Iqaluit braces for G7 impact

Premier Eva Aariak is ready to play host to finance ministers from seven of the world’s richest countries this week. The G7 meeting, which starts Friday in Iqaluit, is expected to see hundreds of dignitaries, staff and journalists descend on the Nunavut capital, resulting in a few possible headaches for Iqalummiut. (FILE PHOTO)

You can’t get a hotel room. Or rent a car. You might even have problems placing a phone call.

Welcome, Iqaluit, to the world of high-profile international meetings.

The G7 finance ministers, representing seven of the western world’s largest economies, including Canada, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, are scheduled to kick off two days of meetings Friday.

With the politicians come hundreds of staff and reporters, stretching Iqaluit’s hospitality capacity to the limit. But it also presents Nunavut with a unique opportunity, said Premier Eva Aariak.

“This will give us a chance to say and illustrate the fact that we can host such a big event,” she said Tuesday.

Aariak said the economic spinoffs will be shared by the entire territory, because country food that served to the dignitaries will come from Cambridge Bay (muskox), Baker Lake (caribou), Sanikiluaq (berries) and Pangnirtung (fish).

The finance ministers are also scheduled to go for dog sled rides and take part in a community feast Saturday at Inuksuk High School. On the menu, of course, is seal.

That could make for a potentially awkward moment for European politicians who may not want to be seen eating an animal whose import is now illegal in the European Union.

Aariak said it’s important to keep making the case that seal hunting is vital to Nunavut, especially as a food source. “We want people around Canada as well as around the world to understand that.”

But the premier said she wouldn’t be offended if any delegate turned down an offer of seal meat.

“[They’re] all individual human beings,” Aariak said. “In the same way, I may decline something that I am not…sure how it tastes in other countries.”

Last December, federal finance minister Jim Flaherty told reporters in Winnipeg holding the meeting in Iqaluit is a chance for Canada to “show off the Arctic.”

“I thought there’s a beautiful pristine winter place called Iqaluit where I’ve been in the winter time and it’s absolutely gorgeous and the Inuit people are very welcoming,” Flaherty said.

The meeting itself is closed to the public and press.

According to media reports, the agenda will focus on earthquake-ravaged Haiti, the world economy’s still-shaky recovery from recession, China’s artificially low currency which helps keep Chinese goods cheap on the world market and US plans for banking regulations.

It’s billed as a chance for the G7, which is losing influence to a larger forum called the G20, to get back to its “roots” as a place for the finance ministers to talk shop, which, in their case, is basically all of capitalism.

But the scale of these meetings are beyond anything Iqaluit has ever seen and will stretch the city’s capacity for visitors to the limit. And one unnamed European official expressed doubts about Iqaluit as a suitable setting.

“With all due respect, the Canadians are crazy to organize it in a place like that,” he told the Reuters news agency Tuesday.

Hotel rooms have been booked solid for months. At least one Iqaluit resident was last week offering $150 to borrow a car for one day during the G7 because there were no more cars to rent.

The very act of driving a car may also pose a challenge too. RCMP Sgt. Jimmy Akavak said there will be some road closures between Astro Hill and the Legislative Assembly where the meetings are to take place.

“There might be a bylaw truck or a police truck stopping traffic for about 10 to 15 minutes,” he said.

“We’re trying to keep [disruptions] as minimal as possible.”

But Akavak also admitted this is the biggest event he’s seen in 25 years of police work. The RCMP handles security for events like this, and V Division had to call in reinforcements from Ottawa and a few Nunavut communities to ensure there’s enough officers to handle security and driving duties.

The Mounties will also provide bodyguards to delegations for “a couple” of countries, Akavak said. It’s RCMP policy not to give a precise number of officers involved or detail security plans.

Some areas, like the legislature, will be off limits to the public, but will be clearly marked, Akavak said.

Also this week, Northwestel warned customers to be prepared for possible phone and internet interruptions.

Hundreds of delegates, officials, security staff and reporters are “expected to stretch the resources of the community to meet the sudden increased demand” for telecommunications bandwidth, the company said in a news release Monday.

Northwestel told Iqalummiut to expect dropped cell phone calls, problems placing long distance calls, absent dial tones and slower internet service.