Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Oct 09/02) - The Kivalliq Inuit Association has gone through a major re-organization over the past few months, but several vacant staff positions have now been filled.

The organization was given approval from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. to hire a Designated Inuit Organization (DIO) officer last month.

The parent organization is recommending its members approve almost $135,000 in funding for the position.

NTI vice-president of finance Paul Kaludjak said the DIO officer is responsible for various implementation duties within their organizations under the land claims agreement.

In previous years, the DIO officers worked under the guidance of NTI, but those positions have now been handed over to the regions.

"It's sort of like a devolution and to create that we had to give the KIA extra funding for that particular area this time around," said Kaludjak.

The recommendation will go before members at NTI's annual general meeting in Gjoa Haven this November.

The organization has just hired a new director of finance, John Marion, who hails from Winnipeg. KIA secretary treasurer Simon Okpatauyak said Marion has a background in accounting and finance management and is very qualified for the position.

A public relations and project co-ordinator, Brian Sigurdson, is also new on staff.

Now Okpatauyak said they are seeking a new lands administrator.

"We are looking at applications and are in the process of doing interviews for that position," he said, adding there are quite a few applicants.

The KIA is working to find a new direction for the upcoming year.

"We have major work to do ... but we pretty much have everything in place now.

"Pretty well everybody is pretty new, like myself, so we need to see what was done in the past and see how we can keep things going," said Okpatauyak.

He said there is a lot of work to be done, but assured he's up for the challenges ahead.