Nunavik: KRG summer roundup

Youth in Nunavik are learning circus arts and how to perform amazing feats, as shown in this display from last August’s circus camp in Kuujjuaq. (PHOTO/KRG)

The circus comes to Nunavik
Youth in Nunavik will have a chance to learn how to make people laugh with red clown noses, juggle balls and ride on unicycles this fall as the Kativik Regional Government’s Cirqiniq program kicks off again.

Circus arts instructors plan to visit seven Nunavik communities before Christmas, spending two weeks in each community.

The five-year Cirqiniq program is part of Quebec’s Cirque du Soleil outreach program, called Cirque du Monde.

Founded in 1995, the Cirque du Monde program, which uses circus skills to teach life skills, operates in 50 communities around the world.

“Cirque du Monde does not claim to be a panacea for all social problems. Nor is it an entertainment designed to make young people forget the difficulties of their situation for the duration of a workshop. Cirque du Monde enables young people to achieve their full potential,” says its web site.

This past, August 54 youth, 13 to 17, came to Kuujjuaq for a summer camp, and in the fall.

On the last day, with only six says off circus arts training, participants showed off their new talents, with clown Peter Qumaq of Akulivik making people laugh so hard, they cried, Tunu Napartuk, director the KRG’s recreational department, told KRG councillors at their recent meeting in Kuujjuaq.



Arenas need more TLC, says the KRG

Take care of your arenas, Fredéric Gagné, the director of the Kativik Regional Government’s municipal public works department, told regional councillors at their recent meeting in Kuujjuaq.

Quebec recently sank more than $20 million into arena renovations, but now these facilities have to properly taken care of and used, he said.

In some communities, newly spruced-up arenas have already suffered from vandalism, the councillors heard.

“We will have to take steps to prevent damage,” KRG chairperson Maggie Emudluk said at the meeting, broadcast live across Nunavik over the Taqramiut Nipingat Inc. radio network.



Inuit employment slumps at Raglan

The $50-million Tamatumani training program at Xstrata’s Raglan mine is now paying for apprenticeship projects, French-language training, essential skills training and other projects designed to boost Inuit employment levels at the mine.

The mine has put 29 Inuit in entry level training jobs, and participants who completed a mining orientation course have now moved into an underground mining apprenticeship program, according to information presented the recent Kativik Regional Government meeting in Kuujjuaq.

Employment numbers at the mine site are now below 15 per cent, show June 2010 statistics also circulated at the meeting.

At Xstrata, there are 115 Inuit out of a total of 711 workers at, for an Inuit workforce of 16.2 per cent.

But, overall on the site, there are only 128 Inuit workers out of a total of 929 workers, for an over Inuit workforce of 13.8 per cent.



Crime up due to “proactive policing,” the KRPF says

Crime in 2010 continues to rise in Nunavik when compared to 2009 levels, the Kativik Regional Police Force said at the recent Kativik Regional Government meeting in Kuujjuaq.

From January to July 31, 2010, the KRPF dealt with 6,971 calls, up from 5,414 during the same period in 2009.

Assaults, sexual assaults, drug offenses and drunk driving files are also up.

Some of the crime increases are due to more “proactive policing” and more vigilance by police officers, police told the KRG council on Sept. 14.



Second “intergenerational housing” unit in the works

Nunavik’s second intergenerational housing unit will be built next year in Salluit for $127,000, said information tabled at the recent Kativik Regional Government meeting in Kuujjuaq.

Makivik Corp.’s construction division, which builds social housing units in Nunavik, worked with Fournier, Gersovitz and Moss, the same architectural firm that built Kuujjuaq’s new airport, to design an addition to the standard unit, dubbed an “intergenerational housing unit.”

The new design means family members can look after an elder who needs assistance without overcrowding their own unit.

It allows for an elder to have a personal living space, with a separate bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen, linked by a door to the larger two-bedroom living space of a duplex unit.

To ensure the security of the elders, a fenced balcony was added to the original design. For the unit to be built in Salluit other special elder-friendly changes are planned, for example, to stoves which will have raised burners instead of smooth glass surfaces.



The Kativik Regional Government regional council met in Kuujjuaq Sept. 13 to 17 to discuss the wide range of services handled by the Nunavik’s regional government. The KRG is a public, non-ethnic organization, with more than 300 employees at its head office in Kuujjuaq and offices in the region’s 13 other municipalities, and a budget of more than $220 million a year.