Good jobs will eliminate two-thirds of social problems, like poverty, overcrowded housing and poor h

A pair of enthusiastic, young linemen for Qulliq Energy Corp. stole the show at the Workforce Connex gathering in Iqaluit this week.

Albert Netser and Cody Dean, from Rankin Inlet, drew laughter and applause from an audience of about 100 people at the conference, which was devoted to developing the Inuit workforce.

Being a lineman is "a good job," Netser told the group. As teens, he explained with a self-deprecating grin, they weren't even sure what it meant to have a job. "We thought that people went into a building and hung out all day."

"Now, when kids see us, I guess they think we're just guys hanging out on a pole."

Netser and Dean's gee-whiz enthusiasm and obvious pride in their careers won the hearts of a determinedly upbeat crowd intent on seeing the glass of Inuit employment as not half-empty, but half-full.

During the rest of the gathering, their names were repeated as a talisman to conjure what participants hoped to see more of – and are working hard to bring about.

But Kelly Lendsay, president of the Aboriginal Human Resource Council, which spearheaded the event, told Nunatsiaq News the brutal reality of aboriginal people in Canada, including Inuit in Nunavut, is often "negative and ugly."

Measured by United Nations social indicators, he said, Canada ranks as one of the top nations to live in. But when the indicators are applied to Aboriginal communities, the ranking drops to 48th.

The AHRC is a national non-profit group whose partners are devoted to improving the "recruitment, retention and advancement" of First Nations, Métis and Inuit workers in the Canadian economy. The one-day conference included private and public-sector employers, human resources staff, employment counsellors and some educators.

Everybody needs good housing, health, education and a feeling of safety to be able to thrive and prosper in the workplace, Lendsay said. But those are the areas where Nunavut and aboriginal communities have been left well behind national averages.

"Employment will eliminate two-thirds of those problems," he said. But it's a Catch-22. Jobs for Inuit will help solve social problems. But those problems stop Inuit from finding good jobs.

"You've got to keep focused on specific targets," Lendsay, a Cree Métis from Saskatchewan, said. "You have to look at the investments both public and private sectors can make to allow children and adults to take the next step."

That includes improved daycare opportunities, stronger partnerships with private sector employers to help bring Inuit onboard, and more support from colleges and universities – even to the extent of handholding – for Inuit youth who need to leave the territory for higher education.

Carla St. Louis, who works with a Morrisburg, Ont., school that has trained and placed hundreds of Inuit heavy-equipment operators, said the key is providing lots of up-front support to new students to help them adjust to life in the south and separation from family and community.

As the Nunavut training coordinator for the Operating Engineers Training Institute of Ontario, she counsels the students, provides a phone card for calls home, and helps them find banking facilities and whatever else they need. Housing is provided.

She recalled one middle-aged man who was so stressed in the first few days at the school he ended up crying on her shoulder. With a little extra help he went on to become one of the school's most successful graduates.

Another success story came from Len Kutchaw of Baffinland Iron Mines Corp., who said 210 of the mine site's 500 workers at peak last year were Inuit.

As part of its Inuit impact and benefit agreement with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, the company has liaison offices in Pond Inlet, Arctic Bay, Clyde River, Hall Beach and Igloolik to help Inuit apply for jobs, and manage the logistics of work-related travel and family contact.

People know they can go to the community office to connect with family members working at the site, he said.

Baffinland also maintained a very successful "elder in residence" program at the site – a rotating series of elders who provided guidance and counselling to young, inexperienced and often homesick Inuit workers.

Among other concerns raised at the conference were the low participation rate of Inuit men in the labour market, and a serious need for career-focused education and guidance counselling that begins in high school.

Unfortunately, there did not appear to be any public school educators at the conference.

Conference participants ended by identifying several dozen small but concrete steps some could take to improve Inuit employment. AHRC staff promised to follow-up to make sure those steps were being taken.