Cape Dorset rallies for Palluq Manning

The people of Cape Dorset came together last Saturday in a show of support for a local son and friend, Palluq Manning, a homeless diabetic stranded in Ottawa, the only place where he can receive life-saving kidney dialysis treatment.

“The government has to get organized. You’d think they’d do something right away,” said Palluq’s mother, Annie Manning. “It’s Nunavut. It was supposed to help people here.”

Manning said that, in her opinion, the old Northwest Territories government provided more services for sick people and handicapped people.

“We’re not getting the same service. They have to get their act together.”

The sale, spearheaded by Manning, raised more than $1,500 for her son from bannock, caribou stew, cupcakes, rummage sale items and donations from local businesses and individuals, drawing a large crowd to the community centre.

A nurse who belongs to a First Nations group made a beaded hairclip; Cape Dorset MLA Olayuk Akesuk donated a Nunavut legislature cap and jersey; and the Northern store pitched in $200 worth of food and household items.

Money raised by the sale will be deposited in a bank account and used to help the seriously ill man cover his expenses for lodging, food and transportation while he is in Ottawa.

At the same time, more than 100 Cape Dorset residents, Inuit and non-Inuit, signed a petition asking the GN to help Manning, even though the GN has already told him that he’s no longer considered a resident of Nunavut.

His mother, a recent recipient of Canada’s highest honorary order, the Order of Canada, plans to send this petition to the GN, along with a letter to Premier Paul Okalik, Baffin South MLA Olayuk Akesuk, and Nunavut’s MP, Nancy Karetak-Lindell.

“I’m not going to forget. I try to be positive so that things get rolling,” she said.

She’s also considering taking legal action against the GN.

“At this point, I’m thinking of a lawsuit because he’s being badly neglected. I have to because he suffers so much,” she said. “And I heard about a person in Winnipeg with the same needs, the same government paying for him.”

Manning has been telling her son about the support he is receiving from his fellow Nunavummiut.

“He was overwhelmed. He was very emotional about it. He’s very tired. He needs a rest. He just wants a place where he can relax and lie down.”