Love and faith
Baker Lake
Each of the eight candles on Brett-Granderson Arnalugaq Ikinilik’s most recent birthday cake in Baker Lake marked one year the boy was never supposed to see.
It’s been a tough road for the special needs child and his mom, Arlene Ikinilik, 28, but the two continue to defy the odds together as Brett enjoys life every day, despite the challenges he faced from being born with a defective heart and doctors telling his mom he wasn’t going to make it.
Maps and wolves
Baker Lake
The Baker Lake Hunter and Trapper Organization (HTO) had a limited supply of maps of Aqsarnik (between Baker Lake and Chesterfield Inlet) and Tavaani (between Rankin Inlet and Whale Cove) available to the public as the year began to wind down.
The HTO also announced it was participating in Nunavut’s Department of the Environment’s wolf sample collection project, which will continue to run until the end of March 2020.
The HTO will collect 49 wolf head samples during the project, paying $300 per sample.
Sport award
Baker Lake
The annual Nunavut sports awards covering the time period from March 31, 2018, to April 1, 2019, saw Jim Kreuger of Baker Lake receive the First Air President’s Award of Excellence for his work with the local hockey scene over the years.
The award is presented by the Recreation and Parks Association of Nunavut.
Table tennis triumph
Rankin Inlet
Members of the Rankin Inlet table tennis team brought home a total of eight medals from the territorial trials in Iqaluit, capturing gold in U15 women’s doubles, silver in U18 men’s singles, and bronze in U18 mixed doubles, U15 Mixed doubles and U15 men’s singles. Gholam Dareshoripour was selected for the Arctic Winter Games squad during the event.
Elected again
Arviat
There was little doubt left who was the Kivalliq’s elder statesman in municipal politics after Bob Leonard’s fifth-consecutive election win for the mayor’s seat in Arviat.
Leonard has been Arviat’s mayor for the past 11 years; serving one two-year term and three consecutive three-year terms.
Elder facility a go
Kivalliq/Rankin Inlet
The Kivalliq region finally heard the new it’s long awaited when November saw a 24-bed, multimillion elder-care facility be approved for Rankin Inlet in the Department of Health’s capital budget.
The facility will be the first of three constructed in Nunavut.
Whale of a first
Whale Cove
Molly Okalik, 25, achieved something nobody can ever best her at when the recreation co-ordinator for Whale Cove became the first Nunavut graduate from the Recreation North training program.
The next in line
Baker Lake
Five teenagers took part in the first junior firefighters program – organized and facilitated by Baker Deputy Fire Chief Vincent Inukpak – to ever be held in Baker Lake in November.
The goal of the program is to help youths with their school credits, and give them the chance to experience firefighting on a first-hand basis.
Focus on issues
Nunavut
Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, 25, originally from Baker Lake, continued to remind the media her time in government is about the issues and getting results, not her age or gender, after the NDP candidate took 41 per cent of the vote to become Nunavut’s Member of Parliament during the federal election.
Happy ending
Rankin Inlet
A search conducted by the Rankin Inlet search-and-rescue team had a happy ending when Nanukuluuk Anawak was found healthy and in good spirits on Nov. 16.
Anawak got separated from his uncle, Loren Tagornak, trying to walk to the Meliadine camp after their Honda broke down on their way to Mumiqvik to do a little hunting.
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