Canadian Arctic Service Corps

MERRY CHARITABLE CHRISTMAS

2011-12-25T12:16:00.000-08:00

May this be the best Christmas you ever knew, one which left you overwhelmed with a sense of being the most fortunate person on Earth. May it be one that spoiled you breathless, with countless gifts of enormous magnitude and incalculable value. And, may you have lavishly given to others more magnanimously than you received. But, more importantly, may all your bounty be of the kind that inspires souls, warms hearts and brings hope.

Christmas is irrevocably associated with giving, regardless of your belief about its origin or meaning. Religious or not, this December season brings us closer to people – family, friends, and sometimes even strangers. But, very often the connection we’re inexplicably compelled to make is weakened – or goes miserably unfelt - because of a fixation on “stuff”. Succumbing to the buying frenzy that has become Christmas leaves the less wealthy feeling inadequate in their ability to demonstrate love for family, and imbues those of means with a false and unwarranted sense of meaning.

May your Christmas be rich in what really matters – feeling the loving embrace of family & friends, and finding the opportunity to personally help another living creature (human or otherwise). Perhaps more importantly, may your children learn from your example which gifts are truly priceless.

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

To support our work, visit these secure sites:

DONATE NOW:

http://www.blogger.com/goog_63494138

FUNDRAISING STORE:

http://www.caas.shopregal.ca/

RAISING PUBLIC AWARENESS

2011-12-22T22:40:00.000-08:00

Thank-you to Liz McArthur at CFAX 1070 radio in Victoria, BC for inviting us to talk about Arctic conditions and our mission to help.

Today we had a great 30-minute live interview. It gave a rare, public opportunity to discuss the many inter-related crises daunting Arctic Canadians as they struggle to endure yet another day with insufficient food, inadequate housing, meagre health services and limited educational resources.

To hear the entire ½ hour interview (complete with commercials), follow this link and click on the CFAX 1070 logo.

www.ewmanchester.com/arctic.html

If you cannot hear the interview, email us at the address shown at the top right margin of this page and we’ll send you the digital file.

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

To support our work, visit these secure sites:

DONATE NOW:

http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s103683

FUNDRAISING STORE:

http://www.caas.shopregal.ca

CASC IS ON THE AIR

2011-12-20T14:37:00.000-08:00

Thank-you Natalie Thomas and The Weather Network for the invitation to be interviewed.

There are never too many opportunities to talk about Arctic living conditions, and our organization’s mission to deliver short-term aid and long-term solutions. A big challenge in garnering the support needed to bring change is raising public awareness. While there is never enough on-air time to thoroughly discuss the plight of these farthest-north Canadians, we truly appreciate this opportunity.

We believe that charity begins at home, and, when Canadians are fully informed, and then asked to help, private citizens and industry can and will rally to lend a hand to our fellow citizens.

Just one hungry child is too many – but 70% of Inuit pre-schoolers don’t get enough to eat. Please care enough to become part of the solution. It’s easy to join our Arctic Circle.

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

To support our work, visit these secure sites:

DONATE NOW:

http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s103683

FUNDRAISING STORE:

http://www.caas.shopregal.ca

THANK-YOU!

2011-12-18T12:08:00.000-08:00

We want to express our sincerest gratitude for the collaboration of Best Buy, store #0983, Uptown Mall, 3501 Blanshard Street, Saanich, BC (http://www.bestbuy.ca/).

Sales Manager Jes Smith and her team went above & beyond to ensure that we acquired the best electronic equipment to enhance our audio/visual communications capability.

We profoundly appreciate every person and organization that assists our mission to relieve hunger (among other things) in remote Arctic hamlets.

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

To support our work, visit these secure sites:

DONATE NOW:

http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s103683

FUNDRAISING STORE:

http://www.caas.shopregal.ca/

ONE SMALL MISSION ACCOMPLISHED (REALLY)

2011-12-09T18:23:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who voted!

Today, Kraft Foods announced that the Iqaluit food bank won the prize of $1,000 for receiving the most votes in the weekly ballot.

When the contest began, we widely forwarded the request to vote, posted it on our Blog, and also sent it out on Twitter – requesting everyone to re-send it to their followers – while Iqaluit ran its own local campaign to get out the vote. When the counting was done, Iqaluit beat out southern towns with much greater populations – including Vancouver and Victoria, BC. Here’s the link to the list of food banks Iqaluit was up against.

http://kraftassists.ca/prod/?lang=en#fbank

We’re glad to have been part of the process, and thrilled with the outcome.

