Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 08/98) - Inuit leaders and Ottawa dignitaries unveiled the proposed Nunavut flower earlier this month in Ottawa during the Canadian Tulip Festival.

The leaders said they would like to have the arctic poppy represent Nunavut as a territorial symbol.

Municipal finances

A steering committee is reviewing the funding programs provided by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.

The review is being conducted to make recommendations to Nunavut and the NWT governments about the financial relationships among community governments, MACA and the Nunavut Department of Community Government, Housing and Transportation. The review will also try to obtain greater levels of independence at the community level.

Strategic health

Hold on to your hats -- the Department of Health and Social Services' strategic plan for health care will be available to the public sometime during the next few weeks.

"Shaping Our Future: A Strategic Plan for Health and Wellness" provides a plan for the Nunavut and western territory's governments to develop viable and long-lasting health and social service systems after division.

It was developed after consulting with community members around the North and it is hoped that it will help to establish stable departments of Health and Social Services during and after division.

Nunavut engineers

The Department of Public Works and Services wants students to consider all of their career options. According to GNWT Transportation Minister Jim Antoine, the department's Introduction to Engineering, Architecture and Computer Careers program, now in its 11th year, is designed to increase students' job options.

Of the 20 participants in this year's program, eight were chosen from Nunavut and will work in their communities in a related form of summer employment. It is estimated that 70 per cent of the students in the program pursue post-secondary studies.

Aboriginal teachers

More aboriginal educators will be working in Nunavut thanks to the government's new Strategy for Teacher Education. By 2005, it is estimated that 85 per cent of the teachers in Nunavut will be aboriginal -- today's figure sits at 36 per cent. The new plan will take over when the current strategy expires at the end of 1999.