Folks in Rankin Inlet just have to be patient for a couple of more weeks before the Jordan’s Principle program swings into action.
Jordan’s Principle allows for $500 per month support each for youth 18 and younger, with an extra $250 for youth aged one day to three years from the Inuit Child First Initiative/Jordan’s Principle programs through partnership with the Indigenous Kids Network of Canada.
The program is expected to go a long way towards battling food insecurity in the community.
Darren Flynn, the hamlet's senior administrative officer, said the program is still a work in progress and staff members are actually working hard to make sure everything is in place.
“We're in the process of recruiting some people and targeting the week of June 24 for the initial roll out,” said Flynn. “Obviously, we'll have mass registration prior to that. Basically, right now, we're just reminding people to be patient.
“If we spend all our time answering phone calls from people with questions about it, or answering countless emails about what's going on with the Jordan’s Principle initiative, then, obviously, that's going to delay our ability to complete the work.
“Perhaps this is a nice, polite way of saying something very politically incorrect, but calm down and let us do our job and we'll get it done that much quicker.”
Flynn said the hamlet's aim is to try and get the funding out as efficiently as it can, not to delay the initiative.
And, he said, while one's impatience regarding Jordan’s Principle is understandable up to a point, it can slow people down.
“We only just officially signed the contract two weeks ago. This endeavour has moved at light speed. From the time we were made aware of it, to where we are now, I don't think anyone can fault us for delaying anything on this program.
“We're pushing this through as quickly as we possibly can. It's a big deal for our community but, on top of that, we still have other work to do. People still expect their garbage to be picked up and their other daily needs to be serviced, so my staff are doing an exceptional job of moving this forward.
“I used to be a big advocate of social media. I still am for getting the news out, but you'll notice that we turn the commenting off for about 95 per cent of our posts these days, simply because it just isn't productive to see so many negative comments. It actually makes people who work very hard to get things done feel like they've somehow failed.
“But, really, all they've done is their job and, in most cases, they've done more than what the job required.”