Few Inuktitut-speaking social workers

Uqummiut MLA David Iqaqrialu complained last week that the department of health and social services does not have enough Inuktitut-speaking social workers on staff.

“I’d like to ask the minister, because we now have the Nunavut government, is there any policy changes that are going to occur so that they can hire more Inuktitut counsellors in the communities?” Iqaqrialu asked.

Health Minister Ed Picco responded by saying that in a recent retreat, department officials talked about ways of getting more Inuktitut-speaking social workers for Nunavut, including ways of addressing the systemic barriers that prevent Inuit from becoming qualified social workers.

But he also said that university degrees and fluency in English are usually required for social work jobs because of the legal issues that social workers must deal with.

“At the same time there are statutory obligations under legislation — child custody matters and so on, where there is a need to have fluency in English, because the courts have been acting in, as you know, in English,” Picco said.