Current ads
Jobs
Tenders
Notices
General

Click below

January 24, 2003

Kunuk made officer of Order of Canada

Zacharias Kunuk, the filmmaking genius from Igloolik who directed Atanarjuat, has been made an officer of the Order of Canada, only one step below the rank of companion of the Order, the country’s highest civil honour.

Kunuk, whose Inuktitut-language feature-length film wildly exceeded all expectations after its release in 2001, will receive his insignia from Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson later this year.

Three other Nunavut residents were made members of the Order, one rank below that of officer. They are: Elisapee Ootoova of Pond Inlet, Helen Maksagak of Cambridge Bay, and Tagak Curley of Rankin Inlet.

Ootoova, honoured by the Governor General last year for outstanding work on behalf of women’s equality, is the creator of an Inuktitut dictionary and co-author of an encyclopedia of traditional Inuit knowledge.

Maksagak was the first Inuk commissioner of the NWT and the first commissioner of Nunavut, while Curley was the founding president of the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada and founder of the Inuit Development Corporation, which later became Nunasi Corporation.

TOP

January 24, 2003

Nunavut boosters go bullish in Boston

Ron Irwin, who served as the Liberal government’s minister of Indian and northern affairs from 1993 to 1997 and presided over most of the major decisions that made Nunavut what it is today, is now working on a scheme to boost Nunavut culture in New England.

Irwin is now the Canadian government’s Consul General in Boston. He wants to use his office to set up a "Nunavut Exposition" in New England in 2004.

He’s working with his former seat-mate, Jack Anawak, who was the Liberal MP for Nunatsiaq from 1988 until 1997, to organize a major promotion in New England in 2004. Anawak served for a time as Irwin’s parliamentary secretary.

Last April, they enlisted the support of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., DIAND, Heritage Canada, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

On a trip to Boston last week, a team of Nunavut officials led by Anawak worked out deals with various organizations and businesses in the Boston area that will see some Nunavut residents serving as trainees.

The Boston Children’s Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum, the Gloucester Fish Auction, the Pucker Gallery and the Canadian Consulate General in Boston are all likely to take Inuit interns.

NTI has donated $100,000 to help pay the cost of setting up the Nunavut Exposition.

In a news release, NTI President Cathy Towtongie said she would like to see the money go toward cultural demonstrations to help educate Americans about Inuit culture.

TOP

January 24, 2003

Dial CLEY for dollars

Nunavut residents with questions about how to get money from the department of culture, language, elders and youth may now use a toll-free number to contact the department’s employees.

The number is 1-866-934-2035.

A CLEY news release issued this week says "the number will give Nunavummiut access to knowledgeable staff who can assist in developing projects and filling out application forms."

CLEY hosts a variety of handout programs aimed at helping people pay for projects related to things like culture, heritage, language, the arts, elders and youth, women, and disabled people.

Meanwhile, CLEY also announced this week that it has donated a total of 200 sets of Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun flash cards to the Nunavut Literacy Council.

The cards are aimed at helping children learn the Inuit languages.

TOP

January 24, 2003

Canadian Arctic researchers in need

Canadian scientists are lobbying the government to spend more on Arctic research.

A group of 42 of the country’s leading Arctic researchers have sent a letter to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien asking for a $25-million investment.

Arctic research funding in Canada stands at about 20¢ per capita, compared to about $3 in the U.S. and $2.50 in Australia, said a professor at the University of Guelph who tracks such things. Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Great Britain all fund Arctic research at a per-capita rate several times higher than Canada’s.

Scientists say they are regularly embarrassed on the international stage because they have to rely on data about their own country from foreign scientists.

TOP

January 24, 2003

Diamond exploration continues

Twin Mining is continuing to explore its diamond excavations at Torngat North, on the east side of Ungava Bay.

The company has recovered 349 diamonds at 900 metres, totalling 0.173917 carats, and 197 diamonds at 400 metres, totalling 0.128940 carats.

A company press release calls these results pleasing and consistent with samples taken in 2000.

TOP

January 24, 2003

Snowmobiling dangerous, report says

A report produced by the Canadian Institute for Health Information says snowmobiling is the most dangerous wintertime recreational activity.

Canadian trauma centres reported 137 serious injuries from snowmobile accidents in the winter of 2000-01. Alcohol was a factor in 26 per cent of injuries where blood alcohol levels were measured.

Nearly as many people suffer serious injury from snowmobiling as from cycling, which spans a longer season and more age groups. The report says 18 per cent of serious injuries from recreational activities stem from cycling, while 16 per cent come from snowmobiling. All-terrain vehicles account for 13 per cent of serious injuries from recreational activities.

TOP

January 24, 2003

Seals hit by climate change

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has issued a report saying climate change is thinning the ice cover off Newfoundland, which is affecting harp and hooded seals.

The report says the ice cover in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and off the province of Newfoundland has been much smaller than average in six of the past seven years. This hurts harp and hooded seals, which give birth on the ice in late February and March and nurse their young for about 12 days.

A senior science advisor with IFAW said the annual hunt should be cut to 50,000 seals to allow the species to rejuvenate.

Last year, the federal government allowed hunters to cull 307,000 harp and hooded seals. The total population of the two seal species is estimated at more than five million.

TOP

January 24, 2003

Inquest into inmate’s death begins next week

On Jan. 28, a coroner’s jury will review the facts surrounding the sudden death of Colin Kaotalok, 18, on Nov. 22, 2001.

The Cambridge Bay teen was serving a 10-month sentence at an Iqaluit half-way house when staff members discovered his lifeless body.

All inmates who die while under the care of the Government of Nunavut are subject to a coroner’s inquest.

An inquest is a hearing, not a trial. Recommendations arising from the inquest are designed to prevent similar deaths.

People wanting to make a presentation at the inquest are asked to contact the Office of the Chief Coroner at 975-6125.

TOP

January 24, 2003

Fire destroys Kugluktuk business

Kugluktuk residents woke to the sound of fire trucks speeding toward Mulco Ltd.’s maintenance garage on Sunday morning.

The building, a forklift and a loader were destroyed in the blaze.

Homes and businesses in the surrounding area were still without phone service Wednesday because of damaged phone lines.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. No one was injured and damage to surrounding buildings was minimal.

Mulco is a building company involved with construction, road clearing and maintenance.

TOP

Advertising
Specs, rates,
& maps
Multi-paper
buying services
About the market
E-mail ad dept

More Information