INUVIK - The Inuvik contractor behind the community's planned superschool was recently challenged in the legislative assembly about one of its non-Northern hires for the $116 million project.

On June 5, Mackenzie Delta MLA David Krutko said he received a call from Inuvik welder Mike Baxter, who felt he was missing out on an opportunity to work on the school.

Baxter's complaint has touched off concerns that Dowland Contracting - which secured a negotiated contract with the GNWT for construction of the school - is not doing its part to hire Northern subtrade workers.

Michael McLeod, minister of Public Works and Services, said a Whitehorse-based company was chosen over Baxter to fabricate the steel for the school because Baxter's business was not certified and did not have the proper facilities to carry out the job.

"It's not usually the case in the larger centres," said McLeod of the problem of finding skilled contractors. "It happens in our small communities."

Patrick McGuinness, owner of Dowland, said his company has to strike a balance between adhering to the spirit of the negotiated contract, which requires Dowland to maximize Northern hiring practices, and carrying out the work to the highest standards.

"We have to choose companies with the skills, experience and history of doing specific portions of the work," said McGuinness. "There are welders in Inuvik (but) a welder is not a steel (fabricator) or company."

McGuinness stressed the superschool, which is slated for completion either by the end of 2012 or in early 2013, is in the early stages of its construction history, and that more opportunities for Northern companies will come up as the scope of work changes.

"Not everything will be contracted this year. It'll be staggered contracting," he said.

"I think people assume that automatically every contract will be awarded immediately, but there's still going to be work and contracts available for local communities and local businesses over the next few years."

McGuinness added that with the help of the Gwich'in Tribal Council and the Inuvialuit Development Corporation, his company has been actively searching for skilled labour from the North and putting out advertisements.

"We're doing our own search out there to see where those skills might be, whether it's welding or other aspects of the job," he said. "We've gotten several back in, but we're always looking for more."

McLeod said Dowland has been sending monthly reports since the project began last summer to public works and services on the project's Northern workforce.

The department is currently reviewing those reports in the wake of Krutko's complaint.

In March, McLeod said 10 of the 16 workers on site for the installation of the pilings were from Inuvik.

McGuinness also said the Whitehorse company that is fabricating the steel has agreed to hire Inuvik welders to help with the erection of the steel superstructure, set to unroll this summer.