Nunavik’s 2024: Big events address history, could change future
Calendar marked by major mining news, a tragic police shooting and a government apology
A protest erupts in Kuujjuaq in November after the death of Joshua Papigatuk following an altercation with the Nunavik Police Service in Salluit. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
The year 2024 has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride for Nunavik, imbued with the feeling of a tide turning within the region.
With national stories like the renewal of Raglan Mine with the creation of a new mine, a fatal shooting in Salluit leading to region-wide protests and the federal government officially apologizing for the dog slaughter, Nunavik witnessed major events.
The long-awaited apology
On Nov. 23, Gary Anandasangaree, the Crown-Indigenous relations minister, travelled to Kangiqsujuaq to offer an official apology on behalf of the federal government for the “unjustified killing” of sled dogs in the 1950s and 1960s.
Gary Anandasangaree, Canada’s Crown-Indigenous relations minister, visited Kangiqusjuaq in November to offer an official apology for Nunavik’s dog slaughter. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
Anandasangaree met with elders who were personally affected by the slaughters and emerged saying “we had a very deep and emotional conversation.”
For Makivvik, the apology was 25 years in the making. The organization officially started investigating the killings back in 1999.
The apology will hopefully start the journey toward trust between Nunavimmiut and the government, Anandasangaree said.
Police shooting sparks province-wide protests
Joshua Papigatuk, right, died after an altercation with police officers in Salluit while his twin Garnet Papigatuk, left, was badly injured. (Photo courtesy of François Léger-Savard)
On Nov. 4, an altercation in Salluit between twin brothers and Nunavik Police Service officers ended with the shooting death of Joshua Papigatuk and severe injuries suffered by Garnet Papigatuk.
Starting that day, protests erupted in Salluit and the following day many communities in Nunavik followed suit.
The tragedy sparked a province-wide conversation about the state of policing in Nunavik and how new practices could be adopted that would be better suited to the region.
Later in November, police Chief Jean-Pierre Larose vowed to ensure the Nunavik Police Service “does whatever it takes to support this community with transparency, accountability and care.”
Also, Kativik Regional Government and Makivvik are planning a public security committee that will address public safety and review policing in the region.
Raglan digs deeper
In March, Raglan Mine inaugurated its new Anuri mine, a US$300-million extension intended to ensure another 20 years of mining production in Nunavik.
The opening of the new Anuri mine at Raglan Mine is celebrated by its workers, company leaders and government officials earlier this year. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
A committee of 60 employees selected the name, which means “wind” in Inuktitut, embodying the change, vigor and evolution the new phase represents for Raglan, the company said in a news release.
The nickel mine is near Deception Bay, between Salluit and Kangiqsujuaq. Raglan employs approximately 1,400 people, and produces 40,000 tons of nickel per year.
It took 10 years to prepare and finalize the opening of Anuri mine.
The land where the Raglan Mine is situated reportedly holds the highest nickel content in the world. According to Pierre Barrette, who was Raglan’s vice-president at the time but has since retired, the area is like a field of potatoes waiting to be dug up.
At the time of Anuri’s opening, Barrette said only 18 per cent of Raglan’s 700-square-kilometres property has been explored in depth.
A polar bear in Kuujjuaq
Kuujjuaq hunter Thomas Shea Lamb poses with a polar bear he killed in January. The bear was roaming the community. (Photo courtesy of Shanna Gordon)
On Jan. 30, a polar bear was spotted in downtown Kuujjuaq, and the community mobilized to track it down.
Thomas Shea Lamb was the hunter who eventually killed the bear. Lamb had just arrived home from his shift as a heavy equipment operator when he heard on the radio that a polar bear was roaming the streets.
Lamb said 50 to 100 people were out looking for the bear. When he saw it, the bear started to move toward him, which prompted Lamb and police officers to shoot.
He estimated the bear was two and a half years old, and said it was very thin. “It was either abandoned or not feeding for a very long time,” Lamb said.
A bear in that state could be deadly, he said, adding it’s not normal for a bear to travel so far inland. It had chased people into their houses that night.
Lamb said he wished he didn’t have to kill the bear, but it was a dangerous situation and there were no tranquilizers available in Kuujjuaq to sedate it.
$100 million-plus to renovate Nunavik homes
Nunavik Housing Bureau announced the summer of 2024 would be packed with home renovations across the region, with $105 million budgeted for the project.
Nunavik Housing Bureau director Lupin Daignault leads the way for home renovations to be made across Nunavik. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
It was a plan several years in the making, part of a federal government commitment over seven years to improve housing across Quebec.
Five villages — Salluit, Kuujjuaq, Puvirnituq, Kuujjuaraapik and Kangiqsualujjuaq — were targeted for renovations with more than 50 renovated units split among them.
Smaller renovations were also done in other communities.
So many journalists get it wrong. Better off finding other work. I guess it to easy to put a sensationalized name on whats affecting people as by newsroom interpretation . Good headline over rides the real issues, for business motives. Readers need to read carefully between the lines. Looking at few headlines just as an example: mining in Nunavik currently opposed , just until a few of the narcissistic leaders finds ways to agree with mining operations equals profits in their own pockets, just watch it coming. Police shooting in Salluit manifesting from lack of leadership to address crime , alcohol, drugs and sexual and domestic violence. What the hell are a group of rookie police living and working in Inuit small communities, not aware of who is who, and carrying guns, and afraid of their own shallow? Dog slaughter oxymoron, as inuit continues to find motivational crowding to take empty apologies and useless dollars, thinking that life with get better and improved. Cost of living where the population are failing to be active in accepting demands with prices at coop are super high than other stores in the same community. Go in kuujj coop and see shelve price and cash register prices way difference of 3 , 4 , 5, even more than 10 dollars in rip off, and customer not a clue. Too bad journalism is not more invested in real issues, investigation journalism with guts. That will help Nunavik grow more healthy. I believe i just pointed out a few truths, welcome the traveller of newspaper stop the bull.
A re-think of the carrying of arms on the person need be made. Arms carried in the vehicle a few feet away from a scene would be better, safer for all. Police at public events I see are approached by youth, they the kids try and touch the equipment on the police who then have to tell them hands off.