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JIM BELL
Nunatsiaq News
IQALUIT Dope dealers beware.
RCMP members have gone back to using a police service dog to screen people and cargo at the Iqaluit airport for illegal drugs.
Last week, after a four and a half month investigation that culminated in the use of a large German Shepherd named Bud for two weeks, police seized about $96,000 worth of drugs and laid narcotics charges against seven people from Iqaluit and Kimmirut.
Cpl. Glen Siegersma, the head of the Iqaluit-based Nunavut Drug Enforcement Unit, says that for a short time at least, the seizures may make a small dent in drug consumption in Iqaluit.
"I think you'll see less marijuana use over the next few weeks," Siegersma said.
Pot and cocaine seized
In late October and early November, Iqaluit RCMP seized three kilograms of marijuana and 54 grams of cocaine. Two and a half kilograms of marijuana with a street resale value of about $85,000 were grabbed in one seizure.
Two Iqaluit residents Marc Belanger, 39, and Lena Atagooyuk, 32 will appear in court to face three counts each of possessing a narcotic for the purpose of trafficking.
A Lake Harbour resident, Paul Lawlor, 36, also faces a charge of possessing a narcotic for the purpose of trafficking.
Four other people face charges of simple possession of a narcotic: Keith Thibodeau, 46, of Iqaluit; Jonathan Sparks, 20, of Iqaluit; Dianne Lalonde, 44, of Iqaluit; and Cliff Sauve, 43, of Kimmirut.
Siegersma says the RCMP's investigation is continuing, and that more charges may be laid.
Obtained special warrant from YK judge
This isn't the first time that Iqaluit RCMP have used a trained sniffer dog to help interdict drugs flowing into Iqaluit.
In April of 1990, after years of requests from regional and local leaders, RCMP used a sniffer dog to screen airline passengers at cargo during Toonik Tyme that year.
Among those arrested for drug possession as a result of that investigation were two members of the pop band Blue Rodeo, who had come here to play at a Toonik Tyme concert.
Search ruled illegal
But in 1991, territorial court Judge Beverley Browne dismissed the charges after a Toronto lawyer acting on behalf of the two men argued that the RCMP's use of the dog was an illegal search under the Charter of Rights.
This time around, the RCMP say they're doing it differently.
"It's a legal search that we've been conducting," Siegersma said.
He explained that before using the dog at the Iqaluit airport, he sought a "general warrant" from a judge in Yellowknife.
Before he did that, he said he spent four and half months gathering intelligence on the distribution and flow of drugs into Iqaluit and throughout the Baffin region.
"I presented the judge with 46 pages of information," Siegersma said.
Airlines told to cooperate
In the warrant, the judge also ordered all airlines in Iqaluit to cooperate with police which included allowing them access to their cargo warehouses.
Staff-Sergeant Dan Fudge says the RCMP set up the recently-named Nunavut drug unit earlier this year after hearing the concerns of many Iqaluit and Baffin region residents.
But he said the key to stopping dope dealers and bootleggers is for people in the community to cooperate with police.
"The RCMP dog can't do it all," Fudge said. "It's a community problem that has to be dealt with."
He said Iqaluit's social problems aren't all that different from communities elsewhere in Canada, but there's a minority of people in Iqaluit who believe "that the laws that apply to people elsewhere don't apply to them."
As for some recent seizures of illegal liquor made by the RCMP, including a 1,300-case beer order found on a recent sealift, Fudge said charges will be laid "soon."
Call Crimestoppers anonymously
Fudge also said Iqaluit residents can give information to the police anonymously by calling Crimestoppers at 1-800-661-0899.
And will the RCMP use a sniffer dog again?
Siegersma says yes but he won't say exactly when.
Back to Nunatsiaq NewsJASON van RASSEL
Nunatsiaq News
IQALUIT Rankin Inlet residents have a new window on the world, thanks to a project that gives them free access to the Internet.
More than 200 people were at Leo Ussak elementary school last Saturday for the opening of theIgalaaq Community Access Centre.
Named "Igalaaq," after the Inuktitut word for "window," the centre will be open three days a week for local residents who want to use a computer to send electronic mail messages, use CD-ROM software or roam the World Wide Web.
The first of its kind in the Northwest Territories, the centre is the product of the hard work of more than 30 volunteers, $70,000 in donations from local businesses and a $15,000 grant from the federal government.
