September 1 , 2000
JANE GEORGE
Nunatsiaq News
IQALUIT — More than 10 new jobs are slated for Kugluktuk as Nunavut’s Department of Health makes another move towards decentralizing its services.
On Wednesday, Health Minister Ed Picco was to announce in Kugluktuk that the community will be the site of a new territorial operations unit for the health department.
The unit will be responsible for the quality and standards practice throughout Nunavut.
"We’re really pleased," Picco said from Cambridge Bay, where his department was holding a retreat. "We need to be able to move in this direction."
He called the Kugluktuk decentralization move one of the "most aggressive" plans in place in Nunavut because of the efforts that will be made to train and hire local residents.
The new unit will mean up to 12 new jobs for Kugluktuk, a larger number, as Picco pointed out, than were originally slated for the community through decentralization.
Picco said the new jobs will include six positions for experienced health professionals — social workers and nurses — who will be able provide back-up to community health workers throughout Nunavut.
Two more positions will go towards developing communications and information strategies for health and social services.
Picco said he iss optimistic about hiring locally. He expects at least half of the new jobs will be filled by residents of the Kitikmeot region.
"The whole idea is to maximize and enhance local employment opportunities," Picco said.
Picco said a "mini job fair" would be held in Kugluktuk to talk about the new job opportunities associated with the unit. Training in conjunction with Arctic College is also in the works. Picco expects to have most of the positions filled by early 2001.
According to Picco, the new unit’s staff of health professionals will be "an asset and a resource for Kugluktuk."
Recently this community has had more than its share of turmoil, with suicides, violent deaths, and several other incidents related to drug and alcohol consumption.
Earlier this year, Kugluktuk MLA David Havioyak resigned from his position as Nunavut’s minister of culture, language, elders and youth, to devote his full energy to the community and its social problems.
Picco said Kugluktuk’s troubles may have had an impact on the decision to place that particular unit in the community.
Warning: include(/magma/users/u42/nunatsia/php/mainfooter.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/web/nunatsiaqonline/html/archives/nunavut000930/nvt20901_08.html on line 67
Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/magma/users/u42/nunatsia/php/mainfooter.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/pear:/home/web/nunatsiaqonline/html/pub/php') in /home/web/nunatsiaqonline/html/archives/nunavut000930/nvt20901_08.html on line 67