The good, the bad and the polar bears

KIRSTEN MURPHY

Help is on the way

The legislative assembly approved a $41-million injection into Nunavut’s budget for the 2001-2002 fiscal year last week.

The additional funding comes in the form of the Supplementary Appropriation Act 2.

The biggest slice — some $26.7-million — heads to the Department of Health and Social Services, while $14 million goes to salaries and benefits under the recently ratified Nunavut Employees Union contract. The remainder goes to various government of Nunavut departments for operations and maintenance.

The good news and the bad news

Although Jack Anawak, the minister of Community Government and Transportation, agreed that Igloolik needs a new recreation facility, he said capital funds for recreation are being put on hold, while health and safety projects are a priority.

Amittuq Enoki Irqittuq tried to persuade him otherwise. “If you went to Igloolik today and saw for yourself the recreational facility and how small it is, perhaps it is not too run down but there are safety issues involved.” Anawak again agreed, saying he had seen the gym.

Construction of a new community facility in Igloolik is not scheduled to begin until 2006-2007.

Spending defended

Baker Lake MLA Glenn McLean questioned Health Minister Ed Picco about spending $300,000 on anti-smoking ads airing on APTN.

McLean suggested the money would be better spent in communities, especially in schools.

But Picco said the spending was justified, since 60 per cent of all new cancers can be attributed to smoking and Nunavut has the highest rate of smoking in children and adults in Canada. He added that more anti-smoking competitions will be held in Nunavut schools next year.

The bear facts

Polar bears dominated question period on Nov. 30 – keeping Sustainable Development Minister Olayuk Akesuk busy and giving Health Minister Ed Picco a break.

Akesuk said his department would do its best to provide financial support for cash-strapped hunters outside of Gjoa Haven. He said Nanisivk mine employees qualify for similar assistance.

“Those are they type of things we have in place to assist people who are incurring hardships because of their loss of livelihood,” he said.

He did not specify the amount of money available or how people could access such funding.

M’Clintock Channel is under a one year polar bear hunting moratorium. The department has set aside money for hunters in Gjoa Haven affected by the ban.

Conversely, some communities have too many bears.

Baker Lake MLA Glenn McLean said grizzly bear encounters left several people seriously injured in his community this year.

Akesuk agreed the Baker Lake matter was urgent and agreed to consult with communities to find out more. “We want to promote tourism in that area, so we have to be very careful about how we deal with bears,” he said.

You had to be there

It’s a tradition in the Nunavut assembly for MLAs to tell humorous tales during members’ statements on Fridays. Here are some of the better ones:

A bitter cup to swallow

Baker Lake MLA Glenn McLean hailed Iqaluit’s Grind and Brew coffee shop for serving the best cup of coffee in Nunavut.

He commended the owners for creating the successful enterprise and joked that Health Minister Ed Picco is the reason the business recently relocated.

“[The owners told me] the loquacious Health Minister would show up and drive out all their customers.” Picco, a frequent Grind and Brew patron, accepted the jibe in his stride.

A spoon full of something

James Arvaluk, MLA for Nanulik, recounted a visit to Keewatin’s Father Fournier for cough medicine when he was a child. The young boy, unfamiliar with qallunaat medicine, took a sip from the bottle every time he coughed – thinking every cough deserved a shot.

By the time he walked home, the bottle was empty but his persistent cough remained.

“I don’t recall the rest of it because I think I fell asleep from overdosing.”

Faster than the speed of light

Otherwise sure-footed Education Minister Peter Kilabuk discovered the meaning of “Quick Stop” recently.

While getting out of his truck, Kilabuk slipped on icy ground and found himself underneath the vehicle. He immediately picked himself up — so quickly, his passenger missed his acrobatics. “Now I know the meaning of ‘quick’ in Quick Stop.”

Scientific nonsense

In an effort to track polar bears around Clyde River, biologists in the area drew a map supposedly outlining where the bears roam.

Uqqummiut MLA David Iqaqrialu called the map nonsense. Iqaqrialu held up his own rendition of the map, complete with fences, and scoffed.

“This is the way biologists would have you believe our polar population lives, with boundaries they don’t go outside of,” he said,

“We don’t have herds of polar bears like the biologists are used to, like on the farm where biologists come from. We do not have farm animals in Nunavut,” Iqaqrialu said.