Busy opening day
If opening day was any indication, the centre is going to be a popular attraction with Rankin cybernauts.
"The room was totally packed all afternoon," said Bill Belsey, a computer teacher at Leo Ussak school and one of the access centre's organizers.
One of the more popular aspects of the centre is electronic mail. For free, people can get an e-mail account on the GNWT's "North of 60" electronic bulletin board service.
On Saturday, more than 100 people applied for e-mail accounts. Add that to the number of staff and students at Leo Ussak who already have e-mail accounts, and almost 20 per cent of Rankin Inlet's entire population can be reached by sending them an e-mail message, Belsey said.
"You're looking at approximately 400 out of 2,000 people with e-mail addresses," he said. "It's pretty great."
The Igalaaq centre will be open on Tuesday and Thursday nights between 7 and 9 p.m., and on Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. and will be staffed by students from Maani Ulujuk High School.
Young users
Saturday afternoons are reserved for a pre-school computer club for three- and four-year-olds a program Belsey started last year. Thanks to that program, some students are entering school already equipped with some computer skills, he said.
"I've noticed a difference already. Even the kindergarten kids this year are so adept at handling the CDs or quitting programs," Belsey said. "They're very confident."
During weekdays, the centre and its 17 Macintosh computers make up Leo Ussak's computer classroom. Belsey started in September, 1995 with two color computers and a $2,000 budget to buy equipment.
With school boards in the NWT facing cutbacks, Belsey had to look elsewhere to fund the school's computer program. He turned to the local business community and it to date, merchants have responded with more than $70,000 in cash, donated equipment and services.
Belsey then got a one-time grant of about $15,000 from the federally funded Community Access Program, which has helped establish more than 250 community access centres like Igalaaq across Canada.
Groups in Arviat and Baker Lake are looking into the possibility of opening community access centres in those communities, Belsey said.
You may visit Rankin's community access centre at:http://www.arctic.ca/LUS/CAC.html
Back to Nunatsiaq NewsTODD PHILLIPS
Nunatsiaq News
IQALUIT Nunavut Arctic College students went to John Todd with a housing problem and expected a solution.
But the students say they aren't happy with what the GNWT's finance minister says he's going to do for them.
As many as 18 students and their families may have to leave their housing units in Iqaluit's White Row at the end of December because they won't be able to afford to pay market rents. They now pay about $300 a month.
Todd sent the students a letter this week saying that he, along with Education Minister Charles Dent, will try to find a short and long-term solution to their housing problem.
But students say Todd's proposed solution falls short of what he agreed to during a meeting with the eight members of the student housing committee at Iqaluit's Nunatta Campus last Friday.
Promises delivered?
They say Todd promised them he'd find a two-year solution, and that he'd contact them before he left town on Friday. Students say they didn't hear from him until late Monday afternoon, and that his offer of help fell short.
"In our meeting John Todd told us [our rents] will stay the same for two years," said Seemee Uniushagak, adding that the students had a tape recording of their meeting.
But in his letter, Todd says he will help them "until the end of the school year."
Considering dropping out
Some students say they are so frustrated with the uncertainty over their housing, that they are considering dropping out of college.
"It's affecting our studies because we are working on this housing problem," says student Mary Akpalialuk-Alainga.
"I've got three kids to look after. I can't live like this and wait days for their settlement. I've got to look for a job. I've got to feed my kids."
Can't work alone
A spokesman for the finance minister says Todd promised students he'll bring a proposal forward to the Financial Management Board Secretariat (FMBS) by Nov. 30 to see if they'll authorize the money to subsidize student housing.
"He has every intention of living up to his commitment," Todd's executive assistant, Richard Bargery, said this week from Yellowknife.
But Bargery cautioned that Todd can't single-handedly authorize the estimated $100,000 the government will have to pay this year to subsidize the students' rents.
"It is a money issue, he can't decide by himself it has to go to FMBS," Bargery said. "They want a solution to that in 24 hours. I'm afraid we can't give them that."
Bargery said he's confident students will be able to stay in their current units, and pay the same level of rent, until the end of this school year.
Bargery added that student housing isn't really Todd's responsibility, and that other ministers would have to get involved in any long-term solution.
What happened?
The sudden housing crunch for students resulted from the territorial government's decision not to renew its leases in the eight storey high rise and the white row Housing in Iqaluit.
