Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

IQALUIT (Jun 07/99) - Amidst rumblings and rumours about the fate of decentralization -- a number of which were raised in the House -- the government of Nunavut has reaffirmed its commitment to bringing the plan to fruition.

For members of the legislative assembly, the reaffirmed commitment is good news.

"I feel very positive and I think the premier made it very clear that he was committed to the decentralized model," said Kevin O'Brien, MLA for Arviat.

"This is something people have waited for 25 years to happen. We don't want another Yellowknife and the people don't. One of the promises was to bring the government closer to the people and it's difficult to do that when you have it concentrated in one area. It would send a very negative message to the people and would put the true meaning of Nunavut in doubt," said O'Brien.

Developed by the Nunavut Implementation Commission and the Office of the Interim Commissioner, decentralization will see government jobs farmed out to 11 of Nunavut's communities. The concept will eliminate the presence of an omnipotent capital and will also help to ensure that the regional centres don't overpower the other communities.

With the release of Finance Minister Kelvin Ng's budget last month, some people felt that perhaps the GN couldn't afford to follow through on their promise to decentralize. But after much speculation and with questions flying between regular MLAs and cabinet ministers, Premier Paul Okalik told his colleagues that the plan would go ahead.

"Our government was founded on the basis of bringing government closer to the people and make no mistake...we will do just that," said Okalik in the statement he delivered during the legislature's recent session.

Okalik recapped the number of jobs that had already been filled in the 11 communities and asserted that many more jobs would be in place in the future. But he warned the members that it would take some time to train and hire enough staff and to complete the necessary commercial and residential infrastructure.

"Decentralization was never intended to take place overnight," said Okalik.

He told the House that cabinet was currently conducting a functional review of the model and that, over the next few months, the exact blueprint for decentralization would be presented to them.

Hunter Tootoo, MLA for Iqaluit Centre, said he was pleased that the process was being reviewed and that it would likely save the government money in the future.

"Everyone knows we have a tight budget. We can't afford mistakes. We've got to make sure we do it well so we don't have to go back," said Tootoo.

He explained that it was crucial for the GN to keep up their current level of service delivery before and after decentralization and he said a functional review would ensure that the appropriate departments and jobs were sent out to the most logical communities.

"I understand when the whole thing was put together, it was a numbers game. I understand they're finding things that don't make sense. We've got to do it right or the whole thing is going to fall apart," said Tootoo.

Kelvin Ng said that meant the plan had to be followed in an orderly fashion and would likely mean juggling things around.

"For example, the Liquor Commission and warehousing are to go to Gjoa Haven and the Legal Registry to Kugluktuk. Those are a couple of things that we don't know if it's practical to do," said Ng, the member for Cambridge Bay. He did, however, guarantee that other jobs would be moved in to replace any that were moved out.

"We'll guarantee them employment."

It is expected that the topic of decentralization will be tabled during the members' retreat scheduled to take place in Baker Lake later this month.