End of Semester (2020)

Inuujaq School had to cancel its Christmas concert for 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.  The community hall was unavailable and the gym isn’t large enough to accommodate the stage, performers, and audience.  Social distancing would be impossible.  Of course, as I mentioned in previous posts, the community hall isn’t large enough to seat everyone either.  The hall was built in the late 2000s and the community has already outgrown it.  Arctic Bay needs a hall that’s 2 – 3 times larger.

My drummers & I were disappointed by the concert’s cancellation, but we knew it could happen.  I had thought about filming our music and then posting the videos to Facebook, but final exams & report cards got in the way.  There’s always next year.

The cancelled concert didn’t stop the school from being decorated with Christmas decorations.  The majority of decorations were on display at the Main Office & central hallway.  A Christmas tree with presents was placed in a corner at one end of the central hallway.  The large windows next to it were decorated with red & green stockings, and small green pine trees.  Each stocking had the name of a staff member.  The centre read, “Merry Christmas from the Staff of Inuujaq School”.  (These were all cardboard paper cut-outs).  There was a similar display near the Main Office.   

There was a lot of activity happening in the Home Ec room on the morning of December 17.  The school hired a local chef to prepare a Christmas lunch for the entire student body.  Several of his children assisted.  I walked into the Home Ec room to see the chef & one of his sons peeling potatoes.  I asked them if they needed help and they said they would be fine.  The chef started preparing in the early morning.  I could see he had already made significant progress.

One sink & three large pots were filled with potatoes.  And there were still two large bags that needed to be cut!  There were also many bags of carrots that needed to be cleaned & cut into thick slices.  A large metal bin & three large pots were already full of cut carrots.  Two aluminum bins were filled with stuffing and a large number of turkeys had been cooked.  The gravy still had to be prepared.  Everyone was going to be dining like royalty later in the day.

We did dine like royalty later in the day.  The food was loaded onto carts and distributed to the students & teachers in their classrooms.  The food tasted great!  Leftovers were returned to the Home Ec room and I think they were claimed by anyone who wanted them.

Not much happened on the last day of school.  Classrooms were cleaned and report cards were picked up.  We all wished each other a safe & healthy Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions, and isolation requirements have forced many southern teachers to cancel their trips down south for the Christmas holidays.  The Nunavut Government still requires people to isolate down south for 14 days before returning to the territory.  Since teachers only get 2 weeks off at Christmas, we would have to go directly to the designated hotels after stepping off the plane.  Not being able to travel this time is disappointing, but it’s also a blessing in disguise.  I’ll finally be able to experience dark season during the Christmas holidays.  I can already tell you it’s really dark & cold outside.  I have more than enough Vitamin D pills to cope.

The Hamlet Office has organized a series of Christmas themed activities for the next two weeks.  They’re outdoors or over the local radio because the community hall is still closed to large gatherings.  They begin on December 23 and will end on January 2.  I might participate or watch.  I just have to dress warmly. 

Speaking of the ongoing pandemic, I read a CBC news article at the beginning of the month that left me surprised, shocked, and disappointed.  Apparently, the Government of Canada has so far spent $240 billion dollars fighting COVID-19!  $240 billion dollars!  The article details how the money was spent.  Although it’s great that Canada is doing whatever it can to keep its population safe from the virus, what gets me is that the same government & provincial governments continue to underfund & support the country’s Aboriginal populations.  There was & is money to spare if $240 billion can be spent fighting a virus. 

Nunavut, for example, has been suffering a severe housing shortage for many years and needs about 3,000 units to meet demand for a cost of $1 billion.  (It’s probably a little more than that due to inflation).  Unfortunately, the territorial government is always told there isn’t enough money and/or they receive just a couple of millions of dollars spread out over a few years to address the crisis.  Well, the not-enough-money reason is a lie.  If Canada has that much money to spare in an emergency, then it has the money to address Nunavut’s housing crisis.  It also has the money to address all of Nunavut’s problems as well as all of the problems plaguing First Nations, Metis, and Aboriginal Peoples.  The status quo needs to change.  

That’s my rant and I’m not apologizing for it.  The inequality, apathy, and racism needs to be pointed out and eliminated. 

I’m going to be taking a short break from my blogging duties to rest & relax over the break.  I can’t believe the year 2020 is almost over.  I’m sure many of us can’t wait for the year to be over because of the ongoing pandemic.  COVID-19 defined this year.  Hopefully, it will be gone next year. 

See you all in 2021!