Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (May 20/02) - By and large, Pam Hine's life -- her working life at least -- is about housing.

After working with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for 14 years in Halifax, N.S., Hine moved to Iqaluit in 1995 to work for the Northwest Territories' Housing Corporation.

"It was a time in my life when the decision to do something was personal instead of for work," said Hine.

Seven years later, Hine has worked her way up the ladder and now serves as the president of the Nunavut Housing Corporation.

While she took a few years away from housing to check out what else the government had to offer, Hine laughed as she admitted to always returning to the field.

She said it was a particularly rewarding career in Nunavut.

"It's definitely a challenge, but in a good way," said Hine. "There's a lot of barriers and it requires that you give 110 per cent of your abilities, but you know you're making a difference," she said.

"There's no other jurisdiction in Canada where you feel that."

As for her future plans, Hine and her husband and two children will be in Iqaluit for some time to come.

"I still haven't been able to come up with what we'll do after that, but I'm sure it has something to do with housing -- maybe on a small Caribbean island somewhere."