Jillian Dickens
Northern News Services

Edmonton (Nov 23/05) - Whale Cove descendent Norma Levesque thinks it's unfair families like hers are not considered Inuit because they live in the south.

Inuk beneficiary Nathan Levesque lives in Edmonton. He was refused a Nunavut Implemention Training Committee beneficiary scholarship due to marks, according to the committee. But his mother, Norma, says his marks are fine and he was denied because he lives in the south. - photo courtesy of Nathan Levesque

Levesque's grandmother was the well-known Husky Mary, who had a daughter named Theresa Harris - Norma's mother.

When Theresa was 13, she was moved to a Winnipeg convent.

Levesque, who now lives in Edmonton, complains her son Nathan didn't receive an Inuit scholarship because he lives in the south.

Nathan Levesque applied for a Nunavut Implementation Training Committee (NITC) scholarship late August.

To be eligible, you must be an Inuit land claim beneficiary, be enroled as a full-time student in a post secondary institution, and have maintained at least a 70 per cent average for the last school year before applying.

Chief executive officer Lorne Kusugak says Levesque did not fulfil all the requirements.

"In this case, the applicant was denied based on marks," said Kusugak.

But with Nathan's transcripts in hand, Mrs. Levesque cries foul.

"My son was a Merit student in the last year of high school," she said, adding to receive the certificate of merit, he needed average of 70 to 80 per cent in his classes.

"That's a real kick in the head," says Kusugak.

"It's a sad day when you get accused of something like that when it's the farthest thing from your mind."

He says countless successful applicants are Inuit living in the south, who have not even stepped foot in the North.

According to Nunavut News/North's calculations, Nathan's marks total 69.24 per cent.

"The school would not issue a certificate of merit had he not been between 70 and 80 per cent," his mother said. And if the school rounded the numbers off, "Why can't NITC just round it off?"

"It's just a shame," she added. "He did make the grade."

Although Kusugak confirms scholarship requirements are those listed above, the NITC website says differently.

Under eligibility, the it reads you must maintain an average of 70 per cent while receiving the scholarship.

The application form addresses transcripts and grades once. In a box on the side of the page, it states: "If applying for second or third year funding, you must include a copy of your transcripts and grades."

This was another of the angry mother's complaints. She says each time she contacted the committee regarding the scholarship, she heard a different story with regards to marks.

"The guidelines for the scholarship appear to have changed with each conversation. I was told at one point that since Nathan had completed a garde 12 Food Science course with a mark of 68 per cent he was not considered eligible," she said in a letter addressed to her local MLA in Edmonton.

She asked also that the website be reviewed.

Roxanne Sateana, overseer of the scholarship, admits that, "maybe we worded (the website) wrong."

This year 166 people applied for the scholarship and 91 individuals were successful with a total of $146,000 paid out.

Successful applicants are awarded a maximum of $1,750 a year with the exception of Nunavut Sivuniksavut students, who are eligible to receive $1,000 a year.