The challenge to nourish 50,000 Inuit continues...

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

To support our work, visit these secure sites:

DONATE NOW:

http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s103683

FUNDRAISING STORE:

http://www.caas.shopregal.ca

COMING SOON!

2011-12-09T13:09:00.000-08:00

We are very pleased and appreciative that the brilliant minds at The Dubs & Dash Group of Guelph, Ontario partnered with us to develop our new website (coming soon), online presence and other strategies (http://www.d2-group.com/).

Here’s what D2G has to say about us…

"The core of D2G [The Dubs & Dash Group] is built around the Social Conscious mindset: part of which involves helping businesses think like charities, and charities think like businesses," explained D2G's creative partner, Bill Dubs. "And, the Canadian Arctic Service Corps [CASC] thinks more like a business than any charity we've ever encountered. CASC is not looking to give handouts to the people of our North; immediate aid when needed, yes, but CASC is also working to develop plans for long-term sustainability and self-sufficiency that gives them back control of their own futures. How could we not want to be part of a mission like that?"

If you would also like to become part of our Arctic Circle effort to aid our fellow Canadians, it is easy to do so. See our contact information and donation links shown along the upper right margin of this site.

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

To support our work, visit these secure sites:

DONATE NOW:

http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s103683

FUNDRAISING STORE:

http://www.caas.shopregal.ca/

OUR NEW FACE!

2011-12-07T19:28:00.000-08:00

We are excited to unveil our brand new logo!

Holy Cow Communications did a great job converting our musings into an evocative image, depicting the heart of the Arctic Circle and the focus of our humanitarian work.

Clean, simple and awesome!

http://www.holycowcom.com/

Coming soon – a website!

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If not now - when?

If not us - who?

To support our work, visit these secure sites:

DONATE NOW:

http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s103683

FUNDRAISING STORE:

http://www.caas.shopregal.ca/

VOTE FOR NUNAVUT FOOD BANK

2011-12-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

Go to this site and vote for:

NUNAVUT FOOD BANK!

http://kraftassists.ca/prod/?lang=en#add_name

You can vote every day - using as many different email addresses that you have.

Each week, Kraft awards cash to the Food Bank with the most votes.

VOTES = CASH = FOOD BANK HELP! VOTE OFTEN!

Please help nourish Arctic children!

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

To support our work, visit these secure sites:

DONATE NOW:

http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s103683

FUNDRAISING STORE:

http://www.caas.shopregal.ca/

HOLY COW!

2011-12-06T00:41:00.000-08:00

We are thrilled to announce that we recently partnered with the amazingly-creative and enthusiastic folks at Holy Cow Communications in Sidney, BC (http://www.holycowcom.com/) to develop our logo and brand strategy.

The draft logo designs are inspiring. We are excited to soon unveil the final design! Watch this space for…

DID YOU KNOW? You can now follow us on Twitter. http://twitter.com/cdnarcticaid

If you are thinking of donating to support our work, time is running short in order to receive an official tax receipt for 2011. Go to our secure online donation site (link below) where you’ll find many options to specify how your donation will be used.

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

To support our work, visit these secure sites:

DONATE NOW:

http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s103683

FUNDRAISING STORE:

http://www.caas.shopregal.ca/

ILL-CONCEIVED AND UNTIMELY

2011-11-20T02:55:00.000-08:00

Perhaps it should be no surprise that, in the part of Canada where darkness of a winter’s night lasts nearly three months, the implementation of a federal government scheme to change how the cost of food will be subsidized gets pushed back one year.

The proposed Nutrition North program, which was supposed to be fully operational in October 2011, is now expected to be so in October 2012. The program, reportedly and anecdotally, does little to decrease food prices in our remote Arctic hamlets – instead, many prices actually increase.

That it should be considered alright by the federal government to make our northern-most Canadians wait another year for significant relief is a cruel travesty shouldered by the very people who suffer each day.

