Faces of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation

Faces of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation

The hub for all things Inuvialuit, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation was established in 1984 to manage the settlement outlined in the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.

With more than 180 employees, the IRC represents the collective interests of Inuvialuit in dealings with governments, corporations and the world at large. The IRC’s goal is to continually improve the economic, social and cultural well-being of Inuvialuit through the implementation of the IFA and by all other available means.

Inuvialuit beneficiaries directly control the IRC and its subsidiaries through the community corporations, which represent each of the six Inuvialuit communities with an elected board of directors. Its head office is located in Inuvik.

But more than a series of programs, companies and services, the IRC is made up of people in our community, the majority of whom are Inuvialuit beneficiaries.

As part of a recurring feature, we profile the people and departments of the IRC. In the following pages are some of the top-level directors at the organization. We asked them a series of questions about what they do, how they spend an average day, their career path that brought them to the IRC and what advice they might have for younger Inuvialuit.

Duane Smith

Chair and CEO

As Chair and CEO, I was elected to oversee the entire Inuvialuit Corporate Group. My responsibility is to make sure that the rights, obligations, spirit and intent of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement are upheld and implemented. In this position, I work hard to ensure the organization is meeting the needs and expectations of our communities and beneficiaries both in and outside of the region.

I have been a director on the IRC board for more than a dozen years and have held the office of Chair and CEO for just under three. It has been an incredible honour and it’s been very busy.

Early in my tenure, I asked my staff to work together to create a strategic plan so that we could methodically and effectively pursue our goals. Since then, we have worked nonstop to obtain more contribution agreement funding from the territorial and federal government to support the implementation of critical services and programming throughout the communities and region. We have also developed our corporate structures to create new opportunities and support for our Inuvialuit families wherever they may be.

This job requires you to go from complex commercial transactions in one moment to assisting beneficiaries with their individual concerns the next. You have to be responsive at both levels or you are not doing the job. Much of my time throughout the day is spent providing direction or guidance and meeting with staff to make sure all of our programs, issues and files are being addressed appropriately.

I care about this organization being as successful as it can possibly be. When you set a high standard, it can become stressful very quickly. The reputation and successes of this $800-million organization, as well as the expectations beneficiaries have of their land claim organization, ultimately rest with me. I have to pursue those to the extent I can. I take my responsibilities seriously every moment of every day.

My role is 24/7. That’s the reality of it. Even when I go home, I’m working, looking over issues, reading material or monitoring governments to see if there are new initiatives or opportunities that we might be able to take advantage of, trying to make sure the activities the government might be conducting are not going to fetter our rights or diminish the intent of the IFA.

The IRC has come to be known as a force in the world of Indigenous governance and business. As a result, we are constantly asked to participate, engage and advocate in different initiatives. My job is to distinguish between those that will advance the objectives of Inuvialuit and those that may simply be a drain of resources.

If I had to pick the hardest part of the job, it would be the constant correcting of misunderstandings regarding the role and function of this organization and the misinterpretations of the IFA. To address this gap more systematically, I initiated the IFA-101 learning module, which is available to government, the private sector and anyone who wants to know more about us.

Dealing with government bureaucracy is another challenge. It’s slow moving and always reluctant to change. We’re going on 35 years of this land claim, and it’s still not fully respected or implemented by certain governments to the extent that it should be.

I think my term has been successful so far. We’ve received $24 million in housing funds to date – that’s something new, and you don’t see that with any other Indigenous organizations outside of the four Inuit organizations. We’ve quadrupled our contribution agreements, mostly with the federal government. We’re implementing around $38 million of contribution agreements now. We’ve drastically reduced our debt and secured our status as a healthy and agile organization in a very fast period of time. We have also increased Inuvialuit employment with beneficiaries wanting to come back and contribute to the IRC.

