Karen Mackenzie
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 17, 2007

IQALUIT - Twenty-four hour poutine and burgers could remain a thing of the past in Iqaluit.

Owners of the popular Snack restaurant, which burnt down earlier this year, said reconstruction might be stalled permanently without a major influx of new cash or partners.

Hammers have already stopped swinging on the construction site as contractors were instructed to stand down until future notice, according to Snack co-owner Gilles Lacroix.

"I don't want them to go any further on this building unless I can pay them," he said. "We have to get some money within the next few weeks, if we don't the winter will come and the contractors cannot wait. We might just have to forget about it, lose our money. Maybe try to sell the whole project."

Initial cost estimates for the reconstruction were about $800,000.

However, those didn't take into account a number of additional fees, like the $65,000 charge to bring debris to the dump or a $62,000 power bill, Lacroix said.

The project has now soared to an estimated $1.4 million.

"But everyone knows that, that costs in Iqaluit are very high," Lacroix said.

"It's just expensive," said Nancy Gillis, acting manager of the Baffin Business Development Corporation, on the cost of doing business in the North. "First of all you have to look at your freight costs, whether you purchase locally or from down south, you pay the freight."

Specialized restaurant equipment is also costly, as are the architect's fees needed to design a food service location that is up to code, according to Lacroix.

"It's unbelievable all the requirements, but it's good, because it makes for a safe place," he said.

While the Nunavut Business Credit Corporation has approved the Snack's owners for a $300,000 loan, there are outstanding tax bills that need to be paid off first, Lacroix said.

With about $400,000 already invested in materials and work for the project, the owners approached a number of Inuit organizations "to see if we could find some partners," Lacroix said.

"We're willing to go up to 50 per cent of the business and be ready for them to take over in a few years ... It's very slow, and nothing has happened yet."

More recently, the group decided to put one of the Snack's land assets up for sale - a separate warehouse on the West 40 - in order to generate some cash for the reconstruction.

Lacroix and three business partners - also owners of Pai-pa Taxi - bought the Snack in 1999. The restaurant had already been in operation for about 20 years prior to that.

Last year, the business did about 83,000 deliveries around town.

"It's a very profitable business. And we've got a wonderful team of workers who want to come back, who've been there for five, six years," Lacroix said.