Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Baker Lake (Oct 14/02) - The Department of Community Government and Transportation has fired the director of Sport Nunavut.

Ann Barteaux's dismissal from the director's position was made official this past week.

CG&T assistant deputy minister Shawn Maley says his department decided Sport Nunavut had lost its focus.

"Having Barteaux as the director for Sport Nunavut just didn't work out," says Maley.

"The direction in which the organization was going with her at the helm was not one we were happy with, so we made the decision to let her go."

Maley says CG&T is evaluating how it's going to move Sport Nunavut forward, and part of that evaluation is new leadership for the beleaguered organization.

When she was hired, CG&T stated Barteaux was the right person to lead Sport Nunavut forward into the new millennium.

Maley says a number of factors came into play to change the department's thinking.

"In our opinion, the sporting community at the grassroots level needs improvement and we weren't seeing any indication things were going to improve in that area."

Maley says areas centering around Nunavut's elite athletes also need improving and the director's position will be a challenging one for Barteaux's successor.

He says the search for a new director will, once again, focus on Southern Canada.

"What we want to do this time is to also find a person with close ties to Nunavut who would be willing to be part of a mentorship program with the new director."