IQALUIT - A comment from the manager of the Frobisher Inn has Storehouse Bar and Grill employees crying foul.

Carlos Montenegro, manager of the Frobisher Inn in Iqaluit, held a staff meeting for the hotel bar on Feb. 19.

Staff at the Storehouse Bar and Grill are upset over comments made by Frobisher Inn manager Carlos Montenegro during a Feb. 19 staff meeting. When questioned about his comments, Montenegro said, "It was mentioned that we would be very careful about hiring locals, because they don't show up." - Chris Windeyer/NNSL photo

Some of those present at the meeting say Montenegro told the staff there would be no more local people hired at the bar.

"Locals, the word he used was locals," said one staff member, who, fearing for their job, did not want to be identified for this story.

In a subsequent interview with News/North, Montenegro acknowledged that special measures are being taken for local applicants.

"It was mentioned that we would be very careful about hiring locals, because they don't show up. They come in late for work, and have a habit of leaving," he said.

When asked what defined a local, Montenegro said, "they can be from anywhere in Nunavut...It (the word locals) includes people who live here in general.

"You are selecting a certain kind of people. We've never been racist."

There are Inuit working at the Frobisher Inn as busboys and maids, but not as bartenders. Montenegro said that is out of his hands.

"It is up to the individual manager how to use people," said Montenegro.

He also stands by the hotel's recent record in hiring Inuit.

"We have hired 13 Inuit people since I have been here. When I got here, there were not any local people, and the company asked me to repair that," said Montenegro, who took on the job last summer.

Staff members were quick to distance themselves from Montenegro's comments.

"I prefer it when we hire Inuit people. Usually they know the customers already," said an employee who did not want to be named.

"This has us all mad. I'm going to my MLA later this week, and there is talk of a union," said another Storehouse staff member.

Whether or not local means Inuit, Montenegro's comments could land him in hot water with Nunavut's Human Rights Commission.

What constitutes a human rights violation?

"A good rule of thumb is if it was unwelcomed and caused you discomfort, that is a good test," said Marion Love, the executive director of the Nunavut Human Rights Commission.

"Around 69 per cent of our inquiries (from 2004 to 2006) were work-related, either people looking for work or working," said Love.

From 2004 to March 31, 2006 the commission received 145 inquiries and 45 "notifications," or complaints.

There are 17 ways one can violate an individual's human rights. "Place of residency" is one of those ways. The Human Rights Commission says very plainly that one can't discriminate against "locals."

"Place of origin" is defined as a "prohibited ground," and according to the commission's annual report, "It is unlawful to harass anyone based on any one of the prohibited grounds. Harassment is unwelcome contact," reads the report.

There are 10 consequences to violating human rights legislation. They include payment of lost wages, ordering the violator to cease and desist, punitive payments, a forced affirmative action program, or a forced apology.

There are no suggested fines in the legislation for a first offence.

Those who violate a ruling of the commission can face fines as high as $25,000, but that fine must be approved by the attorney general.

The tribunal has the legislative right to "take any further action that the Tribunal considers appropriate having regard to Inuit culture and values that underlie the Inuit way of life."