Laura Tassiuk wears two different hats in her employment with the Hamlet of Arviat and one of those hats makes the hamlet quite special indeed.
Tassiuk, 52, oversees the municipality's water operations and she's also a driver examiner, making Arviat the only hamlet in Nunavut to have an examiner of its own.
She began her employment with the hamlet as a water clerk in October 2004 and became a driver examiner in 2018.
She said she's always been encouraging of others and always likes to help people out, so when the driver examiner's position came up seven years ago, she jumped at the chance.
"I've had to fail some people, of course, over the years who didn't meet the requirements, but most people who take the test are reasonable," said Tassiuk. "I've never bumped into anyone who got angry or upset with me for having to fail them. I've honestly had no problem like that, so far."
Tassiuk said she takes the duties of the driver examiner's role very seriously.
She said people have to realize if she passes someone who doesn't deserve it, she's putting a dangerous driver on the road and that's something she would never do, and that includes family members as well as everyone else.
"I always tell people who I test to keep their licence clean from anything because my name is on there too. If something bad happens, I'm attached to it and I don't want anything like that to happen.
"I'm pretty straightforward with everyone about that."
Looking back over the seven years she's been testing drivers, Tassiuk said most of them were a trying task that kept her very, very busy.
"There were two of us when we first started off, but the other examiner decided to take a job outside of the hamlet so I was left alone. I give tests twice a month and the spring, summer and fall months are pretty busy.
"Today's young drivers are actually pretty good, but they need some practice on the written parts of the exam. I'd encourage the parents to read more.
"The tests are in English, but I tell the people who take the test that they're able to ask me any question and I'll translate it into Inuktitut. I also inform them that taking the exam verbally is also available, but it takes more time. I'm hoping to eventually raise my examiner's duties to include Class 3 and air brakes... it takes so long for people waiting to take their written and road tests for Class 3.
"Right now, I only do Class 5 and it's restricted to Nunavut-only in each community. There's people who would love to take their unrestricted, but I'm not able to perform that because I'm not appointed. One day, hopefully, I'll get there."
