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A wrench in the machinery
Darrell Greer
Lorne Kusugak said community leaders agreed during the recent Kivalliq mayors meeting in Repulse Bay that a good journeyman mechanic is one of the hardest positions to fill in the region right now. He said the salary of a good mechanic has reached the point where it's no longer viable for them to come North. "The days of mechanics in the South making $40,000 a year less than the North are over," said Kusugak. "Hamlets can only offer so much based on the money allotted from the government for hiring people. If we're going to pay a mechanic $100,000 a year or more, we have to take that from other salaries." Kusugak said the GN has to start getting more creative in helping hamlets attract necessary skilled labour. He said government housing units and other perks have to be put on the table to help subsidize recruitment. The mayor said it's a sad state of affairs when even the region's largest hamlet can't afford its own heavy-equipment mechanic. "Without our own mechanic, the cost of running equipment to keep up snow removal and garbage pickup is nearly impossible. "We're not talking frills here. These are services we can't do without. "We have to work with Toromont - which has a good qualified mechanic - to keep our equipment operating properly and that puts a tremendous strain on our budget. We need help from the GN and we need it soon." Another hot topic at the conference was the imbalance that exists with how housing costs for medical patients are allocated. Kusugak said patients decide between staying at a commercial establishment or being billeted while they're receiving treatment. A stay at a hotel or a bed and breakfast can cost $200 a day for a room and meals. Billets, on the other hand, only receive $50 a day for adult guests. "The excuse the government uses for this imbalance is that $50 is all it receives from non-insured health benefits for billeting," said Kusugak. "In Rankin, we usually have one or two people per week who stay with billets because that's what they prefer. "The money their billets receive barely covers the cost of their meals. "The government is obviously subsidising commercial establishments, because you know they aren't staying there for $50 a day." The Kivalliq mayors passed a motion indicating that the billet amount should, at least, cover the cost of living and be more comparable to commercial establishments. The motion will be sent to Premier Paul Okalik, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and Kivalliq MLAs. "Now that the regional health facility is going to be in full swing, you're going to see a flood of people coming to Rankin and billeting with family and friends. "These billets should be getting a fair pay." Kusugak said Kivalliq mayors were also disappointed that a number of government departments didn't bother to send anyone to the conference. He said while three reps did attend, for the most part the mayors were ignored. "The government has to take the mayors conference more seriously. "It's really frustrating trying to run a municipality with such a lack of respect from the territorial government. "It's hard to run an effective conference when they try to fit you into their schedule, instead of the other way around." Kusugak said if the GN cared enough to send one person from each department to attend the entire session, they'd get a much better idea of the challenges municipal governments face. He said a strong GN presence is a vital link to the conference being successful. "At the end of the day, we're talking about their communities too. "We have better things to do than travel to a community for three days when the GN doesn't care enough to ensure it will be able to participate in the meetings. "These people fund our communities. They can at least take the time to attend and hear our concerns."
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