In case you missed it, here’s a report by CBC News regarding a recent meeting between Nunavut MLAs and Stephen Van Dine, Director General for territorial relations with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

“NUTRITION NORTH OFFICIALS GRILLED IN NUNAVUT LEGISLATURE

MLAs concerned about how program affects those in isolated communities

Federal officials took questions about the beleaguered Nutrition North Canada program Tuesday. The controversial food subsidy program was the only item on the Nunavut legislature’s agenda.

MLAs took the opportunity to ask officials from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and from Nutrition North’s advisory board about how the program will help people in the North to access healthy, affordable food.

Most of the questions centered around how exactly people are benefitting from the program and how individuals who make food orders can take advantage of the subsidy program.

“The regular Inuk – how can we encourage him to order? We know he can, but how will he be helped if he does not want to get his food from a local store?” asked Tunnuniq MLA Joe Enook.

Stephen Van Dine, director general for territorial relations with AANDC, said this issue is a concern. “Individuals are disadvantaged in terms of the kinds of things that are available to larger purchasers such as stores and retailers. That is a matter for the airline industry to focus on for sure,” said Van Dine.

Another MLA asked if it would be possible for personal food orders to have lower freight costs than retailers. Van Dine said that will be an ‘area of discussion’. “We are looking to focus one of the advisory board meetings in February to have a component to engage with businesses, including airlines, to talk about how the program is operating,” he said.

The officials argued that although the Nutrition North program has had its share of problems, it’s still better than the old Food Mail program. Many Nunavut MLAs still don’t think it will make healthy food more affordable in isolated communities.

The program was supposed to come into full force this month. The federal government pushed that date back due to concerns from consumers, retailers and government. The program’s full implementation is now scheduled to come into effect in October 2012.”

It is program fiascos like this one that compels us to build a network of donors, suppliers and volunteers to immediately feed our northern-most citizens while they await manna from the federal government.

Please care enough to be part of the solution!

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

To support our work, visit these secure sites:

DONATE NOW:

http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s103683

FUNDRAISING STORE:

http://www.caas.shopregal.ca/

Or, send a cheque to our address shown above.

REGISTERED CHARITY STATUS APPROVED!

2011-11-15T23:13:00.000-08:00

The Canadian Arctic Service Corps is the operating unit of the Canadian Arctic Aid Society, which governs, funds and owns the Corps.

We are pleased to announce that, following an eight-month application and review process, Canada Revenue Agency just approved the Canadian Arctic Aid Society as a registered charity (#811439454RR0001). As a result, we may now issue official tax receipts to those who donate cash, goods, services or other in-kind gifts in support of our work.

It is our policy to issue official tax receipts to all donors, regardless of the amount or value of their contribution – because every penny really does count, and every donor is important to our mission of delivering humanitarian aid to Arctic Canadians.

Please care enough to be part of the solution. It’s easy to join our Arctic Circle – donate what you can, as often as you can; volunteer to raise awareness and fundraise; or, shop at our fundraiser store (link below).

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

You can also support our work by shopping at our Fundraiser Store.

http://www.caas.shopregal.ca/

“YOU” OUGHTA BE ASHAMED

2011-11-15T23:03:00.000-08:00

Perhaps drawn and quartered, too. And I don’t mean figuratively. I’m not referring to you, you – but rather that other you – the you who gave the order to abandon that tracked vehicle to the Arctic’s perpetual ravages. I’m no expert, but I’m thinking that it wasn’t all that good for the neighbourhood, either.

Tracked, and looking a tad military-ish, it’s the kind of contraption that enthusiasts love to restore, and museums proudly display - instead, there it sat on a petite and remote island. Facing seaward and stopped just short of the water’s edge, it looked as if it balked at the invitation – having outlived someone’s need - to gallantly amble into oblivion beneath the ice or waves. Its lowered aft loading ramp suggests that someone just walked away from it, content that it and its surroundings deserved no further thought.

Maybe the person who followed that don’t-worry-who-will-know order should also get a dishonourable mention, or be dispatched with a blunt object – such as the brain of the authorities who condoned such reprehensible disposals. Yes, disposals – as in plural, as in it frequently happened all across our northern treasure – by public and private sectors, alike. No one ilk of northern exploiters holds the monopoly on short-sighted decisions - I’m sure you know who you are.

