GG, DIAND minister plan Toonik Tyme visits

JOHN THOMPSON

When Toonik Tyme festivities kick off next week, Iqalummiut should pay careful attention to who they’re rubbing elbows with in the crowd. It could be a representative of the Queen, or the guy in charge of doling out federal dollars to Nunavut.

It’s been confirmed that Canada’s Governor General, Michaëlle Jean, will visit Iqaluit next week.

And the new Conservative government’s minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, Jim Prentice, is also expected to visit Iqaluit that week, as part of a tour of the North.

Jean is scheduled to arrive in Iqaluit at 4 p.m. on Monday, April 17, where she will be greeted at the airport by Nunavut’s commissioner, Ann Meekitjuk Hanson. Jean will inspect an honour guard of Canadian Rangers when she arrives.

At 7 p.m. that evening in the Nakasuk Elementary School gym, Jean will help kick off Toonik Tyme. What’s more, the Governor General is expected to be recognized as this year’s Honorary Toonik.

Jean is expected to arrive bearing gifts: 80 books from Canadian authors, to be donated to the Iqaluit public library.

According to the Governor General’s busy schedule, she will spend much of her time in Iqaluit meeting with officials such as Mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik, Premier Paul Okalik, and Col. Normand Couturier, commander of the Canadian military’s northern forces.

But when Iqalummiut gather to watch traditional Inuit outdoor games on Tuesday, April 18 in the Nakasuk parking lot, they should keep their eyes peeled for her there.

On Wednesday she leaves for Cape Dorset, where a land trip is scheduled, as well as the possibility of spending a night in an igloo at Aalooktook Point.

Jean returns to Iqaluit on Friday, April 21 to have lunch with the Franco-Nunavummiut community at the Francophone centre before departing from the airport at 2 p.m.

Some highlights from the schedule of this year’s Toonik Tyme festival include a community feast on April 18 from 6-8 p.m. at the Parish Hall, hockey tournaments held throughout the week in the old arena and kite-skiing demonstrations on the sea ice, from April 17 to 21.

Trooper fans will be disappointed to hear that the aging rockers won’t perform at the festival, as rumoured. Instead, Iqalummiut can listen to the Matt Minglewood Band on April 21 at the AWG arena. Minglewood is a legendary blues-rock singer, guitarist and song-writer from Cape Breton.
The Nunavut Snow Challenge, a race to Kimmirut and back by snowmobile, is scheduled to begin on April 23. Registration cut-off is 10 a.m., with the race starting at 11 a.m.