Thomas Berger says Nunavut is facing a crisis in Inuit education and employment, and is recommending more government support to the territory's education system to meet the demands for Inuit participation in public life.

Berger, the conciliator appointed to explore new approaches to the implementation of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, says there needs to be a fully bilingual education system in Nunavut – English and Inuktitut – to provide people with Inuit culture and values capable of working in both government and industry.

Berger says it's important for Inuit to "keep their eye on the prize" of full participation in their government (CBC file photo)

In his final report, which was leaked to the media, Berger deals with Article 23 of the land claims deal. He says it is at the heart of the promise of Nunavut.

"The success of Nunavut will ultimately be measured by the extent to which Inuit are able to participate in their own government and in the changing economic life of the Arctic," he says.

Under Article 23, Inuit should have about 85 per cent of the public service jobs. In fact, Inuit hold only about 45 per cent of Nunavut government jobs, mostly in lower levels.

Government has fallen far short of its targets for Inuit hiring in Nunavut (CBC file photo)

Berger says the crisis lies in the fact that the supply of qualified Inuit is exhausted, with only one-quarter of Inuit children graduating from high school. He says the schools are failing, not producing Inuit graduates competent in Inuktitut or English.

Government has ended up "poaching" Inuktitut-speaking employees from one department to another, failing to meet its objectives overall. When government poaches from teaching staff, it damages the supply of future Inuktitut speakers.

Berger says there have to be major changes in the education system to increase the overall supply of qualified Inuit.

"My main recommendation has to do with bilingual education in the schools. Its purpose is to tackle the dropout rate, for this is the long-term means of achieving the objective of Article 23," he wrote.

Berger is recommending a new program of bilingual education, starting in pre-school and running through Grade 12. Instruction would be in both Inuktitut and English.

He says the aim would not be to preserve Inuktitut as a cultural artifact, but to affirm Inuit identity and improve Inuit educational achievement. But he says he recognizes the challenge his recommendation presents.

"A fully bilingual education system would require the recruitment of hundreds more Inuktitut-speaking teachers (and the training of a certain number of non- Inuktitut-speaking teachers in Inuktitut), even without factoring in the present rate of attrition," he says.

In fact, Berger says Inuit overall employment levels in government could even drop further for a period of time. But he says Inuit must "keep their eye on the prize" and understand what they are doing is increasing the supply of potential candidates in the long term, rather than just meeting demand in the short term.

Millions needed

Berger says the Nunavut government can't afford the cost of increasing the supply of Inuktitut-speaking graduates, and the federal government must do its part.

He's recommending $20 million a year for near-term measures like expanded summer student programs, scholarships and internships. Berger says the expanded bilingual education program would cost many millions more.

Neither Berger nor Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Jim Prentice will comment until the report is made public. That's expected next week.