I’ve heard accounts about far-north site clean-ups, where every moveable thing, vehicle or otherwise, met an ignoble end beneath the waves – either driven or pushed down a beach or off the ice’s edge. Or, things were just left where they stopped. Spare us the song and dance about it not being practical or affordable to retrieve vehicles, equipment and materials after their life-cycle ends. If it was practical and affordable to bring it up here, then you can surely take it home. If only there was the will to enforce a collective conscience – with penalties so severe that bouts of doing the right thing spontaneously erupt.

Do I seem a tad annoyed at finding that one monument to mankind’s stupidity and total disregard for the very planet on which every living thing depends? Yes, I’m rankled. Perhaps the offspring of those morons are now the ones who think it a good idea to leave thousands of junk objects orbiting Earth. Good grief, maybe it’s genetic to wantonly desecrate where we live – makes me curious about where their biffy is located.

But, it’s high time certain unnamed folks dropped the oh-so-clever and worn out mantra, “Arctic - use it or lose it,” because the Inuit have been “using it” for millennia. Besides, the reality is, “Abuse it and we’re all lost.”

Preachy? Yeah, I guess, but then again, I saw a rusting hulk with our collective ramp down.

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

You can also support our work by shopping at our Fundraiser Store.

http://www.caas.shopregal.ca/

NEW FUNDRAISING PARTNER

2011-11-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce that we have partnered with Regal Greetings and Gifts to augment our ongoing fundraising efforts to aid in-need Arctic Canadians.

This new fundraising store offers a painless way to buy things you want and at the same time support Arctic Canadians who are in dire need. Regal, based in Barrie, Ontario, offers more than 1,000 products – greeting cards, wrapping, gifts and general merchandise. Hundreds of items are priced under $20. We are sure you can find something for yourself or gifts for family and friends.

Our organization will earn at least 30% - 35% on each order placed, which will be of great help in support of our work.

Regal designed our own safe & secure ordering website:

http://www.caas.shopregal.ca/

The link to our ordering website is also displayed on the upper right margin of this Blog.

The ordering homepage http://www.caas.shopregal.ca/ contains all the details as well as all the current catalogues from which to shop – and includes FAQ’s and help. Please note, Regal ships only to a Canadian address.

You can start placing orders immediately. For the current catalogue, all orders must be placed by December 31, 2011. Each subsequent catalogue will have its own order deadline date. Since this is an ongoing fundraising program there will always be new catalogues throughout the year.

After placing your order on our web store, the products are delivered directly to you, generally within 7-10 business days. To ensure your order is delivered quickly, you should enter a physical Canadian address (not PO Box) and include your phone number.

Regal has low shipping rates - only $5 per order under $124.99 or 4% of your order of $125 or more (not including taxes). Regal offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all their products. Product exchanges and refunds are done online directly through Regal’s Exchange Centre (see Help section on our ordering website).

Please consider shopping at our fundraising store – it’s a painless way to shop and also support our work!

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

You can now also support our work by shopping at our Fundraiser Store.

http://www.caas.shopregal.ca/

DEATH BY DIAGNOSIS

2011-11-04T02:20:00.000-07:00

What if an Arctic resident needs medical attention? I found out, the expensive way.

The ship that was my home and office, CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier, carried several rescue specialists who tend to the bumps, scrapes and sometimes more serious ailments of general shipboard life. For the Arctic patrol a medical officer was added – a healthcare practitioner with experience being the medical lone ranger.

In my case, swollen calves (mine, not bovine) led to visiting the ship’s medical officer. My simple self-diagnosis was that my malady stemmed from writer’s butt – lengthy sitting before a computer until blood no longer circulates to the brain (although, sadly, that sometimes produced my best work). Wrong! Apparently, besides simple edema, it could also be caused by a blood clot or heart failure – neither of which sounded appealing, nor suitably exotic.

This is where southern and Arctic medicine drastically diverges. The quickest way to rule out all the potentially-lethal causes (which could be really bad for the rest of my expedition) was to have a chest x-ray, ECG and ultrasound. No problem, just go next door and take a number – except that I wasn’t in the land of Starbucks any more.

Unfortunately for me (and everyone who lives in far north communities), Kugluktuk has the typical Arctic health centre, staffed by nurses, and equipped with a mix of old and new gadgetry. They could perform the ECG (machine was new, just out of the box), but not the x-ray (machine didn’t work), but the nearest ultrasound was a two-hour flight away in Yellowknife.

