Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Nov 02/05) - Elizabeth Kusugak has seen a lot of change with the CBC's Northern operations since she began her career as a clerk more than 21 years ago.

Kusugak retired this past week after spending the past decade as the CBC's area manager in Rankin Inlet.

When Kusugak first began her CBC career in Rankin, the station boasted two operations managers, an area manager, three announcer-operators and a technician.

The team did four shows a day, including an hourly morning show, two 30-minute shows in the afternoon and an hour in the evening from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Kusugak says the CBC was just starting to change the way it conducted business in the North when she came along.

"When I first started, we were using Telex machines that you typed the info on and little holes came out," says Kusugak.

"That's the way we sent messages to Ottawa, which was our head office at the time.

"Slowly, but surely, they started moving to the North and, shortly after setting up in Yellowknife, they started introducing computers to everyone on staff.

"That was a scary time for me because I didn't want anything to do with computers and wouldn't touch one for what seemed like forever.

"But I had to learn, so I did."

Computer literacy wasn't the only change the CBC had in store for Kusugak.

After watching two operations managers come and go, Kusugak was gently nudged into the position in the early 1990s.

Shortly after that promotion the regional director persuaded her to take the area manager's position, which she held until her retirement this past week.

"I can't remember the exact year, but I was managing when we did the True North concert in 1995 and moved into our new station here in Rankin.

"Over the years we lost a technician and we don't have an operations manager any more, but we gained a reporter.

"Then we had to trim down to one show a day and it was obvious to us that our late afternoon broadcast was our flagship show.

"Although, having said that, a lot of people in the Kivalliq still miss the morning show coming out of Rankin."

Kusugak says today's CBC team in Rankin works closely with Iqaluit, where the network's head Nunavut team is located.

She has warm memories of her time spent working closely with Pat Nagle during her career, who she credits for giving her a great deal of help and guidance during the past 15 years.

Kusugak says the CBC is a great place for young Inuit to work because it gives them more knowledge about the region and its people.

She says working on the radio helped many young Inuit regain their Inuktitut-speaking skills because the job forced them to speak their language when interviewing people or hosting a show.

"Working here has also opened the eyes of many staff members over the years to the fact we're not living in a world all by ourselves here in Rankin.

"There's other people out there who have also gone through a great deal.

"I lived in Coral Harbour for many years as a kid, but didn't really know the background of the people there.

"They were brought into Coral Harbour, a strange area to them, from northern Quebec and it was difficult for them.

"They opened their hearts and told the whole story to me, and those kinds of experiences have given me a greater knowledge of the past."

When three of Kusugak's four children decided they wanted a quieter life in Repulse Bay, it was an easy decision for her and her husband, Cyril, to join them.

She says although they both made good incomes at their jobs, they were more than willing to give up the money for their children.

Her children moved to Repulse this past August, and Kusugak has been counting down the days to joining them this week.

Four of the couple's eight grandchildren also live in Repulse.

"Three of our four kids are older, but, in Inuit culture, you hang onto your kids as long as you can and it doesn't matter how old they are.

"Hopefully, the day will come when our one daughter and four grandchildren we're leaving behind in Rankin will decide to follow.

"The CBC and the people of Rankin Inlet have been very, very good to my family over the years and I'm going to miss a lot of things about Rankin.

"But, I have no regrets. We always put the needs of our children first and the decision to move to Repulse Bay was the right one for all of us at this time."