Erin Fletcher
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Apr 16/04) - Seeing is believing for a group of senior government officials who toured Inuvik, Holman and Tuktoyaktuk, April 3-7.

The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami Inuit Arctic Tour was designed to give southern government staff a look at the health, infrastructure, social and environmental challenges the Inuvialuit face living in the Western Arctic.

The group -- which included ITK president Jose Kusugak; Kathy Langlois, director general of community programs directorate for Health Canada; Clare Beckton, assistant deputy Attorney General of Justice; and Guy Bujold, senior assistant deputy minister of policy and communications for Infrastructure Canada -- got a real flavour for the Arctic when they had to drive through a blizzard on the Tuktoyaktuk ice road and almost had their charter to Holman cancelled due to bad weather.

But they came out all smiles after feasting, dancing, touring and meeting each community.

"I thought it was great," said Bujold.

"You have no sense if you haven't been here and seen the geography and the way people think."

Nellie Cournoyea, chair and chief executive officer for the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, said having senior officials visit the communities was better than politicians.

"Politicians come and go, but these are the people who do the work," said Cournoyea, who took the tour as far as Tuktoyaktuk.

"It's very difficult to explain the needs of the Arctic. (The senior officials) don't get to travel like the politicians, but they advise the ministers so it's important for them to know about the Arctic."

Tuktoyaktuk deputy mayor Merven Gruben was pleased with the community meeting with the tour members in the hamlet council chambers.

All-weather road

on the agenda

"I think we got some good connections. It's always good to get them up here instead of them looking up at us from down south. Now they can see what we experience all the time," he said.

An all-weather road, shoreline erosion, a new cemetery, a school extension and a new solid waste site were all concerns brought out during the meeting.

Bujold, who works for federal infrastructure, was especially curious about the all-weather road, which the hamlet has been fighting to get for years.

"I think the road will probably go further than it ever went before," said Gruben.

Funding shortage

The Holman meeting went better than Mary Kudlak expected.

"Quite a few" people turned out to meet the visitors at the hamlet council chambers, including Kudlak, who spoke on behalf of the elders council.

"They didn't say much, but they wrote down all the things we said," said Kudlak.

The nursing shortage and a shortage of funds for social programs was of greatest concern.

"All the things we used to do with youth and elders aren't on now because of a lack of funds," said Kudlak.

This year's spring and summer camps for youth and elders were cancelled for the first time this year. So were the traditional sewing classes when the Katimavik Centre was closed, because there's no funding to fix a sewage problem in the aging building, said Kudlak.

Back to the board room

The Inuvialuit have been assured they won't be forgotten once the tour returns to Ottawa.

Bujold, who took a similar tour last year of Nunavut, said things he saw there resulted in changes to federal housing policies.

"We'll all go back home and see whether or not we can make policy and program responses more sensitive to the reality of the North," said Bujold.

Housing is at the top of Langlois' mind.

"Housing is a pretty important issue that needs to be addressed," said Langlois, who works for Health Canada.

"Crowding affects the transmission of disease, mental health and the ability to get an education."