Job swap could help fill 7 GN vacancies, Aggu MLA says
Environment Minister Daniel Qaavik says he’s interested in Joanna Quassa’s proposal for filling vacancies in Igloolik
Nunavut’s Minister of Environment Daniel Qavvik said Monday that housing and daycare are two of the obstacles for filling seven vacancies in his department in Igloolik. (File photo by Jeff Pelletier)
There are seven vacancies in Igloolik for positions within the Government of Nunavut’s Department of Environment, the department’s minister, Daniel Qavvik, said Monday.
“We’re doing our very best to have those positions [filled],” he said in the legislative assembly.
The information came out during question period when Aggu MLA Joanna Quassa asked Qavvik about how many vacancies there are in the Department of Environment in Igloolik.
Qavvik said Igloolik-based positions that have been open include polar bear biologist, polar bear technician, social science researcher, database management specialist, ecosystem research co-ordinator, environmental assessment biologist and social science researcher.
The positions have been vacant since between 2016 and 2021.
Access to housing and daycare were two of the challenges Qavvik gave as reasons his department has struggled to fill the positions.
Finding people in Igloolik with the qualifications to do those jobs is also a challenge, he told Nunatsiaq News afterward.
Quassa suggested to Qavvik that the department should move those positions to another part of the territory, and instead Igloolik could get other government jobs Igloolikmiut would be better able to fill.
Qavvik responded, saying he is interested in the idea.
Speaking with Nunatsiaq News, Qavvik said his department is exploring moving the vacant positions to other communities that would have more housing options as well as easier access to southern airports.
In the legislative assembly, Qavvik said his department has had discussions with the federal government about possibly moving vacant positions to the Canadian High Arctic Research Station in Cambridge Bay.
“That’s not to say we will move [the positions] but we are exploring options,” he told Nunatsiaq News.
When it comes to the challenges of filling vacancies and ensuring locals get hired, Qavvik said it will involve working with other departments.
“It’s going to require a whole-of-government approach to hire our Inuit people,” he said.
Gravy train jobs to be had . no qualified locals.
Why do you need a Social Science researcher in Igloolik?
Better question, what are these “other government jobs Igloolikmiut would be better able to fill”? I see that was never mentioned in the article. Is Quassa just looking to fill a few seats for a few hours a day? I don’t think there’s many Iglulikmiut sitting around with university degrees, college diplomas, or real seal certificates. What types of government jobs would she prefer in Iglulik?
Daycare not open is the same story in all of nunavut, even iqaluit. I say hire qualified daycare workers and give them housing and that will fix the daycare issue.
Housing issue starts by only letting people with jobs requiring a specific skill set get housing. No reason a locally hired clerk or administrator needs staff housing. There’s a shortage of housing but staff units should be only for jobs requiring actual education cause those are the hardest to fill.
This is reference to Department of Education that lack’s certified academic Teachers in Nunavut. The Minister of Education appear to have No clue nor experience who sit’s as Executive Director’s! The Deputy Minister of Education is basically focusing on fulfilling vacant Teacher positions without any qualifications nor Teacher certifications. You may notice full-time scale Cultural programs Not relevant to Student’s learning in classes! Teacher’s looking into excuse to miss days as sick days. The Education level in Nunavut is very flawed at all levels.
I don’t think their was any AGM with the DEA’s with general public nor school visits with the Department of Educations to meet and discuss school issues with general Public in the communities! You’ll notice Grade 12 grad’s handed Grade 12 Diplomas or Certified at Grade 7 or 8 level. Which 75% continue Education at Nunavut Arctic College due to poor grade level’s. This is a concern at all levels under the table of Minister of Education. Shame how this system used and ignored!
The GN will have far more challenges filling positions in the future because of the poor quality education delivered in NU. The RSOs are no support and unfortunate – costing the future of reaching NUs highest potential. Education needs to be revamped if we want to see success in NU. Teachers are too busy being in survival mode because of the stresses imposed upon teachers from the RSOs.
I have reservations regarding the likelihood of individuals being inclined to relocate to Igloolik. While there are available positions, the prospect of moving further north, where the cost of groceries is expected to be significantly higher, and the expenses associated with travel, particularly for a family of four, may not justify the endeavor.
However, for a single teacher with the benefit of summer vacation, the circumstances would be different.
The issue is that most communities in Nunavut lack direct air travel connections, often necessitating overnight stays in major transportation hubs where hotel expenses are exorbitant to connect to flights heading south.
As a result, these vacant positions are likely to remain unfilled due to the challenges posed by the high cost of living.
It would be nice if the idea of interest to the minister could be interpreted as having basic service centre type positions in the community and other communities that have positions that require educational levels not usually seen in the communities. Standard service positions that are useful to community members and for which there can be ongoing regular training as opposed to positions that require post secondary education, lots of initiative, experience. And people inthese service positions could move upover time to manager positions.
I guess there’s not to many university graduates see themselves moving to igloolik for work. These typa jobs need to be in the regional centers. Who cares they’ll just hire consultants anyway.
This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Not only did chars lose office space but igloolik lost an entire building, what are they gonna do with that research station, Let it go to waste like all other buildings not in use in Nunavut? Chars also took away business in Cambridge bay by approving this. There are other office buildings the gn can rent from, surprised this hasn’t blown up more.