Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

RESOLUTE BAY (May 31/99) - Thanks to a large sum of money from Pauktuutit, women in Resolute Bay are about to have a lot more time and opportunities on their hands.

The money is going to be used to build a brand- new day-care facility in the Northerly hamlet.

So says Gary Guy, mayor of the community and the chair of the Resolute Bay Daycare Society.

"It's going to really benefit the town and the younger mothers who never had the chance to finish school," said Guy. "We also have a lot of working mothers in town and this is going to encourage even more women to go out to work."

With lobbying and fund-raising efforts for the daycare spanning the better part of three years, construction is at long last scheduled to kick off on the 26-child facility this summer as soon as the first sealift arrives. Guy said he felt extremely gratified that all of the society's hours of work had paid off and he said he was pleased they were finally going to reap the benefits.

Jason Hennebury, the community economic development officer for the hamlet, agreed with Guy and said the facility provided several interconnecting advantages for the residents of Resolute Bay.

As well as giving young mothers the opportunity to resume or continue their studies knowing that their children are being well looked after, the daycare will provide a strong Inuit cultural component for the children who attend.

"A lot of people are saying the culture is being lost. Having an Inuit-concentrated daycare, the parts of the culture that are seen to be missing can be earmarked and put in the program for the young kids to grow up with," said Hennebury. By including cultural stories, Inuktitut language, Inuit values and beliefs at such an early age, both Qallunaat and Inuit children will be better prepared for the social aspects of school.

Hennebury also placed strong emphasis on the fact that the daycare would bring even more jobs and training opportunities into the hamlet that has what is perhaps the lowest unemployment rate in Nunavut.

"We'll have anywhere from four to eight new jobs in the hamlet, depending on the number of kids we have," said Hennebury.

Because the money for the facility -- $352,000 to be exact -- came from Pauktuutit, which has a strong Inuit-focused mandate, Hennebury said most of those jobs and the contract to build the daycare would be given to Inuit.

"Pauktuutit is really strong towards that. Everything in the daycare will benefit local Inuit as much as possible," said Hennebury. "We only accepted local tenders."

When the facility opens its doors -- the day after the Christmas holidays end -- Hennebury said it would be open to all of the children in the hamlet.