Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Apr 17/00) - Governor General Adrienne Clarkson took Nunavut by storm earlier this month.

Officially here to commemorate the territory's first birthday, Her Excellency managed to get to several different communities and take part in the traditional activities each had to offer.

And as Nunavummiut might have guessed -- she loved every minute of it.

Adrienne Clarkson: Hello, how are you?

News/North: Very well, thank-you, and yourself?

Clarkson: Very well.

News/North: How have you enjoyed your visit to Nunavut?

Clarkson: It's been an outstanding visit for me and for all of us because it's exciting to be here on the first anniversary (of Nunavut) and also because I got to communities that I hadn't been to before, like Iglulik and Grise Fiord, Repulse Bay.

It was thrilling to go to Repulse Bay because the commissioner came and there are a lot of people who come from Repulse Bay who we had already met in Iqaluit. It's very interesting that it's the kind of area that draws people into public life. I think half the town was there.

In Grise Fiord we had the same kind of reception with the mayor and I think almost all the town was there.

News/North: They were quite excited about your arrival.

Clarkson: It was a terrific spirit and we enjoyed it. It's just so beautiful there. We had tea with iceberg ice out at the iceberg and that was very remarkable because even though it was a little warm for an iglu, they set up an Arctic tent so everything inside was really quite wonderful -- with the caribou skins and the qulliq going.

We had tea and bannock there and we chatted and it was quite terrific and wonderful.

News/North: You mentioned that it was exciting to be here on Nunavut's first birthday. Were you disappointed that the government hadn't organized any celebratory activities?

Clarkson: No, I don't think it's necessarily about having fireworks and so on. One can coast on the memory of last year. Sometimes these things start with a big bang and after that, it's really about how do you settle down and do things and how do you organize things. As Governor General, I was happy to be here on the first anniversary, but I did not expect it to have a lot of celebratory activity. We were happy to have our levee on that day. That was important.

In any case, it was Toonik Tyme and Toonik Tyme has all these events and luckily, I was there for a few of them -- sealskinning and the opening concert.

News/North: What did you think of the sealskinning?

Clarkson: Like all traditional activities, I was fascinated to see it and to know how that was done so quickly...in the cold. The pleasure I find in watching traditional activities, and my husband also went out on the land with the Rangers, is that you feel that even though Nunavut is modern and is a modern creation, on the other hand it's a statement of great identity for Inuit and it's an identity that is affirmed through traditional activities like hunting and fishing and going out on the land. The more that is kept up, while accepting modern educational techniques like the Internet, the better it will be for people here in Nunavut. You just sense that.

News/North: Did you have the opportunity to try some seal meat?

Clarkson: No, I didn't try any seal meat. I have tried seal flipper in Newfoundland, but that was cooked.

News/North: While you were here, you were approached by a homeless man outside of the legislature. Did his words make you want to take some sort of action?

Clarkson: The reason why I stopped and talked to him, and there were three of them outside, was that homelessness is something we've already earmarked as being important to us, so naturally we would want to talk to him. And he gave me a piece of paper with all the things on it that are not right for them, and there must obviously be some things that are not right for them to be homeless in a climate like this, but he said to me, and it touched me very much, was that 'I have you in my heart.' That's why I reached out to him. It was so warm and welcoming even in his state of not having very much and for him to say that to me was very meaningful.

News/North: Will there be additional federal dollars coming here to address that situation?

Clarkson: I'm not involved politically with that question, as you know, but I think certainly my husband and I can draw attention to it by always bringing it up and saying we care about it and that it's wrong in our society to have people who are homeless. Everybody in Canada should be able to be housed. The more attention we draw to it, the more likely something will be done.

The other thing that really struck me a great deal, is the Rangers. I think they are an important factor in life here and I'd like them to be better known to the rest of Canada. I think it's important Canadians know what work they do for the military. They do search and rescues and use all the skills Inuit have traditionally had to help us with our sovereignty. It's a wonderful thing. And the Junior Rangers is a great initiative too.

We were in and out of Iglulik several times because we had to refuel there. We went there initially because we could not get into Pangnirtung or Pond Inlet so that was very exciting to just drop in like that.

The mayor said as we left thanks for dropping by. We really loved that because it was exactly what we had done. It was amazing how quickly they organized everything and the elders were all there. Luckily, I think we came after the hour they have on community radio and everybody came out. It was wonderful, that improvised feeling of everyone joining us. We enjoyed that a lot and it's a very lively community culturally.

News/North: If you had to narrow your trip down to three highlights, what would they be?

Clarkson: I guess meeting everybody in Iglulik suddenly like that was a great highlight because it showed that the community is a community. The moment they're called and they know something is happening, they'll all come. It showed traditional community life.

In Grise Fiord we also had a community welcome, but I think the actual physical beauty of the iceberg and having tea out right beside the iceberg -- I never dreamed I'd be so close to an iceberg -- was terrific.

In Repulse Bay, seeing the numbers of men in public life who have actually come from the small community of Repulse Bay was really remarkable. There were speeches and you could see they have a tradition of participating.

News/North: Will you come back to visit Nunavut?

Clarkson: Of course we will, we love the North. We hope to come back and see the communities we didn't see. We'll do that regularly through my term. I'd like to come for longer next time. Six and a half days is really not enough. I'd like to set aside 10 so we don't have to cancel things because of the weather, just wait it out. It's a lovely place to wait and just talk to people.