When the leases with Frobisher Developments Ltd. (FDL) expire Dec. 31, about 18 Nunavut Arctic College students and their families face a tough choice. They can stay and see their $300 a month rent jump to more than $1,400 a month, or they can find other housing.
Barry Cornthwaite, regional property manager for FDL, says he was verbally advised by an official with the Financial Management Board Secretariat that the government plans to "do something" in the next couple of weeks.
Although he says he doesn't have anything in writing yet, and can't promise students their rents won't be going up, he's confident the problem will be solved.
"I don't feel the Arctic College students have anything to worry about," Cornthwaite said, adding that he met with students and Iqaluit MLA Ed Picco on Wednesday to talk about housing.
Cornthwaite says FDL is trying to cooperate with the government, but wonders why officials have left it so long to deal with the problem of what will happen when their leases expire.
Back to Nunatsiaq NewsJASON van RASSEL
Nunatsiaq News
BAKER LAKE Nunavut Tunngavik and its president are moving to Rankin Inlet, but it may not be anytime soon.
After a lengthy debate last Friday, delegates at NTI's annual meeting in Baker Lake voted to move NTI's head office from Ottawa to Rankin Inlet and to move the president's office from Iqaluit to Rankin Inlet.
However, opposition from some Baffin delegates made the move to Rankin Inlet a bumpy trip. They argued that the president's office should remain in Iqaluit because it will soon become the capital of Nunavut.
Stay where the action is
This week, NTI president Jose Kusugak says there are some compelling reasons to leave the president's office in Iqaluit if only until 1999.
Although NTI wants to have its head office and its president's office in a community other than the capital, keeping the president in Iqaluit during the crucial period before the Nunavut government is up and running in 1999 is also important, Kusugak said.
"The issue of the president being where the action is, is a valid one," he said from Ottawa Wednesday.
The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development recently moved the office of its Nunavut Secretariat to Iqaluit and the office of Nunavut's interim commissioner, once it's established sometime in 1997, will also be in Iqaluit.
Kusugak said he'll sit down with members of NTI's executive committee this week to discuss when the moves will take place.
Not enough space?
Whatever they decide, they won't be overruling the decision made by delegates at NTI's general assembly but merely delaying it, Kusugak said.
"It's up to the executive to decide when," he said, adding that the president's office resolution doesn't specify when the move will take place.
Other than politics, there are also some practical reasons for delaying both the president's move and the head office move, Kusugak said: NTI doesn't have enough space at its current office in Rankin, located in the Sakku building.
On a more personal level, Kusugak said he and his family should be given enough time to prepare for the move.
"My kids are in school and my wife is working in Iqaluit," he said. "After all we are human beings and we do have some commitments to the community where we live."
Kusugak said he's willing to leave Iqaluit when the time comes.
"I'd be happy in Cambridge Bay as long as my family was and they would be."
Ongoing debate
NTI has been grappling over the question of where to put its head office and executive offices since its last annual meeting in Taloyoak in December, 1995.
At the time, delegates voted to decide once the location of Nunavut's capital was decided upon. In the months leading up to last week's meeting in Baker Lake, NTI's board decided that with Iqaluit as the capital, the head office and president's office should go to Rankin Inlet.
But at last week's annual meeting, delegates from the Baffin played a key role in voting down bylaw amendments that would have cleared the way for moving the head office from Ottawa to Rankin and the president's office from Iqaluit to Rankin.
Unlike resolutions, which need a simple majority of delegates around the table to approve them, amendments to NTI's bylaws require approval from three-quarters of delegates from each region Baffin, Keewatin and Kitikmeot.
After a lengthy and at times heated debate, both moves were approved, but not before some Kivalliq and Kitikmeot delegates criticized their Baffin counterparts for putting their own region's interests ahead of Nunavut's as a whole.
But all the acrimony seemed forgotten when it was over, and Kusugak thanked the delegates for a vigorous, healthy debate.
QIA secretary-treasurer John Illupalik, one of the most vocal spokesmen for keeping the president's office in Iqaluit, responded in kind: "No hard feelings whatsoever," he said.
Indeed, the meeting ended shortly after with a show of unity, as delegates joined hands for the closing prayer.
Region vs. region
Despite the upbeat ending, however, some delegates said they were worried about the role regional rivalries played at the meeting.
"We're working against each other, and that's not what Nunavut's about," Kono Tattuinee of Arviat said in an interview Friday afternoon.
