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December 10, 2004

Iqaluit this week

The Ends of the Earth
Friday Dec. 10 to Sunday, Dec. 12, 8 p.m. with a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m., l'École des Trois-Soleils. The Qaggiq Theatre Company and Part Time Players present Morris Panych's The Ends of the Earth, a comedy about paranoia, delusion, and stalking your enemies. For tickets, $10, call Tony Rose at 979-2359.

Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, Dec. 11. This year's Santa Claus Parade begins at the new arena at 11 a.m. and makes its way to the Parish Hall, where children can visit Santa and drink hot chocolate until 1 p.m. To register a float in the parade, call 979-5617.

Christmas arts and crafts fair
Saturday, Dec. 11, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Inuksuk High School and Nakasuk School. Admission is $2, free for children under 6. To reserve a table for $20, call Tania at 979-7256 or 979-3880 or Audrey at 975-2400.

Christmas Concert
Monday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m., Inuksuk High School. The Iqaluit Music Society and Inuksuk High School presents a musical evening featuring the Inuksuk high school Guitar Band & Youth Fiddlers, the Youth Bell Choir, Community Choirs and Orchestra, throat singers and drum dancers, Scottish bagpipers and more. Admission is free. Donations to the music society gratefully accepted at the door.

Council okays new pool lease

Iqaluit residents will get to use Nunastar's popular but aging swimming pool in the Astro Hill complex for at least three more years, thanks to a new lease that city councillors approved this past Tuesday.

And the rising cost of annual lease payments is sparking efforts to study the idea of building a new pool for the community.

The new lease, retroactive to April 1, 2004, will cost the city $170,980 for 2004-05. That figure will rise to $181,392.68 by 2006-07.

The municipality of Iqaluit has leased the old pool, located in Nunastar's Astro Hill complex, for about 15 years, under arrangements first set up more than 30 years ago by the Government of the Northwest Territories.

David St. Louis, the city's director of recreation, told councillors that the city's last deal with Nunastar expired March 31.

When negotiations for a new lease began, Nunastar opened by asking for a three-year agreement, with a 10 per cent increase in each of the three years.

The city countered by appealing to Nunastar's "sense of community," St. Louis said, and after negotiations, Nunastar presented the city with its final offer: a three-year lease, with a 3 per cent increase each year.

The deal does not, however, include money to upgrade the pool. St. Louis said the city spends an average of about $20,000 a year on minor maintenance.

Coun. Stuart Kennedy said the pool is now past its expected lifespan, and that he's impressed the city can manage with such low annual maintenance costs.

St. Louis said he is preparing a discussion paper - to be presented to council early next year - that would look at options for building a new municipal pool.

New councillor takes oath

Theresa Rodrigue, an Iqaluit resident who fell just short of winning a council seat in the October, 2003 municipal election, took her oath of office this past Tuesday after city council appointed her to fill the seat vacated by the recent passing of Goola Nakasuk.

Under territorial laws, council may choose to fill vacated council seats by either holding a by-election, appointing a new councillor, or letting the seat lie vacant until the next election.

As they have done in the past, council opted to appoint the candidate who won the greatest number of votes in the most recent council election, but not enough to win a seat.

So they offered a seat to Robert Billard, who ranked just below the last elected candidate with 575 votes, but Billard declined.

Rodrigue had finished just behind Billard with 491 votes.

Council peeks at eco-friendly cop-shop

City councillors got an early look at plans for a big new RCMP building to be located in the north end of Iqaluit's Base area.

In a show-and-tell-session conducted on behalf of the RCMP, Terry Grey, an architect with Ferguson Simek Clark, said builders would finish installing piles at the site by the fall of 2005, and begin construction of "phase one" of the building.

More materials would arrive on the 2006 and 2007 sealift, and the building would be finished by December of 2007.

The building would house Nunavut's "V" division headquarters, a new Iqaluit headquarters, and various regional policing functions: major crimes, forensic ID, a dog section, and a training area.

The RCMP has yet to file an application for a full development permit. That will likely happen early in the new year, Grey said.

