Labour Day occurred on Monday,
September 2 this year. The annual
holiday celebrates the achievements of workers and has been celebrated in
Canada since the 1880s. The day is
observed by many countries around the world, but some countries observe it in
May while others in September.
Growing
up, Labour Day was actually a day of dread for me and (possibly) all kids in
North America. The day signalled the end
of summer vacation and the beginning of school.
For kids above the 60th parallel (north), the day is just an extra
day off school. (The school year in
Nunavut begins in early to mid-August, except for schools in Iqaluit). To celebrate Labour Day, I put the army
cadets of 3045 Corps to work.
Scheduling & logistics placed
the corps’ annual community garbage cleanup on Labour Day. The outdoor community service activity fits
into the citizenship curriculum of the Canadian cadet program and is a required
part of training. Also, taking care of
the land is one of the eight components of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit. The component is called Avatittinnik
Kamatsiarniq (Environmental Stewardship).
The cadets, civilian volunteers, and
myself met at the Anglican Church for breakfast. Participants were told to dress warmly and
wear rubber boots. A cadet parent made
egg & ham sandwiches. The corps provided
the juice boxes. I had the most senior
cadet take attendance. The sandwiches
were delicious; everyone had seconds. The
cadets cleaned the eating area after breakfast.
It was time to head to the airport.
The cadets were driven to the
airport in a small convoy of vehicles. I
drove one of Frank’s pickup trucks and stopped by his shop at the Gas Station
to pick up equipment and supplies. The
activity was an all-day affair, meaning the corps had to provide food. The food would be American made Meals-Ready-to-Eat
(MREs). I had the cadets with me load
the truck with MREs, Coleman stoves, pots, foldout tables, a white Fort
McPherson tent, garbage bags, rubber gloves, toilet paper, scissors, Styrofoam cups,
and paper towels. By the time I arrived,
the other cadets and civilian volunteers were waiting for me.
The cadets were going to clean the
shoreline behind the airport. The corps
has been the environmental stewards of this area since 2013. There’s a lot less garbage thanks to our
yearly efforts, but every year, “new” garbage arrives from Arctic Bay by water. Garbage left on the ice ends up floating in the
bay when the ice melts at the end of June.
The garbage is carried by the current 5 – 6km southeast of the community
where the airport and shoreline are located.
I made sure to get access to two ATVs
and trailers for the cleanup. There are
no roads down to the shoreline so using pickup trucks to take the garbage out
is not an option. ATVs are the only choice. The ATVs would be driven by former &
senior cadets. I’m envious of Inuit youth. They get to learn & drive life size ATVs. When I was their age, I was only allowed to
drive ATVs in video games.
The cadets unloaded the pickup truck
and placed all the equipment & supplies on the trailers. Several cadets managed to find seats on the
ATVs. The drivers headed down to the
shoreline while the rest of us walked. I
was not hitching a ride on a trailer; the ride is too bumpy. We passed the large rusted oil drums &
half-a-boat pile of 2013. I don’t think
the land underneath the pile is contaminated but I’ll admit it may be time to
move these discarded items to the town’s landfill.
The white Fort McPherson tent needed
to be set up first. The tent would be
used as a makeshift kitchen and shelter.
Once the tent was up, the foldout tables, Coleman stoves, pots, and MREs
were moved inside. I had the cadets
formed up for a quick briefing. The
cadets would be split into two groups and move in opposite directions, picking
up garbage and placing them in bags.
Large items would be collected into large piles for the ATV drivers to
come by and pick them up. Each cadet was
given rubber gloves and two garbage bags. I would also be picking up
garbage. Lead by example.
We spent a good two hours of the
morning combing the shoreline and removing trash. The stuff we mostly found were: wooden boards,
small toys, clothing, candy wrappers, cans & bottles, and plastic bags. I found a large black plastic toy truck with
a handle. It looked designed to store
smaller Hot Wheels cars and be carried like a briefcase. The ATV drivers drove up and down the
shoreline, picking up large wooden boards and the garbage bags that were
full. They also gave out new bags to be
filled.
It
seems the corps has established a tradition-of-sorts for the annual clean up. At every cleanup I’ve attended since 2013, at
least one ATV gets stuck in the mud. The
vehicle needs to be pulled out by the other ATV using a towing cable and the
pushing power of cadets. It’s the reason
why the corps always tries to get at least two ATVs for the cleanup. Getting stuck is not done on purpose, but it
seems to happen every year. The “veterans”
of the corps, cadet & adult, come to expect this spectacle.
 |
| Chasing a lemming. |
This
year was slightly different. An ATV
& trailer got stuck on some rocks while crossing a shallow river. I filmed the cadets and an adult volunteer working
together to free vehicle & trailer.
Their efforts were a success.
Lunch
time lasted an hour. The cadets also used
the time to relax and chase a lemming on the ground. Lemmings are small rodents and the Arctic’s
version of gerbils. They’re fun to catch
& hold.
The
cleanup continued after lunch but this time, many of us moved further south
along the shoreline, past the shallow river.
This area has been previously avoided because of the river and how long
it takes to get there on foot. This time,
we decided to check the area out.
Crossing the river was the only major hurdle because, even though it’s shallow,
the water level goes just below your knees, which is higher than the tops of
most rubber boots. We had to walk
further up the river to find dry rocks to cross over to the other side. Other cadets weren’t afraid of getting their
feet wet and crossed the deeper parts of the river. One cadet used garbage bags to protect his
feet from getting wet.
We
quickly discovered the shoreline to be littered with trash. Everything I mentioned before was here. There were even three rusted oil drums &
a discarded skidoo seat. It appears this
area is used as a camping site. We picked
up the smaller pieces of garbage and placed them in bags. We arranged the large items into piles. We would have spent more time here but it was
already the mid-afternoon and time had run out.
We could always come back next year.
I
took a photograph of the cadets on top of the wood pile (est. 2013) and the
garbage bags we filled. I would post the
photograph on the community’s Facebook page to show everyone in town what the
cadets did. I congratulated the cadets
for doing their part in taking care of the land. They were then tasked in cleaning out the
white tent, taking down the tent, and packing the trailers with garbage bags
and corps equipment. Everyone headed to
the airport after I deemed the area was clean.
We would come back in October to burn a portion of the wood pile.
The
corps equipment was transferred over to Frank’s pickup truck. The ATV drivers would transport all the
garbage bags and large collected items to the town’s landfill. I would take Frank’s truck and a couple of
cadets to help me return all the corps equipment to his shop. A few parents/guardians had arrived at the
airport and agreed to drive the remaining cadets home. I drove the cadets who were with me home
after we were finished with the corps equipment. I parked the truck at Frank’s house and
walked home. The shoreline behind the
airport was now cleaner than before.
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