Tattuinee said part of the problem is the bylaw amendment formula, which pits regions against each other.
"It's going to keep going unless we do a majority system instead of [voting] by region," he said.
"We are here for the people of Nunavut and that's who we represent not the regions. The regions should be secondary."
An eye-opener for new QIA boss
Recently-elected QIA president Lazarus Arreak, said the meeting was an eye-opener for him and the other newly-elected QIA executives.
"I hadn't realized that there was so much of an anti-Baffin mentality out there," he said Wednesday.
However, Arreak says there's no reason NTI board members can't overcome regional rivalries and learn to work together.
In his opening address to delegates in Baker Lake, Arreak told them not to take things that went on at the meeting personally.
As long as people don't hold grudges, debates like the one in Baker Lake are healthy, he said.
"We can agree to disagree.... As long as it doesn't get personal and people don't start holding grudges."
Back to Nunatsiaq NewsJANE GEORGE
Nunatsiaq News correspondent
PANGNIRTUNG Pangnirtung residents hope that today's arrival of a trawler teeming with fish will breathe some life into their expensive new processing plant.
The red and white M.V. Fame trawler was expected to land here today to help start a new, expanded role for the community's processing plant.
"It's like dropping a bomb," jokes Peter Kilabuk, the president of Cumberland Sound Fisheries.
This year also marks the first time that this year's turbot quota will be caught by a Canadian crew sailing a vessel that flies the Canadian flag.
And this is the first time that "frozen-at-sea" turbot has been landed in Nunavut.
In previous years, foreign freezer trawlers were used.
More work expected
The landing and handling of 600 metric tonnes of frozen turbot is a huge job so much so that six extra freezer units were sealifted into Pangnirtung this year to hold the catch.
This massive amount of fish also means more work for the company's employees.
The forty trained workers at the plant will work sixteen extra weeks. The plant usually operates for a period of only 20 weeks, processing summer Arctic char catches and winter turbot.
But the arrival of the M.V. Fame will prolong the plant workers' activity.
"If the ice cooperates, by the time they're finished, we'll begin the winter fishery. That will mean they'll be working for six to seven months this year," says Kilabuk.
$1.2 million from turbot
Overall, Kilabuk sees around $1.2 million in jobs and revenues for the company coming in from the extra turbot.
This turbot catch is part of the Davis Strait quota administered by the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board.
Cumberland Sound Fisheries got involved in a joint venture with M.V. Fame on their own. So, 100 per cent of the profit from the quota will stay in the North and be used to support hunter and trappers organizations throughout Nunavut.
Kilabuk says the $2.8 million fish plant has been completely brought up to standards and its employees are ready for the challenge of processing thousands of tonnes of fish every day.
"This is a small plant that's taking a big jump," he says.
At a ceremony in honour of the trawler's arrival, the top winter turbot fisherman in Pangnirtung will also receive awards first place winner Livee Kulluarlik, a Yamaha 250LT Bravo, second place winner Davidee Evic, a new longline hauler, and third place winner Lazarusie Ishulutaq, a new double-wall tent.
Back to Nunatsiaq NewsTODD PHILLIPS
Nunatsiaq News
IQALUIT A rescue plan to transport 25 Peary caribou to a conservation centre near the Calgary Zoo has been put on hold.
Bad weather and fading daylight in the High Arctic forced biologists and wildlife officers to call off their rescue effort earlier this week.
"The wildlife capture crew was not actually able to get over to Bathurst Island to capture any of the Peary caribou," said Dr. Anne Gunn, a GNWT caribou biologist in a news release this week.
The GNWT's department of resources, wildlife and economic development led the rescue effort with the help of the Calgary Zoo, the department of national defence, and the Resolute Bay hunters and trappers organization.
There are only about 2,000 of the small white caribou left in the world, and experts are worried that another tough winter might further endanger the species.
Breed them and bring them back
The plan was to bring 20 female caribou and five males to a conservation centre near the Calgary Zoo, where they could breed. They would then be released back to their Bathurst Island home.
Members of the Resolute Bay hunters and trappers organization and the GNWT's wildlife officers will monitor the herd over the winter.
The rescue team will consider what to do next spring, and could try another rescue once the caribou are fattened up again.
"If you can take an endangered species, breed them in a captive situation and reintroduce them, it's a very happy story," says Trish Exton-Parder, a spokeswoman for the Calgary Zoo.
