Inuit-founded Cooperative Addresses Exploitation of Local Labor in Nunavik

NUNAVIK. Shocked by the way non-Native construction contractors treat local labor in Nunavik, a Shawinigan native founded the Ikajurtigiit Solidarity Cooperative this spring, a social economy enterprise made up mainly of young Inuit.

The first day he set foot in Nord-du-Québec in the spring of 2012, Patrick Payette began to count the days that separated him from his return. “But from the second week, I said to myself: Wow. I’m never going to work in the south again. The north had settled in my heart,” he recalls.

It only took a few months for the Shawinigan native to realize that the tasks entrusted to the Inuit on the construction sites were equivalent to what is commonly called cheap labor. “Nobody was spending time trying to train them, train them. We gave them the jobs that the white workers did not want to do like cleaning the site or installing the insulation, ”he laments.

The project of creating a workers’ cooperative had been germinating in his mind for a long time, but it was only in the last few months that he materialized it. From 2018, Patrick Payette alternated between his work on construction sites – he had launched his own construction company – and a position as a trainer with young Inuit. “It was a mandate from the Nunavik regional government. As an introductory course in construction. I contacted my best students and asked them if they were interested in continuing their training, but at the same time, having a job. »

Let’s all help together

The Ikajurtigiit Solidarity Cooperative – a word in the Inuit language meaning Let’s all help together – has about ten worker members, 75% of whom are Nunavimmiut (Nunavik Inuit). “I had to explain to them that they would not be employees, but members and that decisions would be made as a group. The coop was designed according to their needs. They have a fishing season and a hunting season. It’s part of their traditions. So we added leave for these periods,” explains Patrick Payette, who also had to convince the Inuit of the sincerity of his approach.

“They were suspicious and thought I wanted to make a silver pass, concedes the Shawinigan, who nevertheless managed to gain their trust. The Nunavik regional government told us that it was the finest business plan submitted by an Inuit company in 40 years. We have just signed two contracts with them worth nearly $1.5 million to renovate HLMs. »

For their part, white entrepreneurs looked at the approach of Patrick Payette with a shrug. “They said to me, ‘You won’t be able to save them. It won’t work, they won’t show up on construction sites. I was treated to all the good stereotypes, but it’s funny, presence problems, I didn’t have any or almost none. They are involved because they feel important and considered. »

Housing co-ops?

Ironically, these same entrepreneurs are contacting Patrick Payette today to ask to lend them his employees because their contracts with the regional government contain a local labor hiring clause. “We are already very busy with our own mandates and even if I wanted to, the Inuit do not go to these companies because they know how they will be treated. »

In the coming months, Patrick Payette wants to implement housing co-ops, a concept unknown in Nunavik, but which he believes would fit well with their culture. The Shawinigan resident wants to bring together experts in housing cooperatives, architects capable of thinking outside the box and specialists in Inuit culture to meet local populations.

“I want the Ikajurtigiit Solidarity Coop to be a complete business. That we get involved in the self-determination of the Inuit, mainly in housing and job creation in the field of construction. I just turned 50 and I’m at a stage in my life where my work needs to have meaning. It’s very important to me,” concludes Patrick Payette.

Located in northern Quebec, Nunavik has approximately 14,000 inhabitants in 14 communities, the main one being Kuujjuaq.