'It’s great to see them committed in this way.'

Speak Inuktitut by 2008 or you're fired, Premier Paul Okalik warned his senior staff a year and a half ago.

Well, it's late February, and no one's been eliminated for poor pronunciation of those tricky uvular sounds made in the back of your throat.

But the demand has saddled extra responsibilities on the people who do some of the most demanding jobs in the territory: deputy ministers and presidents of Crown corporations.

On top of their already-hectic schedules, a handful of non-Inuit senior staff have had to duck out of their offices twice a week to attend special classes, where nothing is spoken but Inuktitut.

Eleven senior staff took Inuktitut lessons over three months last year. Nine plan to resume classes this month.

None are fluent, as Okalik initially, and probably impossibly, demanded.

But he says he's able to have a basic conversation in Inuktitut with everyone. One senior staff member is now able to make a government presentation in Inuktitut.

"They have more work to do," Okalik said. "But it's great to see them committed in this way."

Okalik admits the move is largely a symbolic gesture meant to appease constituents who feel the Government of Nunavut isn't Inuit enough.

"They want the government to reflect their society," Okalik said. "They expect the government to deliver programs and services in their language."

Yet deputy ministers and presidents of Crown corporations rarely interact with the public. They're not answering phone calls from residents with questions about their power bills, or a relative's medevac flight.

But Okalik says the move has sent a strong message inside the civil service: "If they want to move up the ladder, they should learn Inuktitut," he said. "That's filtering down."

Learning Inuktitut also demonstrates a commitment to living in Nunavut, Okalik said.

"If you learn our language, you have a different standing. You have more credibility," he said. "You're showing your commitment to the community."

No doubt. But some wonder if there aren't more important government priorities than forcing senior staff to learn a new language.

This is, after all, a government so strained by capacity that it's often difficult to find someone in some departments able to pick up a phone. Competent government employees are hard to come by, especially those able to work at the highest levels.

Several senior staff didn't respond to requests to talk about their Inuktitut lessons. It's unlikely any would be openly critical of a plan imposed by their boss, anyway.

And it's equally unlikely that any are very happy that their annual five per cent bonus is now tied to their ability to speak Inuktitut, among other work-related goals.

Okalik says he's heard no complaints from senior staff "who have chosen to take part." And did any choose to not take part, and leave? He shakes his head.

Pam Hine tells another story. She was, by all accounts, a competent deputy minister, until she left last year, in two of the most demanding government departments: Community and Government Services, and Education. She also served as president of the Nunavut Housing Corp.

Now she works as a deputy minister of education for the Government of the Yukon. Reached by phone this week, she said her reasons for leaving Nunavut were complicated, but the requirement to take Inuktitut lessons "was part of the decision."

She knows Inuktitut is supposed to be the working language of government. But, given the Nunavut government's big capacity problems, "the issue has been how quickly you should move on that," Hine said.

"Just moving people up through the ranks may not be the best thing," she added.

Leaving wasn't an easy choice, she said. She and her husband spent 12 years in Nunavut, and they still have children in the territory.

"It was home to us. And when people ask, we say we're from Nunavut, not the Maritimes. It was a difficult situation," she said.

The Inuktitut lessons aren't cheap. A 36-hour course, spread over 12 weeks, costs nearly $3,000 per student.

The government also paid for the development of the course, offered by the Pirurvik Centre of Iqaluit. The cost wasn't disclosed by Nunatsiaq News' deadline.

Okalik says he wants to encourage other residents to take these courses. He seems surprised when he's told the cost may be prohibitive to some.

He said he expects most employers would pay the bill. In any case, there is a free web site, also designed by Pirurvik: www.tusaalanga.ca.

Leena Evic, who helps teach the lessons, says the senior staff she has taught have "progressed a good deal" in their Inuktitut. Are any approaching being fluent? Well, no.

"Even myself, I'm not fluent," she said. "I may be fluent at my level, but unilingual Inuit are 10 times more fluent than I am."