While it is sometimes truly an unbelievable amount of work, it’s all worth it. A lot of the time our work happens on an incremental basis and without much fanfare. But sometimes people notice and send their thanks. You can see those thank-you cards in my window – it does feel good to get those notes from people. That’s what makes it worthwhile to come in, when you see people are satisfied and grateful for the work we are doing on their behalf. Seeing beneficiaries and members-at-large in the communities happy and with more opportunities to live a full and healthy life is what it is all about.

Looking forward, we are going to maintain the steady direction we’re going in, continue to implement our strategic plan and do our best for Inuvialuit.

Lucy Kuptana

Director of Operations

I’m inspired to work here because being Inuvialuit I want better for all people. I want things better for the communities and I want to work hard to make sure IRC offers services to the communities. People are struggling, especially now with the economy being so poor. We all want to make things a little better for people.

My main role is Director of Operations, but I also head up communications and culture portfolios.

I work with the IRC board and help manage the regular board meetings, review communications strategies, work with the Inuvialuit Cultural Centre in their delivery, manage the overall direction of the education/capacity group and the human resources department, work with community support officers and advise on the craft shop. Overall, I have 20 employees who report to me on a day-to-day basis. It’s busy, but I love my job and I see good things come from it.

I graduated from high school with my husband, Donald, in 1986, and moved to Tuktoyaktuk. He took carpentry in high school and had a career in mind, but I didn’t. I left home at 17 and my parents didn’t talk to me for a year. They were so disappointed I didn’t go onto university. They wanted me to do big things.

I had my son Kyle at a young age, when I was 18 years old. While living in Tuk, a finance clerk position came up at the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk and I got it. For a couple of years, I worked really hard at the hamlet and paid attention. They promoted me to assistant senior administrative officer when I was 22. They sent me out to take further training, so I had to leave my home and family for two months at a time to go to school. I took the community administration certificate program.

In 1993, I was promoted to senior administrative officer for the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk. I was 25 at the time.

After 10 years working for the hamlet, and after Donald’s parents passed away, we decided to move to Inuvik to be closer to my aging parents. It was really difficult for Donald to move and still is to this day. We moved to Inuvik on December 10, 1999, and I began working for the IRC first in the Beaufort Delta Self Government Office and then in its Community Development Division.

In 2010, I left the IRC to work for the Government of the Northwest Territories, because I needed to see what else was out there. It was a bad year. The colleagues I worked with at government were great, but I found everything so rigid. Everybody referred to their collective agreement. It seemed like nobody wanted to work beyond that. There was no vision, no extra effort.

Working at the IRC gives you so much opportunity. You have a vision and a strategic plan, but how you deliver that is through your own hard work and communications.

I returned to the IRC in 2011 and never looked back. I thank God to this day that I’m working for the IRC, because I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.

Working for Nellie Cournoyea for 15 years was a great introduction to politics and how things should function. She was a good role model and mentor. She always pulled me into meetings and had me involved. I learned a lot from her.

It’s good that we have somebody like Duane Smith now, who’s very strong in his role. He believes in what he does and knows the IFA in and out. We’re fortunate to have somebody like Duane following up after Nellie, because Nellie was Nellie. How great you have to be to follow in those footsteps.

Working in this role, you can never forget the communities. They always have to be number one in your mind. Our organization is built on the back of our communities.

Sometimes I worry people think that just because you’re Inuvialuit, you should get a job with the IRC. Absolutely, we can help you in any way, with any kind of training or education initiative, but people need to want to work. They’re going to need to want to be educated. We can help you with all of that, but you’re going to have to want to be here.

We all start somewhere. I started with a Grade 12 diploma and was offered an opportunity to go for training. I had to leave home, and then I spent four years at the college attending night school getting my college diploma in business. As a wife and mother, I would have a full day of work, go home, quickly make supper and then go to school. I did that for four years. It’s a testament to the fact that if you want something, you must work hard for it.

