Cambridge Bay (Apr 04/05) - Fired last year from her job as assistant deputy minister of health and social services, Sharon Ehaloak is suing the Nunavut government.

She is seeking more than $6 million in damages in the suit that alleges wrongful dismissal and breach of contract.

Ehaloak was suspended with pay for 30 days, then fired on Dec. 2, 2004, after a government report found she used medivac planes to fly around Nunavut with her family.

Ehaloak denies the charges of misconduct, and alleges that there was a conspiracy against her and she was discriminated against because she is non-Inuit.

The suit names Premier Paul Okalik, Intergovernmental Affairs minister Leona Aglukkaq and Levinia Brown, Health and Social Services minister as defendants.

"The conduct of the defendants...was motivated by prejudice since the plaintiff is not a person of Inuit descent," Ehaloak said in the claim.

She alleges in the claim that the firing was "calculated to inflict the maximum emotional shock and injury possible" on her and her family.

For the alleged conspiracy, wrongful interference in contractual relations and intentional infliction of mental suffering, Ehaloak is seeking $4,090,820 in general damages for loss of future income to her retirement, $500,000 in aggravated damages, and $1,000,000 in punitive damages, plus general damages for lost benefits, and pension earnings, and special damages to be proven at trial.

She is seeking an additional $350,000 in general damages, $100,000 in punitive damages and $50,000 in aggravated damages for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract.

Ehaloak's rise

Sharon Ehaloak was hired by the department of health and social services as the executive director of health and social services, Kitikmeot region May 22, 2001.

She was paid $132,122.24 including Northern allowance plus bonus and yearly increment to a maximum of seven per cent.

Ehaloak was promoted to assistant deputy minister of health on June 25, 2004 at an annual salary of $128,712 plus a Northern allowance of $16,701 per year, for a total of $145,413.

She was also entitled to an annual bonus and a yearly incremental increase up to seven per cent.

The office was based in Kugluktuk, but she remained in Cambridge Bay where she still lives.

Audits

June 1, 2004, an investigation and audit was done to look into allegations Ehaloak had accompanied her sister-in-law Jeannie Ehaloak on a medivac flight out of Cambridge Bay to Edmonton.

June 17, 2004, nurses Angela Fee, Dee Ladouceur, Kim Lear, B. Byrne, Karen K. Byrne, Lenore Sapach and Marie Larocque, all employed by the Cambridge Bay Health Centre, complained that Ehaloak interfered in their medical assessments of Ehaloak's nephew who also resided in Cambridge Bay.

As a result of the complaint, the government launched a second investigation.

On July 4, 2004, the nurses had a teleconference with Leona Aglukkaq, the minister responsible for finance, about their dealings with Ehaloak.

This led to a third investigation into allegations Ehaloak misused assets of the GN and falsified GN records, the details of which are documented in a letter to Ehaloak from Bernie Blais, deputy minister of health dated Nov. 8, 2004.

In that letter, Blais alleged Ehaloak used her position for personal enrichment and misused resources by authorizing seats for her father-in-law, son and daughter on a chartered medivac flight between Cambridge Bay and Bay Chimo, Nunavut.

In that same letter, Blais suspended Ehaloak with pay for 30 days and the government began an internal audit.

Audit Facts:

Internal audits at the Government of Nunavut

* There were 40 audits conducted during 2004/2005.

* 27 of those audits were compliance audits, five audits were operational and eight audits were financial.

* One fraud case was investigated

* One person was fired as a result of these investigations

- Information courtesy

of Committee of the

Whole meeting, Finance, Nunavut Hansard, Friday, March 11, 2005.