September 21, 2001

Beneficiaries to be insured

Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT — All Nunavut beneficiaries will soon have life insurance.

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. announced this week that it is setting up a life insurance plan for Nunavut Inuit. The insurance is for accidental death, dismemberment, and bereavement travel expenses.

“The insurance can cover things like funeral costs and airfares to attend funerals in other communities,” said NTI’s acting president, James Eetoolook, in a press release issued Monday.

Until now, the families of beneficiaries without life insurance often had to depend on the charity of airlines to fly bodies back from the South or travel to funerals outside their communities.

The cost of the new insurance plan is predicted to be about $943,000 per year. Its tentative start-date is April 1, 2002.