The zoo sent a veterinarian to the High Arctic to help check out the animals once they were captured.
Exton-Parder says biologists and zoo keepers in Calgary were eager to help out with the caribou rescue plan.
"It's very exciting for us. It gets our blood pumped," she said. "That's what we are here for, to ultimately save endangered species."
Helped raise awareness
Exton-Parder says the general public won't be able to visit the caribou once they are transported to their breeding grounds, but media might be invited to shoot pictures of them.
Already, the failed rescue effort has helped raise awareness about the Peary caribou.
"Now there is this awareness on an international level about this beautiful animal and the need to save it, you can't ask for that kind of exposure and support. It's been terrific."
The Peary caribou was nationally classified as endangered in 1990. Experts believe that severe winters with high levels of snowfall and ice-covered vegetation has led to about a 90 per cent decline in the herd's numbers since 1961.
In a news release last week, Stephen Kakfwi, Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, expressed his concerns over the future of the Peary caribou.
"Although it's not certain the Peary caribou face extinction this winter, severe weather may reduce their numbers to the point where long-term extinction is inevitable," Kakfwi cautioned.
Back to TopJIM BELL
Nunatsiaq News
IQALUIT The Qikiqtani Inuit Association may soon bid farewell to its three-year-old igloo-shaped office building in downtown Iqaluit.
That means Baffin Inuit land claim beneficiaries will also bid farewell to the $1.4 million they spent to build it.
But QIA's staff won't be stuck without a roof over their heads. They'll soon be moving into the new, "Phase Two" wing of the Parnaivik building that's now under construction.
Tear it down, start again
Because QIA's current building contains serious structural flaws and isn't much good for leasing out to another tenant, the Qikiqtaaluk Corporation is now offering to take it over, tear it down, and use the lot for something that will create revenue for Baffin Inuit.
"We looked at it, and we figured that it would take approximately $200,000 to fix it up and make it more usable and make it more presentable," said Jerry Ell, the chair of Qikiqtaaluk's board.
Constructed by Baffin Building Systems using an experimental design purchased from a Florida company, QIA's blue dome building has caused numerous headaches.
Ever since it opened the building has cracked, leaked, sagged and reacted badly to extreme changes in temperature.
"What we're saying is that instead of spending $200,000 to fix it up because of its design it'll be an ongoing maintenance nightmare what we proposed to BRIA was to give consideration to QC to remove the building and use that lot for different purposes." Ell said.
(Ell refers to BRIA, because at their board meeting earlier this month, the Baffin Region Inuit Association changed its name to the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.)
In his report to BRIA's board of directors at their meeting in Iqaluit last month, Ell said Qikiqtaaluk "would like the opportunity to develop this property with Inuit joint venture partners and construct a building with both retail and office space."
QIA to decide igloo's fate
QIA's board has not yet made a final decision on the status of its building.
Know to local wags as "The Ugloo," the blue, dome-shaped structure opened in 1993 amidst much fanfare and controversy.
That summer, a group of angry Inuit beneficiaries from around the Baffin region circulated a petition demanding a complete review of the Qikiqtaaluk's operations for the past five years.
They complained that Qikiqtaaluk and BRIA had each ignored beneficiaries' interests, were acting secretively, and weren't providing enough information about their economic development activities.
When the building first opened, Dean Hay, QC's general manager, was living in an apartment created out of the second and third floors of the building. BRIA staff said at the time that Hay was paying "commercial" rates in rent.
Paul Quassa, who was then the president of Nunavut Tunngavik, said at the time that NTI might withhold land claim money from BRIA if the organization didn't deal with the concerns of Baffin beneficiaries. Quassa is now BRIA's executive director.
Hay left QC's employment in 1994. Marty Kuluguqtuq, who was then QC's chairman and chief executive officer, resigned from both jobs in March of this year.
Jerry Ell is now chair of QC's board, and Vincent Buron is now the interim chief executive officer.
Back to Topby John Amagoalik
Welland Wilford Phipps left his mark in the High Arctic.
Arriving in the days of DC-4s, DC-3s, Beavers, and Otters, Weldy Phipps came in his Super Cub and began a legendary career of Arctic flying.
Using oversized balloon tires, his own invention, on his Super Cub, Weldy began opening up the High Arctic to air transportation. He later used a larger version of his balloon tires on Twin Otters and began flying where no other Arctic pilot had ever gone before.
