Aatami talks clean energy and renaming bodies of water in keynote address
Makivvik Corp. president highlights how Inuit in Nunavik are taking matters into their own hands
Makivvik president Pita Aatami delivers a keynote speech Wednesday at the Aqsarniit Trade Show and Conference in Ottawa. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
Makivvik Corp. president Pita Aatami spoke of Inuit empowerment Wednesday at the Aqsarniit Trade Show and Conference in Ottawa.
“It sounds funny when [U.S. President Donald] Trump talks about renaming the Gulf of Mexico into the Gulf of America,” he said.
But he pointed out that Nunavik Inuit are doing much the same thing by renaming lakes previously named by Europeans.
This work is done by Nunavik Geomatics, a consulting firm that provides state-of-the-art mapping and spatial analysis services, one of the many companies he mentioned in his speech that are under the umbrella of Makivvik, the Inuit rights-holding organization in Nunavik.
Aatami was giving a keynote speech at the conference, which is being held Monday to Thursday at Rogers Centre Ottawa.
He also pointed to airlines as a means for Inuit to take ownership of transportation in the North, with both Air Inuit and Canadian North being owned and a subsidiary to Makivvik, respectively.
“It is my taxi, my ambulance, my bus — [air travel] is extremely important for us,” he said, adding that Kuujjuaq is the second-busiest airport in a small community in Quebec.
Another avenue Aatami said Makivvik is exploring is clean energy, with Tarquti Energy Inc. being Makivvik’s branch in developing community-driven sustainable energy projects in Nunavik communities.
He announced that two windmill projects are approaching completion, one in Quaqtaq and the other in Puvirnituq.
“We created these kinds of businesses to have expertise,” he said, adding, “We have to be creative, we didn’t wait around for people.”
Just set a hot air turbine in front of flat bread while delivering keynote speeches. Build a road to the south for not sharing the profits from the airline you claim is our lifeline.🤑
It’s bad enough to hear out the politicians that’s in power voices of disgust and emptiness of anything good, and it’s a bit scary for people. But to hear out a leader that’s not in any power other than an otherwise business leader of a region, talk disgusting rhetoric is even more scary to his small flock of followers , trying to progress.
Makivvik is a total brainwashing non sense 🤑 Always blaming south – we should first be looking at orselves and what we can do for orselves. Stand up, wprk and get active and not wait for Makivvik to save us…some old men looking down on us money filling their pockets
No matter who was in office, local, regional or other there would be and are those who automatically resort to complaining. Making the attacks/issues personnal is but a sign of immaturity. Makivvik does well by its beneficiaries.
Look around the world and hear of what is happening elsewhere. Life would have been much worst if we were living in the Sudan. A little appreciation goes far.