Firstly and most importantly, the recycling program is 100% going to happen!! We are in the process of applying for a development permit to build a storage facility beside the school that would house the recyclables, and have a verbal commitment from a local business to donate a shed! The students are very excited about their accomplishment and all of the community feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I'm going to finish up the video editing before this Thursday's Aboriginal Day celebration so we can show it at the Youth Centre barbecue.
Logi was thrilled to hear about our recycling program's success!
I saw a flyer posted about a community meeting for tonight; a public forum for people to discuss the Nunavut Government and how well it has been serving its constituents within the last ten years. When I first arrived at the Community Hall, I peeped inside and saw that only two people were present. I turned around and started walking home; I was just going to observe and didn't want to sit there awkwardly with only two other people! I got about 30 feet away from the door and thought, "Oh, come on, Abbey. Just go!" I turned around, and was so glad I did.
There were only seven community members in attendance at this meeting, which was held by a consulting firm hired by the Government of Nunavut. The firm is in the process of visiting all of Nunavut's communities to conduct these public forums. As the two ladies opened the floor for discussion, one man quickly spoke up. " Just out of curiosity, how long have you been here? We have a lot of groups come through here for a day or two, not giving us any time to prepare or think about these issues, and then nothing is ever done! These kinds of trends wear down a community." Also, "Why wasn't this announced more in the community? We should have more people here than this!" and "We speak Inuinnaqtun here, so if there were any monolingual elders here, your Inuktitut would be wasted on them." I cringed; this was going to be a long meeting! What he was saying, however, was true, and it was good for me to see his frustration.
I was the only white person from the community to attend, so the meeting was a unique opportunity for me to gain insight into what Inuit feel should be done for their community. It struck me that if we had to name the top five social issues that should be addressed in Cambridge Bay, perhaps only two of mine would overlap with theirs. Housing problems, for example, is an issue that I have not had firsthand experience with, but was a priority to those in attendance. I was surprised to learn that the current system requires that people pay rent based on their income, meaning that people with no income pay less rent than those with an income. One man said, "This is Communism, and we know from history that Communism does not work." He said this system "crushes initiative," as some people would prefer to be unemployed and pay lower rent. He suggested that banks be allowed to finance mortgages so that private business could take care of this issue while the government focuses on other issues. Another man raised the point that the available public housing is in shambles, with moldy 2x4's being used for flooring.
There was a drawing at the meeting for two $100 gas cards, but I was not a lucky winner.
Here were some other interesting quotes spoken and points raised as a part of the discussion:
-"The Kitikmeot region is often forgotten. We always get the leftovers of what the Baffin and Kivalliq regions get."
-"Why are we taking sending kids to foster families down south? The Department of Social Services is doing the same thing to kids now as the Department of Education did to us a few decades ago in residential schools! They're stripping them from their families and taking their culture away from them!"
-"The nurses in Cambridge Bay are all contract nurses, meaning that they are not allowed to be long-term residents of Cambridge Bay. This discourages local residents from pursuing a nursing degree, and is bad for the community because we are not being served by our own people."
-"We need more elders in the area of social work, because they have the knowledge and experience to tell youth how to live better lives."
-"A lot of times, Canadian law conflicts with Inuit culture. The Government of Nunavut should have the power to make its own laws! To do what's right for its people! If its good for Inuit, it should be good for Nunavut!"
-"When Nunavut was formed, it gave a lot of programs to the communities. All this did was make us broke. The government should take these programs back."
-"Because of the Canadian laws, we are not allowed to discipline our children! Inuit way is to discipline our children. I think not disciplining them leads to a higher suicide rate."
-"We should encourage young couples to get their own houses. There should be less priority on public housing. Housing and unemployment go hand in hand (see above paragraph)."
-"There should be more opportunities for young people to go out on the land, so they can fall in love with it and have a reason to return here after they are educated. Right now, why would they choose Cambridge Bay over Edmonton? Aboriginals are being cut off from their land and non-Aboriginals are taking it over. We are going to the table on our knees to beg (for land) when it should be the other way around."
-"We should reward hunters who provide traditional food for their families and for the community. Right now, the traditional food is being handed out at the Wellness Centre for free for families in need. It's being treated like charity! It's degrading! That's not the Inuit way! The Inuit way is to share and say "You're welcome. Take whatever you need.""
-Why aren't we tapping into the oil and gas in the high Arctic? We could be a rich territory if we would just do that!
-"We need cement. A few years ago, calcium chloride was put on the roads and now it is kicked up with the dust."
-"We need more government announcements in Inuinnaqtun. Right now, the Government of Nunavut is just taking the Inuktitut syllabics, changing them to the Roman letters and pronouncing it Inuinnaqtun. If you're going to serve people who speak Inuinnaqtun, it needs to be translated properly."
-"The biggest priority we have is to prevent suicides. How is it possible to go from our elders, who fought tooth and nail to survive, to our 20 and 30-year-olds who can't handle their everyday lives? It's a disgrace to our territory!"
At one point in the conversation, a woman said that she wished elected officials would make more of an effort to be present at community events. Another man piped up and said, "How many people here are on the Hamlet Council?" We all laughed, because nobody was, of course! During my time here, I have never seen the mayor at a single public event. "Where are our Hamlet Council members? Where is our mayor?" the woman asked. Her husband suggested that all of us overthrow the Council. I told them all that if I could vote in Canada, I would vote for them, and instantly won over some new friends. : ) Then, the man joked that Cambridge Bay should secede to Alaska and Greenland...The high North shall rise again! Sweet!
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