Town councillor organizing new Iqaluit clean-up this year

IQALUIT — Iqaluit’s annual clean-up campaign this year didn’t quite do the trick this year, a fact that’s been troubling the many Iqaluit residents.

“Yesterday along the beach and hillsides and every step I took I came across garbage,” wrote one concerned citizen on the Nunavut Political Forum.

“Iqaluit may be the ugliest capital and what is disgraceful is the fact that it only has a population of 5000 and it shouldn’t be that hard to manage compared to cities that have populations in the millions.”

Faced with the unavoidable sight of trash around town, this week the council moved to tidy up the town.

Councillor Lynda Gunn brought forward a resolution this week that would free up $18,000 out of the town’s $30,000 beautification account for a six-week clean up of the community.

Under her plan, members of local charitable organizations could be paid $10 an hour, up to a maximum of $3,000 per group, per week, to clean up a section of town.

Gunn’s motion was passed after Gunn agreed to supervise the charitable organizations and make sure work is actually completed. Gunn is also supposed to report back to the Town’s development, works and public safety committee this month with a map outlining areas to be cleaned up.

Until this year, Iqaluit’s annual clean-ups have been done by volunteers. In mid-June, the Arctic Winter Games committee tried to mobilize volunteers and seek sponsors who would pay for trash to be picked up around homes or businesses. They gathered 550 bags of garbage.

But three weeks later, it was hard to see the results of the clean-up.

“The town is just getting too big,” Gunn said .

Concerned about the trash for years, Gunn said the problem is worse now because of an increase in new construction projects. She said construction site foremen have to be aware that there’s a municipal bylaw requiring them to clean up construction sites.

This week Iqaluit’s beautification society also moved ahead with its plans to clean up and beautify the town.

“It’s obvious that something has to happen,” said member Janice Braden. “We’re trying to be positive.”

The society wants to construct litter bins made out of stone. They also have plans to create a park in front of the elders’ centre that would feature a sculpture, a patio and a stone qammaq.

This week, two stonemasons from Ottawa were in Iqaluit, working with an interested group to teach them the skills to build structures of stone.

The beautification society also hopes to educate young people about the benefits of keeping Iqaluit clean.

Rannva Simonsen, the head of the committee, is originally from the Faroe Islands. She recalled that many years ago her home community also suffered from the garbage problems.

As she sees it, people in Iqaluit haven’t yet learned how to care about their town.

“The town seems to have low esteem,” said Simonsen. “When people go out on the land, there’s a big heart and everyone loves it. When they talk about the town, they just trash it, but the town is part of the land, too.”