Decentralization threatens the dream of Nunavut?

In recent weeks a report was released by one of the Nunavut government agencies charged with analysis, and it recommended some rethinking on some of the decentralization moves coming up, including the move of some 20 positions in the department of sustainable development’s wildlife division headquarters to Igloolik.

This development was also reported in Nunatsiaq News recently, and there has obviously been much rapid distancing of executive officials from this position.

Well, it appears that senior government wanted to nip this one in the bud, so on a recent Monday morning, all the affected staff at DSD were called into a boardroom meeting and given their “letters.”

Now it was official and the clock was ticking down. Time to move on or move out. It appears that once again the jobs will be moving on, but not the bodies that are currently in them.

What is the message here? What is the lesson learned?

Decentralization conceives of jobs as property, versus functions and services, and there is the assumption that decentralized jobs will go to local people. The unfortunate reality is that often skilled jobs remain vacant, or jobs are filled with unqualified people to increase those local-hire statistics. Worry about the services and functions later….

Or maybe there is some luck in finding academically qualified people in southern Canada with little work experience and who can’t even pronounce the word “Inuktitut.” In any case, a lot of good long-term employees are lost to Nunavut in a time of its greatest need for skilled personnel and corporate knowledge.

The costs of decentralization in terms of dollars and efficiency are not revealed to the public, as they represent bothersome opportunity costs, but these limited financial resources could be used toward more positive ends for all communities.

While forced growth from our rapidly increasing population necessarily affects budgets for health, social services, housing and education, decentralization has become another huge budget sink — this time a discretionary one for dollars that are already too slim and far between for Nunavut to really do exciting new things to make a difference.

There is a real feeling that the government of Nunavut does not really care about its staff anymore, its people. The slogans at the top are “just do it,” “make it happen,” and the view in those circles is that this amounts to commitment, good management, and an accountable government — given the high expectations for fast-tracked change out there.

However, there is little positive that can be said about a perspective that operates without feedback loops, that operates without a learning curve. Adaptability in extreme environments, natural or organizational, requires responsive adjustments of behavior. Arrogant single-mindedness did not get Scott to the South Pole, and “just do it” with decentralization will not save a professional public service that is being squandered as if there is no tomorrow. “Just do it” is akin to a speeding train without any brakes, headed for the abyss.

The runaway train is now the image to replace the emperor’s new clothes, which described the earlier phase of decentralization thinking, whereby nobody dared to admit that the emperor is buck naked or that decentralization had lost its vision, and is now a threat to our dream of Nunavut.

Decentralization has a mind of its own now, and our elected government is just shoveling coal into the boiler in hypnotic, mechanical thrusts. Nunavut has many detractors, given that it is a very expensive experiment funded by southern Canada.

Among its patient defenders have been many dedicated government staff who would say to the detractors “give it a chance, it’s new yet, just a baby.”

Well, staff aren’t saying that anymore. They’re now saying “I give up. They just don’t care, fuck ‘em.”

It’s really sad.

(Name withheld by request)
Iqaluit