Decentralization works in Nunavut: report

Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak, shown here in the Nunavut legislature’s winter session, says her government plans to continue to put at least 60 per cent of all public service jobs outside of Iqaluit. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

The Government of Nunavut should maintain a decentralized model, which keeps the majority of its civil servants outside the territory’s capital, a newly-released review of Nunavut’s public service recommends.

The GN began its latest review of decentralization last March to evaluate its ongoing efforts to distribute its administration across the territory.

The report, prepared by consulting firm Oliver Wyman, looked at statistics up to September 2010.

The GN received the report in August 2011, but only tabled it in the Nunavut legislature this week.

For their review, consultants met with 94 GN employees in different departments and agencies across the territory.

Overall, GN staff said the decentralization model contributed to Inuit employment and provided some economic benefits to communities.

But civil servants also said decision-making continues to be focused in Iqaluit because the necessary infrastructure, tools and qualified Inuit are in short supply in most other Nunavut communities.

The review shows that, as of last September, 60 per cent of GN jobs are located outside of Iqaluit. That’s 2,390 out of 3,909 positions, including 459 that are designated as decentralized.

But 31 per cent of those decentralized positions remain vacant across the territory, compared to the 22 per cent vacancy rate of Iqaluit-based GN positions.

In the territory’s 10 communities where decentralized positions are located, job vacancy rates vary — from 48 per cent in Igloolik to 16 per cent in Pond Inlet.

Inuit employment in decentralized positions sits at 60 per cent, compared to 50 per cent in the GN’s Iqaluit offices.

The review goes on to make 29 recommendations on how to strengthen decentralization among the territory’s public service, among them calls for the GN to:

• create a forward-looking vision and plan;

• establish a local managers’ network in each community;

• improve the visibility and transparency of GN activities in communities;

• increase flexibility in human resources rules and processes to staff positions more efficiently;

• create a targeted recruitment strategy for difficult-to-fill positions;

• develop an internship program to target entry-level professionals; and,

• support the social integration of new hires into the workplace and the community.

Premier Eva Aariak told the Nunavut legislature Feb. 28 that her government supports the decentralization of its services and plans to continue to locate at least 60 per cent of all public service jobs outside of Iqaluit.

The latest review was called for as part of the Aariak government’s Tamapta plan, which promised to strengthen the GN’s public service.

As for decentralization, it’s not a new concept to Nunavut. That model of government was explored even decades before the territory was created in 1999.

In 1995, the Nunavut Implementation Commission laid out recommendations on how to bring decision-making closer to Nunavummiut, while providing local employment, in a report called Footprints in the Snow.

The report identified 10 Nunavut communities with the capacity to headquarter government departments. Until 1999, most had previously operated out of Yellowknife under the Government of the Northwest Territories.

Now, those 10 communities are home to 459 designated positions, with communities like Pangnirtung, Igloolik, Arviat and Pond Inlet hosting the majority of those jobs (although not necessarily filled).

Aariak said Feb. 28 that the GN hopes to share an action plan that responds to those recommendations in the spring session of the Nunavut legislature.