Give trainees a chance in Nunavik

I am writing to let the people know of my disapproval with the current health and and social service hiring practices in Nunavik.

I find that the local Inuit population are far too often overlooked when it comes to getting real accredited training so as to one day have the ability to replace their southern counterparts as it is written in the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. Come on folks, it’s been 25 years now and it’s time to get with the program.

Even though, they may at times be given some title to make the population believe something positive is being done to improve the situation, they have not been given the confidence of their administrators to take part in the decision-making process. Furthermore, I find that our regional boards of directors are nothing more than puppets being controlled by the southern employees who are supposed to be working for them.

We the population of Nunavik have to wake up and speak out as we are presently experiencing a crisis when it comes to suicide, family violence, and especially lack of jobs to make the people feel better about themselves.

We keep hearing about the problems, but is anything more than talk taking place? Our region has been recently recognized world-wide as having the highest suicide rate per capita, not only in Canada, but the world.

Should you not believe me, check your local cemetery. This is not something we can be proud of.

We have in our midst many university graduates who now need to be given the chance to go even further in helping their native families. I would suggeset to you that even Minnie Grey, our newly appointed director of the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services would be pushing a broom, not papers, if someone somewhere did not have confidence in what you had to say when you started on your rise to the top.

I am the father of seven and do not want my children to have to feel that they are any less than the next person. No exceptions are good enough, especially because of their Inuit origin. Give the locals at least the benefit of the doubt, after all, that is why you are where you are today.

Maybe the answers to our problems of tomorrow could be as simple as looking at our past when the Inuit population worked together.

Harvey Mesher
Kuujjuaq