Red tape delays Pelly Bay name change efforts

SEAN MCKIBBON
Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT — The hamlet of Pelly Bay knows what it wants to call itself.

It just doesn’t know how to spell it yet.

But thanks to a pile of red tape, recent attempts by the hamlet to change its name to a more traditional name were put on hold, when the hamlet’s senior administrative officer was told that Cabinet approval iss needed first.

“We were given wrong information from the government of Nunavut,” said Pelly Bay’s SAO, Marla Limousin.

Limousin said that according to discussions she had with the deputy minister of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, Peter Inirq, the hamlet was to have been able to use whatever name it wished as of April 1.

But the delay has given the Pelly Bay hamlet council time to think about how to spell their new official name in English.

The council was to have decided Thursday night between three different spellings of a word that means “a little stream:” Kuugaajuq, Kugaaruk (which is supposed to be closer to how the elders say it), or Qujaaruk.

Sources in the Nunavut government say the confusion over how to change the name may have happened because there is in fact no set procedure for changing a municipal name in Nunavut.

While the nascent territory inherited legislation from the GNWT, it didn’t inherit policy.

“It dates back to the time before responsible government, when the GNWT couldn’t pass laws,” said one bureaucrat. As a result the GNWT did a lot of things with policy that other provinces and territories might have done with legislation. All that needs to happen is for cabinet to formally adopt a policy.

“I believe cabinet will be taking look at it when they get back in August,” Inirq says.

Irniq said that once cabinet approves the name change, the Inuit Heritage Trust will have to be notified as well as the Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographical Names, a national clearing house for place names.

The hamlet will also have to change its name on municipal contracts and forms.