Decentralize or else

There are two reasons for the government of Nunavut’s implacable commitment to the idea of spreading government jobs and offices among the greatest possible number of communities.

The first reason is that, almost from the very beginning, pro-Nunavut activists promised that Nunavut would have a decentralized government. Mostly, they expressed this vision in negative terms — that Nunavut’s capital would not be “another Yellowknife,” hosting a highly centralized province-like administration.

Although they were clear about what they did not want, they were vague about what they did want. This created an expectation that not only would Nunavut acquire a decentralized administration, but also that Nunavut would get a decentralization of political power — something that has definitely not happened.

But the notion stuck, and it wasn’t long before everyone in Nunavut fell in love with the word “decentralization,” although many were less than precise about what it actually meant.

The second reason is that the people of Nunavut voted for a highly decentralized administration in the December 1995 capital plebiscite. Many readers may remember that 60 per cent of those who cast ballots chose Iqaluit, compared with only 39 per cent who chose Rankin Inlet.

Why? Partly because most people in Nunavut were led to believe that an Iqaluit capital would distribute the greatest number of jobs among the greatest number of communities. Earlier that year, the Nunavut Implementation Commission had issued a much-quoted report that produced a convincing-looking set of numbers saying just that. Iqaluit backers waved it around everywhere they went during a campaign whose loudest slogan was “Iqaluit for all of Nunavut.”

One of the unintended consequences of all this is that even in the highest circles, government employees are now regarded — perhaps unconsciously — as if they were commodities to be bought, traded and moved around on spreadsheets by local and regional power brokers. That they are also human beings who provide service to the public and policy for the government often appears to be forgotten.

Still, Premier Paul Okalik has no choice but to carry out the decentralization project the government inherited on April 1, 1999. After the GN’s decentralization secretariat was created within the department of the executive, Okalik became politically accountable for the success or failure of that project. He couldn’t oppose decentralization even if he wanted to.

That explains why Okalik and his officials will press on with decentralization, not only where it makes sense, but also where it makes no sense.

For example, the impending move of 21 jobs in the department of sustainable development’s wildlife division will provide few “benefits” for Igloolik.

Although any spreadsheet jockey may shift a “job” from one community to another, human beings aren’t as easy to move around. It’s likely that most of the human beings who hold those DSD jobs will choose not to relocate. We also know, as a recent GN consultant’s report pointed out, that few of those vacancies will be filled locally, since they require advanced university degrees in biology and other subjects.

Most of those employees work in areas important not only for all the people of Nunavut, but also in areas where Canada is a party to international treaties, such as polar bear research. If the DSD’s wildlife division is weakened, it’s conceivable that the Nunavut government’s capacity to meet its obligations under the Nunavut land claim agreement and other laws will be weakened.

Decentralization works best where the affected jobs are simple and require months, not years, of training. The clerical functions within Nunavut Power Corporation’s successful headquarters in Baker Lake are a good example of that. But when the affected jobs are highly specialized and technical, decentralization fails. The health department’s operations and practice unit in Kugluktuk, where 12 highly specialized jobs have sat empty for two years, is a good example of such a failure.

All the evidence suggests that the upcoming DSD move promises to be a repetition of the Kugluktuk fiasco. No one, however, will care.

JB