Iqaluit RCMP host a free barbecue to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day outside the elder’s qammaq today. Residents enjoyed hamburgers and hot dogs on a warm day in the capital. Also present was Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, on his first trip to the territory, who is seen by the barbecue. (Photo by Emma Tranter)
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, centre, takes in the scenery at Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park in Iqaluit with his party’s candidate for Nunavut, Leona Aglukkaq, and defence critic James Bezan. Scheer is in Iqaluit today and tomorrow to “lay the groundwork for strong Arctic policy,” according to a news release. Scheer will also visit the Nunavut Fisheries and Marine Training Consortium and the deepsea port, and meet with community leaders to commemorate National Indigenous Peoples Day. More to come on Nunatsiaq.com (Photo by Emma Tranter)
There were smiles all around as Students on Ice announced its 2019 Arctic Expedition and new partnership with the Delegation of the European Union to Canada on Tuesday, June 12. Students on Ice’s Lynda Brown, front left, and Becky Okatsiak, front right, stand with (from left) Finnish ambassador Vesa Lehtonen, Speaker of the House Geoff Regan, Students on Ice President and Expedition Leader Geoff Green, European Union ambassador Peteris Ustubs and Swedish ambassador Urban Ahlin to commemorate at the Ottawa reception at Parliament Hill. This is the first year participating students, who range from high school to university, will come from every circumpolar country, which Students on Ice partly thanks to its new partnership. Participants this year will also come from every Canadian province and territory and, of the 130 students going, 66 are Indigenous. The expedition—which will travel through the Canadian High Arctic and Greenland, and focus on topics like climate change and healthy communities—begins July 23 and ends August 7. “We are thrilled to give young participants the opportunity to understand firsthand the challenges the Arctic is facing today,” said Ustubs. (Photo from Students on Ice Facebook)
Kevin Kullualik, a patrol sergeant with Iqaluit’s Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, fires one of the new C19 rifles. These rifles replace the .303 Lee-Enfield Mark 4 Rifle the Rangers have used since 1947. “The new modern rifle is a specially designed .308 calibre, bolt action rifle that is more robust and can perform reliably in temperatures below freezing, which is essential to the Canadian Rangers of 1 CRPG who work and live in Canada’s Arctic,” the Rangers said in a news release. (Photo by Emma Tranter)
Residents of Kangiqsualujjuaq check out the new Nunavik Parks exhibit room that opened in the community’s interpretation centre, which highlights the features of the two nearby parks: Kuurujuaq and Ulittaniujalik. Nunavik Parks is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year; the organization oversees four provincial parks throughout the region. (Photo courtesy of KRG)
Ten-year-old Isabelle Partridge Weetaluktuk waters a plot belonging to her namesake, photographer Isabelle Dubois, at the Kuujjuaq greenhouse in early June. The kale and the beans are doing well, while the carrots are just sprouting. (Photo by Isabelle Dubois)
