Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Cambridge Bay (June 10/02) - No one can accuse Nunavut's mayors of sitting back and waiting for the world to come to them.

In an unprecedented move in the territory, the Nunavut Association of Municipalities, including almost all hamlet mayors and senior administrators, went to where the action is -- Ottawa.

The organization's annual general meeting was scheduled for Cambridge Bay, but when territorial cabinet ministers were unable to leave a budget session, association president Keith Peterson decided to move the meeting to Ottawa.

Speaking from his office in Cambridge Bay, the community where Peterson sits as mayor, he said the move paid off tenfold.

"We achieved the objective of raising the profile of Nunavut in Ottawa on our major issues -- infrastructure, homelessness, economic development, devolution" said Peterson.

He said hamlet representatives and association staff met with 10 federal cabinet ministers, including Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault and Finance Minister Paul Martin.

"We opened some doors that were not open to us before. As mayors, we got the federal government to take notice of us. We're as important to the picture of Nunavut as MLAs and cabinet ministers," said Peterson.

He said the move wasn't meant to undermine the territorial government, but to remind federal decision-makers of the importance of their support.

In that Ottawa supplies Nunavut with 90 per cent of the territory's annual operating budget -- and the territory in turn supplies the hamlets -- Peterson said it was crucial to reinforce their message with the politicians who hold the purse strings.

"Municipal governments are screaming for help. We can't chart a future for our communities without the proper tools," said Peterson.

David General, the association's executive director, was also quick to applaud the move to meet in Ottawa. He said the week-long meetings far surpassed his expectations. He said the timing was excellent and that it was "the right thing to do at the right time."

Bang for the travel buck

The benefits, as far as Kugaaruk senior administrator Quinn Taggart is concerned, include increased education and heightened awareness on the part of federal ministers. Taggart did not attend the meeting, but through discussions with mayor Raymond Kayasark, Taggart said he knows Ottawa representatives now have a better understanding of the conditions hamlet officials face.

"That's what we accomplished -- educating federal ministers who haven't had a chance to visit rural Canada, let alone Northern rural Canada," said Taggart.

"I think when we go to them asking for more dollars, they'll have a better understanding of why -- and why the costs seem so far out of whack when we have to spend a substantial portion of the dollars just in getting the materials here," he said.

Grise Fiord's mayor, Jarloo Kiguktak, was also pleased with the trip and said he and his colleagues all felt it would benefit the territory.

Peterson planned to further his cause last week by attending a meeting with the national lobby group the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Ontario.