Arviat (Oct 18/04) - You really couldn't blame Nunavut Education Minister Ed Picco and Qitiqliq high school principal Fred Durant for singing It's a Small World After All.

Durant was teaching Grade 10 and 11 in the late 1970s as Picco was making his way through Newfoundland's educational system at Prince of Wales Collegiate in St. John's.

The Arviat principal remembers Picco as a humorous, jaunty kid, who had a positive outlook on life and was a lot of fun to be around.

He describes Picco as a bright student who would have been at home in an enrichment program, had they existed at the time.

In fact, he says Picco's rise to one of Nunavut's top posts would come as no surprise to many who knew the minister in his youth.

"Ed was one of those kids in school who you turned to when you really needed something done," says Durant.

"When all the other students suddenly deserted you when it was time to tear down or clean up after a school event, Ed was the type who would be around to help you until the job was finished."

Durant says Picco hailed from Portugal Cove and was part of a group known as the Boys from the Bay.

In the Newfoundland of the late '70s, there was a sharp contrast between the Townies (raised and living in St. John's) and those from small fishing communities on the outskirts of the city such as Portugal Cove, Bauline and Pooch Cove.

"I think it was the small-town upbringing that made Ed a guy you could go to and suddenly, he'd have six or seven others volunteering their time to get a job done.

"Even back then he was a leader in his own way.

"He was just a nice kid who would walk into your classroom at the end of the day just to shoot the breeze."

Leading by example

Durant says in the late '70s, Townies occupied the student council, so he doesn't remember Picco being politically active in that sense.

He does, however, remember him as a young man who led by example.

"You know, the funny part is, I didn't recognize his name when he was the Minister of Health," he said.

"It clicked in when he became Education Minister and I recognized him right away when I saw him in Iqaluit.

"When he spotted me he came up to me and said, 'Yes, Mr. Durant, I remember you, too.'"