Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 14/01) - The education ministry appears to be in damage control mode after a senior official was fired Friday and reinstated Tuesday.

Assistant deputy minister Pauline Gordon said she was fired by the deputy minister of Education Culture and Employment, Dr. Loretta Foley, at noon Nov. 9.

Gordon, in the job since 1997, said she was given just 20 minutes notice.

Foley was longtime superintendent of Yellowknife Catholic Schools before retiring two years ago.

She was named deputy minister in August when then-DM Penny Ballantyne requested a leave of absence.

Gordon declined to comment on her dismissal. A CBC news report quoted Gordon as saying she was fired for making "unpopular comments" during a meeting three days earlier.

When word of Gordon's dismissal came out at 4:35 p.m. last Friday, Yellowknifer made attempts to reach Foley.

She phoned back at 9:30 p.m. that evening, and left a message stating: "Pauline is no longer the ADM. It's really an internal matter."

Subsequent calls to Foley were not returned, nor was Education Minister Jake Ootes available for comment.

Tuesday afternoon, the GNWT issued a press release confirming that Gordon had been "relieved of her duties" by Foley, but that Gordon remains a GNWT employee.

The press release also stated that after weekend discussions between Gordon, Foley, and Elizabeth Snider, deputy minister of the executive, it was agreed that Gordon "will pursue personal and professional development opportunities," and after an undetermined period of time is to be reinstated to ECE in an unspecified position.

Gordon said she was been buoyed by an outpouring of support.

She said she has received dozens of calls from friends, co-workers and former associates offering their support.

Two people who called Yellowknifer bitterly denounced Gordon's dismissal. Gordon began her career as a classroom assistant in her hometown of Aklavik in 1976.

After completing her teaching certificate, Gordon moved on to Sir Alexander Mackenzie school in Inuvik, where she taught from 1980 to 1988. A steady stream of promotions followed.

She was vice-principal of Sir Alexander Mackenzie for four years, a language arts instructor at Arctic College in Inuvik, and assistant director of the Beaufort Delta Education Council before taking on the job of assistant deputy minister for ECE more than four years ago.

Gordon said she is proud of her aboriginal heritage, yet never needed any kind of "affirmative action" to get where she is today.

She said her rise to senior management positions was the result of hard work.

"I've had many years of positive performance evaluations," said Gordon.

"So I can't understand this at all."