Now, is it just me, or is it actually ironic that in order to test for potentially-lethal blood clots in my legs, I had to sit in a cramped aircraft for nearly two hours? If the DVT didn’t kill me on the way to get the test and treatment, surely the airfare would. Everyone in the Arctic who needs more involved healthcare faces the same dilemma, because all the really cool equipment is somewhere south.

Upon arrival at Yellowknife’s hospital I was greatly comforted by the feeling of being in a big-city facility – the required paperwork before I could get past the dotted line, the hour-and-a-half wait in emergency, being forgotten in an exam room for nearly an hour – ahh, the joys of civilization.

Eventually I saw a young doctor, fresh up from the south, who followed a textbook-style examination. Then, in came the real doctor – one who looked like she’d always been practicing in the far north, but actually outside – and maybe not just on people. The burly medico did all the tests everyone else did, plus a few additional pokes and prods of her own, then looked longingly into my eyes and said, “So, why are you here? There’s no need for an ultrasound because you don’t have heart failure or a blood clot.” So, I tried my worn out, unanswered question on her – the one about the odds of simultaneous blood clots in both legs – and she just rolled her eyes, smiled, patted my pudgy ankle and said, “Have a nice flight.”

Trouble was, my flight back to Kugluktuk didn’t depart until the next day, and my getting back aboard Laurier was entirely dependent on the weather being good enough for us to land. Any delay would leave me stranded beyond the reach of Laurier’s helicopter to retrieve me. In the meantime, I needed a place to stay overnight – the airport not being an option because it was locked up during the midnight hours. So, Super 8 it was – even with a discount my $50 overnight bunk in Yellowknife cost $160. As my luck went, for my ten-hour layover I ended up with a suite to wander around – it being the last room available. To add insult to injury, my late-night supper in that big city was the dregs of soup and sandwich minutes before the adjacent Tim Horton’s closed.

Reassurance or false alarm? I dunno, but either way it was a $1,000 trip to the doctor. At least I didn’t have to bend over and cough – or, did I?

Think of our Arctic Canadians’ healthcare tribulations when next you visit your doctor or walk-in clinic, or lay before the latest beeping, blinking gizmos. That drastic comparison is one of the many reasons why we want to finds ways to improve their quality of life.

Please feel free to donate or volunteer to our endeavour. Every penny and every person brings hope – and there can never be too much of that.

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

RECENT PUBLICITY

2011-11-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

When more people know, more help can happen. Today, we received a boost to public awareness via an article written by columnist Jack Knox that was published in the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper. Following is Jack's article...

"Polar bears are not the only northerners to keep in mind

BY: Jack Knox, Victoria Times Colonist newspaper, 03 November 2011

Perhaps Sen. Nicole Eaton is right, and the polar bear should replace the beaver as Canada's national emblem.

At least that might encourage Canadians to look north.

Or maybe the polar bear idea just shows how out of touch we are, how much of a gap exists between the Canadian north of mythology - the Arctic as we would like it to be - and how it really is.

The reality, Eric Manchester says, is a Third World disaster, unseen and ignored, in our own backyard. That's why the Victoria man is in the process of gaining charity status for the Canadian Arctic Service Corps, a non-profit organization he hopes will bring relief to the remote, farflung Inuit hamlets plagued by extreme poverty, deplorable housing and impossibly high living costs.

Manchester first visited the High North as a Canadian Forces paratrooper in the late 1960s, parachuting into the midwinter bleakness of places like Resolute Bay, where the soldiers lived in tents at minus 50. In 2007, by then a freelance writer, Manchester spent three months aboard the Victoria-based coast guard ship Sir Wilfrid Laurier, had a chance to explore seven isolated communities in the western Arctic.

"I got to see how things really were. It was extremely disturbing."

Every aspect of life in the Inuit settlements was desperate, he says. One observer called living conditions the worst she had seen in the developed world. He found people living 15 to a house in shacks that would be condemned in the south, so crowded that occupants sleep in shifts.