A veteran of the air force in the Second World War, he made a daring escape from a prisoner-of-war camp after having been shot down over Germany. After the war, Weldy found himself in the Arctic.
The communities of Resolute Bay, Grise Fiord, Arctic Bay and Pond Inlet have special memories of Weldy Phipps. It was he who introduced the first scheduled airline service into those communities. Inuit named him Angayuroluk, an affectionate nickname roughly translated as "poor older brother".
Weldy was a daring pilot who challenged raging Arctic blizzards and 24 hour darkness in the winter with his small planes. To the communities, mineral exploration parties, and Arctic adventurers, he was the vital link to the outside world.
Markoosie Patsauq, the first Inuk pilot in Canada (and this little corner's older brother), worked for Weldy. He remembers him as a quiet man who rarely revealed his private thoughts. Although having taken more risks over many years of Arctic flying than most other pilots, Weldy never had a serious accident.
Weldy was smart enough to establish his own fleet of Twin Otters during the oil exploration boom of the 1960's. His first Twin Otter bore his initials CF-WWP.
Whiskey Whiskey Papa had a long proud service. It is probably the one plane most remembered by the people of the High Arctic. It was the golden age for Twin Otters in the Arctic.
In the 1950s and 60s, when Weldy was most active, there were few navigational aids, small or nonexistent airstrips, no satellite communications, no jet planes. He had to navigate by the stars and fly by the seat of his pants. Many times he flew on a wing and a prayer.
He made his money during the High Arctic boom and retired in the south. He bought a boat and sailed around the world. He died in Ottawa recently at the age of 75.
Weldy was not a bush pilot. He was an Arctic pilot. There's a difference.
"Imperceptibly, over the years, Montreal has slipped from being a business centre in North America to becoming a big city in Quebec. The transfer of financial and commercial activities to Toronto and the west has been massive. The overall effect has been catastrophic."
A business group appointed by the Government of Quebec to report on the province's economy.Back to Top
This week, the Arctic Society of Canada held an Inuit Art Auction and Dinner for Youth at the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Headquarters.
For those who have never heard of Arctic Society of Canada, a short, literal description taken from their latest pamphlet:
"The Arctic Society of Canada (ACC) was created in 1983 by the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, to foster understanding of the current concerns of Inuit of Canada, and to promote and fund projects that strengthen the living Inuit culture.
"The ASC has as its major focus enterprises initiated by Inuit youth, for the benefit of Inuit, within Inuit communities. 'Seed' money is offered to those projects that most strongly promote Inuit culture and values, provide practical economic opportunities and encourage education and self-reliance."
I would not be writing about this if it weren't for the fact that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was asked by the organizers of the auction, in a friendly manner, whether or not Monsieur Jean Chretien would consider kindly donating something that could be included on the auction block for a very worthy cause.
In particular, organizers thought he might donate that now famous Inuit carving of a loon he had grabbed from the top of his and wife Aline's night table for their mutual defense on the now-equally famous night of the Prime Minister's Official Residence break-in at 24 Sussex Drive by a slightly deranged Quebecois nationalist.
The PMO's official response: "Non!" (By a very slim margin, 51 per cent -to 49 per cent, of course.)
And so the folklore carries on about the infamous Inuit loon carving. I am not the least surprised the good PM would still want to hold on to the carving since he was given this great nation of ours every indication that he and Aline intend to stay at 24 Sussex for another term after winning the next federal election.
What better defensive arsenal do they have except for the Inuit loon carving? (Hello?! RCMP! Asleep at the wheel, again?!)
This is not to make light of the seriousness of our internationally-famous national police force which hired Disney Corporation, Mickey Mouse, et al, not so long ago, to make over their (polished) image.
Dear readers, if you are at all inclined to help a worthy cause promoted by Arctic Society of Canada, you can ask for their promotional pamphlet which shows unusual and distinctive items for sale by writing, phoning or faxing their office at: 170 Laurier Avenue W., Suite 510, Ottawa, ON. K1P 5V5. Phone: (613) 238-8181 Fax: (613) 234-1991.
And as last note, the pamphlet concludes:
"Support the work of Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (ITC) by learning more about the issues currently facing Inuit. You can make a financial contribution to the Arctic Society of Canada. As a member or contributor, you will receive up-to-date information about Arctic Society/ITC activities. All donations are acknowledged with receipts for Income Tax Purposes."
