Shortage of electricians poses problem for small communities, MLA says
Electrical problems can force residents to be without power for ‘days, even weeks,’ Quassa says in legislature
Aggu MLA Joanna Quassa challenged a recent public service announcement from Qulliq Energy that reminded homeowners it is their responsibility to have an electrician fix broken electrical parts that led into their home. But that’s difficult without electricians in communities like Igloolik, Quassa said. (File photo)
Aggu MLA Joanna Quassa pressed Nunavut’s minister responsible for Qulliq Energy Corp. in the legislative assembly Friday over challenges faced by communities that have no electricians.
Quassa’s query was sparked by a public service announcement QEC issued recently.
It stated that when events like high winds damage electrical equipment owned by the homeowner — such as the metal rooftop mast that connects wires from hydro lines to wiring in the building — it is the homeowner’s responsibility to find an electrician to fix the problem.
The issue, Quassa said, is that qualified electricians are not easily accessible in small communities.
She said QEC’s announcement “makes it sound as though it is easy for homeowners living in small communities to find a qualified residential electrician on short notice.”
If there’s no qualified electrician readily available, Quassa said, people in communities like Igloolik or Sanirajak can “be without power for days, even weeks.”
She asked Joelie Kaernerk, the territory’s minister responsible for QEC, how many qualified electricians live in Igloolik or Sanirajak.
Kaernerk responded that QEC does not have electricians in those communities and has to bring them in from Iqaluit when they’re needed.
“It’s unfortunate there are no electricians in those communities, that’s why we have to bring them in,” he said.
Quassa said it would be good if all communities, not only Igloolik and Sanirajak, had better access to electricians but in the meantime QEC should be more flexible in helping homeowners who have electrical problems.
Kaernerk said QEC always wants to improve its delivery of electricity in communities.
Afterward, Quassa told Nunatsiaq News that there are no current electricity issues in her riding community of Igloolik that prompted her to bring up the issue, however “it’s something that can happen.”
“It is a concern,” she said.
As a possible preventative measure, Quassa said “a routine checkup of the homeowners’ places would be wonderful.”
People in the north should learn a trade , will never be out of work.
Agreed however, certain educational and skill levels dlong rith discipline is needed. All are sorely lacking.
Access to education is another issue.
Yes, we need more Inuit owned electricians in every community, Put in the wires the wrong way and didn’t know I had to turn off the breaker whatever that is, almost fried Myself a couple of times before and I can still taste it.
Not sure what you are trying to say here, are you saying or being sarcastic about Inuit?
MLA has no idea of the processes involved here. QEC does not employ electricians. They employ linemen. A ” routine check-up” is pretty useless for the most part, and the situation that prompted these questions and statements would not have been prevented with a “check-up”.
Of course the homeowner is responsible for repairing their house. Just because you are in the North doesn’t mean you dont have to do upkeep, maintenance and repairs on YOUR home.
Yes more inuit tradespeople are required, but there isn’t enough work in 1 community for an electrician to work full time. Hard to get the required 9000 hours unless they move away from home for 5+ years. The rotational schedule of mines are good, but very few electrical apprentices are employed with them.
During our NWT days it was a lot easier to get into trades with the Arctic college, trades schools to go to in Fort Smith and other places, a lot more local contractors and trades people back then, today there’s nothing in the communities just your same big companies like Kudlik and NCC that fly in and out of our communities to build for the GN, no local people.
We don’t have the same opportunities in Nunavut as we did when it was NWT. GN will be reacting to this when it gets worse.
The Trade School electrical program is failing program participants in Nunavut.
They pass and get their journeyman’s ticket yet they have no actual working experience in the electrical field.
Trade School needs to partner with electrical sub contractors to make sure their electrical program participants get real world work experience and knowledge.