Snow, Sealift the Third, and Fire

First snowfall.

Construction of the new health centre.

Wednesday, September 16 was Arctic Bay’s first snow day.  (Snow fell on the surrounding mountains a week before).  It was a strange, though exciting sight to wake up to.  Snow was sprinkled all over the community while low grey overcast clouds hung above.  Despite this sudden change of weather, construction on the new health centre continued.  Unfortunately, the snow would melt by the end of the day, leaving behind mud puddles in the gravel roads.  What followed was three days of rain.  This forced me, and many others in the community, to walk around in rubber boots.

            

Umiavut (top) & Kiviuq I (bottom).

Umiavut with KGVM in the background.

The third sealift vessel, the Umiavut, arrived on September 19.  (I’ve been told that a third sealift boat is rare for Arctic Bay).  A third freighter was required to deliver the remaining orders because the construction materials for the new health centre occupied most of the assigned cargo space on the second boat.  The Kiviuq I also dropped anchor in Arctic Bay that day.  I think they came back for supplies.  (You can reread my visit to the ship here).      

            

Kiviuq I

The remaining school supplies were on the Umiavut.  Some of the items were big, like a SMART Board on wheels, filing cabinets, and a new playground slide.  The mobile board was assembled by Greg, the Grade 6 teacher.  If the mobile board is frequently used by all teachers this year, the principal may order another one for next year. 

And this is just the weekend line up.
The school day line ups were three times
as long.

The new playground slide became an immediate hit with the students after it was installed in the school yard.  For the next week, teachers on recess duty had to manage the very long and continuous line of children wanting to try out the new playground attraction.  The same thing happened two years ago when the school installed a new swing set.     

Following a familiar script from last year, my Grade 10 Social Studies students continued their examination of the history behind the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.  They read about the issues discussed at the 1970 Coppermine Conference, the Inuit organizations that were formed in the 1970s, and made information posters about the key Inuit negotiators.

In Grade 11 Social Studies, my students were studying European imperialism but this time I added more case studies from the new textbooks I ordered.  They looked at imperialist practices in Canada (ie. Canadian Pacific Railway), and Africa (ie. Zulu Kingdom, Belgian Congo).  They were particularly interested in the 1990 Oka Crisis.  I had to split the imperialism test into two parts because we covered a lot of material. 

My drummers no longer complain about having to carry all the instruments & equipment down to the Home Ec room for practice.  This tells me that they are half prepared for the Halloween & Christmas concerts.  The other half is learning and perfecting the required repertoire.  So far, we're focusing on Halloween next month.  Once October arrives, the days are going to go by much faster.  My drummers received some new music, such as, an intermediate rudiments handout, and a third performance piece.  They also did some theory revolving around counting 16th notes.  Before the month was over, my drummers completed two performance tests.

It's my duty to promote education as a teacher.

Several important news items occurred in the north this month and I would like to take the time to address them.  Unfortunately, only one of them is positive - I think.  On September 5^th, a fire broke out at the new airport terminal being constructed in Iqaluit.  Thankfully, the fire was contained to the roof and extinguished by the fire department.  However, the fire caused $1 million in damage.  The roof is being constructed using a material that is a petroleum product.  When the product is heated, it becomes a liquid, and the liquid is combustible.  The Nunavut’s Office of the Fire Marshal conducted an investigation and determined that the fire was accidental and not deliberately set.  Hopefully, this incident will not cause a great delay in the terminal’s construction.  The new terminal is part of a massive airport renovation project expected to be completed in late 2017.  Despite the controversy surrounding this $400 million project, I still believe the new airport will greatly benefit the people of Iqaluit and Nunavut.

            

The very next day, on the morning of September 6^th, a fire demolished Peter Pitseolak High School in Cape Dorset.  The fire had actually started the night before, but burned throughout the night.  Firefighters were unable to stop the blaze from consuming the entire building and the contents inside.  Many newspapers have quoted witnesses saying that there is literally nothing left of the building except scrap metal.  The tragedy struck just two and half weeks into the new school year and after the school underwent a $17 million renovation.  The school also doubled as a community centre.  Three youths have been arrested and charged with arson with damage to property, and arson with disregard to human life. 

High school classes resumed several days later at Sam Pudlat Elementary School but only in the afternoon.  The education department flew in additional supplies, textbooks, and workbooks.  An  Ontario teacher has set up an online fundraiser to send educational supplies to Cape Dorset.  The Nunavut Education Minister, Paul Quassa, stated that rebuilding the high school would take three years and delay other construction projects.  The delay will affect the new power plant and health centre currently being planned for the hamlet of 1,400 people.  

The news of the fire spread quickly throughout the territory and the rest of Canada.  Naturally, everyone here at Inuujaq School was shocked by the news.  It made us ponder on what would happen here should our school ever suffer a similar fate.  We came to the conclusion that we too would be scrambling to find places to hold classes for the rest of the school year.  

The community of Arctic Bay suffered its own tragedy on September 20, when Michael Levi, 51, died at the Mary River mine site in what has been called a “workplace accident.”  The mine is operated by Baffinland.  The company sent grief counsellors to the mine site and to visit Levi’s family in Arctic Bay.  Levi’s body was returned to the community a week after the accident and was laid to rest following a community-held funeral.

The federal election has been in full swing for the last month and there are 4 candidates vying for the Nunavut riding.  Hunter Tootoo is running as a Liberal candidate, Jack Anawak as an NDP candidate, Leona Aglukkaq as a Conservative candidate, and Spencer Rocchi is running for the Green Party.  Spencer is a former teacher from Inuujaq School, having taught here just last year.  All candidates have made many expensive promises to the people of the north, from expanding the Nutrition North program to spending more on infrastructure.  At the moment the race is looking pretty close.  We shall see what the final outcome will be on October 19th.  

What makes campaigning in the north unique, and frustrating for voters, is that expensive air travel prevents candidates from visiting most of the northern communities.  Campaign stops are usually restricted to Iqaluit and/or Rankin Inlet.  The federal political parties would score more "political points" if they spent more money sending their candidates all over the territory.