Shawn Maley will always have a strong connection to the Kivalliq community of Rankin Inlet.
Maley was 28 years old when he moved to Rankin as the senior recreation development officer for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) in 1991 after spending two years in Arviat .
He would call Rankin home until 2013. By the time he left Rankin to accept a position with Northern Employment Benefits Services in Yellowknife, he had risen to become an assistant deputy minister for the Government of Nunavut's Department of Community and Government Affairs (C&GS) when he left for Yellowknife.
Maley had his private pilot's license since day one in Rankin and his Cessna 185 float plane would become a common sight around the region.
Now 61, Maley said Rankin Inlet is a pretty good little town to live in and, if you get out and about and involved in the community, you meet some good people and good families.
He said Rankin is the type of community where people stick-up for each other and help each-other out.
“My kids were raised in Rankin, so it always feels like you're going home anytime you return there,” said Maley.
“Having said that, it's certainly a lot cheaper to live where I am now. And I like being able to drive out of Yellowknife on a road, as well.
“I feel good about the amount of time we put into our part of developing hamlet councils with MACA and C&GS and the projects we accomplished. I was around when we were building the arenas and community halls, and I saw what a difference it made for life in the settlements with that infrastructure going in.
“I was also involved in hockey in Rankin for a long time as a coach, referee and player. And, in a small way, it was all of us collectively that helped add to the product you see on the ice there now. I really enjoyed my time playing, coaching and refereeing in Rankin.”
Maley said he felt comfortable as part of the community pretty much his whole time in Rankin.
He said he'd gotten through the Northern adjustment phase during his time in Arviat and knew a lot of the guys Rankin through playing hockey there. He played against them in Arviat and with them on mixed teams that travelled to Churchill.
“It was a hard decision to leave Rankin when I got the job offer in Yellowknife, but, at the time, I had been through some life changes with my marriage ending and the kids going off to school. I was living in a brand-new huge home thinking if I was going to make a move, that was the time to do it.
“I really miss living in Rankin but, fortunately now, with my job, I'm allowed to go back and work in Nunavut for a month each summer, so that's been great.
“And, with my current job, I still deal with a lot of the people who I dealt with over the years, such as the senior administrative officers, mayors and hamlet councillors.
“I don't regret moving over at all. I really like it here. It's helped make me appreciate my time in Rankin even more and I'm thankful in my new position that I'm able to go back there every summer.”
Maley said he feels that he will have a strong connection to Rankin for the rest of his life.
He said he still has a lot of friends in Rankin and his son, Jeremy, and daughter, Jamie, still consider themselves from there.
“You know, Rankin gets knocked a lot with people saying the education system there isn't that good. But, you know, my kids had a great childhood in Rankin. My daughter is just about to become a nurse and my son is a captain on a Northern airline, so the education system there served them well.
“I think most kids there can have a really great childhood. They're looked after well and they have opportunities.
“All in all, I wouldn't change a thing about my time in Rankin. You take the good with the bad. There were some low times during my stay in Rankin, but there were a lot more good times.”
