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NUNAVUT - The mayors, SAOs and hamlet councils of Resolute Bay, Grise Fiord and Arctic Bay met in Iqaluit last week for the first time as the newly-formed High Arctic Council.

The three communities recently created the council in an effort to resolve common challenges facing Nunavut’s Northern-most residents.

For the inaugural meeting, the focus was transportation, including the high cost of airfare and need for better flight service to and from the High Arctic.

Peter Taptuna, minister of Economic Development and Transportation, and representatives from the airlines were also invited to take part in the meeting and help brainstorm around the issue.

“Our three communities are affected by transportation and the high cost of transportation, the high cost of cargo and food,” said Ron Elliott, MLA for Quttiktuq, the riding which comprises the High Arctic communities, following the meeting on Feb. 26. “We want to keep an open dialogue with the communities and by keeping an open dialogue, we’re more informed and better prepared to deal with some of the challenges that we have.”

Elliott said he was particularly encouraged by the participation from representatives of Unaalik Aviation, First Air and Canadian North.

“Unaalik Air made the commitment to speak with the mayors again in terms of possible chartered flights during peak times,” he said. “That way, during Christmas and all that, we would have family members. So that was nice to hear.”

One issue that stood out for minister Taptuna was the effect the cost of air transportation has on the cost of food in the High Arctic.

“It’s to the point where the cost of a jug of cranberry juice is $65 and that’s not acceptable for any Canadian citizens,” he said. “Our role is to make it feasible for the airlines, that part of the industry, to work up there, economically and just assisting in making sure the airports are safe, viable.”

The Government of Nunavut has committed to develop a strategy taking into account the various issues facing the High Arctic with regards to transportation.

Elliott said he anticipated the new council would develop some sort of document based on the information collected at meetings to help inform this process.

The council is looking to meet again in May through telephone or video conferencing when they will address other issues such as the presence of the Department of National Defence in communities, the plans for a deepwater port in Nanisivik and the military training centre being created in Resolute Bay, he added.

But in the end, all the issues seem to relate to the central concern of Arctic sovereignty, said Elliott.

“When we talk about Arctic sovereignty, we’re always talking about the military might… about the Rangers, and that's part of it. But it never seems the human aspect of it is brought up in terms of the communities. We have people living there day to day,” he said. “We have Grise Fiord and Resolute being two communities that were relocated there. And why were they put there? They were put there because of Canada’s claim to sovereignty, so that then turns into something federal.

“It’s an issue that is not going away and hasn’t gone away because it’s been talked about for many, many years. So it’s nice to know that the government is making a commitment to actually work towards coming up with solutions.”

Senator for Nunavut Willie Adams, who took part in the meeting, said the federal government could do more to help people in the High Arctic.

“I think the government of Canada should do a lot more because the cost of living and everything,” he said. “At one time, from the government, they used to have transportation and everything. Like runways, everything was owned by the government at one time. Now, it’s all privatized and now it’s not Canada operating it. It’s really difficult for people in the community.”