses he
was a “fat kid, deeply overweight
and obese,” and that skiing was
how he first experienced accom-
plishment, physical freedom and
the feeling of “pure joy.” Since
then, the mountains have be-
come his passion, and his mess-
age about pursuing your passion
has become his personal brand.
Through the breath-robbing
rise, dip and swoop of the hel-
icopter ride to the peak, Mr. Mos-
teller gleefully points out tiny
landscape details: patches of
fresh snow and fresher logging
cuts, sparkles of sun on Mause
Creek, a refurbished lookout
point.
We land at the edge of Nicol
Lake, and while craft brewhouse
The Heidout sets up a chic pic-
nic), he scampers across moss
and rocks, perches on a cliff and
dangles his legs off a perilous
edge like a kid on a high stool.
From a distance, the trim, ki-
netic 50-something could pass
for two decades younger, if not
quite the young ski bum who
once lived in his car for 63
straight days. The smile lines and
the grey peeking out from his
cap hint at the tidbits of mellow
wisdom he poured into his 2012
bookThe Adventurer’s Guide to
Living a Happy Life, a slim feel-
good volume that’s rich with the
Tao-of-Matt-style advice that
long-time clients value as much
as his mountain cred.
It asserts, for instance, that no
explorer or adventurer has ever
survived incredible hardship
without an immense amount of
optimism and positive energy –
the kind with which Mr. Mostell-
er himself buzzes. That’s good
advice, but in the world of busi-
ness, isn’t it the case that brute
force and relentless, forward pur-
suit are more in tune with to-
day’s tactics?
“I think that stuff gets you to a
certain level, but it’s not the
highest level and it’s not the
most joyful level, and it’s not the
level of success where people re-
ally appreciate and respect and
are grateful for it,” he says. “To
really get that to that level, youdo have to have an air of posi-
tivity and you have to have good-
ness.” Good is a word he uses a
lot: good for the land, good to
people, doing good for good rea-
sons. He compares a company to
an ecosystem, and says if the
people in it are “nurtured, with
care and joy and play, then we
have a pretty good ecosystem.”
Mr. Mosteller compares good
decision-making in the moun-
tains to his own leadership style.
“I’m a consensus builder, and I
want to collectively work togeth-
er to find the most creative ways
to find innovation.” Likewise, he
says, when you’re inching along
a glacier with your team, decid-
ing whether to go off-rope, hear-
ing feedback from other mem-
bers of the team can help make
the best decisions.
When Mr. Mosteller talks
through his own pretrip routine
of extensive weather- and-ava-
lanche-checking, packing rituals
and route-mapping protocols,
it’s clear that his careful list of
preparations and planning make
for the kind of good, disciplined
work habits gleaned from self-
help books or biographies of
business titans. Finding powder
might be not just an allegory for
finding happiness, but also suc-
cess.
After all, to find that untou-
ched snow, and the freedom and
the joy that go with it, you have
to get up the earliest, climb the
highest, pick a less-trodden track- and be prepared to fail, and to
try again another day.
Our alpine lunch picnic is
complete, and the helicopter
gracefully weaves back down
through the peaks, with Mr. Mos-
teller grinning and snapping
photos like a first-timer in the
mountains. Once we touch
down, Mr. Mosteller dishes out
long hugs to everyone (including
the heli-team’s dog) before hop-
ping in his SUV, which has a
hulking mud-spattered moun-
tain bike mounted on the back.
It’s been just another day at
the office for Powder Matt.
Special to The Globe and MailSki-resortexecutive‘PowderMatt’
pursueshisRockyMountaingrind
CHARLENE ROOKEAs a leading ski-resort executive and influential blogger in the Canadian
Rockies, Mr. Mosteller does a lot of work that feels like play.
CHELSEABOYDGIBSON/THEGLOBEANDMAILI
t is hard to win a game when you start with a disadvan-
tage. Yet when signing employment contracts, employ-
ees constantly set themselves up for failure. How? By rou-
tinely permitting employers to draft and dictate almost
all of the important contractual terms, especially the condi-
tions surrounding severance.
