The Inuit Circumpolar Council Assembly was last held in Greenland in 2010. July 21, it returns to Inuvik bringing 600 official delegates as well as spectators to see the 45th Circumpolar Northern Games. - photo courtesy of Peggy Jay

INUVIK
Inuvik is poised to grow substantially in the next week as the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) Assembly comes to town.

The event, which features the 45th Circumpolar Northern Games along with the assembly, will bring at least 600 official delegates and athletes to town.

The official visitors attending the assembly and games will come from Greenland, Canada, Alaska and Russia, making it a truly multinational event.

Peggy Jay, who is co-ordinating the conference, and Nellie Cournoyea, the head of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, said it's going to be a cultural and sporting spectacle and a celebration of Inuit culture that hasn't been seen in the region since 1992, when the ICC was last held in Inuvik.

Cournoyea said that particularly with Alaskan delegates and athletes attending, people from around the region will flock to Inuvik.

There are strong family ties among the Inuit people of the NWT and Alaska, she said, and those are treasured, although they don't see as much of each other as they might like.

That's presented a logistical challenge, particularly for accommodations, Jay said, but it's all rounding into shape.

A barge along the river is being pressed into service to help out with accommodations, while Northwind Industries has chipped in with a work camp to be set up near Aurora College.

The college campus itself is helping to provide what housing it can as well, juggling the needs of the Great Northern Arts Festival, which finishes up just as the ICC will begin.

Between the ICC and the Great Northern Arts Festival, it seems like every available space in town is likely to be occupied, including the three Inuvik hotels.

Many people are also billeting visitors, Jay said.

Cournoyea added that while the billeting numbers are good, many people have also reserved some otherwise available space for their incoming friends and family. That's led to some creative solutions, including the work camp and barges.

That's expected to be good news for accommodation providers and tourist businesses, along with the food industry.

While the conference and assembly will attract plenty of political attention, Cournoyea said the cultural and sporting events will attract just as much, if not more, interest.

Those events will continue throughout the days and into the evenings during the week, Jay and Cournoyea said.

There will also be feasts, barbecues, and a variety of cultural entertainment that will appeal to the wide audience expected to attend.

Cournoyea and Jay said they are both concentrating on the cultural end of the ICC, and said they were unable comment on the issues likely to be discussed on the political side.

Duane Smith, the president of the ICC Canada delegation, wasn't available to comment on that part of the event.

It will take hundreds of volunteers to help run the event, Jay said, and organizers are still looking for more.

Interestingly, many people are returning to volunteer who also attended the 1992 conference, Jay said.

"They've been saying they've had such a good time they wanted to come back."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the honorary patron of the assembly, is tentatively scheduled to appear via video link.

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