September 15, 1998

NCC pulls ads from Nunatsiaq News over unfavourable coverage

Tagak Curley, the president of the Nunavut Construction Corporation, is attempting to punish Nunatsiaq News for reporting that Gjoa Haven Inuit are unhappy with the NCC's training efforts.

JIM BELL
Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT — Tagak Curley, the president of the Nunavut Construction Corporation, says his company will no longer buy advertising from Nunatsiaq News.

Curley says his company objects to a recent news story that quotes Gjoa Haven residents who say they're unhappy with the NCC's training efforts in Gjoa Haven.

"NN has, in our opinion, choose [sic] to write articles about NCC based on inadequate third party views, without regard to facts about NCC construction projects," says a letter signed by Curley.

"Your reporter has chosen to write stories concerning NCC construction projects based on biased and unfair references that we will no longer tolerate."

In 1996, the Nunavut Construction Corporation won the exclusive right to build staff housing units and new office buildings for the Nunavut government, including Nunavut's new legislative assembly building.

NCC finances those projects through loan guarantees provided by the federal government. The NCC will then lease those buildings back to the Nunavut government under a long-term agreeement.

At the time it was announced, the total value of the deal was estimated at around $120 million. The NCC is owned by the Nunasi Corporation, the Qikiqtaaluk Corporation, the Sakku Corporation and the Kitikmeot Corporation.

However, despite strong commitments made by NCC to hire and train Inuit on its job sites, and to sub-contract parts of its work to community-based contractors, objections to NCC's practices persist.

In a story published September 3, some community leaders in Gjoa Haven said they've formed a community development corporation — the Gjoa Haven Development Corporation — because of their dissatisfaction with outside contractors.

"They never asked us about the opportunities to employ local workers. All we were told is that they were going to do it their way. That doesn't show that they're supportive of local business," one man said, referring to the NCC.

NCC has training obligation

Curley, however, says it's not fair to say that the NCC's hiring and training efforts are inadequate.

"We have the best hiring practices. We have a plan...We're under an obligation to train, and we've done, by far, the best in terms of the most apprentices that have gone through their accreditation, because they first have to pass their exams. Once they pass their exams for entrance, they log on to us and we guarantee them the hours."

Curley said the first barge of the year hadn't arrive in Gjoa Haven until after Nunatsiaq News published its story, which is why work on NCC's staff housing project was late getting started, and why only two local workers were employed there.

"We have employed two people [in Gjoa Haven] for the minimal job that we started, since the piles were driven in May."

He explained that framing materials and steel beams were flown into Gjoa Haven last May on a Hercules jet that was chartered in partnership with the hamlet. He also said NCC is involved in a joint venture with the hamlet of Gjoa Haven to build a community swimming pool.

Now that the barge has arrived, many more local workers have jobs and training opportunities on NCC's Gjoa Haven site, Curley said.

"There will be at least 12 people working there, and eight or 10 will be local people," Curley said.

Training is expensive

He also says that small, community based development corporations may not have the capacity to handle the extra demands and expenses of training.

"That's really the wrong premises for having a development corporation, because you would have to ask them whether they can solely survive as a free enterprise contractor. It's not possible."

"Training is expensive unless you have a multi-corporation. If you look at the total economic base of Gjoa Haven, is it enough to have one single corporation developing an economy as well as train people? No, it isn't."