Disappointed with Nunavut government

Dear Paul Okalik:

I need to tell you, as a 15-year resident of Iqaluit, that I am disappointed at the way some of the decisions are being made.

I am not a financial expert. I don’t know much about budget allocations, the various monetary needs throughout the territory, and I don’t know much about the intricacies of policy, so I don’t feel qualified to criticize our government in those areas — for all I know, you are doing a terrific job.

However, I do know something about how daylight affects my day and I do know my sentiments on the creation of Nunavut.

First: Changing the time zone here has really upset people! In the winter, when we have hardly any light, we are forced to waste a precious amount of it while we are sleeping. That’s ridiculous. In order to maximize the sunlight we get in the winter, we would have to be up at five or six in the morning to be ready to go out when the light arrives.

I’m sure you can see that if you are working, you can’t do that. And on the weekends, when we get to sleep in a bit, the light is gone shortly after we get up. This is hard for us, Paul. And, seriously, what benefits has it incurred?

Second: You can’t just change the birthdate of the territorial separation! Nunavut Day is April 1, when Nunavut was born. It was not born in July when the agreement was signed. It was decided that it would happen at the date, but it actually happened on April 1.

We were all there, we were proud, that day is dear to our hearts. A good analogy as I see it is this: July 9 was when we found out we were “expecting” a new territory, the time between was the “gestational” period, and April 1 was the birthday.

Who cares if it is April Fool’s day? No one acknowledges that anyway, perhaps children, but adults don’t have the time. If it is changed to July, it is so close to Canada Day (another day that should be dear to Canadians’ hearts), and most of the people are either out on the land camping, or down south visiting family.

So, where is the rationale? Have you even considered if the people agree with it? As far as I can see, no, you haven’t.

The point is, I find this government very secretive. The first time I heard about the Nunavut Day change was two days before the big day. What a slap in the face to find out that no celebrations were planned by the very government that was created on that day!

The people were not informed, or asked for their viewpoint, just like the time zone change. We may not have expertise in all areas of government, but we certainly should have some say in things that affect us (either practically, or sentimentally) that we do know about.

I never thought I’d say this, but after having lived 25 years in the south before coming north, I can honestly say that the Ontario government never pulled stunts like this! Plenty of others, sure, about budgets, allocations, etc., but never something so close the peoples’ hearts.

I hope you hear me.

Donna Waters
Iqaluit