Yes, reality check, PMO. Here's to our Inuit youth and their hopes and aspirations for better opportunities and a better future.
Back to TopHaving been born, raised and having spent most of my adult life in the Baffin, the Baffin has special meaning for me, as I still call it home.
I scour through the Nunatsiaq News every Friday on the Internet to see what's happening in the Baffin. This week's paper caught my eye and this prompted me to make my comments. Perhaps my comments would be different if I had been there and listened to what was said.
Lazarus Arreak's inquiries into BRIA's financial mess shows me that he cares what happens. As the new boss of the organization, it is his right that he knows what kind of situation BRIA's finances are in.
The BRIA board of directors, the very people who should be blamed for the mess, (not Paul Quassa), publicly carved him up. Even the past president threatened him for making those inquiries, while another board member reminded Mr. Arreak on the length of his presidency.
There was no need for Mr. Arreak to apologize for making "rookie mistakes." Even seasoned politicians make mistakes and some will make mistakes that would make Mr. Arreak's so called "rookie mistakes" look very minor.
Who is to blame for BRIA's financial woes? Normally. in every organization it is the board who authorizes spending. The president, the executive director, and the finance controller will only spend what has been authorized by the board.
BRIA is accountable to Nunavut beneficiaries in the Baffin and it is the president's job to keep the public informed, so it is the president's right that he be kept up to date on every activity of the organization.
David Mablick
Nunavut beneficiary
Cambridge Bay
A generation is killing itself, right before our eyes.
Over the past few days, young people from three communities in Nunavut decided that whatever life had to offer them couldn't compete with the allure of death.
Rankin Inlet, Arctic Bay, Iqaluit three suicides.
These deaths will once again help ensure that young Inuit males remain the world's leaders in committing suicide. It's a statistic that no one is proud of and everyone wants to change.
But the statistics don't tell the story. The story is about real people who spill real blood. They leave real pain in their wake.
Like a mother's unimaginable pain. How will she understand that the innocent face that once gazed up at her with trust and hope is now gone?
The real victims of suicide are the elder at the Baffin Regional Hospital this week who wept like a baby as she hugged a sobbing mother whose teenage son had just decided that darkness is better than light.
It's about a grandmother trying to resurrect the limp body of the boy who was just becoming a man, and had a real chance to make it.
It's about a hospital room filled with strong people, broken at the seams, trying to understand why he did it.
It's about a father wanting to be strong to support his family, but wanting also to be allowed to be weak.
It's about a young man who just lost a friend, his head clouded with rage, wanting to cry, but feeling too angry to surrender to pity.
It's about biting your lip so hard it bleeds just to keep the sadness at bay.
It's about necks so tired and weak they can no longer support their heads with pride.
It's about despair, so dark, so overwhelming, that it crowds out life.
It's about crushing feelings of failure, and missed opportunities to reach into that young life and inspire hope.
It's the guilt that whatever you did wasn't enough, whatever you said didn't make the difference, and whatever hurt you may have inflicted may be partly to blame.
For those left behind, it's about being denied the chance to say "I'm sorry. I care. I loved you."
Politicians talk about it. Big-hearted social service workers develop manuals, have them translated into Inuktitut and hold workshops. Academics write papers about it. Newspapers report on it. Crisis line workers try desperately to talk people out of it.
Meanwhile, young lives are being snuffed out one by one by one by one.
Why are young men in the eastern Arctic killing themselves faster than any other group of people on earth?
No one knows for sure. There are no simple answers.
Talk to your sons, friends, brothers and grandsons about suicide. Tell them about a young man named Willie Qammaniq who is clinging desperately to life in a Montreal hospital. Tell them about the tubes in his mouth to help him breathe, and the bedsores he has from being stuck in bed for months.
For young people thinking of taking their own lives, just think of that young man hooked up to a life support machine in a Montreal hospital, and ask yourself what he would think of someone willing to throw away the most important gift left to look forward to another day of life.
And for all of us, don't wait until it's too late to let someone know that you care. Don't wait until all there is left for you to do is mutter your kind words to a white cross in a frozen graveyard. TP
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These materials are Copyright (C) 1996 Nortext Publishing Corporation (Iqaluit), and may be freely distributed throughout the Internet, or other electronic computer networks or bulletin boards, as long as this notice remains intact and the articles are reproduced in their entirety. These materials may not be reprinted for commercial publication in print or other media without the permission of the publisher.
Last updated November 1, 1996
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