Rankin Inlet (Oct 18/06) - The Nunavut Literacy Council is facing the prospect of closing its doors following $17.7 million in federal cutbacks to reading and writing programs announced last month.

That cut hits hardest in Rankin Inlet, where the Nunavut Literacy Council develops its programming. They take funding designated for adults and develop family literacy programs to encourage youth and their parents to learn together.

"We are worried. We get third-party funding from other sources, but the federal funds provide the salaries," said Janet Onalik, the development co-ordinator for the council.

Onalik is based in Rankin Inlet, along with Qulauaq Pilakapsi and Monica Shouldice. Pilakapsi handles Inuktitut resources and Shouldice handles Inuktitut literacy development. All three will lose their jobs if additional funding can not be located.

In Nunavut, adult literacy also means literacy in Inuktitut. Literacy funding helps keep the language healthy.

"We are losing our language. We do workshops to encourage parents, because we teach the parents to show them how to teach their kids," said Shouldice.

One of Pilakapsi's programs is the popular story sack. A parent gets a book, some dolls and an activity to enjoy with their kids all in one bundle. When it looks like fun, the kids forget they are learning.

"Children really like legends, that is why we make the story sack," said Pilakapsi through Shouldice's translation.

"We had planned to make more story sacks, but if we don't have the funding, we can't," said Pilakapsi.

Facing a near total loss of funding, the Nunavut Literacy Council is looking everywhere to save money, even at its own staff salaries.

In a conference call on Oct. 5, the five full-time employees and the one part-time employee agreed to take a voluntary salary cut.

"Mine is being cut 10 per cent right off the bat, but I don't know if that is enough," said council executive director Kim Crockatt.

For other employees, the cut will be similar.

"I don't want to put anybody in a bad position financially. A few of them offered to go on EI, but we are holding off on that as well," said Crockatt.

The federal government completely cut the $17.7 million Improved Targeting of Adult Learning and Literacy Skills program, calling ineffecient.

"Funding for third parties to further their interests or programs that are not effective, do not achieve results or are being re-focused or targeted for improved effectiveness," the government said in a press release.

Around 27 per cent of the $1 billion total cutback comes from programs labelled under "value for money".

"What does re-focusing mean? No one knows what this means. Are they going to put the money into skills?" Nunavut's education minister Ed Picco wondered after reading the federal government's terminology.

Picco was at a national meeting of education ministers when the cuts were announced, and the members issued a press release showing their disappointment.

In the short term, Picco has scheduled a meeting with the federal education minister which will take place "in the next couple of weeks."

Crockatt explained that not all of the council's funding comes from that one fund, but every employee of the council is funded from a variety of sources.

"If we can't identify funding in the next two months, I'll have to lay off half of my staff. Right now, we are looking for anything, " said Crockatt.