Nothing’s easy. Life is not easy. You need to be independent and take care of yourself, and education is a big help. That’s the message I always try to give to the youth. Your families and your communities are there for support, but you’re going to have to want it yourself. Nobody’s going to give you anything. If you work hard, you’ll see results.

Patrick “Dang” Gruben

Chair of the Inuvialuit Development Corporation

I’m very proud to work for the Inuvialuit.

From the day I voted for the Inuvialuit Final Agreement, they told us, “This land claim’s for you.” I said let’s go make it work for us.

I’m chairman of the IDC, but in the last year since I got appointed, I’ve been acting like the president, too. I’m more involved in the day-to-day operations of the whole organization, from properties to partnerships.

IDC is mandated in the IFA to develop businesses and create opportunities. If there’s a service required in the region, we’ll look for a company to provide that service. Take Inukshuk Geomatics for example. We needed survey expertise for the Inuvik Tuktoyaktuk Highway, so we partnered with Challenger Geomatics and formed a new company.

We have about a dozen staff at the corporate building here in Inuvik, but if you add up all of our partners and subsidiaries, we have just under 1,100 employees. We share a lot of resources with the IRC corporate group, like the CFO, human resources and legal. The annual revenue for our organization is just over $350 million. We’re probably worth $300 million, not including assets.

Sometimes we’re making up to $100-million decisions, which we have a process to go through, because the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation has a cap where any decisions over $5 million have to go through IRC board approval.

The toughest part is when it affects people’s lives. Sometimes you have to let somebody go – that’s the hardest part, especially right now when the economy is slow. When I go home, I leave my work here and keep my home life separated, but obviously we’re on call 24/7.

Mondays are usually the busiest. We have so many partnerships and companies, people are always calling our office or sending emails, with concerns we have to address or fires we need to put out.

I’m originally from Tuktoyaktuk, graduated high school and started a family pretty young. I became a tradesman for 15 years and then went into the project management side. I was always interested in the corporate group, right from the day I voted for the land claims.

At the local level, I was elected as director of the Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation, then eventually as chairman. After that, if you want to move on, you’ve got to start applying for regional positions. I got appointed as director of IDC in 2007 and 10 years later was appointed chairman.

We moved to Inuvik in 2005, when my daughter was going into Grade 9. I wanted my kids to have opportunity at life, a chance to get a better career. I think it paid off. My daughter graduated from nursing school this year.

My youngest son, I’ve got to give him credit. He took a different path. He came home after one semester of college and wanted to learn all about hunting and travelling on the land. He wanted to know our culture first. This June, he and I were riding when he looked at me and said, “Dad, I’m ready.”

I asked what he meant, and he said, “You don’t have to worry about me when I go hunting out on the land.”

As a father, that’s all you want to hear, because your teaching has paid off.

Thirty-five years into the IFA, we’re still not at the level where I think we should have been. But you can’t dwell on those kinds of mistakes. You just have to come in and try to improve it, try to hit that target we always wanted.

If you want to get into this career, you’ve got to work hard. You’ve got to understand the organization and the IFA. That’s the tool you have to use. If you want to make a difference, get involved. Don’t be afraid of speaking out and asking questions. Read about the organization, about the companies and understand what they do.

Because of the way we’re moving in the cyber age, we’re losing a bit of our culture, especially the language. If you know the culture, pass it on. Long ago, we would keep our skills secret. It’s not like that now. When you’re losing it, you should come out and start showing people your skills. That’s the only way it’s going to be passed on.

Charles Klengenberg

Director of Lands

As an Inuvialuit beneficiary born and raised in Tuktoyaktuk, I gained most of my work experience by engaging with diverse Indigenous claimant groups, local community organizations, the Northern industry and governments throughout the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

In 2004, I moved to Yellowknife and in 2006, found work at the Ekati Diamond Mine. I worked for 11 years in the Environment & Communities division, eventually moving up to traditional knowledge advisor, where I worked directly with the mine’s impact communities. The big part of that job was community engagement to address concerns on the environment, wildlife and how the mine operated.

