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October 8, 2004

Rankin's friendship centre celebrates

The Pulaarvik Kablu Friendship Centre in Rankin Inlet recently threw a week-long birthday party to celebrate its 25 years in the community.

The party wound up with a day of games, a community feast and a square dance.

The non-profit centre offers 14 programs aimed at different age groups as well as computer access for the public.

Programs are provided on a shoestring budget in the centre, which is one of the community's older buildings.

On the centre's wish list for the next 25 years: a new and much larger home.

"The people who come here are from infants to elders. Everyone benefits from the centre in some way or another," said Noah Tiktak, from the municipal recreation department.

October 8, 2004

More sapphires found near Kimmirut

True North Gems has found five new sapphire outcrops at its Beluga sapphire property near Kimmirut.

The new discoveries were the result of a regional prospecting program and bring to six the number of outcrops with sapphires on the company's property.

The largest outcrop, known as the Bowhead, measures about 100 meters by three meters.

Images of the outcrops are posted on the company's Web site at www.truenorthgems.com.

October 8, 2004

Caribou, muskox hunt gets boost

Nunavut signed a deal with federal government ministers last week in Iqaluit that will give the territory's commercial hunt for caribou and muskox up to $180,000 a year for five years.

The money comes from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and its agricultural policy framework aimed at making Canada a world leader in "environmentally responsible" food production.

"Nunavut's caribou and muskox food products are high-quality products and are gaining recognition globally," said David Simailak, Nunavut's minister for economic development.

"This agreement allows us to further highlight several unique attributes of our agri-foods. For instance, harvesting wild game ensures environmental sustainability, lowers our risks to environmental diseases, such as BSE, and provides organic meat to consumers."

October 8, 2004

It's sun transit time again

Northern long-distance telephone and Internet users will see short interruptions in service every day from now until Oct. 18, because of satellite problems caused by the sun's position in the sky at this time of year.

Northern Canada's telecommunications provider, Northwestel, says the disruptions usually last only a few minutes, from late morning to mid-afternoon, depending on the customer's geographic location.

These sun transit problems occur twice every year, in the spring and fall, when satellites pass directly between the sun and satellite dishes on Earth. This causes natural radio frequency noise from the sun to overpower radio signals coming from the satellite.

The problem mainly affects long-distance telephone and Internet services.

October 8, 2004

Winds rock Nunavut

Record strength winds for October blasted Rankin Inlet on the weekend, peaking at 100 kilometers an hour with gusts to 137 km/h on Sunday afternoon. The previous record was set on

Oct. 14, 1997 when winds of 93 km/h and gusts of 137 km/hr were recorded.

Environment Canada says last week's sustained wind was only surpassed in January 1999 and May 2002, when winds of 102 km/h were measured.

November 1965 likely saw one of the strongest Nunavut wind events, with winds of 142 km/h gusting to 158 km/h at Resolute Bay.

Last Friday, the weather office issued winds or blizzard warnings for 15 communities in Nunavut. Peak winds were as follows: Iqaluit (70 km/h), Cape Dorset (70 km/h), Coral Harbour (65 km/h), Rankin (100km/h), Baker Lake (76 km/h), Arviat (85 km/h), Hall Beach (60 km/h), Gjoa Haven (70 km/h), Resolute (59 km/h), Pangnirtung (54 km/h), Pond Inlet (54 km/h), and Taloyoak (50 km/h).

According to Environment Canada, temperatures near or above freezing prevented the blizzard conditions over much of the Kivalliq area from being more widespread.

The two big storms both tracked northward from the U.S., through Manitoba and into Hudson Bay, bringing a lot of potential energy from the South that combined with open water of Hudson Bay, to form an intense low pressure system.

October 8, 2004

Neophyte bureaucrat to run justice department

Premier Paul Okalik has picked a former legal aid lawyer with no previous experience in territorial government administration to run Nunavut's Department of Justice.

Markus Weber, a newcomer to Nunavut's territorial government, will start his new job Oct. 20.

He succeeds the respected Nora Sanders, who departed suddenly from her job this past May.

The government's side of the story is that Okalik, who is also the minister of justice, asked for Sanders' resignation because of the "handling of an RCMP investigation" into a Liquor Act charge laid against Kevin O'Brien, the former MLA for Arviat and speaker of the legislative assembly.

O'Brien was charged in July of 2003 for illegally possessing liquor in Arviat, a dry community. In January of 2004, he paid a $215 fine after pleading guilty. But MLAs were enraged because they, and O'Brien's constituents, didn't know about it until after the territorial election in February.

Sanders soon found a deputy minister position in the Government of Saskatchewan, and Anthony Saez, an assistant deputy minister, filled in while the Government of Nunavut searched for a replacement.

Weber holds a law degree and an MBA from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. In Nunavut, he has worked as a staff lawyer at the Maliiganik Tukisiiniakvik legal aid society in Iqaluit, and as executive director of the Law Society of Nunavut, a regulatory body for lawyers in the territory.

October 1, 2004

Qulliq wants Nunavut-wide power rate

Nunavut's Qulliq Energy Corporation wants to change the way it charges for electricity. At present, bills reflect what it costs to produce electricity in each community.

But now the power corporation is asking for a uniform territorial rate.

This means consumers throughout Nunavut would pay the same rate based on the Qulliq's average cost of operations and capital costs across Nunavut.

QEC made an application with the federal minister of energy. This will be reviewed by the Utility Rates Review Council and public hearings on the change will take place during the review.

Qulliq's application says it needs revenues of $77 million, or $19 million more than it receives now.

If the QEC's application is accepted, electricity will end up costing more in some Nunavut communities, and less in others. The rate increase won't take place until at least April, 2005.

"Diesel fuel is used to generate most of Nunavut's electricity. World oil prices have risen significantly and these increases are not presently reflected in our electricity prices," said Qulliq chairman Simon Merkosak.

October 1, 2004

Next week: Literacy week

October 3 marks the launch of Nunavut Literacy Week, with events promoting literacy awareness in communities across Nunavut.

On Wednesday, the Nunavut Literacy Council will hold its "Read for 15" challenge. This involves reading for 15 minutes, a challenge 7,281 Nunavummiut took up last year.

This year, Yellowknife is challenging Iqaluit to see which city can get the highest number of residents to participate. The results will be tallied up and then divided by population and the city with the highest percentage of readers will win.

"Last year, 1,918, or approximately 41 per cent of the people in Iqaluit, took part in 'Read for 15'," said Kim Crockatt, executive director of the Nunavut Literacy council. "We hope to top that number this year."

To enter the challenge, call Iqaluit's Centennial Library or the council at 867-983-2678 or contact kimcr@polarnet.ca.

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