Ironically, this is something that the Town of Iqaluit had been threatening to do for more than 10 years. When Dennis Patterson, chair of the Baffin Regional Health and Social Services Board, appeared before Iqaluit Town Council last month, he supplied even more evidence. He told councillors that health board audits show that the Iqaluit department was not conducting mandatory inspections of foster homes, failing to maintain child welfare records, and failing to produce timely progress reports for aged and handicapped clients. Iqaluit's social services department had become little more than an expensive lawsuit waiting to happen. It's signficant that the Town's administration, nor any elected council member, has been able to offer any evidence that refutes these observations.
Facts are facts.
Councillors were surprised to hear that the health board had repeatedly notified Town staff about these problems. Yet it appears that Town staff failed to provide this information to councillors. The witholding of essential information from elected councillors is a dangerous habit. The last time that happened on a regular basis, the terrritorial government ended up removing Iqaluit's mayor and council and installing an appointed an administrator. This is not the time for the municipality of Iqlauit to begin another slow descent into dissolution.