Lack of leadership cited for Nunavik school board’s financial struggles
Quebec education ministry’s lengthy investigation of board notes numerous problems
Quebec’s education ministry has released a report from its investigation of Kativik Ilisarnilirniq’s governance and administration. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
Quebec’s education ministry has found layers of problems within Kativik Ilisarnilirniq’s administration and deemed the board’s financial situation “out of control,” a new report says.
The Ministry of Education and Higher Education investigated the Nunavik school board’s governance and administration between December 2023 and June 2024, following a provincial cabinet order.
It launched the investigation in response to the school board’s deteriorating financial situation — going from a $14.5 million surplus in the 2018-19 school year to a $26.7 million deficit in 2022-23.
The report, titled Administrative Inquiry into the Administration and Operation of Kativik Ilisarniliriniq, and released this month, offers 10 observations about how the board’s financial situation deteriorated.
“The elected commissioners lack sufficient knowledge to carry out their roles and exercise the responsibilities related to their function,” it said.
Fourteen commissioners are elected from each community to form the board. Five of them plus a Kativik Regional Government appointee make up the board’s executive committee.
“According to observations made at last year’s meetings, the board is not sufficiently involved in many of the areas for which it is responsible,” the report said.
One example is strategic planning. The report says there has not been an exercise to plan for the future in nearly 10 years.
“The absence of formal strategic planning means that neither the commissioners nor [the board’s] senior management have a common point of reference.”
The report also pointed out that the frequency with which the council of commissioners meets — four times a year — is insufficient to effectively oversee school board workings, remain engaged or deal with challenges the board faces. It also found commissioners are not involved enough in the board’s finances.
“The commissioners’ discussions appear to be minimal, if not absent,” the report said. “They are limited to concluding that there is a lack of ‘adequate’ funding from the [ministry of education].”
The report pointed out that since the beginning of the inquiry, the council did not make it a priority to hold more discussions related to finances.
It also said the board is unable to adapt to organization changes because of members’ lack of expertise, there’s a lack of finance department leadership, weak controls against errors or fraud, while the council of commissioners’ focus on political issues over financial matters.
As a result of its investigation, the ministry will appoint an external support person and a specialized firm to advise the board’s administration, inform commissioners of their roles and responsibilities, improve the financial department, and make a diagnosis for organization changes.
In a statement May 19, Kativik Ilisarnilirniq president Sarah Aloupa said “the investigation report portrays the council of commissioners as reckless when it comes to making financial decisions.
“The reality of it is that we were faced with difficult choices: inadequate funding and urgent needs in terms of infrastructure to maintain or expand, new positions needed to support students, etc.”
Aloupa said the consensus among commissioners at the time was that their best strategy was to approve a deficit budget.
“So, here we are today, with a deficit and a sound financial recovery plan in place, but most importantly, with open communication channels with the [education ministry],” Aloupa said.
She said the report has been helpful but some recommendations show a disconnect between the provincial government and the Nunavik education sector, specifically a lack of training for the commissioners.
The training recommended, which is provided by the education ministry, is not tailored to the Nunavik board and its different work environment, the board’s statement said. Also, only 10 per cent of the training material is available in English.
The statement said it should be the ministry’s responsibility to develop training material that’s tailored and relevant to the region.
“We are committed to strengthening the existing collaboration as we continue working on the development of action plans to address the report’s recommendations,” Aloupa said.
“We also hope that the report will help the [education ministry] to establish effective priorities in providing support to Kativik Ilisarniliriniq.”
Lack of a training is a very polite way to say the commissioners have no clue what they are doing and rubberstamp whatever is put in front of them. Few of them are ever seen near a school. The Inuit management lives in Montreal to make sure their children don’t go to the schools they are in charge of running.
Don t worry , SELF GOVERNMENT will solve all of our problems.
With self government, we’ll be more educated. We will get up in the morning and get our kids of to school. We will go to work, even go hunting sometimes. We will not have to go away from our families and live a harsh life of hotel rooms, will not have to eat at any more fancy restaurants. Not as much travel in groups of 20, 30 or more to Montreal and other communities. We will be there for our children to help bring them up with love and understanding. We will have our own teachers, our own police, our own hospital staff. We will finally go further than just a John Abbott graduation m we will finally join the university graduate and become something to our society. And we will drink less alcohol and not do as much crime.
A system set up to hurt ourselves. A system where non-beneficiaries see these exploits and take advantage of them via procurement. We need CBC‘s, Mark Kelly to do an investigative piece on our regions spending practises and vendor relations. Mark Kelly is the brother of former indigenous affairs minister Geoffrey Kelly. Mark Kelly is the cohost of the fifth estate. None of this fake propaganda news.
