Iqaluit (Apr 14/03) - When the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA) was signed it provided for a way to ensure Inuit employment opportunities with the federal and territorial government.

In fact it dictates that the employment ratio of Inuit employees with the two levels of government in Nunavut be 85 per cent.

Current statistics show not only that those numbers are no where near on target, but, also, a decline in the number of government Inuit employees.

The information was released in a recent report done jointly by the territory and NTI, on the status of Article 23 in the land claim.

The report was commissioned to present numbers to Minister Robert Nault of the federal Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

The hope is proof the federal government is failing to meet their obligations under Article 23 will spur them to correct those shortcomings.

According to the report from 1999 to 2002, the ratio of Inuit employees working for the Nunavut government has dropped from 45 to 42 per cent.

Additionally the report finds the lowest ratio of Inuit employees to be in middle management and professional vocations, currently at 21 per cent.

Numbers are even lower on the federal side.

Only 33 per cent of federal employees in Nunavut are Inuit.

Cathy Towtongie, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI) president, said the evidence indicates Article 23 is failing.

"Inuit are losing out on $164 million a year," she said.

The federal government is losing $27.8 million a year, according to the report.

That money is being lost through poor retention of civil servants and keeping Inuit on welfare, said Towtongie.

With approximately 80 per cent of the population of Nunavut being Inuit, Towtongie said, not having trained Inuit labour in government means hiring from the South.

She added those facts result in incurring large travel costs, housing costs and frequent turnover.

The report points to lack of adequate training, gaps in the education system, and language and culture barriers as reasons for low Inuit employment.

Those low numbers are not limited to government.

The report states approximately 15 per cent of Inuit in the workforce are unemployed.

Reasons for that include education statistics showing that a vast majority of adult Inuit do not have post-secondary education or a high school diploma.

Towtongie said the federal government needs to live up to promises to provide training to Inuit and meet the expectations outlined in the NLCA.

Recently the GN has taken steps on its end to try and improve on the number of Inuit working in civil servant positions.

The most recent cabinet shuffle came with a shift in administrative staff.

"I am committed to using the values in the Bathurst Mandate as a tool to build a government that promotes Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit. These changes will help realize the goal of building a public service that is reflective of all people it seeks to serve," said Premier Paul Okalik.

Currently only one member of the staff in the premier's office is non-Inuit.