When I got offered this position as the Director of Lands for the ILA, I could not refuse the offer. It was an opportunity to come back home and work for my people, but more importantly work with the people I grew up with like Patrick Gruben, Duane Smith and Lucy Kuptana. It’s a great atmosphere. The work is challenging, but I expected that. Our land is so important to our people.

With the administration and management of Inuvialuit lands, our overall responsibility is to look after the following: reviewing and approving access and use of Inuvialuit lands; monitoring land use to ensure protection of the land and environment; and ensuring Inuvialuit benefit from business, employment and training opportunities that flow from development projects.

An important part of the ILA process is community engagement and making sure we listen and address community concerns. Our people are the traditional land users, and they are our eyes and ears out on the land. They are the ones who are out there using the land every day, they know what is happening and they notice the changes in our environment. The local people are our enforcement for our lands.

Working with people is my favourite part of this role. A lot of my job is just listening, finding out what’s going on and hearing people’s concerns, and sometimes that can be the hardest part. With regulators or applicants – non-beneficiaries – it’s pretty straightforward. We rely on our rules and procedures for our lands. Beneficiaries have more rights on our land, and our job is trying to keep on top of that and making sure our activities are sustainable for our future generations the best we can.

There are a lot of challenges out there. Economically, it’s quiet right now. What I’m doing is taking this opportunity to further enhance our department to be prepared for potential projects in the future, which means more community engagement, staff development and training. Climate change and its effects are one of the biggest challenges facing the Inuvialuit. We all need to work together to address these issues.

For our younger people looking to pursue a career in this field, education is the ticket. Everything is moving faster with technology in the world today. Get your education and participate in youth groups, community meetings, community events and volunteering. It will open doors for you. Get involved and ask questions. Go out there and talk to people. Find out what’s going on, what are the issues affecting you, your friends, your parents and your grandparents. Try to understand what the issues are. The biggest hurdle is getting your education to make a difference.

Bob Simpson

Director of Government Affairs

I come in at about 7 a.m. and leave at 6 p.m., have lunch here, too. And I’m never caught up.

There are three main aspects to this division: the intergovernmental aspect – constantly reviewing government activities and trying to take them to account; the self-government negotiations; and then the research unit.

The research side has been growing very rapidly. We do environmental assessments, climate change, energy security, health support research and more. The big thing we’re tackling now is accumulating statistical data on Inuvialuit communities’ social and economic conditions, and using this evidence to improve people’s well-being. We also track youth with the Beaufort Delta Education Council. That’s good for the kids, because you get a lot of teacher turnover, and this gives them profiles of every student who comes in the door, so they know their strengths and weaknesses.

We’re continuing to build that statistical data – what are the social, cultural and economic conditions of Inuvialuit? – and use it to make comparisons with the rest of Canada, in a wide variety of areas from housing to education and health. Research is all about comparisons, and we go to government and put our case in front of them and say, “Here are the reasons something’s got to be done.”

Housing is one of our big successes. IRC leadership lobbied the government, gave them the figures about overcrowding and waitlists. We took it a step further and said, “We need more housing units, but give us the money and we’ll go build them.”

We also look at what kind of education is being offered in a smaller school. Paulatuk, for example – they might pass their Grade 12 there, but they don’t have the prerequisites to get into postsecondary. We provided money to BDEC to hook up the communities and offer specialty education, like Biology 20 or 30, via long distance. Last year, we had three students from Ulukhaktok who finished their Grade 12 and went straight to university instead of doing upgrading. Little successes make a big difference.

When Duane Smith got in as Chair and CEO, he instructed us to put together a strategic plan, which is the first time we’ve had one. It’s a long list, but we’re achieving a lot of things we set out in that plan.

