Pat's story: CBC Nunavut station manager retires after 33 years

In Iqaluit, a blizzard is news. So in the '80s, when the roads were too snowy to drive, CBC Nunavut station manager Patrick Nagle would often pick up staff on his Yamaha Bravo snowmobile.

On one of those stormy trips, carrying former broadcaster Kootoo Onalik, Nagle recalls the Bravo's windshield breaking from the bumpy ride — but says they made it in time to run the morning show. The city's mayor was calling in to tell people about the roads, the plows and power. 

"How the hell did you guys get to work?" the mayor asked, live on air. 

Retelling the tale to staff during a goodbye lunch, Nagle remembers saying, "We take our job seriously here at the CBC." 

And in an interview with Igalaaq producer Pauline Pemik, Nagle said radio was the only way for people to get their information. 

In kitchens in Grise Fiord and living rooms in  Cambridge Bay ... people are listening and watching and they're relying on us to help them know the things they need to know to make good decisions as citizens in Nunavut.- Patrick Nagle, CBC Nunavut station manager of 33 years

"It was really important that the radio be there whenever something was going on," he said. "People are expecting us to be there, expecting us to have answers to 'When's the power going to come back on?' or 'When is school going to open again?'"

Nagle says when things get tough Nunavut's front-line workers show up, and the CBC should be no exception. That's the legacy the station manager of 33 years is leaving behind as he retires on Thursday.

Building news in Nunavut 

While he grew up in Winnipeg, Nagle came to the Eastern Arctic from Labrador where he was working for an Inuit communications society. When he got a call to come work in Iqaluit, he said no at first, but after a trip up changed his mind. 

"It was and is a dynamic place and a dynamic time," he told Pemik. "The first boundary plebiscite had happened, the land claims agreement was nearing completion."

Then would come the creation of the territory.

But, like the many young reporters he would go on to mentor, Nagle said he had a lot to learn.

Early into the job he remembers being pulled into a Christmas show by then staffer Simon Awa. It wasn't until the live phone greetings were about to start that Awa told him, the show was all in Inuktitut. Nagle knew a little from living in Labrador.

"I got through it and one of the people who lived here in town for a long time called up and said 'You did OK' and I thought, 'All right, this is a good place,'" Nagle said. 

Three decades later he says he's honoured to have played a role in building Nunavut radio. 

"In kitchens in Grise Fiord and living rooms in Cambridge Bay, Rankin Inlet, Sanikiluaq and Arviat and all the communities, people are listening and watching and they're relying on us to help them know the things they need to know to make good decisions as citizens in Nunavut," he said. "It's a huge responsibility but it's also a real privilege."  

Nagle says the hardest times were when budget cuts came and he couldn't prioritize the Inuit language the way listeners wanted. 

CBC North managing editor Mervin Brass acknowledged Nagle with a service award and said the broadcaster owes Nagle for making Inuktut a priority. 

"In my culture we have elders and I consider you an elder with all the knowledge you have and the way you conduct yourself and the way you carry yourself. You have so much dignity and integrity Pat," said Brass, who is Anishinaabe and Cree.

To the staff he said, "To replace Patrick it's going to take more than one person, it's going to take the entire North. This man is leaving a big void."  

A mentor to many

When CBC North celebrated its 50th anniversary, Nagle began compiling a list of CBC Nunavut alumni and said he is now past 400 names. Many of those staff have gone on to become premiers and cabinet ministers, language teachers or national reporters. 

Former reporter, producer and Igalaaq host Joanna Awa says those reporters were "green as the leprechauns" when they started working with Nagle. 

"CBC Iqaluit was for beginners. We rarely got seasoned reporters coming up to work at our station. Pat has probably mentored more staff than any other manager across the country," she said.  

Iqaluit staff gifted Nagle with a soapstone carving of a large bear with a smaller bear on its shoulders, to symbolize all the journalists Nagle has used his own career to lift up.  

On Tuesday Iqaluit city council recognized Nagle with a local hero award from Mayor Kenny Bell. Councillor and former premier Paul Quassa also worked at the CBC in his earlier career. Quassa said Nagle earned the respect of his community. 

"He believes in Inuit. We are proud of him. He's lived here for many years. He was not only a manager, he was a great leader in our radio as we listened everyday," Quassa said in Inuktitut. 

Musician and former CBC Kuujjuaq broadcaster William Tagoona knew Nagle when he moved to the North. 

"When you first showed up in the 1980s we thought you'd last maybe a year or two, but we were wrong, you lasted many decades and you've done tremendously for Inuit and broadcasting and I wish you a very good retirement and a good rest," Tagoona said in a video to the CBC. 

Nagle and his partner in life Suzanne Evaloardjuk are moving to the Ottawa area. CBC North is still hiring to fill Nagle's position. He says the role should be used to bolster Inuit leadership in the station.  

"I see for the CBC in Nunavut and Nunavik a bright future, a changing future," he said.

"It's not the same place as it was when I came here in the late 1980s, but it is a place where there are fresh new opportunities.

"We've got a fresh bunch of people taking on new jobs and learning and picking up that enthusiasm for providing a good solid journalistic and programming and cultural service to people."