City urged to tackle trash
State of litter and loss of tundra in Iqaluit lamented
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Monday, June 20, 2016
IQALUIT
As the weather warms and snow melts, Iqaluit's dirty secret is revealed. There is litter in the creeks, on the beach, in the parks and just about everywhere.
Janet Armstrong made an impassioned plea to the city June 14 to take better care of the land in and around Iqaluit. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo |
That reality and the gauntlet of garbage on the road to Sylvia Grinnell Park had resident Janet Armstrong up in arms at a city council meeting June 14.
"The landfill itself stretches as far as you can see down the road toward the traditional camping area. The fences are broken down, junk is piled in front of the landfill, huge areas of water are set aside for wastewater - I'm not sure - all of this on the scenic route to the causeway," said Armstong, a 30-year resident of the city. "I want to weep when I drive past some of this for what we have lost."
She emphasized the need for people to take care of the tundra.
"Where there was once beautiful tundra, there is nothing but dirt and sand," said Armstrong.
"Tundra will grow easily in Iqaluit but not if you drive on it, ride your Ski-Doo over it, dump snow over it or cover it in garbage."
The temporary dump on the road to Sylvia Grinnell is also full of recyclable items, said Armstrong, who added that people have been using it as a personal dump, an act one councillor admitted.
"I'm guilty of dumping at that not-dump because I simply didn't know," said Coun. Megan Pizzo-Lyall. "I feel so bad now."
Armstrong also brought up the scourge of discarded bikes in Iqaluit.
"Garbage is everywhere," she said. "Stolen and discarded bikes are in every ditch and every waterway.
"There are discarded couches and chairs in the waterways. Secondary dumps are created along the sides of roads. There are Tim Hortons cups everywhere."
She also took issue with the city's snow dumping during the winter, saying many walkways and public areas have disappeared over the years after not being maintained.
Coun. Romeyn Stevenson sad the drive to Sylvia Grinnell Park saddens him,
too.
"It's really not a pleasant place to be," he said.
That said, Stevenson added that the situation is actually improving, and the city is moving forward in transitioning out of that temporary dump site.
He added that the city will be removing all of the metal from all of its landfills by the end of summer.
Mayor Madeleine Redfern, in a previous interview with Nunavut News/North, said if the city were the sole entity tasked with cleaning up Iqaluit, it would have to hire a dozen people going around town picking up after everyone.
"That's a significant amount of money the city doesn't have," she said, adding it's more ideal that people just don't litter.
"The challenge right now, every spring or early summer, is we begin to see some of the garbage that has been buried over the winter, anything that was not properly put in their bins or got broken loose due to dogs or ravens, and then buried or covered with snow, tends to become revealed when the snow starts melting."
Additionally, social housing tenants and other renters who have recently moved often leave large piles of items outside their units.
Redfern said she had met with the Iqaluit Housing Authority recently, who promised her that situation was being dealt with.
It's not all bad, though.
"I can tell you already there's quite a number of people that I know who are being very diligent and being very responsible in cleaning up around their own yards," said Redfern.
"The city continues to grow, so it's not surprising therefore that it has more garbage to deal with."
The city is currently looking at where to put its next landfill and hopes to have a better system to segregate items. Ideally, federal or territorial funding will help Iqaluit out.
Redfern pointed to the beach, largely owned by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, as another area that needs improving.
"When you speak about tourism, one of the areas that absolutely should be a tourist attraction, where many tourists like to go but is not as well cared for and maintained as it should be, is our beach," said Redfern. "I'm shocked, truth be told, that there are some people who make the effort to actually bring their garbage to the beach."
Every community has an annual spring cleanup, Iqaluit included, and many of the schools make sure to clean up their own land.
"It's really important that we recognize as a community that we all have a responsibility to keep our community clean and that ideally people are not littering," said Redfern.
