Impressive and important initiatives are starting to be slowly moved forward by the Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA).
The association's board of directors meeting held in Arviat from Sept. 10 to 12 went well, according to executive director Gabe Karlik, as the organization prepares for its upcoming annual general meeting (AGM) in Rankin Inlet from Oct. 1 to 3.
Karlik said the meetings saw the financial non-consolidated statements be approved for presentation at the AGM.
He said before the board meeting took place in Arviat, the KIA had put some initiatives together to help with relief efforts for Whale Cove after the community lost its Co-op store to a fire on Aug. 30.
“We put $100,000 from the KIA towards the hamper program with the Arctic Co-op, which we co-ordinated with Agnico Eagle Mines and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.,” said Karlik. “The Co-op sent us an invoice and the list of items that they need to get, put it into packages and each household receives a package usually within a week.
“We reached out to the hamlet in Whale, as well as the Co-op, to see what else we could co-ordinate. So we helped co-ordinate the $300,000 to the community and, before that, we did some small purchases for goods that could be sent down in a quick trip by boat.
“There was never anything like this in our region before that I can recall.”
Karlik also said he expects the KIA to announce some of the particulars on its housing project, which includes some serious dollars towards affordable housing.
“We're working with contractors right now in each hamlet to find out how many lots are available and then try to budget from within on the first initial step, which is going to be about $14-million. Overall we'll be investing about $87 million," he said. “We'll have to have this passed at the AGM until we can proceed to start meeting with the contractors on how many units can be purchased.”
Karlik said the KIA is also beginning to start focusing on health issues related to cancer.
He said the organization is looking into setting-up screening programs for early detection.
“We've already started the research and are now reaching out to the provinces on what they do for mobile screening. It's just bare bones right now. We're looking at how much it's going to cost yearly and take it from there.
“All too often up here, once the cancer is found, it's usually stage four. Where cancer is present, we're hoping this approach of mobile screening will catch it at stage one or stage two.
“This idea originated with our staff. We've had a few board members now who have passed away from cancer. And everybody at KIA, at one time or another, has dealt with cancer within their family.
“I'm excited about this initiative and am looking forward to it getting on track.”
Karlik said the biggest hurdle to the cancer screening initiative will be the cost associated with it but when you compare the cost to that of travelling to the south, it could very well be a wash.
“We'll be looking to have the screening made available to all seven communities.," he said. "This is just the start of this initiative. We brought it to the board and the board supported it. We haven't really reached out to the Department of Health with the Government of Nunavut yet to start mobilizing. It's just the very beginning of what's going to be an interesting and, hopefully, very beneficial journey.
“We have reached out to the provinces that we know have mobile clinics to talk to them and learn about their setups. The feedback we received was supportive and the word finally was probably used the most.
“The next big date on our calendar right now is our AGM. We'll have further direction on these initiatives at that time.”
