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KINNGAIT/CAPE DORSET - The hamlet of Cape Dorset has been without a Hunters and Trappers Organization (HTO) for almost a year and although a management position will soon be advertised, it may still be some time before there is an office in place.

Jayko Alooloo, left, and Joannie Ikkidluak, right, vice-chair and chair of the Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board, said they are in negotiations with the Qulliq Energy Corporation to put up a new Cape Dorset Hunters and Trappers Organization building downtown. - Herb Mathisen/NNSL photo

According to Joannie Ikkidluak, chair of the Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board, the office shut down in August 2007 because of financial mismanagement, the building was becoming decrepit and because the organization was $60,000 in arrears to Revenue Canada.

"The HTO office was an old building," said Ikkidluak through interpreter Martha Padluq.

He cited problems with the heating system, as well as a lack of functioning toilets.

Ikkidluak said the wildlife board has been in negotiations with the Qulliq Energy Corporation to put up a new building where the present one sits.

Fred Schell, mayor of Cape Dorset, said there may be an issue with the HTO getting the building in the lot.

"That is where the power corporation wants to build their new plant," he said.

A Qulliq spokesperson confirmed the company is looking at the lot for its new power plant.

"We have an memorandum of understanding that if they were happy to let us have the property, then we would help them with a business plan to get a new building," said Meghan McRae, spokesperson for Qulliq.

McRae said eight years ago the hamlet passed a resolution granting the HTO a lease for the lot, where the present building stands.

A memorandum of understanding signed by the hunters' organization, however, gave the lease to the Qulliq for its power plant.

The hamlet of Cape Dorset also signed a document with the Government of Nunavut agreeing that the land be transferred to the energy corporation, said McRae.

Jayko Alooloo, vice-chair of the Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board, confirmed the hunters' organization never owned their own lot.

He said his board needs to be kept abreast of what is happening in communities, in order to provide assistance.

The Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board manages harvesting levels among the various hunters and trappers organizations in the 13 Baffin Island communities.

There have been communication issues from the organization, he said, explaining the board heard about the problem "only when we received letters" from the public.

Ikkidlauk said the wildlife board has sent letters to the Government of Nunavut to request funding for a new building. They have yet to receive a reply.

The Cape Dorset hunters and trappers organization will begin operation again in the near future - as early as August - said Ikkidluak, because the $60,000 debt with the Canadian Revenue Agency was cleared in January of this year.

A management position will be advertised, but they will have to find office space in another building, until the HTO can get its own place.

Schell said he would like to see the office reopen because it is a big help to the community's hunters.

He said the organization acts as a liaison between hunters and the warden in town.

"They are the ones that are directly involved with the hunters," said Schell.

"If any issues come up, they are the ones that deal with it."

Alooloo said the HTO helps look after wildlife conservation with local officers and helps enforce and regulate quota limits.