At long last, the Government of Canada has come through with a Nunavut Agreement requirement to provide a detailed analysis of the Inuit labour force.
"One of the most striking pieces of information coming out of the NILFA (Nunavut Inuit Labour Force Analysis) is that large numbers of Inuit are available and interested in government employment, but are not currently being identified and trained," said Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) president Aluki Kotierk.
The 1000-page report analyzes Inuit interest, availability and preparedness for government employment.
The information will mainly serve to inform government Inuit employment plans and pre-employment training initiatives, according to the NTI news release.
According to Article 23 of the Nunavut Agreement, the analysis should have begun within six months of the agreement's ratification, "to determine the availability, interest and level of preparedness of Inuit for government employment. The data shall be maintained and updated on an on-going basis."
The agreement received Royal Ascent in mid-1993, and the work has only partially been completed with smaller initiatives over the years.
As a result of NTI's $1-billion lawsuit, which resulted in an out-of-court settlement in 2015, the Government of Canada, as per the settlement agreement, was once again required to complete a Nunavut Inuit Labour Force Analysis in close consultation with NTI and the Government of Nunavut.
Employment and Social Development Canada drafted the labour-force analysis, with contributions from NTI and the GN.
"Its contents are based on, among other things, surveys taken by Nunavut Inuit and other Nunavummiut such as the 2016 Nunavut Government Employees Survey, the 2015 Public Opinion Survey and the 2016 Census. NTI thanks all the Inuit who took the time to complete the various surveys," states the release.
More to come.