by Jennifer Pritchett
Northern News Services

CORAL HARBOUE (Mar 11/98) - Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. will be taking another look at the Nunavut Hunter Support Program after the hamlet of Coral Harbour called it a handout that only benefits a few people in each community.

Bert Dean, program manager, said the evaluation, to take place over the next three months, will provide information that will improve the program through community consultations.

"We want to look at how the program has worked up to now, including the strengths and weaknesses, and see what impact it's had," he said.

"Most of all, we want to find ways to help the program run even more effectively, to provide better service and value to Nunavut hunters."

The support program, created in 1995 by NTI and the territorial government, has an annual budget of $2 million and provides grants for 250 Nunavut households per year.

The money can be used to buy up to $12,000 worth of equipment.

Johnny Ningeongan, mayor of Coral Harbour, questioned the program's effectiveness after the hamlet was asked to sit on a committee that would chose who in the community would receive new equipment.

"It perpetuates dependency on government," he had said. "It's like the old welfare system that doesn't give any incentive to work. Programs of this type really send the wrong message."

He maintained that only six or seven people in Coral Harbour would receive new snowmachines or ATVs after the $80,000 allotted for his community was spent.

But Ningeongan said he is pleased to see NTI respond to their concerns about the program and hopes that community consultations will provide better options to hunters that will benefit more of them.

"I think it pays to make noise," he said. "I think the point has been made ... and that's what we were looking for."

Ningeongan said he is confident that NTI will give hunters an opportunity to make suggestions as to how the program can be improved.

"The people from NTI were receptive to our idea," he said. "There was some pretty positive feedback from those people that the program needed to be revisited."