Meetings, More Boats, & An Odd Move

I travelled to Iqaluit for several days to attend meetings organized by the Nunavut Teachers Association (NTA).  The association holds training conferences every September for teachers chosen by their colleagues to represent their schools as NTA and Professional Development (PD) liaisons.  I attended as Inuujaq School’s PD liaison.  I’ve been in the position a few years now and I really enjoy it.  Veterans such as me receive remedial training.

RCMP - Iqaluit Detachment.

The training conference took place on the weekend of September 9 – 10, but I had to fly down two days early due to travel arrangements.  You don’t really have a choice when Canadian North holds a monopoly on Nunavut air travel.  I made sure to prepare enough lessons for the supply teacher & students to follow.

The meetings were held at Aqsarniit Hotel & Conference Centre and attended by teachers from all over the territory.  Some couldn’t make it due to travel issues.  I was assigned a very spacious room.  I explored the town and photographed several important landmarks.  There was no snow, but I still had to wear a warm jacket because there was a cold wind blowing through town.  Iqaluit is a busy and loud place.  You frequently hear vehicles, aircraft, pets, and people.  The population of Nunavut’s capital is close to 8,000.  I made sure to visit Yummy Shawarma twice because there are no shawarma restaurants in Arctic Bay. 

Residential complex.

Nunavut Legislative Assembly.

NTA liaisons & PD liaisons were taught separately.  PD training consisted of reviewing bylaws, policies, training opportunities, funding changes/updates, assisting teachers with applications & substantiations, and preparing for PD Week in 2024.  I met & spoke with teachers from other communities and NTA administration in between meetings.

An evening banquet was held for everyone on September 9.  The hotel staff did an excellent job catering the event.  The main courses were prime rib and chicken.  I had two helpings.  I would have had three if I skipped lunch.

The conference concluded on September 10, but I returned to Arctic Bay on the morning of September 12.  I used my last full day in Iqaluit to buy school supplies and relax.

My sealift order also arrived on September 12.  The large wooden crate was offloaded by the shore crew of the Taiga Desgagnes and was delivered to my place in the evening.  The Taiga Desgagnes is operated by NSSI.  I opened and unpacked my crate on September 14 with the help of a coworker and several kids.  I divided the contents into two groups: home stuff & school stuff.  It took me around 3 hours to unpack and put away all the stuff I bought for my residence.  My place looked like a fully stocked fallout shelter.  I spent the next several days moving school supplies to school.  I got assistance from the vice-principal because they have a car.

Everyone in town finally got to see the two blue prefab trailers being moved on September 16.  The process was a drag; figuratively & literally.  Since the trailers came with no wheels, local workers were forced to slowly pull and push the trailers along the gravel roads using a CAT Excavator and a green loader.  They prepared the roads by dumping extra earth and gravel. 

The trailers were moved 750 metres to their new location, and this wasn’t done along a straight road.  Looking at Google Earth, there were 6 turns, two rising slopes, and one descending slope.  I didn’t watch the whole process but I’m certain it took many hours.  A lot of time would have been saved if the trailers had come with temporary wheels.  As I mentioned in the previous post, these two trailers will most likely house construction workers who will be working on new houses next spring.