Government is not easy to work with. They don’t like to let things go. In terms of the intergovernmental aspect of the job, the implementation of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement is paramount, and it’s difficult. We have a lot of meetings with Health Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories, ministers or officials on certain programs, trying to transfer more dollars so the IRC can deliver their own programs.

We’re negotiating a self-government agreement, and we’re pretty close to a final agreement, but the federal government is coming up with some new policies for how it deals with Indigenous governments in terms of recognition and rights.

Hopefully it will be positive. We’re saying, “If you’re changing the approach to negotiations, maybe we should have a look at that before we finalize an agreement that expresses the Inuvialuit’s rights to self-determination.”

Our self-government arm is headed up by Diane Archie, a beneficiary. I think only the Inuvialuit can govern, develop and deliver their own programs. There won’t be self-government unless Inuvialuit are running their own show. That’s the intent.

I used to work for the Gwich’in and helped create the tribal council. I was part of the Gwich’in negotiating team for their land claim agreement. Later on, the Inuvialuit and Gwich’in joined forces to seek self-government together, and I became the chief negotiator for both. We got an agreement‐in‐principle but the Gwich’in withdrew. I ended up staying on with the Inuvialuit and have been negotiating on behalf of them since 2006.

It’s been a long haul to complete a final agreement, especially when you have a detailed agreement‐in‐principle, but it’s like watching paint dry. Government still wants some certainty in what they’re giving up. It’s a bit of a fight.

For young people looking to get into this work, I recommend pursuing political science. We also have a need for managers. Throughout the IRC and region, there are other jobs, from plumbers to nurses, teachers and otherwise.

There’s a lot of opportunity, but you’ve got to get the education.

I look at myself as trying to serve the aspirations of Inuvialuit leadership as much as possible. We’re up to our eyeballs as directors, but it’s really exciting work.

Evelyn Storr

Director of Community Development

I was born and raised in Aklavik. I started in the workforce at the Northern Store (Hudson’s Bay at the time), then became a bylaw officer for the Hamlet of Aklavik and trained and worked as a school community counsellor.

I then got a job with the power corporation in Inuvik as a finance officer, before moving back home to be a housing manager for 11 years. After that, I served as senior administrative officer for the Hamlet of Aklavik. I would say I was well prepared for my role here as Director of Community Development.

We deliver programs to all of our communities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, and I am in charge of making sure they are running properly and our budgets are executed. We provide programs in health and wellness, prenatal, tobacco-free, suicide prevention, on the land, Nutrition North, mental health and much more. Project Jewel is one of our successful on‐the‐land programs, as well as our partnership with the hospital on prenatal services.

My average day is spent overseeing the program managers and ensuring they’re delivering according to the proposals and work plans we’ve developed. I have to make sure we’re on track with the budget and make sure I have the necessary information to report to our funders, which is a very important part of my job. I have to ensure our funding is not jeopardized for any reason.

A lot of my time is spent in teleconference meetings. As part of my job, I also chair the National Inuit Committee on Health, which meets four times per year. We have some large files we work on through Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. I stay involved regionally with other agencies and organizations to communicate what we’re doing and make sure there’s no overlap of program delivery.

The primary concern for me is making sure I stay on top of funding deadlines and work with program managers to make sure everything is done in a timely manner. At the end of the day, our goal is to provide the communities with programs that help our beneficiaries be healthy, so we’re there to support people and develop programs to meet specific needs.

My advice for young people goes back to their education, to complete their school and ensure they have a strong educational background. If you want to pursue this line of work, you will need a focus on business administration and finances.

As Director of Community Development, you’re dealing with all kinds of issues and need a broad understanding of our communities and people. You need to take time to see what kind of programs are out there and consider how you can address issues in the communities. Young people should get involved, whether it’s on a voluntary basis or otherwise, learning the dynamics of healthy families and what negatively affects them.

I encourage people in the communities, beneficiaries and individuals to contact us if they have any questions or would like to gain more information on the programs that we offer. We try to encourage that we have an open door and nobody should ever feel they can’t come and talk to us or call us.

