Iqaluit council should get on board

It’s been evident for quite some time now that the potential for more economic ties between Baffin and Labrador has been growing rapidly.

Early this year, the Woodward family of Happy Valley-Goose Bay won a major Nunavut government contract to ship petroleum products to communities in the Baffin and Kivalliq regions. It’s no secret that some day soon, the Woodward group would like to ship more than just fuel to the Baffin region. At the signing ceremony held in Iqaluit to formalize that contract, some company executives were talking informally about supplying dry goods to Iqaluit through Labrador and Newfoundland.

Not long after that, Air Labrador launched a weekly scheduled service to St. John’s that includes stops in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. They’re now talking about adding to that service.

At the same time, the Labrador Inuit Association’s final land claim agreement with the government of Newfoundland is expected to be concluded soon, an event that’s expected to provide the Inuit of Labrador with new economic tools.

Last week, a 19-person delegation from Nunavut, representing the Nunavut government and the Iqaluit and Baffin chambers of commerce, attended a trade show in Happy Valley-Goose Bay put on by the Labrador North Chamber of Commerce.

Will real economic ties follow the new transportation links?

That remains to be seen. Ultimately, that’s up to business people from each region. It depends on people in one region finding ways of selling things that people in the other region will want to buy. It may also depend on people in each region being able to form partnerships in common ventures, such as fisheries projects.

It appears, however, that much goodwill developed between the two regions last week.

So why is Iqaluit city council dragging its feet on the issue?

There’s nothing wrong with being prudent. But the city council also needs to realize that they have some responsibility for facilitating economic development in the community. The next time there’s a flight bound for Labrador, somebody from Iqaluit city council should get on board. JB