Nunatsiaq News

6 days ago | nunatsiaq.com | Cedric Gallant

Worried parents in Nunavik have launched a petition in an attempt to stop the 17-day teacher strike set to run May 13 to May 30. “I saw [the students’] expressions, they felt so discouraged,” said Jennifer La Page, a Kuujjuaq parent who launched the petition which had more than 300 signatures as of Friday afternoon. La Page said she understands why the strike is happening, but that’s beside the point. “The fact that the students are being used as a bargaining chip was an issue to me,” she said.

6 days ago | nunatsiaq.com | Cedric Gallant

After two and a half years of what a union leader called “bitter negotiations,” the union representing Nunavik teachers and Kativik Ilisarniliriniq, the region’s school board have reached an agreement in principle, averting what was to be a 17-day strike starting Tuesday. The Association of Employees of Northern Quebec announced Saturday in a news release that an agreement in principle has been reached for teachers and support staff in Nunavik’s schools.

1 week ago | nunatsiaq.com | Jorge Antunes

KRG, Makivvik call for reform of the Nunavik Police Service after second police-involved shooting in 6 months Two Nunavik organizations are demanding action after a male in Kangiqsualujjuaq was shot and killed Tuesday during an confrontation with Nunavik Police Service officers. Both Kativik Regional Government and Makivvik Corp. called for changes in the way policing is handled in Nunavik, and for more transparency in the way police-involved incidents are investigated.

1 week ago | nunatsiaq.com | Cedric Gallant

Talks with teachers continue into Thursday night; strike still expected if no settlement reached Nunavik’s Kativik Ilisarniliriniq and the union representing the school board’s education professionals have reached an agreement on a new contract. However, the board and its teachers and support staff — who are represented by a different union, the Association of Employees of Northern Quebec — are still negotiating to reach their own separate collective agreement.

1 week ago | nunatsiaq.com | Jorge Antunes

University of Saskatchewan researcher finds hamlet residents reverting to dependence on school food programs as voucher program ends The federal government’s decision to end the hamlets’ universal food-voucher program is “baffling,” says the author of a report on its impact in Pangnirtung. The program, which was used by 24 of Nunavut’s 25 communities, gave $500 a month for every Inuit child age 18 and under, plus an additional $250 for children age four and under.