Rankin Inlet (Oct 06/04) - Uluyuk Sateana has had enough with the Rankin Inlet Post Office.

In late September, a sign appeared on the door of the post office advising the public that pension cheques were not yet available -- in English.

Uluyuk's mother, Mary Autut, is a unilingual elder who speaks only Inuktitut, like the majority of elders.

Each month she depends on that pension cheque, like many elders in the hamlet.

"She doesn't even know what the sign means," said Sateana.

Autut has to bring her own translator to the office when she needs the service, often dragging her daughter out of her government job for the task.

"She gets frustrated. How can the post office help elders if they don't understand them?" she asked.

The Post Office currently has no employees who speak Inuktitut, and that has Mayor Lorne Kusugak calling for some changes.

Kusugak brought up the issue at the end of a regular council meeting recently, wondering why Canada Post isn't able to retain Inuit employees.

"My major beef is that we have unilingual people in Rankin Inlet who aren't getting service from Canada Post in Inuktitut," he said later.

Kusugak plans to draft another letter from the council to the regional office in Iqaluit asking answers.

A similar letter was sent in 2003 with few results.

"They were going to look into it right away, but right away seems to be as fast as their mail service," he said.

Inuit, mainly elders who are unilingual, approach Kusugak about the problem regularly, he said.

"I don't know the reasons why they can't retain Inuit," he said.

"There are people here who don't have a choice but to speak Inuktitut."

Barb Patterson, manager of the Rankin branch, says approximately six or seven Inuit have been employed during her four-year tenure.

"I have tried so many times to hire an Inuit person," she said.

The last time an Inuit worked for Canada Post in Rankin was in June of 2003. After they didn't show up for work, Patterson was forced to fire them.

"You can't run an office when people don't come in for a shift," she said.

Don't pass security check

Another issue is that 95 per cent of the Inuit applying don't pass a mandatory security check either, said Patterson.

At the present time, Patterson has no positions open to offer to an Inuktitut-speaking person.

Two full-time non-Inuit employees are currently employed in Rankin, including Patterson. Another non-Inuit employee works part-time.

"I only have so many hours to hire," said Patterson.

She said the regional office in Iqaluit mandates the positions.