Fired GN worker calls on Human Rights Commission

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

Harbir Boparai, the government of Nunavut employee who was fired three weeks after being hired in Pangnirtung last summer, has raised the stakes in his battle for compensation by calling on the Canadian Human Rights Commission to review his case.

Boparai’s dismissal came after senior bureaucrats and staff in the premier’s office accepted racist rumours about his getting his job through another South Asian in Pangnirtung last summer.

Government documents show Rosemary Keenainak, a GN deputy minister, ordered his firing, even after his supervisor said that the rumours were untrue and Boparai had the skills for the job.

The Nunavut Employees Union is representing Boparai in his grievance against the government, claiming he was wrongfully dismissed.

Boparai says his complaint with the human rights commission will serve as a back-up means to resolve the dispute, in case negotiations break down between the GN and the union.

Government and union officials met to discuss the case last month, but fell short of a deal.

“The government of Nunavut doesn’t take me seriously at all,” Boparai said from his home in Vancouver.

“I feel they don’t admit their mistakes and they don’t want to learn from them.”

Boparai is demanding an apology from the premier and financial compensation for lost wages. While he wouldn’t disclose the amount of money he wants, Boparai promised to donate some of it to an Inuit charity based in Nunavut.

However, the recent meeting failed, Boparai said, because government leaders hope he’ll eventually lose interest in pursuing the matter.

Boparai confirmed the government is also rejecting one of his key demands – to fire Keenainak.

He said government officials are protecting Keenainak because she’s part of Nunavut’s political elite.

Keenainak, deputy minister of economic development and transportation, has strong ties to Premier Paul Okalik.

Keenainak’s e-mails to the premier’s office staff indicate the firing took place after Okalik was visiting Pangnirtung and heard about the rumours.

The gossip attracted the attention of senior bureaucrats after they received an e-mail sent by another GN worker, James Cummings, the husband of one of Boparai’s colleagues. In the note, he warns that Pangnirtung residents were upset about Boparai’s hiring, because they had heard he got his job through his roommate, who also worked for the government.

Cummings suggested the roommate was actually Boparai’s brother-in-law, even though the two are not related.

Peter Ma, then principal secretary to the premier, exchanged notes with Keenainak to express concern about the rumours, and within 10 days, Boparai was dismissed.

In her correspondence, Keenainak claimed she fired Boparai because Inuit weren’t given a chance to apply for the casual position, which involved researching the creation of a bank or credit union for Nunavut.

But after re-opening the position, government bosses hired another non-Inuk to take Boparai’s place.

Boparai, a 23-year-old university graduate in economics, believes his replacement shows that increasing Inuit employment wasn’t the motivation behind his firing.

“I was fired in the name of Inuit employment, but they didn’t hire an Inuit,” he said. “Why did they fire me in the first place if they weren’t going to hire an Inuit?

“All [Okalik]’s done is alter the public perception. I guess that’s the flaw in so many politicians. They’re not working for the people. They’re working for the people’s vote.”

Doug Workman, NEU president, said he was optimistic that the grievance would be resolved in Boparai’s favour by the end of the year.

But Workman cautioned that the dispute would probably require a full arbitration process. Then, they’ll face the challenge of agreeing which arbitrator should oversee the proceedings.

“The number one thing is to get it resolved sooner than later,” Workman said.

Officials with the GN said they can’t comment on Boparai’s case until the grievance process is over, because they consider it a personnel matter.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission representatives also won’t comment on the case. However, a spokesman for the commission said it takes about a year to complete their review of any complaint that they decide to investigate.