Who benefits from Nunavik training money?
I would like to take this chance to thank Mr. Jean Dupuis for confirming that at least he had read the letter I had printed two weeks ago. It shows that someone has taken an interest in the needs of the Nunavik population.
However, he seems to have completely missed the reason why I wrote the letter in the first place. I am not denying that a lot of money is being spent on training in the region. It doesn’t matter how much water you flush down the toilet if it’s plugged up. At the end of the day you will still have to use a snake to flush the shit out of the system.
I would like to know where this cryptic $2 million in training funds went. I am sure that a large chunk of the money went towards improving the education of our southern elite, as I had the pleasure of witnessing during my time as an employee of the Ungava Hospital.
Who is really benefitting from that? Also, I did not mention technical or professional positions. I was referring to any job that a person is interested in pursuing, from driving an ambulance to being a surgeon.
What it boils down to is that I personally feel sometimes that the funds are not being spent wisely. A majority of the time, the training received by the Inuit is not credited towards any document that certifies someone to be qualified to do the jobs as they are being posted. I must say that even after an Inuk gets a diploma, they are not perceived to be as intellectual as the southern aristocracy. I’m not sure why this is, but after speaking to many people in the region, they feel the same as I.
On occasion, I’ve had the opportunity to apply on positions that I felt were attractive to me, and to my bewilderment, the next thing I know someone from the South is doing the job. The worst part about this is that I was not even given the courtesy of an interview.
It’s fine that our politicians and administrators want to improve themselves and their friends, but I suggest that they don’t do it at the expense of our population. We are growing in numbers and intelligence at a rapid pace, and our youth today will be looking for jobs tomorrow.
In addition to this, I am wondering if any of our adminstrators have taken the time to read over Bill 101, our Quebec language law. It clearly states that those aboriginal persons north of the 55th parallel are exempt from the French language law when it comes to any opportunities to improve themselves or their destiny.
However, on 90 per cent of the job postings I see around town, it is a requirement or a must to speak French, and on some they have the audacity to ask for someone who speaks French fluently. What I find to be most pitiable though, is that the people most guilty of this offence are in our own organizations, such as the regional health board, the Kativik School Board, the Kativik Regional Government, the Ungava Hospital and so on.
As for that comment you made regarding racism, it’s not earning you any Brownie points either, as we all know who you were referring to. We just don’t understand why. A comment such as this is very derogatory and is on the verge of defamation of character. I find this very unprofessional on your part. I must say, you got the insubordination correct. That is a big part of the problem.
I am not knocking the French language. My own children have been in French school for many years and some will hopefull be graduating from there in the next few years.
What I am saying is that we fought the government of Quebec to have this right and I think it should not be a barrier that excludes our native people from trying to get a job. It is intimidating to a lot of people who may have otherwise applied.
To avoid getting any threats from our francophone community, I must add that I believe it is a good thing for a person to learn as many languages as they want, the more the better. I am also not white-bashing either, as I would end up kicking myself in the ass because I am probably 60 per cent WASP myself.
What I would like to have our top leaders do, however, is talk to your personnel directors at least to put the French language thing down as an asset on the job postings, not as a must or requirement.
So go ahead and throw all the icing on the cake that you like. Not everyone is fooled by the political sweet talk as it amounts to unintelligible chatter at the end of the day. If it’s the best we can expect after 25 years, we had better stop searching for answers from our southern allies. For heaven’ssake, it’s a more grim issue than even I visualized.
Merci beaucoup à la prochaine
Harvey Mesher
Kuujjuaq
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