Inuit org: work on $175-million training fund will take time

Cathy Towtongie, president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc, at a board meeting Aug. 31. She said before any development of NTI’s $175-million training corporation is done, results from a Nunavut Inuit labour force survey must be completed. (PHOTO BY STEVE DUCHARME)

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.’s board of directors is stressing knowledge before action, following last May’s $255.5 million settlement with the Government of Canada and the creation of a new $175-million training fund to help Inuit get Nunavut government jobs.

To manage the training money, NTI is supposed to create a new entity called the Nunavut Inuit Training Corp.

But NTI President Cathy Towtongie said before any development of the training body is done, results from a Nunavut Inuit labour force survey must be completed.

That survey, which Ottawa must pay for and do in conjunction with NTI and the Government of Nunavut, was promised to NTI under the terms of a settlement agreement that resolves a $1 billion lawsuit that NTI launched in 2006.

“It will give us a picture of where to target the training,” said Towtongie, who is in Iqaluit to attend the NTI board meeting.

For her, the first priority will be training for government jobs.

“Right now the middle management of the Government of Nunavut is basically not Inuit.”

Towtongie said she can see training cooperation expanding into other areas of employment, using programs and infrastructure already established, after the labour force needs of the public service are established.

“If we can enhance these training programs already in existence, make both short and long term strategic plans, then we will have an able workforce that will be able to work across all sectors — in mining, oil and gas, and the government.”

NTI will provide the public with no definitive schedule on how they will move forward until after the labour force survey is completed.

“We’re very preliminary right now. We’ve got to get this right, so we’re taking our time,” cautions NTI’s CEO, James Arreak, who said several positions still need to be filled.

The Nunavut Inuit Training Corp.’s board will comprise five representatives from NTI and two from the Government of Nunavut.

The development of the training corporation, which will manage $175 million worth of the settlement money, represents compensation for complaints that the federal government failed to implement Article 23 of the Nunavut Land Claim Agreement, which requires that government carry out training and affirmative action programs to help Inuit get government jobs in Nunavut.

The government should also conduct surveys every five years to monitor the success of Inuit employment programs, the NLCA says.

According to GN statistics, the territorial government’s Inuit employment levels hover right now at around 50 per cent.

Article 23 states that affirmative action programs must continue until Inuit employment levels are equal to the proportion of Inuit living within Nunavut — roughly 85 per cent.

The cost of supporting under-employed Inuit since 1999 has had a severe impact on the territorial government’s budget, NTI said.

“Let’s face it, [Inuit] will be in Nunavut and by keeping them untrained, uneducated and on welfare, it will cost us money,” Towtongie said.

Under the settlement, Ottawa also gave NTI $80.5 million, which NTI said they will invest.