Absolutely great, exposing the ridiculous threat to our children’s future and Inuit of Nunavik growth development and accountability to waste l
This has been going on too long. The board has low level of education themselves, contrary to the qualifications needed in a school board. Personally I know that board well, and was always in awe with the unacceptable level of education impedimented into these meetings and in the workplace process and procedures. Very sad and shameful that it went on so long. The traveling, the movement of workers and board members especially trips to Montreal , in large hotel board rooms discussing the same issue, with no knowledge and appreciation for the future of our children. Glad that someone in education sees it and will appoint an educational person to this unacceptable situation.
Inuit in my circle want these members and workers to step down , resign, please. They should be offered that chance before terminating them. We have members on the board who are in opposition to education even. We have those who never went to school themselves. Some of the board members are only on the board to collect the cheque that accompanied each meeting. Some are elderly, and fine it difficult to travel in the first place. Not uncommon to see a board member get sick when traveling, some have even ended up in hospital during the meeting. Not putting elderly out, they are some of our best advocates for insight, but the selection process is flawed into, taking anyone , no question no qualifications needed. Happy for this audit.
Each time that I re-read this article and its comments, I keep asking myself the same question.
WHERE WAS THE FINANCE MANAGER IN ALL OF THIS?
I was the Comptroller for a Divisional Board of Education when I came north in 1988. Albeit at the time a small annual budget of 13 million compared to today, there was an annual budget prepared for the Board of Directors that included a small surplus as recommended by the auditors.
Our Board covered seven communities in our region.
Every year, our Executive Director and I would bring in the board members for administrative and financial training for them.
They all knew that they were not able to overspend the budgeted expenses for their community. They also understood that this was territorial public funds and other specific project funding that they were responsible for.
At NO TIME did they overspend the budget. If they had a specific request for their community (usually additional teachers or special needs assistants), they asked us to help them put together a funding request to the Department of Education.
I again ask the question. Where was the Financial Manager in all this?
The position is usually well – paid for their professional expertise.
Or was he/she part of the problem? I shake my head each time that I read this article.
They okayed the deficit all the time because it is more convenient to complain that the Quebec government is French and evil and does not care about Inuit.
Stop going to Montreal mid December for board meetings. It will save money and make all focus better on results.
Yes Christmas shopping where the plane loads of over inflated tickets flying thousands out to Montreal, shopping on expenses of tax payers, and hid in expensive hotel wit buffets to justify the trip. Ridiculous, absolutely abusing money from the development and health of Nunavik. Encouraging everyone to continue to call that out, expose expose, lets put a stop to it by exposing
For years this has been going on. The impact is far greater than is admitted or understood. The whole Nunavik is shaking badly by all the travel. The waste as we are discussing it’s only the tip of the issue of impact. Little children had been suffering for years for bring left alone to rare themselves. The abuse from predators are well documented in our courts. I never see such an intense number of parents who have always been part then travel groups and left their little kids behind. Nowhere can you see this in our province or our country. And then we wonder about the behaviour of the kids in the community. I know the guilt is not even in awareness of the travelling waste committees. What a poor decision to do that. Look back on it you who i speak of and reflect on your accomplishments and see your children today.
We live in difficult challenging times. People are impatient. There’s an exaggeration of the good the bad and the evil. Its also a time where the truth comes out in amongst the noises of lies and corruption. An opportunity if you will to laid it all out as the bad and evil are in checks and bounds by the good that remain good under a crappie society. Its hard one for the good and best in society, but im confident that good will win. So get ready nunavik corruption, your waste are coming out in the clarity and clear way on your own or be ousted into surrender, its over the waste, that includes funds of tax payer charity too
Maybe stop electing your friends and family to the board. Maybe try to uphold the principles of good governance. Ethics and good judgment dont need translation. Maybe put-forth and elect people who have real world board experience and know what they are doing. Stop electing self-protecting sycophants and elect knowledge to the board, or you will likely garnish more of the same
Every committee and board has the toxic within. There are committees and boards, many made up of the same individuals, uneducated, uniformed and representatives of family favourites elected upon some bingo card purchasing evening at the gym of arena. They’ll been ruining Nunavik forever and we know them well. You’ll see them in traveling groups of 6 , 6 Or 10, moving about community to community, but often travel to Montreal as a preferred place of meetings. They are toxic. They are the problem.
financial struggles!!! if the people in higher positions in K.I. were educated and not on all the boards, committees or council members of the communities, there wouldn’t be this high of a deficit by the school board. These financial struggles has to deal with the one major problem in Nunavik and that would be the adult education sector in Nunavik. They are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to teach the young Inuit men and women how to become heavy equipment operators and once they finish a project they give the parceled land to their significant other at no cost. This has been happening for years and everyone just tends to turn their eyes and pretend nothing illegal is happening. While our children and grandchildren are meant to suffer for a K.I. gymnasium falling apart and is dangerous for any person who enters this (condemned) gymnasium. To much so called power in one persons hands.