Kate Darling

General Counsel

My workday starts at 4:45 a.m. I’ve always been an early riser, but this gives me time before the day really ramps up to get some solid thinking in. I work until 5 p.m., take my kids to their activities, put them to bed and then get another hour of two of work in at the end of the day. There is a lot that needs to be accomplished in any given day.

I work as general counsel for the Inuvialuit Corporate Group, which means I’m the lawyer responsible for the legal department and everyone who works in it. General counsel covers a lot of different areas, including non-legal functions such as strategic planning, intergovernmental affairs and business opportunities.

I did my undergraduate degree in international relations at UBC and following that went to West Africa on an extended research assignment. Unfortunately, I caught typhoid fever and a rheumatoid condition and was forced to return to Canada and resume my work at the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform in Vancouver. During this period, I had time to reflect deeply about my career path and how I could be a contributing member of society. I decided justice and rights were what I really cared about and what motivates me. So, I packed up the Toyota and headed east to pursue a law degree at Dalhousie University.

During my degree I started to look more closely at rights issues here in Canada. Upon completion of my articles, I sought work in Iqaluit for the Government of Nunavut in their legal and constitutional affairs department. While I was able to work closely with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated from time to time, I felt that working in a government department wasn’t allowing me to advocate fully on behalf of Indigenous rights holders. I also felt that I needed to be better equipped to do that kind of work; so, I travelled to Australia to complete my master of law degree at the University of Melbourne. I wanted to get a different perspective on human rights, and specifically Indigenous rights from a place that has a difficult history – and in some ways present – like Canada does.

When I returned to Canada, I was fortunate enough to get a job working for Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the organization that advocates for Inuit rights and interests at the national level. There I met Nellie Cournoyea, who asked me to come to Inuvik for a sixmonth contract with the IRC. I fell in love with the organization and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region with all of its space and berries, so I stayed.

IRC was one of the first groups to settle a claim in Canada, so Inuvialuit have had some time to make the land claim work and achieve significant successes under it. Concluding impacts and benefits agreements with major resource companies and deeply influencing legislation for the benefit of all Inuvialuit are two notable examples from the legal perspective. The entire corporate group has so many interesting endeavours and people committed to improving the lives of Inuvialuit.

Whereas government has not always lived up to its commitments or been able to make positive change in this region, this organization and its subsidiaries have gone above and beyond to figure out creative ways to maximize Inuvialuit investments and attract opportunity. For a person who likes to see lots of accomplishments in a short period of time, it’s a satisfying place to work, and I never question the legitimacy of what I’m doing. It aligns with my philosophy.

Working with my colleagues to solve problems is probably my favourite part of the job. We have such a varied set of skills around this office with folks who love to see a project or program take shape. Folks here are really engaged, really bright and really hardworking. Going through the various puzzles that we each encounter every day is something I value as a lawyer and as a member of this team.

My plan out of the gates was not to end up specifically here or even a place like this. The reason I ended up here is because I figured out what my set of values were early on. Then I went out into the world and experienced a number of different things, and through that process whittled down the range of careers that would be consistent with my values, work ethic and desire to produce.

As long as somebody does that and holds true to what their values are, they’ll end up in a job that they want to do all day, every day. Outside of that, my only advice to anyone who might want to do the work that I do is to commit yourself to education first, get it done, do well and then don’t be afraid to go on a few adventures and see what you like – and give us a call if you think the Inuvialuit Corporate Group might be a place for you!

Mark Fleming

Chief Financial Officer

I don’t have time for kids. IRC is my kid.

From the time I wake up at 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., I’m usually working. Duane Smith, Lucy Kuptana, Kate Darling, Patrick Gruben and I are continually surveying the corporate group, financial markets and the political landscape, and quite often emailing with each other about one of the many files that cross our desks. I do it because I love what I do and find that IRC is driven more on employee passion than simply a 9-to-5 gig, because if you don’t absolutely love what you’re doing, it’s not going to be the job for you.

