Kivalliq Wildlife Board secures $800,000 to study food insecurity, climate change
Federal government announced funding at convention in Montreal
The federal government has given $800,000 to the Kivalliq Wildlife Board to study the effects of climate change on local food sources, like caribou. (Photo by David Kakuktinniq)
The Kivalliq Wildlife Board has secured $870,340 over three years to study the impact of climate change on access to food.
The funding was announced at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal on Dec. 9.
The wildlife board has developed a community-based monitoring program to explore links between the climate and various local sources of food, according to a news release from the federal government.
The program will include areas of concern identified by people who live in Rankin Inlet.
The wildlife board has previously received funding from the federal government to support this work. Last year, it got $459,615 through Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, and $199,813 from 2019 to 2022 from Indigenous Services Canada.
The new funding announced in December will be applied toward the second phase of the project, which will involve using elders’ and hunters’ knowledge paired with scientific approaches to study how climate change is affecting local food chains.
The scope will range from microscopic marine organisms to changes in availability, quality and diet of country foods, such as Arctic char, ringed seal, bearded seal, beluga whales and polar bear.
“The development of research projects that are run by Inuit is a big step in monitoring the effects of climate change in ways that Inuit see and feel it,” said board chairperson Stanley Adjuk in the release.
“The Kivalliq Wildlife Board is proud to lead projects that will monitor these effects so that our observations can be integrated into our plans in the future.”
Northern Affairs Minister Daniel Vandal said the money will help to support those who maintain traditional knowledge as well as researchers.
“The vitality of northern and Arctic communities, as well as the Inuit way of life, is in jeopardy because of climate change and its devastating impacts on precious ecosystems,” he said in the release.
NEVER ENDING STUDIES .
That is a good thing, we should ALWAYS be trying to learn more. Just because someone has knowledge does not mean they have ALL the knowledge that is possible. That includes Biologists and Elders, and when people with different points of view look at an issue then maybe we can find the best way forward.
$800,000 to study food insecurity for the 1,000th time this decade.
But only $160,000 for youth suicide prevention and homelessness.
It’s a wealth redistribution scheme that ultimately shows a lack of creativity on the part of the government (surprising to no one)
Wildlife is a big problem; Kivalliq hunters are big problems, they sent out on almost daily basis of caribou they’re selling at very high cost to mostly Baffin communities. The problem is right under our noses, and we turn a blind eye…Secondly; Jordan’s Principal is of no assistant; where ppl are buying high prices baby products and end-up selling them over local radio stations. This good cause org is raising very high cost to everything retailers sell. Greed, there should be a study done on this to see what the real costs are incurred by Northern retailers to run business. Say how much does a T&G flooring plywood really cost to a retailer to re-sale, it’s almost 200 now in one of the Kivalliq communities…few bucks shy of 200$ per sheet…..wow. Greed, someone make $$$ available so some org can do some studies on greed.
Canada is the best at wasting money. Better off in a raffle or food vouchers. Nothing new will come of this.
The Government is pumping money into an economic desert. That is the only real goal here.
Got to make it look like , the goverment is helping the people , even , if it mean giving bread crumbs.
The government should be doing more to develop real business, entrepreneurship and ultimately economic self sufficiency. What is being done here creates a psuedo-industry that is entirely dependent on the capacity of the government to fund it.
That said, I am not against that kind if thing entirely, but only if it produces something of true societal value. I doubt that will be the case here.
Lots of money for research ! Much needed I guess so they can figure out how more money they can hand out , lucky community we on the far west and empty handed .
Start monitoring caribou too and around developing mines and exploration camps .
And the Canadian Government has sent just over 2.5 billion to Ukraine and has said in support to purchase a missile defense system for Ukraine. No price given, but I would say it is over a billion dollars.
The power and value of any research lies in whether study results can lead or inform decisions or actions. For this reason, this research has low value and power.
If climate change is leaving people hungry, does it really matter why? People still need to eat. Feeding hungry people in the Kivalliq that have no food should be done regardless of the cause. If climate change is the culprit, the only solution is reducing carbon emissions. Canada is taking concrete steps already to do this, and has many, many other reasons for doing so. Canada will not, for example, shut down the oil sands simply because there were fewer seals or plants up here.
We can go further than this. We already know there are hungry people in the Kivalliq and throughout Nunavut. The study effort may well more more on what can be done about it.
If climate change is not affecting food availability, again, what changes? Would this be a reason to stop carbon taxation? Should green or renewable projects be cancelled? No. All these things would and should proceed, again for many other reasons.
Another research outcome is possible, and that has favorable implications for the wildlife board. The results could be ambiguous. Poor study design in this subject area is often rewarded. Further study “may be required”, meaning more study money.
It sure will melt in the arctic,apart from freezing like h€££ in winters nowadays without much snow making our ski rods wear out way too quick eh .
High cost of groceries will continue to skyrocket as long as gas prices go up. The stores in the communities has the monopoly at hand, especially those with only 1 store.
Climate change was talked about over 30 years ago and it will continue to get affected.
CIRNAC should really look into the finances, as they had given funds to QEC under Arctic Energy Fund and I’m sure majority of it was used to collect OT and additional lieu credits
eskimo joe hit the nail on the head.
caribou by the bin upon bin being sold all over Baffin and Kitikmeot. even on this side you see people on Facebook asking if they want to prepay for caribou as it’s easy for them to go out and harvest a bin for $500. how many are sold and sent by Canadian North Cargo? Calm Air?
the herd cannot keep up. even in Taloyoak, every flight you see have bins of caribou meat being sent out. it won’t last forever.
Monkey see, monkey do. We Inuit NEVER learn until it’s too late or gone. Caribou sales are out of hand in Kivalliq and some part of Kitikmeot. HTO need to do more, if there is no control Gov’t / Inuit Orgs should put stop to it until some kind of system is in place.
Time to see some other ideas and suggestions on continuing caribou harvesting, maybe start with putting a bounty on Wolves and also ask all Kivalliq HTO’s to work together with the Bioligist and get the Regional Associations involved with a plan for each community given the same amount of Caribou Tags for the use of sales,