Three Teachers In Nunavut Have Been Charged with Sexual Abuse

A RCMP detachment in Nunavut. via.

Last week in Nunavut, troubling allegations were raised regarding two teachers and the sexual abuse of their students. Mark Caine, a teacher involved in the technology and film club at Asqarniit Middle School in Iqualuit is being charged with 3 counts of sexual interference. Phillip Flynn, a teacher in Kimmirut, is charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation. And on Tuesday afternoon news broke that an unnamed third teacher has been charged with sexual assault and sexual interference. That’s three educators in two weeks.

What’s disturbing here isn’t whether the accused are proven guilty or not, but that the accusations have been made. When set against the backdrop of Residential Schools, incidents such as these have the potential for much broader implications, and cannot be taken lightly or viewed through a solely local scope. 

It is no secret that there are massive teacher shortages all the way across Canada’s North. From Quebec to B.C., remote northern communities, most of which are predominantly populated by First Nations residents, are in dire need of teachers. Attracting quality teachers to fly-in communities such as these is no easy task. There are only so many people willing to take on the experience of going that far north, into an unfamiliar environment of relative isolation. 

Some might go because they are the tree-planting type. They want to experience northern Canada, get some stories under their belt, take some photos, grow out a good beard or their pit hair and learn how to throat sing. Others might go out of the perceived genuine goodness of their hearts. They’ve seen stories like Attawapiskat’s on the news and head up with the mindset that they’re going to make right. Slightly cynical depictions, sure. But then there are those, a group not to be underestimated, who will be in it purely for the money.

In 2011, Nunavut’s teachers were the second highest paid educators in Canada, just behind the Northwest Territories, with a minimally qualified teacher in Nunavut earning $70,460, and a top-of-the-grid teacher earning $101,334 per year. That’s nearly an average of $20,000 dollars more annually for a first year teacher starting in Nunavut, compared to a teacher starting their career in Vancouver ($52,823) or Ottawa ($54,217)—both places where there are barely any teaching vacancies anyhow. And although essentials are more expensive in these communities, there aren’t a whole lot of places to spend that money. So teachers come in for a year or two, pay off some debts, then scram back south and buy a new car. The impact on a student’s education from that kind of routine is another story.

That being said, there is also the concern that besides the adventurers, the caregivers and the capitalists, there are also those who might be taking that trip all the way north because, as a Nunavut board director Ian Critchley suggested in the past, you have teachers heading for the north because they’re running away from something.

There is a justified amount of distrust among the Nunavummiut—as well as among other First Nations across the northern parts of provinces—of southern, white Canadians arriving to educate their youth. Pair that with the fact that residents of Iqaluit and Kimmirut have been largely kept in the dark about these most recent events, only learning about the charges laid through the media, and it’s apparent that not a whole lot is being done to promote any confidence in the status quo of the current education system.  Comments on the pages of Nunatsiaq are already drawing direct comparisons to Residential Schools with a commenter going by ‘Nua’ writing that, “Even after 50-60 years it’s still happening. When is everyone going to wake up?”

Nunavut Premier Eva Aarviak is appropriately concerned, and says the allegations have had an affect on the relationship between teachers, students, and parents. “The trust between schools and the community, between parents and teachers, and between teachers and students is of the utmost importance. And I feel and I understand that this trust has been shaken.” She also touched on a few of the procedures that prospective teachers must go through before being hired, which includes getting a criminal background check that is specifically designed for individuals that want to work with vulnerable persons. However, she also noted that when situations like this arise, procedures should be “revisited”, and that she will, “work closely with parents and district education authorities to rebuild the confidence in the importance of the work our teachers are doing.”

Obviously, most teachers who have committed to traveling north to practice their trade in these communities that are oft-too neglected should be commended. Knowing oneself and intentions honestly enough to take that step is totally admirable. But when three allegations of sexual abuse can pry at the wounds that harken back to the legacy of Residential Schools, it is clear that whatever trust has been established between cultures is still far too fragile. Teachers, students, parents, and administrations—both in the north and south—need to be provided with more support, education and cultural competence counselling to help bridge that divide, and somehow begin to solidify an enduring mutual trust between teachers and the communities they move to.

Follow Dave on Twitter: @ddner

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