Nunavut’s year in review: July — September

July

— The Nunavut government dips into its small reserve fund to find money to train new nurses and teachers. The Nunavut government will commit almost $5 million over four years to pay for a new nursing program at Arctic College and new training programs for school principals and administrators.

— A group in Cape Dorset receives $120,000 from the Aboriginal Healing Foundation.

— The Nunavut government announces plans to create a single time zone for Nunavut’s three regions, saying one time zone for Nunavut will make the government more accessible to all residents and will make government operations more efficient. Although the idea receives enthusiastic support in the Kivalliq and Kitikmeot regions, in the Baffin region it turns into a public relations nightmare as business people, hunters and entire communities rail against the change. On Oct. 31 the change to a single time zone becomes official, but three Baffin communities hold out and remain on eastern time.

— Rankin Inlet is left reeling after a polar bear kills one person and injures two others who are camping outside of the community. The attack occurred at an outpost camp 30 miles south of Rankin Inlet.

— Four Iqaluit residents begin circulate a petition in support of their proposal to open a new bar in the Nunavut capital. The proposal sparks opposition among many Iqaluit residents. The original proponents of the Uvagut bar are Elisapee Sheutiapik, Ross Bennett, Carmen Kootoo and Joseph Morneau, the manager of the unlicensed Explorers’ Club, better known as the “booze can.” Morneau later backs out of the project, saying he doesn’t want to be a “lightning rod for all those do-gooders out there,” but Uvagut bar proponents still plan to use Morneau’s building in the West 40 as a site for their new venture. The remaining proponents are now waiting to hear if the Nunavut Liquor Licencing Board will approve their application for a liquor licence.

— Hand-crafted marionettes from Pelly Bay are seized by American officials at the U.S. border because they contain marine mammal products. The puppets were on their way to a doll-maker in Rhode Island for repairs. After weeks of lobbying by Canadian government offdicials and various Inuit organizations, the dolls are returned to Pelly Bay. The incident highlighted the dispute over U.S. legislation that prohibits marine mammal products from being imported into the U.S.

August

— Nunavut leaders participate as equal partners at the annual premiers’ conference in Quebec City. Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik emphasizes Nunavut’s pressing need for even the most basic infrastructure. Okalik leaves the conference with a commitment of support for a road that would link Nunavut to northern Manitoba. In their final prepared press release, the premiers stress the importance of a land link between northern Manitoba and Nunavut. The premiers also support the efforts of the northern territories in gaining more control over resources and development, and they ask that the transfer of current federal responsibilities to territorial governments “be accompanied by adequate resources.”

— Liberal MP Bob Nault is named minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, replacing Jane Stewart, who moves on to run the Department of Human Resources Development.

— Heritage Minister Sheila Copps and Pauloosie Keyootak, the president of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, sign an Inuit impact and benefit agreement connected to the creation of three national parks on Baffin Island. The signing ceremony takes place in Pond Inlet, not far from Sirmilik park on north Baffin. Quttiniriipaaq on Ellesmere Island, and Auyuittuq Park near Pangnirtung also receive official national park status, although both have operated for many years as “national park reserves.”

— Convicted sex offender Tommy Veevee goes to court to find out if he will be labelled a dangerous offender. The designation would hand Veevee an indeterminate prison sentence. Veevee has a total of eight sex-related convictions. Justice Beverly Browne later orders that Veevee be declared a dangerous offender.

September

— Foreign Affairs Minister, Lloyd Axworthy, says that he made some progress tackling some of the most urgent economic and environmental issues facing the North, after a week of meetings with Nordic and European Union leaders in Greenland, Iceland and Finland. Breaking down trade barriers and building up a better trade and transportation corridor between Nunavut and Greenland are among the topics that Axworthy discussed with Greenland’s Premier Jonathan Mozfeldt and Denmark’s economic minister.

— September 2 is a landmark day for Aqqaluk Lynge, president of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference. That’s when Lynge hears the apology from Denmark that he and many other Greenlanders have been waiting to hear for years: “utatserqatserpunga.” Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen apologizes on behalf of the Danish state, for the relocation of some 100 residents of north Greenland in May of 1953 to make way for the U.S. air force base at Thule.

— Former Iqaluit resident Pootoogook Kilabuk is found dead in the Vanier apartment he shared with his mother. Kilabuk died from a blow to the throat from a blunt object. Police later charge Robert Christie Mitchell of Ottawa with second-degree murder. Mitchell is scheduled to appear in an Ottawa court this January.

— Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and French President Jacques Chirac enjoy themselves during a whirlwind visit through Nunavut. In the course of their busy two-day stay in Nunavut over the Labour Day weekend, the two manage to see Iqaluit, Cape Dorset and Pangnirtung. “Our short visit won’t let us even begin to understand the vastness of your territory,” Chirac tells a gathering at Nunavut’s new legislature. “But it will allow us to see a bit of its beautiful landscapes, including the magnificent site of Pangnirtung, and to discover first-hand the power of Inuit art, through its creators and artists who are waiting for us in Cape Dorset.”

— A standing committee of the Nunavut legislature calls on the government to buy building supplies for 75 new public housing units this year. The committee, chaired by Arviat MLA Kevin O’Brien, says the Nunavut government needs to use money from its 1999-2000 budget to help alleviate Nunavut’s deepening housing crisis. Housing Minister Manitok Thompson rejects the recommendation, saying there’s no housing money available in this year’s budget. But Thompson later commits to building 100 new units next year, with money from Nunavut’s 2000-20001 budget.

— Nunavut’s deteriorating health care system gets worse when the Baffin Regional Health and Social Services Board reveals that it has run up a $4 million deficit as of April 1, 1999. Combined with deficits produced by Nunavut’s two other health boards, Nunavut’s health care system is $7.5 million in the hole at the start of its first fiscal year. The health deficit is expected to ballon as high as $20 million by April 1, 2000.

— The presence of red-breasted robins in Iqaluit provides a concrete illustration of the effects of global warming on the Arctic. The well-known southern song-birds birds are also spotted in Nunavik.

— A southern brewery uncorks a foam-head of outrage when it uses a picture of an inukshuk on its beer label. Protection of popular Inuit symbols becomes a prominent issue, as the Inuit women’s organization, Pauktuutit, looks for ways to protect traditional Inuit designs.