Not just Arviat Strong … Arviat Smart
Doing its homework results in Kivalliq hamlet winning right to host university campus
Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated president Paul Irngaut, left, ITK president Natan Obed, Kivalliq Inuit Association president Kono Tattuinee, and Arviat Mayor Joe Savikataaq attend a press conference in Ottawa on Feb. 11, announcing Arviat as the location for the main campus of Inuit Nunangat University. (Photo by Nehaa Bimal)
Nunavummiut are likely familiar with the “Arviat Strong” slogan that was popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. After last week, it seems the community can lay claim to “Arviat Smart” as well.
Putting together a thorough proposal helped Nunavut’s third-biggest community edge out seven others when Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami announced the host community of its Inuit Nunangat University last week.
“Why our proposal did so well was because of the things that are currently happening or about to happen,” Mayor Joe Savikataaq Jr. told a Nunatsiaq News reporter the day after the Feb. 11 announcement.
Arviat’s proposal stood out from the others because the hamlet demonstrated it was prepared to host the main campus, making room for 100 staff and 80 faculty, by 2030, ITK president Natan Obed said at the announcement in Ottawa.
Obed pointed to the way Arviat had identified blocks of land where university buildings will go, it had the municipal infrastructure in place and has a tradition of Inuit-led education.
Arviat showed it was ready to go and it paid off.
Its selection was enthusiastically greeted by leaders at all levels — from Kitikmeot Inuit Association president James Eetoolook, to Premier John Main, and even Prime Minister Mark Carney.
At Nunatsiaq News, we had started seeing the “Arviat Strong” slogan posted in our online comments section in November 2020 — the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nunavut.
Back then — five years ago — a lot of news stories about COVID-19 in Nunavut used the adjective “hard-hit” in front of Arviat.
Now, by working smart, Arviat sends a strong signal to other communities that might be interested in hosting one of the university’s satellite campuses, or what ITK calls regional knowledge centres.
Neither ITK nor Arviat have made the hamlet’s winning proposal public. ITK told a Nunatsiaq News reporter the proposal was intended for internal consumption only — not for the public to see.
Likewise, a week after the announcement, Savikataaq had not responded to a request to share the document.
That’s too bad.
The university’s arrival will change the nature of the hamlet, and Arviammiut deserve to see what’s in store. We can’t help but think if Nunavut’s access to information law applied to municipalities (as former information and privacy commissioner Graham Steele has urged), the public would be able to get its hands on it.
Nunavummiut would benefit from seeing what Arviat’s pitch looks like. At a time when the federal government is pushing money out the door for “nation-building projects,” infrastructure and housing, there’s potentially a lot to be gained by communities that come to the table having done their homework the way Arviat did.
If Arviat shared the pitch it used to secure the university campus, it could give other communities ideas about what they can do to prepare a successful pitch for other public projects.
Those sewage trucks water trucks engines and brakes is too loud. It’s embarrassing. No work here in Arviat just staying home sitting around doing nothing.
I flew on a private jet from Yellowknife to Arviat early 2000s. It did land in the small airstrip non paved and still flew to Iqaluit from arviat. Charter still see the lights of small arviat in the distance in that jet two engine jets in the back near the wing landed to arviat and still flew away.
It might be wise to reserve judgement on how smart this application really was until I could see and assess for myself. Granted, I’m not a journalist so am unqualified to make glossy eyed assumptions.