Kuujjuaq’s co-op moves slowly on retail beer sales start-up

Kuujjuaq’s Fort Chimo Co-op Association plans to meet with municipal officials later this month before hammering out the details of when and how they will re-start local beer sales. Currently, the co-op store sells mostly electronics, hardware and home furnishings. (SARAH ROGERS)

KUUJJUAQ — Kuujjuammiut who voted to return beer sales in the Nunavik community this past July will have to wait a little bit longer before they can enjoy a cold one purchased in a local store.

In a July 6 referendum, Kuujjuammiut voted 75 per cent in favour of allowing the Fort Chimo Co-op Association to sell beer from its local store.

But the co-op has yet to decide when and how to re-launch sales from its Kuujjuaq store.

The co-op association, which manages the local retail outlet, plans to meet with Kuujjuaq municipal councillors later this month to hammer out a plan, said co-op manager Jason Berthe.

Berthe said there’s no set date for when beer sales could begin.

The co-op association won’t need to re-apply for a license to sell beer since they never relinquished their previous one, but the association will likely draft an action plan.

In 1979, the co-operative store first started selling beer in Kuujjuaq two days a week and it’s believed the store will follow a similar schedule.

In a July interview with Nunatsiaq News, Kuujjuaq mayor Paul Parsons said he has encouraged the co-op to communicate with other community organizations to make the re-introduction of beer sales go smoothly.

“We want to make sure we do everything with due diligence – the last thing we want to see is a repeat of what happened in 1996,” Parsons said, referring to a string of alcohol-related deaths in the community.

“We need to handle this reasonably so we can keep this for the long-term.”

Apart from Kuujjuaq’s licensed drinking establishments, beer has not been sold in the community since 1996 – when residents voted to stop sales.

In the recent July 6 referendum, three-quarters of Kuujjuaq voters cast a ballot in favour of seeing local beer sales, although only about one quarter of the 1,529 eligible voters in Kuujjuaq actually voted.