Nunavut education minister vows to reinstate contributions to NS
Promise overturns earlier decision to not extend funding
Graduating Nunavut Silvuniksavut student Dayna Bruce and Education Minister David Joanasie at the NS graduation ceremony in Ottawa on May 15. (Courtesy of Nunavut Sivuniksavut)
The Government of Nunavut will reinstate the $175,000 per year contribution it had been making to the Ottawa-based Nunavut Sivuniksavut program, says Education Minister David Joanasie.
Joanasie, a former NS student, conveyed that information in a speech he made on the afternoon of May 15, at this year’s NS graduation ceremony at a room inside the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa.
“To make sure the journey that you took here at NS is available to others who wish to follow in your footsteps, I would like to tell you all that the Government of Nunavut, through my Department of Education, is pledging its support of Nunavut Sivuniksavut,” Joanasie said.
Until the 2019-20 fiscal year, which began this past April 1, the GN, through the Department of Family Services, had been giving NS a contribution of $175,000 a year.
That arrangement had started three years earlier. But for this fiscal year, the three-year commitment ended.
That came to light on March 5, when Family Services Minister Elisapee Sheutiapik responded to a question in committee of the whole from Iqaluit-Manirajak MLA Adam Lightstone, who’s also a former NS student.
Sheutiapik told Lightstone that the funding item is not a good fit for the mandate of Family Services, so the $175,000 a year was dropped from the department’s budget.
Last March, Premier Joe Savikataaq said in the legislature that the $175,000 was for three years only.
“I’m pretty sure that they operated on more than $175,000 a year, and I’m sure that they operated for many, many years before three years ago, so this funding had an end date to it, and the end date came,” Savikataaq said at that time.
And he said that money from the Family Services budget should be used instead for those who can’t go to NS and who need other programs to work towards a job at the GN.
After Nunatsiaq News reported that budget decision, representatives of Inuit organizations attacked the GN for the decision.
For his part, Morley Hanson, the NS coordinator, told people gathered at the graduation that he’s happy to hear the news
“You can’t imagine how it good it feels to hear those words from a former student,” Hanson told the audience.
“The program exists only because there are those people who believe in it and are willing to support it and advocate for it, and help find money for it. And a lot of those people are the different, various Inuit organizations,” Hanson said.
The NS total budget stands at about $2.3 million, with revenues coming from a variety of sources, including charitable donations, according to information on the Canada Revenue Agency website.
The program started in 1985, when it was originally created to train land claim workers for the Tungavik Federation of Nunavut, the predecessor of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.
It has since evolved into a junior college program intended to prepare Inuit for either government jobs or more advanced post-secondary education.
A lack of coordination in the GN, and a lack of understanding by the Minister of Family Services that the GN is supposed to be a unifying force in Nunavut.
I recall reading an article in your paper, that NS bought their own building. Did they use public government funds to purchase real estate in Ottawa? Maybe that’s against some regulation or rules. I want to know how they purchased a building in Ottawa?
Also, I don’t believe we need this program anymore. If students are determined, with the correct upbringing they can attend college/university anywhere in Canada. I believe NS program has outlived its usefulness. They always quote how many grads are working, I want to see the statistical details, where are they working? What kind of positions? The Government of Nunavut must seriously consider refunding this type of program, maybe NTI funds can be used instead……
If this was just a pre-college preparatory program you might have a good case, but it’s possibly (probably) the only program in the country that focuses on Inuit history and culture in a quasi-academic setting. This is valuable. It could also represent a template for Inuit studies at the university level at some point in the future.
Having been an educator in Nunavut who was involved in the development of curriculum for the territory, I met the group of NS students who helped write curriculum that is now in schools in Nunavut. I feel that this program is a great next step for students who have graduated from high school and are not sure of what they want to do next. Operating in Ottawa allows the students to experience a variety of options of what they can do next… For those students who graduate knowing what they want to do after graduation it may not be an option that they need, but I can see that it would be a very valuable next step that would help Nunamiut youth to make future decisions with more relevant information.
I was wondering something similar. NS is considered to be a charity, I was wondering if there is any Ontario money going into an institution that limits enrollment so much. If so, the question would be how it benefits Ontario?
Also, it has been called a ‘junior college’. This is misleading, as there is no such thing in Canada, that is an American concept.
Is there some reason why a junior college can only exist in the US, not Canada? My understanding is that junior college is synonymous with community college, which there are plenty of in Canada. Also wondering why you always pick at such petty, inconsequential and useless points anyway? I doubt anyone GAF, honestly.
