ICC Canada board selects Kuujjuaq over Rankin wins for 2002 bash

By NUNATSIAQ NEWS

IQALUIT — The board that runs ICC Canada has selected Kuujjuaq as the host community for the next general meeting of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference in the summer of 2002.

Every three years, one of the four ICC member countries hosts the five-day meeting, which is attended by as many as 1,000 participants.

Kuujjuaq’s proposal to host this international get-together won out over a proposal made by Rankin Inlet, the only other community in the running.

Canadian ICC President Sheila Watt-Cloutier said the two proposals were “excellent,” but says the board chose Kuujjuaq to host the meeting because its organizing committee was “especially strong.”

Its promoters had also managed to secure a stack of supporting letters from every Nunavik organization, as well as from Liberal MP Guy St-Julien and Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard.

According to Watt-Cloutier, such a show of support is particularly important because the host organizers must raise nearly $1 million to cover expenses related to the event and the participation of their country’s delegation.

The board also felt that Nunavik, a region which has not yet hosted an ICC general meeting, should be given this opportunity in 2002.
Watt-Cloutier, who is originally from Kuujjuaq, said she abstained from voting in the board’s decision.

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