Bike rally gives Ivujivik children new wheels and safety lessons

For Sgt. Jean-Pierre Latour, seeing children bicycling around Ivujivik with new helmets was evidence that a recent police-hosted bike rally made an impact.

Jacko Merkuratsuk, a Kativik Ilisarniliriniq maintenance worker, helps assemble bicycles at the K.I. garage in Ivujivik ahead of the Nunavik Police Service bike rally on Aug. 20. (Photo courtesy Sgt. Jean-Pierre Latour)

“I’m happy to say that I saw a lot of kids riding around with their helmets on,” Latour, prevention officer with the Nunavik Police Service, said in an interview Aug. 21, the day after the rally.

“That in itself is a reward. We’ll see how it goes long term, but that’s a good first step.”

More than 75 children participated in the rally, which had an obstacle course with 13 features and a draw for new bicycles and helmets.

Through the program, Nunavik police plan to distribute 300 bicycles across four communities: 50 in Ivujivik, 66 in Akulivik, 34 in Aupaluk and 150 in Kuujjuaq, which will host two rallies because of its large student population and long distance between schools.

Latour arrived in Ivujivik on Aug. 13 to prepare for the event.

At the Kativik Ilisarniliriniq garage over the weekend Latour assembled the bikes, which were flown in through Air Inuit Cargo, with help from Jacko Merkuratsuk, a school board maintenance worker; a Nuvviti School teacher; and three nurses.

The rally was held during school hours, with kindergarten to Grade 2 students participating in the morning, followed by grades 3 to 6 and high school students.

The obstacle course included six wooden obstacles that Latour built, including a teeter-totter, balance beams and a speed bump. Children also had to pick up a tennis ball from a cone while riding and drop it into a bucket, and ring a bell, Latour said.

Younger children completed the course on foot, while older children could attempt it on bicycles.

Every child who completed the course received a ticket for a draw to win one of the new bicycles and helmets. The Co-op provided juice and water bottles for the hot-dog lunch served afterward, Latour said.

The day before the rally, Latour visited classrooms to speak about road and bicycle safety and the importance of wearing a helmet.

“From the school, from the community, everything has been wonderful,” Latour said of the response. He added that residents stopped officers to thank them, including one woman whose three grandsons received bicycles.

The Nunavik Police Service bike rally initiative began about a decade ago in Kuujjuaq and was held annually before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Latour became a prevention officer in March 2023 and researched ways to use the unit’s budget for community prevention activities. He said he could not provide a number for how much the rallies cost.

“This new iteration of the bike rally is basically my brainchild,” he said.

Four bike rallies are now planned each year, with communities taking turns hosting them.

This year’s remaining three events are scheduled to be held in September.