No consultation on time zone change

I would like to take this opportunity to express my concerns over the time zone change that the new Nunavut government will adopt. This change is scheduled to take effect on October 31, 1999.

I have some questions and would like to express some of my concerns over the new Nunavut government’s decision. I would like to ask the premier if the public was consulted, as he did not answer this in one of the questions asked on the CBC radio phone-in show last week.

His answer was that this has been a long-time issue and that there was some agreement to change the time zone in March or April. He went on and said that all the mayors were in favour of this, but the question is: Was the public consulted?

For most people, there was no consultation on the time zone issue, otherwise this would not be a hot topic and would not be continuing so until October 31.

Were there any other options on the table to better communicate between the regions, or should I say to have all of Nunavut go to work and quit at the same time?

We, at the Baffin communities, mostly Kimmirut, Cape Dorset, Iqaluit, and Pangnirtung, will see a difference. We know it is only 60 minutes and would affect us most during the fall and winter and that we could probably adapt to it, but it would take a lot more than two weeks.

Technically, we should be using the Atlantic time zone, but the new Nunavut government has chosen to move in the opposite direction. It is known that lack of sunlight can bring depression. When people are affected in such conditions they can become anxious, irritable, paranoid and depressed. People may start to suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Children can get it too. They get cranky and throw tantrums.

The premier commented that this issue has been there for a long time. Why was this never addressed in the past?

Nunavut can cope with this time barrier, as we have in the past. We are equipped with great technology these days, using fax machines, e-mails and more, so everyone knows when to make contact and then there is always tomorrow.

I strongly urge the elected officials who suggested this change to listen to the concerns that are coming from the public at large and strongly urge them to act on it. I think it should not be a top priority for our new Nunavut government and they should not rush to change the time zones. A better public consultation is needed, so please at least have in postponed.

A group from Kimmirut has forwarded a petition to the local hamlet council here in Kimmirut and other hamlets across Nunavut regarding the time zone change. This kind of exercise is excellent for those who oppose the time zone change and could give a good message to the new Nunavut government.

Kolola Pitsiulak
Kimmirut