Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (May 13/02) - There are grocery lists tacked on many fridges. Milk. Bread. Toilet paper. A woman in the family usually writes the list.

And often, a woman does the shopping. So it only makes sense that women have a say in how the store is run.

"Women are an asset on the board," said Iglulik's Marie Lucie Uviluq from the Arctic Co-operatives annual general meeting in Yellowknife last week. She said more women should be included on community co-ops' decision-making panels.

But Uviluq said that before being voted onto co-op boards women will have to convince community members.

"They will have to get to know us first before they elect us. We will have to speak out more. That way our points will get out more."

Arctic Co-operatives Limited is owned by 35 member co-ops in the North.

There are 16,000 individual members. The Iglulik Co-operative is owned by members in its community, just like other community co-ops.

Two delegates from each co-op travel south every year for the annual meeting - except every fourth year when the annual meeting is held in the North.

"The majority of shoppers are women. They get to know what is cheapest and what will last the longest," said Uviluq.

Arctic Co-op has a huge central buying system. Community co-ops buy goods from Arctic Co-ops and are charged a seven percent surcharge. If there's a profit at the end of the year, money is returned to members.

"We've given a lot of money back," said Arctic Co-op's Christine McCarville.

"We gave back $3.1 million just for 2001."

Co-ops were formed in Northwest Territories and Nunavut communities in the early 1970s. In addition to stores, co-ops are involved in hotels, taxis commercial fisheries, bakeries and cable television services.

Co-op to Iqaluit

There's talk of a new co-op in Iqaluit. Arctic Co-ops recently bought Iqaluit's Toonoonik hotel and gas-bar from the Pond Inlet Toonoonik-Sahoonik Co-op.

The hotel was closed earlier this spring when maintenance expenses were too high for the co-op to keep up with.

"There is a group of interested community leaders in Iqaluit looking at developing a Co-op there," said McCarville.

The Toonoonik location is ripe for a co-op.

"Property is very, very scarce."

But the final decisions about the prime Iqaluit property haven't been firmed up yet.