Northern News Services

Repulse Bay (Aug 01/01) - When Calm Air suspends passenger service into Repulse Bay this week, the hamlet will lose more than just the service of a larger airplane.

The airline has long been recognized as a solid corporate citizen in Repulse.

Hamlet senior administrative officer Brian McQuarrie said the loss is a devastating blow to the whole community, and will be felt particularly hard in the areas of sports and education.

"When it came to sports travel, every time we had a team needing to get to another community for a tournament, or teams coming to Repulse to compete, Calm Air always made the plane available at the cheapest price possible," said McQuarrie.

"That extended into areas of our school system as well, especially with events such as the Kivalliq Regional Science Fair.

"Calm Air always did its best to accommodate the needs of our students."

McQuarrie said Calm Air is also respected for its efforts at Christmas time in helping spur donations to the local food bank.

The airline traditionally donates a Christmas tree, which every person who makes a donation to the food bank's Christmas hamper has a chance to win.

McQuarrie said the airline is also well known in the community for supporting events such as fishing derbies, Hamlet Days and charity auctions by donating free tickets as prizes.

"At Halloween they brought bags of goodies to the kids at school and always did their share to make the community a better place to live."

Impact on hunting

It's not just in the area of good will the hamlet may feel the impact of losing passenger service.

The local Hunters and Trappers Organization plays host to about 17 caribou hunters every year through an agreement with a southern outfitter.

The partnership brings about $50,000 into the community annually.

"With the weight restrictions on the smaller planes, the hunters will have a lot of problems getting their gear in and out and trying to get their trophies home.

"We're in a real quandary because our hunt is supposed to commence the third week of August.

"Proper infrastructure is a necessity in this partnership and we can't afford to lose the revenues these hunters bring into our community."