NUNAVUT

The negative portrayal of Nunavut by southern media has Premier Eva Aariak calling for the south to make a concentrated effort to better understand Canada's North and those who call it home.

Premier Eva Aariak presents the Nunavut Midget Territorial championship trophy to Team Iqaluit's Beetanie Eeseemailie, David Coulombe and Alex Suvega, from left, in Rankin Inlet in March 2011. Aariak was deeply disappointed after reading yet another negative story about Nunavut in the national media this past month. - NNSL file photo

Aariak said she was deeply disappointed after reading a large feature story on Nunavut in a national publication this past month.

She said it disturbs her when southern media outlets produce stories casting Nunavut in such a negative light.

"It's always difficult to hear stories about Nunavummiut suffering, and Nunavummiut know all too well the issues these stories focus on," said Aariak.

"The story which appeared in The Globe and Mail did not portray a balanced picture of what Nunavut is all about and the progress happening here.

"The author referred to a cultural silence, which I thought was kind of ironic in that he did not try to interview me either."

The southern article insinuated there was an unofficial education policy in Nunavut to pass students at any cost, resulting in young Nunavummiut possessing Grade 12 diplomas who are functionally illiterate.

The article expressed the concern of Nunavut being hamstrung for decades by the combination of undeserving graduates and general incompetence in the educational field.

Aariak countered by referring to the passing of the Nunavut Education Act and the hard work being done by the territory's Department of Education to implement the act.

She said Nunavut education is not how it was portrayed in the story, and no one answer can suffice when it comes to trying to address the negativity from southern media.

"We are in exciting times while working on the implementation plans of our new Nunavut Education Act.

"But for the media it seems it is very important for the industry to be recognized by coming out with, usually, negative stuff on Nunavut.

"But, at the same time, we have a lot to celebrate in Nunavut since the creation of the territory.

"We are only 11 years old, and it's amazing we have a functioning government, a legal system, an education system with an Education Act in place, and very unique language legislation - where we have the official languages policy as well as the Inuktitut Protection Act."

Aariak said it is only natural for Nunavut to be still going through growing pains as a territory.

Unfortunately, she said, the negative social issues being experienced in Nunavut are very real and need to be addressed, but they cannot be addressed by the Government of Nunavut alone.

"It has to be a collective effort between the communities, individuals and families, in terms of substance abuse, high dropout rates and issues like that."

Aariak, who responded to the story by writing a letter to the editor of the publication, said there could have been a perceived lack of outcry in Nunavut over the nationally-published story because of the fact only those in the territory who read the Globe and Mail would have come across the article.

She said it's disheartening when the media chooses to dwell on the negatives and not portray what the true Nunavut is.

"There are many positive things happening in Nunavut that are being ignored.

"In our Tamapta mandate, we are saying we want

to expose Nunavut to the world.

"These are the kinds of things we're trying to accomplish, and we'll keep trying to educate the rest of the world and our own country.

"We live in a very modern society, heavily rooted to who we are: the important aspect of our culture.

"That's the beauty of it, but, unfortunately, southern Canada is not educating its students about the rest of their country."

Aariak said the south needs to do a lot more to educate people, especially students, on Nunavut.

She said southerners cannot simply rely on the media's depiction of the North on any given day.

"How much of the Northern component do you see in the southern curriculum?

"Perhaps the southern area needs to work harder on trying to understand the rest of its own country better.

"That, actually, also leaves us to portray who we are, what we are, where we live, and the kind of exciting era we're experiencing right now."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.