The Hamlet of Arviat is one of the leading Kivalliq communities when it comes to training staff members from within.
Hamlet mechanic Daniel Kablutsiak said it's a major bonus for local guys to have the chance to become certified mechanics.
He said the mechanics and their apprentices carry a big load with the Arviat fleet.
“They demonstrate leadership and many of the locals look up to them,” said Kablutsiak. “As we speak, we have one journeyman mechanic here and he's also our water/sewage foreman.
“Both of our heavy-duty mechanics have been here for over 20 years now. We also have two apprentices on staff and some helpers.”
Kablutsiak said everyone at the garage puts in a full day and realizes the importance of their contributions to the hamlet.
He said seven people take care of the hamlet's water needs, while seven others manage the sewage needs.
“We operate seven days a week.We work from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. from Monday to Friday and 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. There are also two water and two sewage vehicles on the road from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m. from Monday to Friday," Kablutsiak said.
“The hamlet depends on us 100 per cent and we take that responsibility very, very seriously.”
The average age of the vehicles in the hamlet fleet is about 10 years, according to Kablutsiak, and the crews follow each vehicle maintenance sheets and go along with the mileage to keep them running in peak condition.
He said it's big deal to him, of course, to have Inuit as heavy-duty mechanics and training Inuit apprentices.
“We work for a very busy fleet with the municipality of Arviat and the training coming from local to local is a good thing. It's amazing how the hamlet puts everything together. We, pretty much, do everything here now from the issuing of local driving licences and our local heavy-equipment course to apprenticeships.
“We will continue to focus on everything that improves our vehicle safety while operating our fleet in 2025. I would rate our safety record as a 10 out of 10 and that's where we want to keep it.
“About two weeks ago, we had a scary incident where a driver lost his view because of the sun and tipped over. He wasn't hurt at all and we caught everything on dashboard video, which allowed us to watch it over and over to determine what happened.
“The dashboard cams are very important when something like that happens. We did an oil change, checked out everything and, the next day, the vehicle was back on the road with no damage. Safety is priority number one to us here.”
