Time to act on Nunavut government report card: premier

Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak will meet with MLAs next week to discuss ways to improve the way government works, based on the results of a report card on the government's programs and services.

The territory's politicians and civil servants have spent the past two weeks studying the government-commissioned report card, in which consultants reviewed the government's programs and services since 1999, when Nunavut officially became its own territory.

North Sky Consulting presented the findings of its review titled Qanukkanniq?, meaning "What's next?" in Inuktitut to Aariak and the government on Oct. 1.

Aariak has scheduled a full caucus meeting on Oct. 19 in Iqaluit to discuss the report card. She said she wants some consensus on which recommendations get priority.

"It's not going to be an easy task," she told CBC News.

"We will discuss the findings of the report card and then from there an action plan will be developed."

Many of the 93 recommendations in North Sky's report card target policies that have defined Nunavut to date. For example, it calls for a review of the government's decentralization of government offices and services to communities outside Iqaluit.

It also proposes adjusting thegoal of having 85 per cent Inuit employment in the civil service by 2020.

The government's response to the report card will have to be realistic, she said, because of financial constraints and staffing shortages.

Quttiktuq MLA Ron Elliott agreed that the government should respond to the report card in measured steps.

"I think we need to set priorities for certain ones and decide," Elliott said. "Some are long-term goals and some are fairly short-term goals."

After MLAs talk about the report card next week and come up with an action plan, Aariak said a committee will be created to follow the plan through.

"This idea of an implementation committee to ensure that the action plans are being carried out will be a very important one," she said.

As part of its review, North Sky Consulting held public hearings in communities across Nunavut in June.