The tuberculosis rate was 14 times the national average, and life expectancy 13 years lower. The few kids who graduated from school couldn't find jobs where they lived, but had been raised in an environment so alien that it was hard for them to function in the outside world. Suicide rates were alarmingly high. "It seemed like it was the personification of the adage 'out of sight, out of mind.' "

Access to nutritious, affordable food is a huge problem in the remote communities. The traditional Inuit diet disappeared with their nomadic life after a succession of governments coralled them into permanent settlements. The old ways are gone for good, replaced by diabetes, heart disease and other ailments associated with the worst of southern eating habits. With no roads, residents rely on food shipped by the annual sea lift, a barge that comes in with a year's supply of goods. It's either that or the stunningly expensive cost of goods shipped by air; Manchester talks of stores selling $30 watermelons, $38 cranberry cocktail and $17.89 frozen pizza. A teacher told him of kids who drink three or four cans of Coke before school (cheaper than milk, which can cost $15 for a four-litre jug).

Yet down here in the south, marketing gurus leave us thinking of a pristine wonderland where it's the polar bears who drink the Coke. "There is a huge disconnect in reality between north and south," Manchester said.

Show Canadians a foreign disaster zone and they'll reach for their wallets. Manchester hopes they'll feel the same way about his organization's cause. He speaks of a program that sounds like Doctors Without Borders, and spending money on technology that would allow people in the hamlets to grow their own food.

It's tricky territory, though. For many Inuit, long-gone traditional means of survival have been replaced by dependence on southerners. (Manchester shakes his head at the problems that ensued when a federal program that subsidized shippers, who would then deal directly with consumers, was replaced by one that subsidizes retailers instead.) "We don't want to make the situation worse by making them dependent on us," Manchester says.
At the same time, he says, our fellow Canadians need help, now."

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Please care enough to be part of the solution and join our Arctic Circle. Every penny and every person brings hope – and there can never be too much of that.

Get involved now!

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

THIS IS WHAT WE WANT TO DO

2011-11-02T04:03:00.000-07:00

Our mission is to relieve poverty by providing basic amenities, including food, clothing, medical and educational supplies, and housing materials to the needy in remote communities in northern Canada.

While Canadians – a generously-humanitarian lot – rally and send aid to Africa, Haiti and many others around the planet, here at home we all but ignore our own Arctic citizens who barely exist in out-of-sight, out-of-mind remote hamlets. There - in the Land of the Midnight Sun and three months of lethal, winter darkness - Canadians are malnourished, subsist in overcrowded dwellings that would be condemned in southern latitudes, and endure disease rates many times the national average.

It is our belief that, when Canadians become aware of the plight of our northern citizens and are asked to help, private individuals and private industry can and will rally to their aid.

Our initial focus is on hunger. We are also looking at housing, health and education needs.

Initially, we need to raise $200,000 in cash, goods or services to further our operational development while also fuelling immediate aid projects.

What do we need from you right now? For starters:

• Cash donations – every penny really does count.

• Goods & services to support our day-to-day activities and aid projects.

• Sponsors for specific projects and ongoing expenses.

• Volunteers to run fundraising events and help raise public awareness.

Please care enough to be part of the solution and join our Arctic Circle. Every penny and every person brings hope – and there can never be too much of that.

Get involved now!

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

NO WAY UP

2011-11-02T02:25:00.000-07:00

Where do you go when there’s no way up? Tragically, all too often in the Canadian Arctic that desperate search ends in suicide. Lots of them. When one lost life is too many, suicide rates in our Arctic are 11 – 28 times the national average (depending on locale and age). Teen suicide is a huge mental health issue in the far north – some hamlets suffering several per month. Future generations may suffer the most as teens comprise the majority of suicides in a region of Canada where 57% of the population is under age 25.

According to Health Canada, the suicide rate per 100,000 people in Canada is:

Canadian overall average: 12

Inuit overall average: 135

Inuvialuit region: 61

Nunatsiavut region: 239

Nunavik region: 181

Nunavut region: 120

Some of the causes:

Abject poverty

Hunger

Deplorable housing

Emerging new diseases

Poor educational achievement

Extreme unemployment

Loss of traditional lifestyle that worked for millennia

Low self-esteem

Teenage pregnancy

Loss of the Inuit language among the younger generations

Extreme social isolation

Depression about loss of relationships

No hope for their future

And that's not all. The anniversary of a loved-one's suicide often triggers another tragic death of someone who still grieves that earlier loss. Few mental health services are in the Arctic. The services that do exist are not adequate to meet the needs. Plus, all the problems of the big city are there, too – alcohol and drug abuse, and violence. Jails are full, as are the court dockets. The traditional Inuit lifestyle used to keep everyone very busy just getting on with the business of daily living, but with the proliferation of pop, drugs and iPods that way of life is ruined.

