Education remains the key to more Inuit employment: KRG

Finish school — this was the message from Kativik Regional Government chairperson Maggie Emudluk when she responded Feb. 28 to complaints from regional councillors that there are not enough Inuit working at the top levels of the regional government.

Inuit should apply for jobs at the KRG, she said at the KRG council meeting in Kuujjuaq, as she cited openings for a secretarial position and another involving the hunter support program at the regional government’s head office.

But some others openings require a specialized post-secondary education — something many potential workers in the region lack, so they’re missing out on many jobs, a 2011 KRG study also found.

Employee statistics for the KRG show that in January there were 181 Inuit employed by the regional government and 94 non-Inuit for an overall Inuit employment rate of 66 per cent.

But at the managerial level there were only 19 Inuit out of 65 Inuit — or 29 per cent Inuit employment.

And most of the Inuit managers were women in contrast to the non-Inuit managers, who are mainly men, the KRG numbers show.

Overall, of the 340 KRG’s employees, 59 per cent were Inuit.

Most of the regional government’s employees are based in Kuujjuaq.

In the Kativik Regional Police Force the numbers for Inuit employment are much less: only six per cent of the force’s 78 workers — of five — are Inuit.

During the KRG council meeting, which wrapped up Feb. 28, many councillors said that they would like to see more of the non-Inuit speaking Inuttitut — although there is no language training in place now at the regional government for employees and managers who do not speak Inuttitut.