Atuqtuarvik loans not always easy money

MARION SOUBLIERE

A 2000 loan provided by Atuqtuarvik Corporation to Qikiqtaaluk Corporation worth $1,333,333.33 was recently the centre of a legal dispute.

QC filed a statement of claim Nov. 5 in the Nunavut Court of Justice against Sakku Investments Corporation for money owed.

QC, Sakku and Makivik Corp. are partners in Nunavut Umiaq Corporation, a 50 per cent owner in Iqaluit-based Transport Umialarik Inc./Umialarik Transportation Inc. (the other 50 per cent is held by Transport Nanuk Inc.).

TUI ferries cargo goods to Nunavut and Nunavik. According to court documents, when TUI entered into an agreement to buy a $12.5-million marine vessel — the MV Umiavut — Makivik, Sakku and QC were to each pay $666,666.66. But because Sakku was in financial straits, QC secured a loan from Atuqtuarvik for itself and for Sakku.

Sakku didn’t pay QC back, however, and after repeated requests, QC lodged a statement of claim.

In a press release dated Dec. 12, 2001, Atuqtuarvik Corporation announced that Sakku had received a loan to help “with its share of buying the MV Umiavut in a joint venture with Qikiqtaaluk and Makivik Corporations.”

NTI also issued $1,104,000 to the Sakku Recovery Plan, a formal financial recovery strategy, in December 2001, and has committed to $1,046,513 in 2002-3.

Atuqtuarvik Corporation, the Inuit investment and loans firm set up by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. in May 2000 to fill the dire need of Inuit-owned companies for access to capital, fuels business pursuits ranging from an Inuit cultural wilderness resort in Baker Lake to an Iqaluit-based charter airline.

Atuqtuarvik, a for-profit business, is funded by investment profit from Nunavut Trust through a holding company called Nunavut Economic and Social Development Trust Inc., which owns all of the preference shares of Atuqtuarvik, said NTI director of finance Peter Rose.

The Rankin Inlet-based Atuqtuarvik began with $20 million with plans to reach $50 million in five years. Another $10-million infusion last August brought Atuqtuarvik’s core funding up to $30 million.

Eligible projects must be commercially viable, Nunavut-based, and create some benefits for Inuit such as jobs, training, or improvements to social problems such as housing.