The IRC group is made up of a number of diverse entities. We run about 28 active operating companies, which include two airlines (Canadian North and Aklak Air), Stanton’s grocery chain, heavy equipment manufacturing, a large investment fund, construction, expediting – everything.

Our heavy equipment manufacturing company is one of the largest of its kind in Canada. A lot of that yellow steel, which is Caterpillar equipment, has parts made by us. If they don’t have the standard bucket on the front, we’ve likely made it. We paint it yellow and stamp Caterpillar on the side.

The main purpose of my role is making sure the longterm financial planning is on point, making sure we’ve got money for beneficiary payments, making sure our money is spent in accordance with the Inuvialuit Final Agreement and that all Inuvialuit benefit equally from the claim and the monies we receive.

It can be stressful. We have planes in the air at any given hour of the day, and due to our team’s strength, our safety record is impeccable. Even our insurers love us because we’re one of the safest airlines. But if anything happens that impacts our customer experience, we need to be ready to respond, whether it is a beneficiary who lost their bags, or even the media when they are attending regional events. If that happens at 5 a.m., I can easily get a call and have to be ready to deal with that.

Even situations that are completely out of our control, such as the barges that didn’t make it to Paulatuk this past summer. We have to be ready to help those communities get the goods they need, which we’re doing through Aklak Air. Every day is something different, so it can be stressful, but I love it.

One of the hardest parts of the job is dealing with the dichotomy of finances. IRC is almost a $1-billion organization. You are looking at transactions in the tens of millions of dollars. We run these through as a matter of process. But at the same time, you have to understand that a large portion of our beneficiaries are living below the poverty line without access to basic necessities.

Having to keep that dichotomy in mind at all times is probably the most challenging part. Somebody from the south could come up and suggest raising the cost of milk by $2 because you’re a corporation and it’s your job to make money, but the IRC is not about making money. It’s about making the lives of beneficiaries better.

I started out in physics and math in university. I did a business degree and went to work for KPMG, one of the big four audit firms. Then I worked for the auditor general and got the call to come up here in 2011, where I started with an accounting focus. I did my master’s degree at Oxford University in England and came back to move into the CFO path. School is very important. I’ve probably had 21 years of education, all things considered. It was a lot of work but it pays off in the end.

I love financial management and what I do. But coming to Inuvik and spending time in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region is my favourite part of the job. All of my close friends are in Inuvik. The only reason I don’t live here now is the varied travel commitments that come with being a part of such a diverse operation, whether it’s to Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa or elsewhere. It’s very hard to do that from Inuvik. But every time I come up here, I’m busy the whole time seeing friends.

School is very important. I’ve probably had 21 years of education, all things considered. It was a lot of work but it pays off in the end.

The IRC is a large organization and we have to have the best of the best. Young people should take advantage of the resources available, such as our career centre and Inuvialuit Education Fund – thanks to Lucy and Duane we’ve doubled the amount available to students in the last three years. We have support services to help with school, finance courses in the communities – there is a lot available to you. Come and talk to our career centre and explain what interests you so we can help you reach your goal.

IRC is in a transitionary phase right now. The last three years have been incredible for the ISR. In the past three years, we’ve seen the money coming in from government more than double, close to tripling. We accept almost $1,900 per Northern beneficiary in additional programs and services. We are putting more kids through school. We’re building new homes.

These are all things we want the community to take part in. If you know how to pick up a hammer and you think that’s for you, come and talk to us and work for us. We only fly people in because we have to. It’s much cheaper to hire someone in Paulatuk than fly someone to Paulatuk. The corporate group wants you and would love to work with you.

What we need most at IRC is more young people to enter this career. The finance department is always looking for people. That means today, if there are people interested reading this, they should contact us.