I find the topic to be neither petty nor inconsequential, and that is a good enough reason for me to comment. Whether you, or anyone else, GAFs is up to them.
It is important because junior college and community colleges are not synonymous, and serve different purposes. Junior college graduates have earned a 2-year Associate Degree, graduates from NS have no such thing. This is an important distinction; if an NS grad leads me to believe that they have an AD I have certain expectations.
Israel, you say you have “certain expectations” on NS. I’m a bit curious why anyone should care about these expectations? Why do they matter? I’d love to hear more.
I didn’t say that I have certain expectations of NS grads, you did. I’ve only dealt with a few that I know of, and haven’t enough experience with them to have a good feel for their abilities.
However, if someone tells me on a resume or during an interview that they graduated from a ‘junior college’ my initial expectation is that they will have the reading/writing/critical thinking ability to gain accelerated acceptance into a 4-year university programme, as can be done if you hold an American-style junior college Associate Degree.
So yeah, if you’re sitting in front of me looking for a position, what I expect from you are partly based (and only partly, not even the most important part) on your education. If you tell me that you have an 8 month community college diploma (such as NS), I will have a different starting set of expectations than if you have a a 4-year degree or a masters, etc. That is pretty standard stuff practiced by those hiring everywhere, not the least bit unusual.
I trust that your curiosity is satisfied?
Israel
I found this definition on Wikipedia: A junior college is a post-secondary educational institution designed to prepare students for either skilled trades or for additional education at another college with more advanced academic material. Students typically attend junior colleges for 1–3 years.
Sounds about right. What is the issue? You think NS students are going to pretend they have an Associate Degree, when they don’t? Why would they do that? What a strange comment.
Ah, Wikipedia, the fount of all knowledge – that is a very nice generic definition, that has zero meaning in Canada, full stop.
Look in the Ontario legislation, that is no such thing as a junior college, end of that conversation. We have schools of applied arts and technology in Ontario, such as Algonquin College (and NS), together with a whole bunch of other categories of school, but nowhere in the system will you find a ‘junior college’.
To the layman, this might not mean much, and understandably so, but ‘junior college’, in the educational field, has a very definite and clear meaning. I grant you that this might be different from how junior college is used in everyday conversation, but the distinction is important. The only ‘junior college’ graduates that I have ever seen in Canada have had credentials earned in the States. They are rare and unusual in Canada, whereas they are very common in the US.
Word choice matters, particularly when the meaning is very carefully defined in enabling legislation.
I never said at any point that NS students would pretend that they have Associate’s Degrees.
Here’s a thought Israel, if someone actually does tell you they graduated from a junior college, you ask them for a transcript and for clarification on the specific program they completed. For example, if someone told me they had graduated from Arctic College I would want to know what program they took. If I was looking for someone with a business diploma, I would need to know that they hadn’t graduated from the trade school, or from Environmental Tech. In any case, my guess is most NS grads will tell you they graduated from NS. Full stop! As you say! But in case they do decide to pull a fast one one you, or on any of us (you can never be sure), we will be on the the alert!. Bless you for pointing out this abuse of language, the shameless semantic scourge at play here. You are a true hero of the Nunatsiaq News comment section, and I applaud you! Full Stop!
Thank you for your praise. I’m glad that you appreciate my efforts. So many seem to take a different approach. I will take your kind words as encouragement to keep up my efforts in the future. As you say, this is scourge, and it must be tackled head on. 😉
Look at NS Nunavik and NS Nunavut, both similar programs. NS Nunavik decided to do more what their region has to offer for their end of the year trip. NS Nunavut?………you guessed it, plus they own their selected grads.
This is interesting to me. What do you mean by “…they own their selected grads.” Would you elaborate on that a bit more?
As an outsider I find that Nunavut Sivuniksavut offers the students a magnificent bridging course to bring students up to speed to enter higher education courses on offer from down south plus reinforce their identity as an Inuk.
Students who have been selected for the NS course have usually earned the right to go rather than sitting back waiting for a free ride.
A point not covered so far is the students overseas trip (funds raised by the students) is the best promotion of Nunavut to the outside world . I congratulate them on this diplomatic work done by the students.
I was so impressed of their visit to New Zealand some years back where the cultural exchange was mutual to both groups.
I am honoured to have known some of these students through the charity work I do in the North.