And he said the new building would follow an even more stringent set of environmental standards than Iqaluit's new Joamie School building.

Ell, ill, misses court appearance

A man arrested in a recent stand-off with police in Iqaluit won't appear in court until next year.

Jerry Ell was unable to come to court on Monday because he is currently in a hospital in Manitoba for unknown reasons.

A lawyer representing Ell said his client wouldn't likely be able to come to court until next year.

Ell faces numerous charges, including sexual assault, two counts of assault, resisting arrest, disarming a peace officer and unsafe storage of a firearm.

Ell was working in Iqaluit, most recently as the executive director of the Nunavut Economic Forum. In the past, he was president of the Qikiqtaaluk Corp., and has also tried unsuccessfully to get elected to the legislative assembly, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., and the Baffin Regional Inuit Association.

Ell is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 7.

John Howard to reapply for bingo licence

Members of the John Howard Society's Nunavut chapter still don't know when they'll be able to resume their weekly TV bingos in Iqaluit - but Iqaluit city council is giving them another chance to apply for a lottery licence.

For the past five years, the society has used money raised by its weekly bingos to pay for a variety of services performed for Inuit inmates in southern penitentiaries and Nunavut correctional centres, such as videotaped messages sent between prisoners and their families, country food donations, and other support.

The money also pays for activities in Iqaluit aimed at crime prevention, such as a popular judo program for children.

After the society's last licence - which covered a two-month period - expired at the end of November, city bylaw officers turned down the society's request for a new one.

To resolve the issue, representatives from the Nunavut John Howard group came to a city council meeting this past Tuesday to talk about the issue in an in camera session.

David Fraser, the John Howard Society of Nunavut's office manager, said he was "impressed" with the reception that the group received from councillors.

But he also said that councillors still don't seem to fully understand what the John Howard organization does, how it uses its money, why it needs money raised by bingos, and why they must spend money on salaried employees to run programs.

In an outcome that Fraser calls a "stalemate," city council said they will send the society a letter clearly stating the information they need to see from them in a bingo licence application.

About three months ago, the city told the society that it wanted more financial information from the group. More recently, city officials have questioned whether the group is a "charity" under territorial legislation.

Fraser said that weekly bingos provide the society with the bulk of its revenues. Without that money, the organization will likely have to cut back on its work, he said.

"We've already turned down four applications for funds, one person, and three little groups in town," he said.

At this point, Fraser said the society will re-apply for a lottery licence, but he coudn't predict when bingos might resume.

The John Howard Society is a prisoner's rights organization with chapters in many Commonwealth countries. The first Canadian branch started in Toronto in 1867.

Iqaluit this week

Stuff-a-Bus

Saturday, Dec. 4, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in front of Northmart and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in front of Arctic Ventures. For the second year in a row, the Nunavut Food Bank is trying to stuff a bus full of cash and cans (and other non-perishable food items).

A celebration of women

Monday, Dec. 6, 7 p.m., Inuksuk High School. Inuksuk high and the Qullitt Status of Women Council present Theatre in the Round, an Anthology of Women. Admission is free. Refreshments will follow.

Education town hall

Tuesday, Dec. 7, 8 p.m., Inuksuk High School. The Iqaluit District Education Authority will hold their annual general meeting in a town hall forum.

Upcoming

The Ends of the Earth

Friday Dec. 10 to Sunday, Dec. 12, 8 p.m. with a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m., l'École des Trois-Soleils. The Qaggiq Theatre Company presents The Ends of the Earth, a comedy about paranoia, delusion, and stalking your enemies. For tickets, $10, call Tony Rose at 979-2359.

Christmas Concert

Monday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m., Inuksuk High School. The Iqaluit Music Society and Inuksuk High School presents a musical evening featuring the Inuksuk high school Guitar Band & Youth Fiddlers, the Youth Bell Choir, Community Choirs and Orchestra, throat singers and drum dancers, Scottish bagpipers and more. Admission is free. Donations to the music society gratefully accepted at the door.

To have your event listed, free of charge, please call 979-5357, fax 979-4763, or send an email to saram@nunatsiaq.com.

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