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Around Nunavik
December
17, 2004
Inuit employment down again
The numbers of permanent Inuit employees at the Raglan mine near Kangiqsujuaq
in June comprised only nine per cent or 42 workers out of a total of 452 workers
at the nickel mine site.
Inuit temporary workers numbered 26, while seven more were in training.
The total number of Inuit workers in the mine's workforce stood at 16.6 per
cent, or 75 workers.
The goal for Inuit employment at the Raglan mine has been 20 per cent, and
training efforts at the mine continue to boost the lacklustre numbers of Inuit
workers.
December
17, 2004
Regional councillors get new donation budget
At last week's meeting of the Kativik Regional Government council, councillors
learned they will have $500,000 to distribute in community donations.
Councillors will receive requests for donations from their communities and
then make recommendations to the KRG executive.
"They know best and so they can help with this," said KRG chairman
Johnny Adams.
The amounts each community receives for donations will be determined according
to population size.
The money comes from the annual cheque that Inuit in Nunavik receive from the
Sanarrutik Agreement.
This deal, signed in April 2002, ensures, among other benefits, that $360 million
worth of tax-free, indexed transfers are delivered to Nunavik over the next
25 years in exchange for possible hydro-electric power projects in the region.
Last year's cheque was about $8 million. Over the next 22 years, the value
of the annual cheque will nearly double, to $15 million a year.
From the Sanarrutik funds earmarked for economic development, 174 positions
have been created in Nunavik communities since 2002 for a total of $2,946,088.
But before the end of 2004, there's still $2,453,912 left to spend, the KRG's
employment and training department reported at the recent KRG council meeting.
To date, Salluit, Kangiqsujuaq, Kangiqsualujjuaq and Quaqtaq have used the
greatest portion of the money available. Nunavik's largest communities, which
receive the largest share of Sanarrutik funds, still have more to spend: Kuujjuaq,
with a possible amount of $615,359 to spend, has $418,795 available; Puvirnituq,
with a possible amount of $562,745 to spend, still has $377,995; and Inukjuak,
with $527,705 to use, has $254,269 left.
At the recent council meeting, the KRG council decided to earmark part of the
money from Sanarrutik to build garages for the region's new search and rescue
boats. As well, 29 snowmobiles will be purchased for elders.
December
10, 2004
Fire destroys Aupaluk
arena
A fire at Aupaluk's arena
last Sunday left part of the building a cold, burnt-out shell, with no electricity.
Damage from the blaze has
left the tiny community of 160 without access to television or outside radio
broadcasts as its cable system burned to a crisp during the day-long fire, which,
due to its location in the middle of the building, was fought with great difficulty
by the local fire department.
The arena's changing room
was also destroyed by fire, leaving the arena unusable.
The arena surface and a
small room containing the Zamboni were not damaged and can be used once electrical
repairs have been carried out.
The circumstances around
the fire are still under investigation, but police believe arson was involved
and several youth were likely responsible for causing the fire.
December
10, 2004
Inuit art show opens
in Paris
Now, through March, there's
an exhibition of 150 carvings on display in Paris at the Musée de l'Homme.
The exhibition from Quebec City's museum of Inuit art is called Quand la parole
prend forme, or "When words take shape".
Divided into various sections
that deal with various aspects of the North's history, culture and wildlife,
the exhibition contains works by artists from Nunavik and Nunavut, including
Pangnerk Illuitok from Taloyoak, Judas Ulluliaq from Gjoa Haven, John Kavik
from Arviat, Matiusi Iyaituk from Ivujivik and Peter Morgan from Kangiqsualujjuaq.
Raymond Brousseau, the
owner and curator of the Musee d'art Inuit, a privately-owned museum in the
old town of Quebec City, called the opening event, which was attended by French
president and Inuit art lover Jacques Chirac, "sweet revenge" because
his museum has never received any government funding.
Brousseau told reporters
he had included only contemporary works in the exhibition to show these Inuit
carvers are "great artists" above all else.
The exhibition already
attracted more than 90,000 in the French city of Lyon last year. After Paris,
it will head off to Toulouse in southern France.
December
3 , 2004
FCNQ gets help from Quebec
The Fédération des Coopératives du Nouveau-Québec
in Baie d'Urfé will receive a $7 million guarantee on its $11 million
line of credit, Geoffrey Kelley, MNA for Jacques-Cartier, announced last month
at a board meeting of the FCNQ.
The guarantee, provided through Investissement Québec, will help finance
the FCNQ's oil distribution operations.
"Northern Québec co-ops have become a major economic force by getting
together, taking charge of their development, and investing their own money
in it," Kelley said.
To date, Investissement Québec has also invested $33.9 million in the
FCNQ.
The FCNQ's president, Pauloosie Kasudluak, Johnny Adams, chairman of the Kativik
Regional Government, and Anthony Ittoshat of Makivik Corporation, reminded people
who attended the board meeting that the network of 14 co-ops is an economic
force in Nunavik, earning revenues of $140 million and providing jobs for 250
people.
December
3 , 2004
Wildlife protection officers graduate
Kuujjuaq residents Vallée Saunders and David Watt were among the first
crop of wildlife protection officers to successfully complete their training
under the Paix des Braves and Sanarrutik agreements, signed three years ago
with the Cree and Inuit.
Eight officers, including two Cree and two Inuit, received their diplomas last
week at the Station touristique de Duchesnay where Quebec's wildlife protection
officers receive their training.
The Paix des Braves and Sanarrutik agreements said Quebec would train and hire
wildlife protection officers to work in northern Quebec and make sure wildlife
laws and regulations are respected.
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