End of an era for Inuit Broadcasting Corp., as Debbie Brisebois retires after 37 years

After a nearly 40-year career with the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation, Debbie Brisebois has decided to take a step back and retire. 

Generations of Inuit children have tuned in for the IBC's Takuginai  on Saturday mornings. The show is Nunavut's version of Sesame Street, teaching children numbers, syllabics and important cultural values in Inuktitut.

Brisebois said producing that show is one of the things she's most proud of.

"The foundation of Takuginai — and basically all of the other television series that IBC produces — is language," she said. "Language is very important. I've always been interested in the realm of rights to language and the connection between language and culture."

The IBC produces TV programs in Inuktitut, specifically focusing on strengthening Inuit cultural identity. Brisebois, the corporation's executive director, is retiring in May, ending her career with the broadcaster that started in 1982.  

"I have very mixed feelings about [retirement]. I certainly feel ready to take a break and have a rest," she said. "I also feel very emotional about leaving IBC, and the work that it does, behind. I'll never stop thinking about it."  

Like many people who've moved North, Brisebois became interested in the Arctic and Inuit issues while in university. She started working on short-term contracts for the early Inukshuk Project, a federally-sponsored pilot program that pioneered Inuit broadcasting in Nunavut.

From there, she ended up staying with the broadcaster for 37 years.

She said she's often been asked how she stayed at the same job all those years. To which she answers, "It's never been the same job.

"From week-to-week, month-to-month and year-to-year, there's always been something new to do at IBC," said Brisebois. 

"I can honestly say that somehow, some way I would learn something. I love to learn," she said. "Thirty-seven years have really flown by very quickly."

Throughout her career, Brisebois kept a commitment to promoting Inuktitut as IBC created quality content, trained Inuit broadcasters and made television programming Inuit can call their own.

For example, Takuginai (which translates in English to Look Here!) is the only Inuit-language series produced in North America for Inuit children, according to the IBC's website.

Takuginai and other IBC content is produced with state-of-the-art equipment at the Nunavut Media Arts Centre in Iqaluit with Inuit staff working at every level of the production chain.

Though she feels she'll miss her friends and colleagues, Brisebois said the IBC is in a good position for the future.

"There's a very good foundation at IBC, there's a lot of amazing people working there who've been there a long time too," she said.

"I think the work will just continue to grow and expand."