Nunavut’s rookie mistakes

Nobody ever promised that the Nunavut government would be perfect.

But as Nunavut officials turn their minds to the everyday drudgery of government, they’re making embarrassing mistakes and errors of judgement that promise to impose unnecessary stress on a system that already appears to be badly overstretched.

Consider the following:

* The Nunavut Science Institute issues a research licence to a U.S. scientific team for a project in the Axel Heiberg fossil forest that violates federal guidelines for the coversation of that site. As a result, a precious national — and international treasure — may be desecrated for all time.

Unbelievably, this project appears to have escaped the scrutiny of an expensive and highly-touted regulatory system designed specifially to make sure these kinds of things don’t happen. Where was the Nunavut Impact Review Board sleeping when this application was made?

* An official with Nunavut’s Department of Sustainable Development tells the Hamlet of Pelly Bay that they won’t be in violation of the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act if they send a collection of hand-made dolls to a doll expert in Rhode Island without a permit.

Surprise, surprise. In the opinion of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department, the importation of the dolls into the U.S. is a violation of the act.

If there’s a silver lining to this sad story, its that Inuit lobbyists will now be able to use the seizure as a case study illustrating why the U.S congress should amend its stupid and discriminatory Marine Mammal Protection Act.

* The deputy minister of the Culture, Language, Elders and Youth Department tells the Hamlet of Pelly Bay that they can change their name after July 1.

It turns out that the Nunavut government does not yet have a policy on the matter, and won’t until the Nunavut cabinet adopts one. it seems as if some deputy ministers are learning about cabinet government on the fly.

There are likely many reasons for this, some forgiveable, some not so forgiveable.

Many senior positions within the Nunavut government and its agencies are filled by people who have little previous decision-making experience within government, and who are still learning on the job. It may be that the Office of the Interim Commissioner didn’t do enough to prepare senior staff for the responsibilities of government. It may be that in some cases they hired the wrong people for the wrong jobs.

At the same time, Nunavut’s fledgling government is clearly understaffed, underfunded and facing an overwhelming list of urgent priorities.

All this adds up to an atmosphere within which fallible human beings will make honest mistakes.

Most fair and reasonable people are willing to forgive rookie mistakes. But if the mistakes continue, Nunavut’s increasingly impatient public will be not so willing to forgive them. JB