Nunasi boss dumps on editorial

My letter is written in regard to your editorial of Sept. 6, 2002.

I have several comments to make about what I consider to be irresponsible journalism. Before I do that, I am demanding a retraction of the lie that you printed about Nunasi’s Web page not revealing current financials to its shareholders.

I have no idea, sir, just when you “researched” your information for this editorial, but I can tell you that Nunasi’s 2001 audited balance sheet and income statement for the fiscal year 2001 with a comparison to 2000 has been up since the beginning of August. Considering the fact that these statements were approved and ratified by the directors and trustees in late June, I do not believe that we can be accused of not revealing current information to our shareholders.

Shame on you, Jim Bell, for attempting by association with the Enrons of the world to imply that the birthright corporations and the people that are responsible for them are dishonest.

I have worked for the Inuit of Nunavut for over 30 years now. I have worked hard to gain their trust, and to see you try to destroy that with one swoop of your poison pen angers me. Why would you want to do that?

The fact is, it was Nunasi that five years ago pioneered the concept of community meetings with all of our shareholders. I visited hamlet council meetings, held meetings with the senior students in every school, and held public meetings every evening. How transparent is that? Where was your newspaper when all of that was going on? This past year, Norterra, a Nunasi subsidiary, did exactly the same thing. Again, I did not see any coverage of that event.

Our shareholders are real, not theoretical. Once again the implication suggests something less than it should be. Your insinuation that our attempts to share information with our shareholders is “rarely enough to provide a semblance of accountability” is false and obviously designed to arouse suspicions.

You even go so far as to suggest growth and success are bad words. We are proud of our accomplishments and, for your information, hundreds of thousands of dollars in dividends have been distributed to the regions over the past four years and many hundreds of employment and training opportunities have be created in our companies.

My question back to you sir, is what is the meaning behind your attempt to discredit our efforts and to suggest that we are being less than honest and forthright with our shareholders?

I consider your “pane of glass/black enamel” comment a personal attack on my reputation. I guess in the end you epitomize the old saying, “never believe everything you read in a newspaper.”

Fred Hunt
President/CEO
Nunasi Corporation
Yellowknife

Editor’s note: When the editorial was written in early August, Nunasi’s 2001 financial statements had not been posted on their Web site. When the editorial was published, on Sept. 6, the new information was available on Nunasi’s Web site, but the editorial had not been updated. Since we corrected this error in our Sept. 20 issue, there’s no need for a “retraction.” As for the editorial itself, it consisted of fair comment on matters of great interest to our readers. We did not mention Mr. Hunt in the editorial, and we made no “personal attack” on him or anyone else.