Malcolm Gorrill
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Nov 09/01) - Colin Cairney stood out as a kid.

Many people growing up want to become professional hockey players or something similar, but not him.

"I actually knew I was going to be an accountant probably when I was 14 or 15 years old," Cairney said.

"I guess I enjoy working with numbers and stuff."

Cairney works with numbers as finance officer at the Beaufort Delta Education Council. He started earlier this year as a summer student finance officer, but assumed the full time position on Aug. 20.

"One thing that attracted me to it is just there's always room for improvement. Being an accountant, there's a lot of involvement in the organization," Cairney said.

"Every day is a different day, you never know what's going to come about."

Cairney's main functions include casual payroll, bank reconciliations and journal entries, as well as being BDEC's financial matters liaison with local district education authorities.

"There's always something new and interesting that comes about every day, so it's definitely interesting. You learn a lot."

Cairney said travel might be involved with his job, but that has not been the case so far.

"I've got to know a lot of the principals and secretaries, too, and everything. I deal with a lot of questions and concerns that they have. I try to answer as many questions as I can for them."

Cairney came to Inuvik from Calgary, where he lived for a few years. He was born and raised in Manitoba. He is a certified general accountant student.

"I'm in the program right now, slowly working my way through it," Cairney said.

"The job is great. It's good to work in the team environment. Obviously having been in school this long or whatever, education is a main concern for me, it's nice to know that I work for an organization that deals with education."

Cairney said he really likes living in Inuvik.

"The people here are great. Everyone is really friendly. I enjoy the diverse backgrounds of everyone," Cairney said.

"It's a very busy town, there's a lot of things to do, a lot of community development, and I enjoy that."