• To provide a forum and vehicle by which Inuit can exercise
our rights of freedom of expression.
• To provide a cultural and communication link to and from Inuit.
• To interpret local, national and international issues and events
to and from Inuit from our own perspective.
• To document, strengthen and enrich the cultural and social fabric
of Inuit.
• To train and employ Inuit in all aspects of the media industry.
• To promote the learning, understanding and day-to-day use of
the Inuit language.
• To popularize and, thereby, strengthen the Inuit cultural identity,
language, mythology, social patterns and features which define being
Inuit.
• To promote the understanding of Inuit culture through the media
industry.
• To be a symbol that demonstrates Inuit participation in the
world.
• To be recognized as a vehicle to educate our children and youth
on our social and cultural history and contemporary life in the Inuit
language.
At IBC, we use the technology of television to make programming that
matters to Inuit -- programming in our own language of Inuktitut. In
so doing, we have achieved much more than producing television programming
every week.
We are educators. We may not have teachers’
certificates from a Southern University, but we educate our people about
our culture and tradition. IBC programming teaches young people our
ways; gives a voice for our elders; and it provides a link between our
leaders and all Inuit to discuss and reflect on our past and our future.
We are producers. We produce award-winning
programs that are entertaining, informative, and preserve and promote
our culture and development as a unique people.
IBC is a primary employer in the North.
We create jobs in communities where unemployment rates are four to six
times the national average. We currently employ 34 Inuit in 5 communities
in Nunavut. (IBC also employs 2 Inuit in Ottawa, and 3 non-Inuit.) IBC
also employs many Inuit on a contract basis to work on special projects
or for our subsidiary company Inuit Communications Systems Limited (ICSL).
The dedication of IBC’s staff is impressive – many people
have stayed with the organization for a long time.
IBC promotes career aspirations. IBC promotes
images of career Inuit, having done countless profiles on people who
succeed in both traditional employment activities, and modern employment.
IBC is a training institution. We have
provided training to Inuit for 25 years in broadcasting, giving transferable
communication skills to every Inuk, who works for IBC. We must train
all staff who work for us, as there are no college courses available
in media and communication in the North. We provide upgrading in basic
communication skills, management, television production skills, writing,
researching, journalism, interviewing, and public relations. All of
these skills are essential for television production, and transferable
to a myriad of jobs required in Nunavut. Graduates of IBC training maintain
their jobs in IBC, and are sought after by many other Northern organizations,
including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Inuit political
organizations. Recently, in partnership with National Film Board of
Canada, we have provided training in basic computer animation to 45
people. This and further extensive training for 4 people at the Banff
New Media Institute.
IBC is an active member of Ajjiit, Nunavut’s
New Media, Film and Television industry association. As an Ajjiit member,
IBC participates in international trade missions, is involved in the
provision of raining opportunities and advocates for policies and programs
to benefit the Nunavut industry as a whole.
IBC is a private sector developer. We
have a private sector company (Inuit Communications Systems Limited)
that employs full time Northerners in Iqaluit and hires approximately
20- Inuit in Iqaluit to work on productions for government and corporate
clients every year. Profits are turned back into IBC for continued development.
IBC promotes development of communication in
the North. IBC held the first ever electronic Symposium, Connecting
the North, November 23 - 25, 1994 linking people from every sector and
every region across the North to develop a strategy for communication
infrastructure development that will stimulate the economy, link Northern
products to Southern markets, increase the efficiency of social service
and health delivery, and education.
IBC is an Ambassador for Nunavut and Canada,
participating in several international co-productions and conferences.
IBC promotes youth. We produce award winning
children’s programming that instills a sense of identity in children
and youth in Nunavut, promotes and preserves Inuktitut language, assists
young people to maintain their pride in being Inuit, and connects Inuit
youth across Nunavut.
IBC is affordable. Our budget fluctuates
between $2.5 - $3.5 million per year. We are efficient in our staffing,
facilities, and program production, which allows us to produce programming
at rates that other producers cannot match.