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

OUTSIDE, LOOKING IN

2011-11-01T19:12:00.000-07:00

Some people from the USA also see the dire straits of Arctic Canadians and form opinions about the what, why and how.

Here is an American perspective on the food issues endured by our farthest-north citizens, by Sarah Gordon and published by Indiana Public Media on September 1st, 2011.

“How To Feed Canada’s Arctic, The Land Without Farms Or Roads

For over 50 years, Canada has struggled to make food affordable in remote Arctic communities. Recent subsidy changes have left many northerners out in the cold.

By Boat, Plane Or Ice Road, Feeding The Arctic

Residents of rural communities in northern Canada rely on federal subsidies to make fresh, healthy food affordable in their local stores. Since late 2010, the federal government has been phasing out its old subsidy program, called Food Mail, and replacing it with a new one called Nutrition North.

Nutrition North has promised to decrease the subsidies on unhealthy foods, and to make healthy foods more affordable.

Northern residents, however, are finding that the new subsidy system is actually making almost everything more expensive. Small food-based businesses like hotels and restaurants are struggling to stay afloat, and individuals face a decrease in options and availability for healthy perishable foods.

How To Eat Well In A Region Without Agriculture

The average Earth Eats reader is concerned with eating healthfully, locally, and sustainably.

For the residents of Canada’s remote north, however, getting access to basic supermarket produce is challenge enough. The harsh climate and permafrost make local farming difficult, if not impossible, and extremely expensive. Compounding this problem, dozens of communities are not accessible by all-weather roads, and instead rely on short-term seasonal ice roads, sealift deliveries, and air freight to supply their local stores.

As a result, fresh produce, dairy, and meat are both expensive and, often, of poor quality. Produce, in particular, is easily damaged during the rough journey to these remote communities, but even non-perishable items are excruciatingly expensive due to the high cost of shipping.

It’s A Social Justice Issue

The majority of the population of northern Canada’s remote communities are Aboriginal: they are registered First Nations, Métis, or Inuit. Their communities face overwhelming unemployment and poverty, juxtaposed against a cost of living that is 33 percent higher than the national average.

Canada’s Aboriginal population faces an overwhelming number of distinct social challenges. Aboriginal children are the poorest in Canada, and the suicide rate among northern Inuit is 4-5 times Canada’s national average, a disproportionate number of which are youth suicides.

With this in mind, the availability of healthy food in the north is not just an issue of food distribution; it’s an issue of social justice. Impoverished children need access to healthy food. And while the factors leading to suicides are complex, some experts attribute the Inuit epidemic as stemming from Inuit youth’s inability to see a future in which the challenges of daily life, like supporting the basic needs of a family, feel possible.

The Case Of The $200 Turkey

Since the 1960s, Canadian government subsidies have helped to control the cost of distributing food to northern communities in order to make food more affordable for northern residents.

The Food Mail program, which started in 1969, subsidized the cost of shipping food through Canada Post from more populous, urban centers to more remote, rural communities. Individuals and small businesses (like restaurants or hotels) based in remote communities could also make personal orders from stores in more populated areas in order to save money, satisfy special dietary requirements, or simply to have access to a wider variety of foods than they could get in their local stores.

Despite the best intentions of the subsidy program, few people were satisfied by Food Mail. It cost the federal government approximately $50 million every year, and food prices in the arctic remained exorbitant. In 2009, a frozen turkey retailed for $200 Cdn in the Nunavut community of Arctic Bay, and two litres (or half a gallon) of milk cost $8.99 in Taloyoak. A food basket that would cost $239 in the Northwest Territories capital of Yellowknife would cost $426 and $483 in the rural communities of Deline and Colville Lake, respectively

As a result of widespread dissatisfaction with this subsidy program, Canada’s current government, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative party, promised a complete overhaul of Food Mail. Starting in early 2011, Food Mail was phased out and replaced by a new program called Nutrition North.

