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CAP prepares Nunavut youth for the workforce

Pilot project funds paid positions at community Internet sites

KIRSTEN MURPHY

Fifteen Nunavut communities have begun a six-month employment pilot project that teaches young people computer skills and gives them a place to put those skills to work.

Fifteen youths are being paid $12 and hour to run Community Access Programs (CAP) in their home communities until July. CAP sites are no-charge drop-in computer centers typically run by volunteers and administered by Industry Canada and Nunavut’s department of education.

Human Resources Development Canada provided the $280,000 needed to pay the youths, ranging in age from 18 to 30. They receive above-minimum- wage pay to learn new skills and pass them on to others.

"I’m talking and explaining things to people. I’m teaching people to set up e-mail accounts, use search engines and write résumés," said Tina Rose, CAP supervisor at the Nuluaq site in the Iqaluit Centennial Library.

CAP assistants from as far west as Kugluktuk converged in Iqaluit from Jan. 20 to 31 for a comprehensive training program. The workshop included hardware and software installation, trouble shooting and career preparation. All participants were encouraged to register for online courses in their chosen fields.

Nick Illauq, 25, of Clyde River, was already a trained network administrator when he was asked to supervise one of the hamlet’s two CAP sites. Accepting the position meant a pay cut, he said, but it was the right decision.

"This gives me experience in my chosen field and good references," he said.

The other advantage is that small Nunavut communities will have consistently staffed public Internet access sites.

CAP sites were introduced in the North about seven years ago. Nunavut’s first site opened in Rankin Inlet in 1996. Arctic Bay and Iqaluit set the tone for future developments in 1999 when the two communities added paid staff to their volunteer operations.

Today, Nunavut has 18 sites in 15 communities (Iqaluit, Clyde River and Sanikiluaq have two sites each), said Darlene Thompson, a CAP program director based in Pond Inlet.

Arviat, Iqaluit and Kugluktuk have CAP sites in their libraries. Residents in Clyde River, Arctic Bay, Kimmirut, Repulse Bay and Sanikiluaq get their free Internet access in schools. The remaining communities access the free service in youth centres or hamlet offices.

Setting up the sites in remote Northern hamlets isn’t easy. It requires a consistent pool of volunteers, an unoccupied room with heat and hydro and — the big one, according to Thompson — securing a free Internet connection.

"We’re limited to libraries, schools and government buildings unless a community cuts a deal with Internet Service Providers, which is what Cape Dorset and Coral Harbour did with Sympatico," Thompson said.

Most communities in Nunavut access the Internet by making a long-distance call to an ISP in Iqaluit or Yellowknife.

"Whenever a site opens up, everyone goes because it’s often their only access to the Internet," Thompson said. "In the smaller communities, people don’t have computers at home or there isn’t an Internet Service Provider, which mean it’s a long distance dial-up."

When the six-month work placements are over in July, the youths will likely move into the workforce.

"Now more than ever, money is flowing in to get paid staffers. We’ll train other people with other grant money," Thompson said.

"Our goal is to get youths a job or back into school. We’re really pushing education."

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