Nunavut has been doing OK during its first 25 years but there are still negatives that have to be addressed, says Paul Kaludjak, former president of both the Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA) and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc (NTI).

Kaludjak began with NTI as its vice-president of finance from 2000 until 2004, before becoming president from 2004 until 2010.

Now residing in Iqaluit, Kaludjak said the past 25 years of Nunavut have been a great journey for Inuit.

He said thereSA国际影视传媒檚 still a lot of issues to be taken care of, but the territory is proceeding in the right direction.

SA国际影视传媒淲e have to engage the mining industry full scale, address the housing issues in Nunavut and play catch-up on transportation still,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淎s well, the overall cost of living has to be tackled big time.

SA国际影视传媒淚 was with the KIA when Nunavut became a territory in 1999 and seeing the process was quite gratifying. It hasnSA国际影视传媒檛 all been the success that we expected. Targets such as Inuit employment have never met the levels we wanted to see.

SA国际影视传媒淥ur Inuit organizations mandated for there to be 85 per cent Inuit employment within the Government of Nunavut (GN) and that has yet to be reached.SA国际影视传媒�

Kaludjak said there is no doubt that NTI still needs to be more engaged with the GN.

He said there are many things Inuit expected to be implemented that remain dormant to this day.

SA国际影视传媒淲e still need to see more Inuit companies, so that theySA国际影视传媒檙e more of an accurate reflection of our population.

SA国际影视传媒淚t is good to see devolution finally coming. It is already quite late in happening and itSA国际影视传媒檚 more than time for it to finally kick-in.SA国际影视传媒�

Inuit have worked hard for Nunavut and to bring their vision to the world, according to Kaludjak.

He said that vision and the message that comes with it continues to expand and evolve to this very day.

SA国际影视传媒淣ot to repeat myself but, one thing for sure, things have to happen to address the cost of living in Nunavut, as well as travel costs with the airlines.

SA国际影视传媒淭he rise of inflation during the past decade, or so, has simply become unreal and steps need to be taken to get it in check.

SA国际影视传媒淭he overall cost of living and the cost of transportation remain very big negatives for Inuit and living in Nunavut.SA国际影视传媒�

Kaludjak said advances in technology have helped in the territorySA国际影视传媒檚 growth.

However, that being said, he quickly added that Inuktitut still has a way to go to dominate communication in the territory.

SA国际影视传媒淲e do it all through our cellphones in English these days and that bothers me.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e nowhere close to where I hoped weSA国际影视传媒檇 be after a quarter century, especially in the workplace.

SA国际影视传媒淭he Nunavut Act states that the working language will be Inuktitut for our territory, but, unfortunately, thatSA国际影视传媒檚 not really happening in the workplaces.

SA国际影视传媒淛ust about everywhere seems to be lagging behind in that regard, including the federal government and not just ours. The regional organizations and NTI need to become stronger on that issue.SA国际影视传媒�

Kaludjak said if he could write the script moving forward from here, there would be a strong focus on improving communication and co-operation among all levels of government.

He said the housing crisis in Nunavut has been going on for the past 30 years and absolutely has to be addressed.

SA国际影视传媒淚nuit need to be better engaged with both the territorial and federal governments to solve that issue.

SA国际影视传媒淚 have been encouraged with the number of Inuit youth going on for post-secondary education during the past decade or so. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 still an area that has to be maximized, but we are seeing improvement,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

SA国际影视传媒淭here are so many opportunities in education right now and that has to be taken advantage of by the Inuit youth of today. We need to have more thrust behind our education programs, pushing the opportunities even more to our youth.

SA国际影视传媒淥ur trade centre in Rankin Inlet has definitely helped and it runs excellent programs from what ISA国际影视传媒檝e been told. ISA国际影视传媒檝e seen nothing but positives with the programs that have been run by Nunavut Arctic CollegeSA国际影视传媒檚 training centres. We are on the right path.SA国际影视传媒