Nunavik: KRG winter roundup

A jump in the number of search warrants and files for drug trafficking and bootlegging is due to the diligence of police, Kativik Regional Police Force chief Aileen MacKinnon, left, tells the recent meeting of the Kativik Regional Government council in Kuujjuaq. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

Crime up in Nunavik
There were steady increases of all levels of crime last year in Nunavik, according to the Kativik Regional Police Force report at last week’s meeting of the Kativik Regional Government in Kuujjuaq.

The KRPF said there were 22,418 calls to police in 2010, 24 per cent more calls than in 2009.

There were also 24 per cent more impaired driving files racked up in 2010 than in 2009.

From 2009 to 2010, police carried out 94 per cent more search warrants and opened with 94 per cent more files related to the possession or trafficking of drugs, said KRPF chief Aileen MacKinnon.

MacKinnon credited those increases to the work of criminal intelligence officers and the members of the Nunavik Investigation Unit, as well as to an increase in the number of their community visits.

Quebec’s provincial police, the Sûreté du Québec, are also making efforts to work in communities outside of Kuujjuaq, where they are based, MacKinnon added.



Kuujjuaq’s airport is cracking up
Mild temperatures in November and December have taken a toll on Kuujjuaq’s airport, causing several bumps and cracks on the airport’s runway.

Old cracks are appearing, despite previous renovations to the airstrip, Jack Papak, head of the Kativik Regional Government’s transpor department, told KRG councillors at their meeting last week in Kuujjuaq.

“The problems are ongoing,” Papak said Mar. 1. “[The airstrip] was built on swampy grounds in the 1940s and 1950s and the same cracks have been there for many years.”

Transport Quebec officials have been notified about the problems, Papak said.

Erratic temperatures early on in the winter also forced the Kuujjuaq airport to use up its stock of the de-icing chemical that is applied to the runway.

“We used to use 10 tonnes [in a season], but this year had to use the 25 tonnes that we had in stock [before February,” Papak said.

The airport ordered more de-icing chemical, with Transport Canada paying the cost, Papak said.



”The best view in Nunavik”: find it at the Kuururjuaq interpretation centre
Nunavik’s second provincial park, Parc national Kuururjuaq in Kangiqsualujjuaq, is moving closer to welcoming its first visitors, regional councillors learned at the recent meeting of the Kativik Regional Government in Kuujjuaq.

The park’s interpretation centre has been completed and the KRG officially took possession of the building in January, said Michael Barrett, the assistant department director for renewable resources.

The centre offers the “best view in all of Nunavik,” Barrett said, adding the centre’s permanent display will be installed in later summer.

The KRG has met with the local Asimauttaq cultural committee to determine components of that exhibit, he said, while Avataq Cultural Institute is currently reviewing their collections of artifacts to display in centre.



New procurement system favours quality over quantity

The Kativik Regional Government has approved the use of a new bid process for goods or services, according to information tabled at the KRG council meeting last week in Kuujjuaq.

Under the new system, each bid merits a certain number of points, which are based not only on the price of the product or service, but also on the quality, delivery procedure, servicing or other issues related to the tender.

When bids get the most points – as determined by a committee, they will receive the contract.

The regional government may decide to choose quality over price, and could mean more contracts for local or Inuit-owned businesses.

The KRG will be the first organization in Nunavik to practice this, said assistant director general Isabelle Parizeau.

“We’ve had the option to change the system since 1999, but it’s not always been the best solution,” she said. “Since then, it’s settling in and municipalities are using it more when they need it.”



“There has to be a better way,” says police chief

Quaqtaq’s Kativik Regional Government councillor Tommy Angnatuk says local Inuit should inform residents about a death in the family: not police officers who don’t come from the community.

Death is too sensitive and traumatic to be announced by a stranger, Angnatuk said during last week’s meeting of the KRG regional council.

Angnatuk said he recently experienced a shock when he was told of his granddaughter’s death.

“I feel they’re not supposed to be the ones to tell us about deceased persons, because there are people designated to do that,” he said.

Inuit and non-Inuit each have a different approach to the subject of death, he said.

“If you have to inform someone about someone dying, you can go to the mayor,” Angnatuk told KRPF officials March 2. “I just want you to be aware ….because this is a sensitive subject for me.”

KRPF chief Aileen MacKinnon said the way the police inform next-of-kin varies from community to community.

“For sure, there has to be a better way,” she said.

MacKinnon suggested that police officers go the municipal office to ask who should be contacted in the event of a death notice in the community.