Baffin mayors forum set for Iqaluit in March
First gathering of all 13 Baffin mayors in more than 14 years; housing, employment and Arctic sovereignty to be discussed
The Baffin Mayors’ Forum will be held March 10 to 12, convened by the Hamlet of Arctic Bay. The gathering in Iqaluit will bring together the mayors of all 13 Baffin communities for the first time in more than 14 years to discuss shared priorities including housing, economic development and regional infrastructure, the hamlet said in a media advisory. (File photo)
All 13 Baffin mayors will come together for the first time in more than 14 years when they meet from March 10 to 12 in Iqaluit.
The Baffin Mayors’ Forum is being convened by the Hamlet of Arctic Bay, the hamlet announced in an advisory Thursday.
“This forum is about creating space for Baffin communities to speak openly, learn from each other, and move forward together,” Roberto Moretti, Arctic Bay’s chief administrative officer, said in the advisory.
The gathering is being framed as a working session rather than a conference.
It will bring together Baffin mayors, chief administrative officers, Inuit organizations, and representatives from territorial and federal departments.
Mayor-to-mayor discussion, practical collaboration, and shared problem-solving grounded in local realities will be prioritized, the advisory said.
Over three days, mayors and senior community leaders are expected to focus on the pressures of the housing shortage, community wellness, economic development, training, and local employment, as well as Arctic sovereignty, safety, and regional infrastructure.
Hopefully they will come up with ways to make land available in their communities for the construction of housing.
Let’s hope international im migration gets addressed. Nunavut seems to be passively managing this important matter, even though it has the potential to immensely change every single aspect of living in a territory of critically high vulnerabilities. Infrastructures as well as housing availability are set for certain capacities, and our own population is very young and strongly growing already. Does each community have a say? Does Nunavut collectively? And what about the immi grants who come here–do they have the services needed to help them integrate and assimilate to our Inuit culture? And if we invest in their integration, are we ensuring retention?
Assimilate? Seriously, you are in Canada, we don’t do assimilation. Integration all day long, but assimilation is no longer in fashion. For this you should be super grateful.
And no, Nunavut and the communities have zero input which Canadians choose to make Nunavut their home.