Nunavik: KRG winter roundup

Citing family problems, Eli Aullaluk of Akulivik has resigned as municipal and regional councillor, and as a result, will also leave his seat on the executive of the Kativik Regional Government council. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

There’s a cost to climate change. and if you calculate it by the 10 tonnes of extra de-icing compound used this winter at Kuujjuaq’s airport, it’s about $50,000. That’s the price for the de-icing material, not including shipping by air to Kuujjuaq. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

KRG nervous about Charest’s “plan nord”

Now that Quebec’s Liberal government is going full-speed ahead with its “plan nord” or northern plan, the Kativik Regional Government wants more input.

The lack of consultation and details on the plan nord to date shows that Quebec isn’t “responsive to our concerns,” said Maggie Emudluk, the chair of the KRG, at the regional council’s recent meeting in Kuujjuaq.

“They’re going a bit too fast,” she said, comparing the plan’s design and implementation to a train.

The “plan nord” calls the northern region Quebec a “new economic space,” but the KRG wants to make sure it includes a training plan and more housing for Nunavimmiut.

Quebec premier Jean Charest launched his plan in September of 2008.

“It’s majestic. And it’s ours, this region. It’s our future,” he said at the time, calling northern Quebec “a jewel with immense potential” due to its hydroelectric and mining potential, which includes nickel, copper, platinum, gold, silver, titanium and “even diamonds.”

Improvements to transportation are part of Charest’s vision for northern Quebec, and are likely to include the construction of roads to Kuujjuaraapik and Kuujjuaq as well as programs to boost tourism.

His plan also includes a mineral plan, which Charest says will expand mining in northern Quebec, and, at the same time, respect the region’s environment and local communities.



Two top KRG officials replaced

With the resignation of two of five top officials, the leadership of the Kativik Regional Government regional council is set to change.

At the recent meeting of the KRG council in Kuujjuaq, Eli Aullaluk of Akulivik announced he will resign as municipal and regional councillor and, as a result, leave his seat on the KRG executive.

Andy Moorhouse, KRG speaker and regional councillor for Inukjuak, also announced his resignation from the KRG.

Moorhouse was elected vice-president for economic development at Makivik Corp. earlier this year.

The resignations of Aullaluk and Moorhouse prompted the regional council to appoint new members to represent the KRG on three boards.

Jean Dupuis will replace Aullaluk as the KRG appointee to the council of commissioners and the executive committee of the Kativik School Board.

Dupuis, who saw his four children go through the KSB system, said his presence at the school board could help build more closeness between the region’s organizations.

The KRG also appointed Bobby Putulik, a regional councillor and mayor of Quaqtaq, to the board of directors of the Native Para-judicial services of Quebec, and Kitty Annanack, a regional councillor and mayor of Kangiqsualujjuaq, to the board of directors of the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services.



More Inuit working at Raglan mine

Thanks to the Tamatumani training program at Xstrata’s Raglan mine, Inuit employment at the mine has increased to 18 per cent.

Of Xstrata’s 677 employees, 121 are Inuit. This number includes trainee participants in the $50-million Tamatumani training program, which is supposed to train up to 300 Inuit for jobs at the nickel mine.

The average turnover for Inuit employees at the mine stands at 27 per cent, according to information tabled at the recent meeting of the Kativik Regional Government council in Kuujjuaq.

But the turnover rate falls to 11 per cent for Inuit in the Tamatumani program, says an activity report from the KRG’s employment, training, income support and childcare department.



New figures reveal high cost of food

Regional councillors at the Kativik Regional Government received new figures that confirm what they already knew: food costs in Nunavik are extremely high.

At their recent meeting in Kuujjuaq, councillors learned that the cost of a monthly northern food basket for a family of four, purchased in Inukjuak, costs $1,595.

And if a similar food basket is bought in Montreal and shipped to Inukjuak by air, the cost rises to $2,487.

The cost of the same food basket is even more expensive to buy in Salluit, where it costs $1,564 a month to buy locally, but $3,484 if shipped north.

These figures come from research by Université Laval, which will be used to help the KRG convince Quebec to renew its agreement on measures to reduce the high cost of living and transportation in Nunavik.

The deal, worth more than $12 million over three years, expires at the end of this month.



KRG signs with Taqramut Transport

At the recent meeting of the Kativik Regional Government council in Kuujjuaq, councillors learned that the lowest bidder for the KRG’s three-year sealift tender was from Taqramut Transport Inc., a partnership between Desgagnés Transarctik Inc. and La Fédération des Coopératives du Nouveau-Québec.

The sealift deal is worth $1.1 million in 2010. The costs for 2011 and 2012 will be calculated on this price with indexation, but will vary, depending on the amounts of materials and goods that need to be shipped.

Some counsellors suggested the KRG should have a procurement policy similar to Nunavut’s Nunavummi Nangminiqaqtunik Ikajuut, which takes a company’s location and Inuit status into consideration during tender awards.

Regional councillors Jean Dupuis of Kuujjuaq and Alan Brown of Kuujjuaraapik voted against the resolution approving the three-year deal, which nonetheless passed.



Kuujjuaq airport almost runs out of de-icer

Unprecedented warm, sloppy and snowy weather conditions in Kuujjuaq this winter meant that the Kuujjuaq airport came close to running out of the de-icing product, Clariant.

The Kuujjuaq airport generally uses 10 tonnes of the de-icing compound a year, and keeps a total of 20 tonnes in stock.

However, in the month of December, airport de-icers managed to go through 14 tonnes of the de-icing compound, Jack Papak, the director of the Kativik Regional Government’s transport department, told councillors at the recent KRG meeting in Kuujjuaq.

To date, the Kuujjuaq airport has gone through 20 tonnes of de-icer.

Papak said Transport Canada stepped in to cover the cost and shipping of four more tonnes of the product to Kuujjuaq from Ottawa on First Air’s B-767.



New firefighting equipment for Nunavik?

New fire trucks are among the urgent firefighting needs in some Nunavik communities, which the Kativik Regional Government hopes to meet when Quebec finally approves its long-awaited fire safety cover plan.

The region struggles to maintain a reasonable level of firefighting capacity, said Craig Lingard, the coordinator of the KRG’s civil security department.

This was brought home as councillors learned how a Feb. 20 residential fire in Ivujivik had to be doused with water from the water truck because the fire tuck was broken down and the community lacked a fire chief.

The fire safety cover plan, now in the hands of Quebec bureaucrats and close to approval, evaluates Nunavik’s ability to prevent and fight fires and makes recommendations for improvements, including more equipment, training, prevention and education.

The plan suggests a switch to fire trucks that use a compressed air foam systems because this system requires only 10 per cent as much water as well as some payment for volunteer firefighters.