Iqaluit, Igloolik rebel against Nunavut time zone plan

MICHAELA RODRIGUE and SEAN McKIBBON
Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT — Municipal councils in Iqaluit and Igloolik are spurning the Nunavut government’s plan for a single time zone in Nunavut, and have voted to have their communities stay on eastern standard time.

The rebellion by the two municipalities could mean that the Nunavut government’s single time zone plan could falter, and that a patchwork quilt of conflicting time zones could emerge instead.

Iqaluit’s Town Council passed a motion this week to remain on eastern standard time. Igloolik’s motion came two weeks ago.

Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik, however, said just before Nunatsiaq News press-time this week that the Iqaluit and Igloolik municipal councils will not deter his government from carrying out its unified time zone plan.

“We’re moving ahead with the time zone change. It’s only a difference of 60 minutes [for the Baffin region] and we’re going forward with it… Hopefully, people will see the benefits as time goes by.”

Okalik said that all Nunavut and federal government offices in Iqaluit and Igloolik will operate within the central time zone after Oct. 31, no matter what their municipal councils say.

“We can’t change now. We can’t operate as a government if we don’t have stability as a government,” Okalik said, adding that he’s “disappointed” that Iqaluit and Igloolik are opposing the creation of a unified time zone for Nunavut.

“It’s unfortunate that they decided to pass a motion opposing the time zone change. I would like to ask whether they conducted a proper consultation. Did they hold any hearings?”

Okalik added that the necessary federal and territorial regulations have now been changed, and that municipal governments do not have the legal authority to set their own time zones.

He also said that the unity of Nunavut continues to be a priority for him. “I want to do what is best for Nunavut,” Okalik said.

The Iqaluit motion, as proposed by Coun. Doug Lem, would mean that on Oct. 31, Iqaluit residents would turn their clocks back one hour due to the end of daylight time, but not the extra hour required to join the central time zone along with the rest of Nunavut. Igloolik’s motion is similar.

Lem said he will turn his watch back by only one hour on Oct. 31, and he thinks other Iqaluit residents will do the same.

“We represent them,” he said.

Lem said the Nunavut government may want to re-examine its decision to create a single time zone in light of Iqaluit’s motion.

Otherwise, it may want to force Iqaluit Town Council to have an emergency meeting before Oct. 31, Lem said.

But the motion did not pass unanimously. Coun. Matthew Spence and Coun. John Matthews each voted against it.

Matthews said he doesn’t believe a single time zone is a good idea, but at this point the Town should support the new government, he said.

“I think we just grin and bear it. Perhaps in a year the government will come to its senses,” Matthews said. The motion may be outside of the council’s powers, he added.

Spence said Iqaluit’ s decision will likely create logistical problems for the government. And he said that as capital, Iqaluit should consider the needs and wants of communities outside of the Baffin region.

“We have to show we care about the other communities,” Spence said.

But Lem’s point of view prevailed. “Time zones were created so that we could have full use of the sun,” said Lem.

“I believe many people are unhappy. It’s just not one community. If the Nunavut government is not going to consult, I believe we have a job to represent the residents’ wishes,” said Iqaluit deputy mayor Ben Ell.

Igloolik decided that it had more in common with souther cities in the eastern time zone than with Nunavut communities to the west.

“The hamlet council felt we have more dealings with Montreal or Ottawa than with Rankin and Cambridge Bay,” said Igloolik’s mayor, Aime Panimera. The decision to stay in the eastern time zone passed unanimously with his council.

Panimera said many people in Igloolik have relatives who are staying at hospitals in Ottawa and want to be in the same time zone. Other people order groceries from the South or have business contacts and don’t want to be out of sync, he said.

Panimera said the hamlet council made the decision with the blessings of their MLA, Enoki Irqittuq.

“He said he was against the idea from the beginning,” said Panimera, who admitted that he himself had voted in favor of the time zone change at a meeting of Nunavut mayors.

“I voted for it because it was a good idea. It’s a very good idea to have all of Nunavut on one time zone. But one thing that they never presented at the meeting was which time zone we were going to go to and who would have to move the most,” Panimera said.

Panimera said the goal of having all Nunavut government offices on the same time is insufficent justification for playing havoc with the timetables of people in the Baffin.

The move to central standard time doesn’t make sense for a community living above the Arctic Circle with so few hours of daylight in the winter as Igloolik, he said.

“Why not just leave the clocks alone?” Saving daylight is not a problem in the north during the summer anyway, he said.

Panimera said he hoped the action would set an example for other communities because other mayors he had spoken with had expressed similar concerns.

“Maybe this way we get away from that Y2K bug,” he joked.