Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Feb 25/02) - Inuvialuit will end up with low-end, menial jobs and it's all because of a lack of education.

That's the finding of a study on the economic provisions of the land claim agreement.

The report summary points to low high school graduation rates that appear to be getting worse. In 1999, the high school graduation rate in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region was 23 per cent, lower than for Nunavut, rural NWT, the NWT as a whole, and Yellowknife. In 1990, the rate was 34 per cent.

"Education has a major impact in terms of economic development," said consultant Rosemary Wallbank.

"If the pool from which you're drawing doesn't have basic skills, the capacity isn't being developed and the economic measures won't achieve what they're supposed to achieve."

She said many Inuvialuit lack the education needed for higher level work.

Wallbank is one of the consultants who spent the last three years evaluating the economic measures of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement, signed in 1984.

They found that while the region's economy is growing, the economic development of the Inuvialuit hasn't been keeping pace.

In the terms of the final agreement, the federal and territorial governments agreed to a series of provisions to help the Inuvialuit achieve economic self-reliance, and develop a solid economic base. For example, one provision stated that Inuvialuit companies would be given a fair chance to bid on government work projects taking place in their region.

Consultant Lindsay Staples said while some economic measures were carried out, others were not because of a lack of a concerted, co-ordinated effort among the parties.

"There were committees which were struck and they had a fairly rocky history," Staples said at a public meeting in Inuvik. "Collaborative efforts were not well sustained."

The consultant's report was commissioned under the terms of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement. It was supposed to be completed in January 2001, but a shortage of information and other difficulties delayed the report's release until now.

If the parties agreed that the goals of the economic measures had been reached, the governments were to be absolved of their economic obligations to the Inuvialuit.

But because the consensus has been that the goals have not been met, the economic measures will continue, with similar reviews every five years.

Last week, Wallbank and Staples visited the Inuvialuit communities -- Inuvik, Paulatuk, Holman, Tuktoyaktuk, and Aklavik, to share their findings with the public.

The Inuvialuit Final Agreement Implementation Coordinating Committee is collecting feedback from beneficiaries to prepare an action plan to address the issues raised by the report. That action plan is to be submitted to the Inuvialuit Community Corporation in the coming months.

At the meeting in Inuvik, Georgina Tochor was the only Inuvialuit beneficiary who showed up to hear about the report. She said although some of the findings are discouraging, she was glad she came.

"It's good we have the report -- we have to know where we're at. It's just not very good news for a young family."