Salluit man describes 8-month struggle to find home for family
James Tarkirk says he was charged with harassment after filming his interactions with staff at housing bureau, posting them online
James Tarkirk says he and his family have been waiting for a home in Salluit for eight months. (Photo provided by James Tarkirk)
A Salluit bylaw officer says he has been in an eight-month battle with the Nunavik Housing Bureau to obtain a home for himself and his family.
James Tarkirk, 24, lives with his partner, Alaku Poassie, who is seven months pregnant, and their two children ages three and four.
He said he has moved from place to place while struggling to get answers for when the housing bureau will have a home ready for his family to move into.
Currently, he’s staying at his mother’s place short-term while she is in Montreal. He might stay in the south permanently if he can’t get a house in Salluit soon, he said.
The Nunavik Housing Bureau takes care of accommodation for nearly 98 per cent of Nunavik Inuit, under the Quebec Housing Corp. Tarkirk said he has successfully submitted two applications for housing — the first in November and another on July 4.
He tried multiple times between November and July, but his applications were rejected based over issues like missing information or identification.
“We are completely unstable, and this is what stresses me out the most,” he said, pointing to his partner’s pregnancy which he said adds fuel to his worries.
Tarkirk, who also works as a volunteer firefighter and first responder, said the answers he’s received are unclear, too vague for someone who is expecting a baby in two months.
He said when he called the housing bureau for information, he was bounced around between the head office in Kuujjuaq, the Salluit office and the Quebec government, with everybody telling him he needs to follow procedure.
What frustrates him more is the number of vacant homes he sees in his community.
So Tarkirk started filming his interactions at the housing bureau office in Salluit and posting them on social media.
“What I am trying to do now is to shake this organization the best I can,” he said.
In a French email response to Nunatsiaq News, the housing bureau’s communication director Patrice St-Amour said the bureau is empathetic to Tarkirk’s situation.
However, it accuses him of using intimidation, foul language and threats.
Tarkirk said he faces criminal harassment charges for alleged actions against a housing manager in Salluit, and is to appear in court Oct. 23.
Nunavik Police Service declined comment, saying the matter is considered to be a complaint at this point.
In his July 4 housing application, Tarkirk “insisted that he needed a home immediately for [his family],” said St-Amour. “We explained to him clearly the process to acquire a unit,” both in July and when he first applied in November 2023.
“We understand here that in his behaviour, he does not conform to the rules and process of housing allocation,” St-Amour said, “and threatened [the housing bureau] by exercising social and media pressure to privilege his own situation.”
Concerning vacant homes, St-Amour said that during the summer it’s common for renovations to happen and sometimes homes sit empty while waiting for materials to arrive.
St-Amour said Tarkirk is classified as first priority for a three-bedroom unit and second priority for a two-bedroom unit. However, he did not provide a timeline for when a home might be ready.
Until then, he noted, Tarkirk’s mother and grandfather-in-law live in two- and three-bedroom units respectively.
“According to our employees, none of them have issues with him living with them while waiting to obtain a unit according to the equity rules established for all applicants,” St-Amour said in the email.
Tarkirk said he can’t live with this grandfather because the house is infested with bedbugs and he had a severe reaction to being bitten, with red welts forming over his body.
He said due to family issues, his mom’s house is not a reasonable place for his family to live long-term.
When presented with the information the housing bureau provided in its email response, Tarkirk was surprised.
“It freaks me out that I had to go through [Nunatsiaq News] to get my answers,” he said.
“I had to push for over eight months to have the answers I received, and it was not through [the housing bureau].”
He still disagrees with the housing bureau on many of his concerns, but said its explanation provided him with enough hope to reconsider moving south.
“In the future, if they give answers to people like that it will help,” he said. “People won’t have to push and search for answers.”
The world doesn’t owe anyone a living. Build your own house, as people did for thousands of years. Help your Dad exterminate his bug infestation. Learn to get along with your Mom. Or if it’s easier for you in the south, go back there. It doesn’t sounds like Salluit can meet your expectations of what you deserve in life.
I am not shocked or amazed what the Kuujjuaq Housing Board is saying or not saying in this matter.
I have family members who work for the Housing Board located in Kuujjuaq and my Inuk brother has mentioned to me many times that most of the Housing Board employees who work out of Kuujjuaq are mainly francophone. Once they get comfortable in their job position at the Kuujjuaq Housing Board, another job posting is sent out and who is hired to fill this vacant position? The employee from the south who contacted their family member of friend who lives in Montreal or other communities in the south and they’re the people who get hired because most do not want to hire Inuit from within Nunavik because they lack the education or who are considered alcoholics. This has been going on since the Housing started in Nunavik. The francophone are suppose to teach the Inuit how to become managers and the Inuit should be the masters of the housing Board in Nunavik.
My brother also told me that there are a number of higher ups in the Kuujjuaq Housing Board has 2 homes in the south (way down south) while the Inuit are having a difficult time asking and receiving help from the local housing or Kuujjuaq housing board.
As usual, when multimillions of dollars are involved there will be some sort of corruption being swept beneath the carpets.
Allow this free and truthful comment be posted NN. Don’t be scared!!!!
“24 year old man with 3 children who previously did not apply for housing when eligible 6 years ago despite knowing there’s a severe housing shortage is upset that he did not get get a subsidized house immediately upon request”
Young people across Canada and in many other countries around the world are delaying or foregoing having children because of the high cost of living and housing. This obviously isn’t ideal, but it is quite common.
Why should having a kid on the way give you priority over others? Such a policy would incentivise people to have more kids.
I understand it must be an incredibly difficult and stressful situation for this family. Not a lot of people in the rest of the country have three kids at 24. This was a choice.
How did we get to a situation where 98% of Inuit in an area rely on a housing corp for housing? This is clearly not ideal, nor is it normal when compared to the rest of the country.
Please define “Normal” in your way of everyday life?
In the 1950’s and 60 you had families who had 14, 15, 16 and more children. Was this “Normal”?
Why judge people who want to love and raise a family?
Yes, there is a shortage of housing in Nunavik, but why judge us for wanting to have and Love children..
Or, do you prefer to see “Genocide” again towards the Inuit, First Nations or Metis living in a country called canada?
Having 4 kids at 24 is very normal in Nunavik.
first of all, becoming a local first responder, fire fighter and a bylaw officer does not include housing.
King of Karens
Isn’t his name Moses? It’s almost as if he’s trying to stay undercover, I wonder why?
This is all part of a much bigger problem. In the past 9 years the annual federal budget for Indigenous affairs has gone from $10 billion to $29 billion. In addition mega-billions have been paid out in CERB and residential school, compensation—all with shockingly little to show for these expenditures.
It needs saying though that those who are educated and skilled should get a job paying enough to provide their own housing.
And, by the way, if Tarkirk and his family crossed into Canada as “irregular immigrants” Trudeau would house them in an upscale hotel and provide free money, food and clothing—all another incredible waste of taxpayers’ money.