Companies understand that they can vastly reduce sever-
ance liability and wrongful dismissal damages with a proper-
ly worded severance clause.
Therefore, many employers have now designed their con-
tracts to limit employee termination payouts to the least
amount possible.
Without a written agreement, employees terminated for
any reason other than misconduct are entitled to a fair and
reasonable severance package, calculated with reference to
their age, position, tenure and how long it ought to take to
find a comparable job.
For example, a 45-year-old manager with 10 years’ service
could expect to receive between eight and 12 months’ notice
of termination or severance pay.
However, a severance clause could limit this same individ-
ual to only one week of pay for each year of employment.
Therefore, the impact these clauses can have on employees is
severe.
How can employees spot when a termination clause is un-
fair?
MINIMUMS ONLY
An employer can draft a contract to state its employee will
exclusively receive whatever statutory termination terms
and payments are required by the applicable provincial or
federal employment standards legislation. These clauses are
the most harmful as many employees mistakenly view these
minimum rights as just the starting point of their entitle-
ments, not the maximum. But these types of clauses are in-
tended to limit them to only these amounts, not more.
STATIC PAYOUTS
Some severance clauses appear fair from the outset but then
become much less so over time. A guarantee of nine months’
severance could be a generous payout during the first several
years of employment. However, after many years of work the
severance payout remains the same. These clauses become
far more problematic the longer someone remains employ-
ed.
ELEVATOR CLAUSES
These clauses grow in size to coincide with tenure. For in-
stance, after each year of employment, the employee re-
ceives two weeks’ separation pay. But beware – while these
terms can appear more favourable than minimum clauses,
many can be designed to offer little more than those
amounts. For example, Ontario’s employment standards leg-
islation mandates that in certain situations, employees re-
ceive a minimum of two weeks’ compensation upon termi-
nation. Thus, a severance clause that guarantees them this
amount does no more than what was already required.
CAPPED AMOUNTS
These are similar to elevator clauses, except they stop grow-
ing at a certain point. This is the problem. For example, an
employee will receive one month’s pay for each year of ten-
ure but only to a maximum of nine months.
BASE SALARY ONLY
Severance packages should be built upon whatever amount
of pay an employee would have received but for his or her
termination. This includes bonuses, commissions, benefits,
car allowance or any other form of regular pay. However, be-
yond the minimum statutory rules, severance clauses are in-
creasingly attempting to limit payouts to employees’ base
salary only, excluding all other forms of pay.
RE-EMPLOYMENT
Without a defined clause, severance packages are payable
only to the extent the employee remains unemployed. Ex-
cept for statutory minimum amounts, any money earned
through re-employment activities can be offset against the
severance owed. Part of the trade-off when agreeing to a sev-
erance clause is the employee will know the exact amount of
pay he or she will receive. However, employers are now draft-
ing severance clauses that provide for limited severance en-
titlements, and still permit them to deduct some amounts
earned through re-employment. In effect, the employee then
loses out both ways.
AMBIGUITY
Despite the different methods for defining severance, by far
the biggest problem I see is that there are so many methods
of writing these agreements that it can be hard for the aver-
age person to understand just what they are being offered.
What can employees do when presented with a severance
clause?
First, do not be reluctant to negotiate the terms. Employers
often use template language in their contracts and many will
reconsider that language and provide something more rea-
sonable rather than risk losing out on a candidate that they
wish to hire.
Second, severance clauses are becoming increasingly com-
plicated and difficult to understand. Make certain to view the
impact of the clause with the right perspective. This requires
an understanding of what your rights are without a sever-
ance clause, compared with what that clause is attempting to
do. Most workplace lawyers provide such a service for a nom-
inal fee.
SpecialtoTheGlobeandMail
Whenare
definedseverance
termsunfair?
Companies understand they can vastly
reduce liability with a properly worded
termination clause, leading employers
to design contracts that limit payouts
to the smallest amount possible
DANIEL LUBLIN
OPINIONLEADERSHIPLAB
FoundingpartnerofWhitten&Lublin,Employment&Labour
lawyers