Iqaluit’s 2023: Fires, a strike, and safety concerns outside the beer store

It was an eventful year in Iqaluit in 2023.

Nunatsiaq News reporters often found themselves chasing fires, visiting picket lines and late in the year, investigating a mysterious incident on the water.

Iqaluit student wins big on, off the ice

Accomplished short-track speedskater Akutaq Williamson Bathory represents Team Nunavut at the Arctic Winter Games and Canada Winter Games this year, bringing home three gold medals from the former and breaking multiple Nunavut speedskating records at the latter. (Photo courtesy of Akutaq Williamson Bathory/the Loran Scholars Foundation)

Earlier this year, then-high school student Akutaq Williamson Bathory spent a lot of time making headlines.

While representing Nunavut at the Arctic Winter Games in Wood Buffalo, Alta., in February, the teen won three gold medals in speedskating.

Then in March, she was named one of 36 students from across Canada to win the Loran Award, including a $100,000 prize to go toward her post-secondary studies.

“I was just so shocked because I wasn’t expecting it… I had never thought anything like this would happen within my lifetime,” she said at the time about winning the award.

“I just had no words to describe how I was feeling.”

Iqaluit Housing Authority workers strike for 136 days

The 13-member union at the Iqaluit Housing Authority may be small in numbers but from March 17 to Aug. 1, they held the line for what was likely one of the longest strikes in Nunavut history.

The strike started after negotiations for a new collective agreement broke down. Even amid freezing Iqaluit temperatures, union members spent hours each day on the picket line.

Iqaluit Housing Authority unionized members picket on the 100th day of the strike. (Photo by David Lochead)

In July, a major development occurred when Lorne Kusugak, the Government of Nunavut minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corp., announced a shakeup of the housing authority board with hopes that it would help end the strike.

A tentative collective agreement was reached July 31 and ratified the following day.

“This agreement would not have been possible without the incredible resilience, resolve and dedication of the IHA workers who were on the picket line for 136 days,” said Nunavut Employees Union president Jason Rochon.

Beefed up security at beer and wine store

In Iqaluit, there’s only one outlet where residents can buy alcoholic beverages — the Government of Nunavut-run beer and wine store.

During the summer reports of thefts and violence in the area prompted RCMP to warn residents to be vigilant while leaving the store.

The Department of Finance also contracted a security company to keep an eye on the parking lot.

“I have heard many concerns from individuals … about people being approached, intimidated, violence and robbery, not just in the proximity on the premises but further down the street in the Baffin Gas area,” said Iqaluit-Manirajak MLA Adam Arreak Lightstone.

The Finance Department indicated at the time that having security there was having a positive impact. Security guards are still working onsite, watching the parking lot even into the winter.

In the legislative assembly, Lightstone called on the GN to develop a long-term strategy to combat addiction and prevent public drunkenness.

Meanwhile, the Aqqusariaq Recovery Centre had its groundbreaking in Iqaluit this past summer.

Fires damage homes, displace residents

Throughout the year, Iqaluit’s emergency responders fought several fires that severely damaged several homes and displaced residents.

One of the most devastating fires was in the Lower Plateau in September, destroying a multiplex and the homes of several people who lived there.

Families lost everything, said Nunavut Planning Commission executive director Sharon Ehaloak. Five of the six units were occupied by her staff.

A GoFundMe campaign was launched to help get them back on their feet.

The sealift incident

Perhaps no story in Iqaluit this year captivated the public’s interest like the Oct. 27 incident when 23 sealift containers fell off of an NEAS barge into the water.

Two RCMP officers walk out to a stranded sea can in Apex. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)

The incident itself was serious. One injured worker was medevaced to a southern hospital. The public was drawn to what happened the following day, when some residents ventured out during low tide at Tarr Inlet in Apex to claim the contents of the stranded cans.

The GN and NEAS both warned the public to stay away from the area.

A few days later it was confirmed that there was beer in one of the containers, prompting online memes where people jokingly renamed the area “Molson Inlet.”

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is still investigating the spill.