Nunavut education authorities fear government power grab

Doug Workman, vice-chair of the Coalition of Nunavut DEAs, and the organization’s executive director, Nikki Eegeesiak, are encouraging community members to attend upcoming Education Act consultations in June and September to support the importance of a local voice in education affairs. (PHOTO BY LISA GREGOIRE)

As the Nunavut government gears up for a final round of consultations ahead of overhauling its Education Act, the coalition that represents community education authorities is worried the government plans to strip powers away from local people.

The Coalition of Nunavut District Education Authorities, which advocates for Nunavut’s 26 elected district education authorities, has encouraged member DEAs to take part in upcoming Education Act consultations, but fears the GN may have already decided to what to do with DEAs.

“We are going to be reduced to an advisory committee,” said Doug Workman, chair of the Iqaluit DEA and vice-chair of the DEA coalition.

“They’re trying to tell us it’s not, but it appears to me — and perception is reality — that it’s a power grab. They want to be in control and that’s where they’re going with this.”

The coalition’s executive director, Nikki Eegeesiak, said they support reviewing the roles and responsibilities of local education authorities because the current language in the Education Act is unclear.

But she said based on background documents they’ve received, the education department plans to go further than that.

“The DEAs will become paper pushers, doing more administrative work and having an advisory role instead of making decisions on behalf of their community,” Eegeesiak said.

But Education Minister Paul Quassa disagrees.

Quassa told Nunatsiaq News June 2 that the department is still considering opinions at this point and plans to present information during consultations in June and then gather feedback in August and September.

“My responsibility is to hear what the DEAs are thinking of some of these recommendations and I want to emphasize that these recommendations are coming in from the department, and then came to me,” Quassa said.

“These recommendations are not made in stone,” Quassa said. “The reason why we are consulting and wanting to get feedback from DEAs is to see and hear their views.”

The minister added that local DEAs play an important role in ensuring that community views are incorporated into government policy, that dialectal differences are recognized and that local cultural programs are carried out.

The GN is in the process of amending and updating its Education Act.

A special committee of MLAs set up to consult the public and review the act submitted their final report in November 2015.

The report garnered attention for suggestions it made regarding bilingual education targets, standardizing curriculum and deleting some references to Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit in the Education Act and instead, incorporating IQ into education policy and teaching it as part of the curriculum.

But little has been said to this point regarding possible changes to the roles of local DEAs.

The committee’s report outlined concerns raised during consultations about the effectiveness and uneven capacity of DEAs.

“Many contributors commented that DEA representatives often did not have the training, skills, abilities or expertise to undertake the duties assigned to them under the legislation,” the report said.

Some who appeared before the MLA committee said they thought DEAs should get more training, resources and staff to enhance their role and authority at the community level.

Others offered, “strong arguments for limiting or reducing the level of control and decision-making authority delegated to DEAs,” the report said.

The report then recommended that the Education Act be changed so that DEA roles and responsibilities reflect “their common capacity to meet the mandated obligations.”

Kathy Okpik, the deputy minister of education, sent a letter to MLAs in December 2015 with her department’s response to the report’s recommendations including plans to undertake a feasibility study on all-day kindergarten in Nunavut.

With regard to DEAs, she said she agreed with the committee’s recommendation.

“The department envisions significant potential in a refocused set of roles and responsibilities for DEAs that will improve and increase their impact on their home communities, and their responsiveness to department proposals,” Okpik wrote.

While the details of those changes have not yet been defined, Workman says all pre-consultation meetings between the coalition and departmental staff indicate many decision-making powers will be shifted to the GN and DEAs will be reduced to advisory bodies.

And suddenly announcing consultations set for this month is not encouraging, Workman said.

“It appears to me they are trying to push a lot of these amendments forward,” he said. “I’m suspicious of this process. I want to be hopeful and that’s why we are certainly going to be participating.”

Some MLAs seem concerned about the consultation timing as well and have raised the issue in the Nunavut legislature.

Gjoa Haven MLA Tony Akoak said May 30 that June was a busy time for Nunavummiut and a poor time for political consultation. He asked if the minister had received a letter from the Gjoa Haven DEA requesting that those consultations to be delayed.

Quassa said that he’d received four DEA letters seeking consultation delays, including one from Gjoa Haven.

But the minister added that the government wants to bring in a new Education Act before their term expires in fall 2017 and they have to stick to a strict timeline.

Iqaluit-Sinaa MLA Paul Okalik raised the issue again on June 2 saying Nunavummiut are gathering eggs, going out on the land and enjoying family time in June. He too asked if the June consultation could be rescheduled.

Quassa told the house that the department has extended consultations to September and that members of the public and stakeholders such as Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the DEA coalition will have time to contribute feedback.

The DEA coalition, which is run by a 10-member board, is funded mainly through the Department of Education with a current annual budget of $665,000.

That pays for staff, administration and travel as well as an annual general meeting, which eats up about one quarter of their budget every year.