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Legislative Assembly briefs Nunavut to promote seal sales in Europe Casey Lessard Northern News Services Published Monday, March 5, 2012
To help sell Nunavut's sustainable harvest, the government is looking to Greenland, which "may stand the greatest opportunity at working through the logistics of the (Inuit) exemption" to the EU seal ban, environment minister James Arreak said. That exemption allows the trade of Inuit-made products, but not Inuit-harvested skins. Until any results of legal challenges to the seal ban are seen, the government will continue to buy ringed sealskins from hunters at double the market price, Arreak said. All is not lost, though, as the hunt generates about $5.5 million worth of meat for domestic consumption each year, the report noted. Almost all of the ringed sealskins are sold to Canadian customers or distributed through the Dressed Sealskins for Nunavummiut program, the report said. The government partnered with Fur Harvesters' Auction this year to promote skins in Beijing, Istanbul and Montreal. Arreak will protest Maclean's polar bear article Environment minister James Arreak will send a letter to the editor of Maclean's Magazine expressing Nunavut's displeasure about a recent article called We're Shooting Polar Bears?, featured on the cover of the magazine's Feb. 20 edition. The article calls the polar bear "four-legged shorthand for climate change," and discusses the growing demand for pelts in Asia. One exporter at the Fur Harvesters Auction in North Bay, Ont. set a new record of $12,400 for a pelt, the reporter noted. Responding to prompting by Rankin Inlet North MLA Tagak Curley, Arreak said he will give the editor details on the polar bear population in Nunavut to emphasize to the world that "they are not a species at risk," and will indicate that the population is actually on the rise. "We know that there is no decrease in the polar bear population because of proper management that is practised up here," Arreak said Feb. 27. Iqaluit Mayor Madeleine Redfern has also sent a letter in response to the controversial article, according to a Twitter post she made March 3 on her @madinuk account. Government aims to spread community freezers Unsure about who would own the new infrastructure, communities have been hesitant to take up the government's offer to pay for community freezers, Economic Development and Transportation minister Peter Taptuna said Feb. 27. "We have nine communities that had applied or showed interest in trying to renovate or even build new community freezers for community infrastructure for their communities, but the uncertainty has slowed the process right down," Taptuna said in response to a question from Quttiktuq MLA Ron Elliott. The freezers would help make country food more available within the community where the freezer is, as well as promote inter-community trade, Taptuna said. "We're going to hopefully continue to try and push this forward with community participation," he said, noting Natural Resources Canada is also involved in discussions to use alternative energy to power the freezers. Pond Inlet airport vandalism After looking into the vandalism Tunnuniq MLA Joe Enook mentioned in the legislature last week, Economic Development and Transportation minister Peter Taptuna could find only one example of "real vandalism" against airplanes parked overnight at the Pond Inlet airport, he said Feb. 28. "During the night, someone attempted to open the cargo door of ... a Canadian North Dash 8 parked on the ramp," he said. In response, his department increased lighting on the ramps and workers started locking the gate to the ramps after hours. Hamlet by-law officers also increased patrols at the airport, he said. Camera security is being installed this year to watch activity at the terminal and on the ramp, and other airports can expect the same this year, he added, noting the number of vandalism incidents at Nunavut airports is "very low."
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