Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Baker Lake (Sep 24/01) - Baker Lake MLA Glenn McLean isn't pulling any punches when it comes to the tourism industry in the Kivalliq Region.

The Nunavut government should be looking at ways to bring in regional arts and crafts from across the Kivalliq and organize a craft festival to promote Inuit culture and crafts to visiting cruise ships, says Baker Lake MLA Glenn McLean.- Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

McLean is chairing the Nunavut legislative assembly's standing committee on tourism, which is travelling across the territory, gathering information on the state of the industry.

The committee recently finished the Kivalliq leg of its tour and will be tabling a public report after future stops in Iqaluit, Kimmirut and Cape Dorset.

So far, the news hasn't been good. "Lodges in the Kivalliq are all on life support because of the high cost of transportation and the lack of a support plane to service them," says McLean.

"The operators are disgruntled. They can't make any money right now and they don't seem to be getting any support."

Although there was modest success with cruise ships this year, McLean says the region is nowhere near organized enough to access the money available by attracting the big ships.

The MLA refuses to mix words when identifying the problem, saying nobody wants to co-ordinate a drive to improve service and attract more of these operations.

McLean says the Nunavut government should be looking at ways to bring in regional arts and crafts from across the Kivalliq and organize a craft festival to coincide with the visits.

He says cruise lines should know months in advance what locations will greet their ships with groups of artists and their crafts.

"We have to let the people who use these cruise lines know there's more to life in the Arctic than chasing polar bears or seals around the water," he says. "There's vibrant life in our communities they could also be experiencing."

Proper co-ordination in each region between industry and government would go a long way in helping to develop tourism.

McLean says the worst part about the current state of the tourism industry is that the manpower is already in place to co-ordinate efforts. "We have too many employees involved with Sustainable Development and Nunavut Tourism -- just to name two -- saying it isn't their job and that attitude has to change. "Some of these people have to begin to apply themselves and that's going to be in my report."