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CHESTERFIELD INLET - Harry Aggark worked with the settlement council before the Hamlet of Chesterfield Inlet was established in 1981.

He's been community's airport maintainer and hamlet foreman since that time.

Aggark, 59, officially retired earlier this month because of health problems.

He said a heart condition was affecting his work too much to carry on.

"All the stress of my condition was affecting me at work and at home, so I figured it was time to settle down for a while and then decide what to do later on," said Aggark.

"I did think about being too bored if I retired, but it's really too soon to tell.

"My boys are getting older and I want to spend more time with them out on the land hunting and fishing.

"I also used to run dog teams when I was younger, and I want to get back to doing traditional activities while I'm still young enough to be able."

Aggark said he's keeping busy right now by getting his hunting gear and snowmobiles ready for winter.

He said he's seen a lot of changes in municipal departments during his years on the job, especially with the water and sewage program in his community.

"We used to have to take the water truck all the way up to the lake, which is about 3.5 miles from town.

"We used to spend hours and hours trying to keep the road open in the winter.

"But the past few years, we've been using a man-made reservoir that's a lot closer to the community.

"It's allowed us to provide daily service so nobody has to walk up and get their own water anymore."

Aggark said the key to lasting so long at his job was being able to withstand criticism.

He said he always tried to have a good working relationship with employees, Senior administrative officers (SAOs) and councillors.

"You need to have a big heart and be able to respect them, even times when they put you down or criticize you.

"Sometimes workers aren't willing to work and put you down, but a couple of days later they're back to normal.

"Willpower, more than anything, kept me going.

"We went through so many employees who quit after a short while on the job, but everybody's replaceable and that's another reason I kept going to work every day."

Aggark spent time as Chester's acting SAO and also did payroll when nobody else was there to take care of it.

He said he'd like to see the Government of Nunavut help the municipalities by giving more training to office staff.

"I went through many SAOs in my time, and almost every community in Nunavut seems to be having a hard time keeping their SAO.

"It's time for the government to train more local people to be SAOs who will stay in their community.

"That's better than spending so much money to hire people from outside Nunavut who only stay here a short time."