News quiz Dec. 14 | Ballots, bucks and melting permafrost

Welcome back to the quiz, five questions to see whether you’ve been tuned into happenings relating to the Arctic over the past week or two.

1. Donna Adams of Rankin Inlet recently won the Inuktuuqta! Inuktut Writing Prize. What story did she tell in her winning entry?

A. An Inuk girl becomes lost but memories of what she learned from elders help her return home safely.
B. An Inuk boy is bullied because of his name but learns to embrace his identity with help from his grandmother.
C. A tale of parental love is told through the eyes of a mother polar bear and her cubs.

2. Pond Inlet’s hamlet council threatened to not host cruise ship visits next year. Why not?

A. Tourists are spending too little to make it worth the effort.
B. There was a dispute over use of the visitors centre.
C.  Concerns over litter left by tourists and pollution from ships.

3. Jeremy Tunraluk was elected president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. on Monday. What was his previous job?

A. Mayor of Arctic Bay.
B. Secretary-treasurer of Qikiqtani Inuit Association.
C. Executive assistant at Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

4. A Senate report on the effects of climate change singled out thawing permafrost as a threat to what kind of infrastructure in the North?

A. Airport runways.
B.  Ice surfaces inside arenas.
C. Larger buildings such as hospitals and airports.

5. Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. offered $100 gift card vouchers to any registered voter who showed up at a polling station in the Dec. 9 election. In the 2021 election, only 17 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot. What was the unofficial turnout this time?

A. 29 per cent.
B. 51 per cent.
C. 67 per cent.

Donna Adams reacts via a live video feed from Rankin Inlet after learning she won first prize Dec. 4 in the Inuktuuqta! Inuktut Writing Prize contest. The awards gala was held in Iqaluit. (Photo by Daron Letts)

Answers

1. B — Adams’ story is about a little boy named Kattagaq. She’s continuing her writing options for the next year, including working to have her Inuktitut story published.
2. B — Nattinak Visitors Centre was at the heart of a dispute involving the hamlet, Parks Canada and the Government of Nunavut.
3. B  — Jeremy Tunraluk was secretary-treasurer for Qikiqtani Inuit Association. In elections Monday, Adamee Itorcheak was elected to replace Tunraluk in that role.
4. A — Airport runways are especially vulnerable to thawing permafrost, the report found, because most are gravel and have had few upgrades in recent decades.
5. C — Voter turnout overall was approximately 67 per cent, according to unofficial results on the NTI website. Jeremy Tunraluk was elected president, succeeding Aluki Kotierk.