Get Your Apples, Get Your Diapers

Nutrition North differs from Food Mail in significant ways:

• Nutrition North subsidizes retailers, while Food Mail subsidized shippers. Under Nutrition North, retailers are expected to negotiate their own rates with shippers. Theoretically, competition between shippers should help to keep prices low.

• Food Mail subsidized shipping of food and essential non-food items (like toothpaste and diapers) at a flat rate. Nutrition North subsidizes healthy, perishable food at a higher rate than non-perishable or unhealthy food. Essential non-food items are now subsidized only in communities not served by alternate delivery methods such as the existing sealift (annual barge deliveries of essential items).

• Personal orders will continue to be subsidized, but decreases in prices from local retailers should make them less necessary for people without special dietary requirements.

The Reality Fails The Promise

Nutrition North’s achievements in making healthy food more affordable have fallen far short of expectations. In many cases, food prices have actually increased, either because retailers have been unable to handle the program’s administrative requirements, or because communities served by only a single airline have been unable to negotiate affordable shipping costs.

Studies assessing the difference between food prices under Food Mail and those under the newly-implemented Nutrition North have yet to be released. But anecdotal evidence shows that the savings on healthy food have been minor. In Old Crow, Yukon customers save a mere sixty cents on a $12 bag of apples, and in Arctic Bay, a shipping price increase from $0.80/kg to $13.23/kg on essential supplies has been passed on to customers.

Grocers in Yellowknife, which previously had handled personal orders from much of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, opted out of the program, claiming that they lacked the capacity to handle the paperwork it required.

Yukon MP Ryan Leef is challenging his own Conservative party to improve the program, claiming that costs of living in the Yukon fly-in community of Old Crow are unreasonable, especially in light of the poor quality of food available.”

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What chance do our farthest-north citizens – condemned to extreme poverty, food insecurity, rising disease and social problems – even hope to eat at all, much less healthily in the aftermath of a 1,600% increase in the cost of shipping vital supplies?

Our immediate goal is to provide our fellow Canadians with nutritional food or the means to acquire it. There is so much more to do, but hunger affects everyone so it’s a good place to begin. Please care enough to become part of the solution – donate now to help fund our goals; volunteer – contact us now!

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

SOUTH vs. NORTH

2011-10-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

Canada is home to regional differences. Some are cultural, linguistic, quirky, amusing or annoying. But, the most alarming disparity is between the south’s affluence and the north’s heart-rending poverty, extreme hunger and emerging health issues. So stark is the contrast that it’s hard to accept that such extremes could exist in the same Canada. Perhaps it’s no surprise that the life expectancy of Arctic Canadians is 13 years less than the national average.

When you next shop for groceries, take a moment to consider the availability of everything you want and the cost of filling just one bag. Then, compare that to the scarcity and exorbitant price of nutritious food in the Canadian Arctic – where filling that same grocery bag costs $100 - $150.

In case you missed it, here is an abridged version of Peggy Curran’s article in The Gazette (August 31, 2011) that explains the findings of a study conducted by McGill University and brings additional perspective to the cycle and relationships between poverty, hunger and disease.

“Canadian Inuit going hungry: McGill study

BY PEGGY CURRAN, THE GAZETTE

MONTREAL - Six out of 10 Inuit in Canada's Far North don’t get enough to eat or are eating the wrong things, says a comprehensive study by a team of McGill University researchers. They warn preventive measures are desperately needed to help ward off diabetes, heart disease and other ailments which already plague other aboriginal peoples in Canada and the U.S.

Increasingly, Inuit are shifting away from the traditional foods hunters brought home. But researchers found people living in remote villages often cannot find or afford the fruits, vegetables, grains and dairy products which make up the best part of a healthy southern diet.

“Poverty and associated food insecurity coupled with a transition away from local nutrient-rich food resources represents a dual nutritional burden on indigenous peoples globally,” cautions McGill epidemiologist Grace Egeland in the study published in the latest issue of Journal of Nutrition. “A nutrition transition is occurring in arctic communities with consequences for increased obesity and diet-sensitive chronic diseases.”

Egeland headed up the health survey which travelled to Canada’s most remote communities, where Egeland’s team of 40 nurses, nutritionists, lab technicians and bilingual interviewers met with 2,595 people from 1,901 households, conducting blood tests and asking participants basic questions about what they had eaten in the last 24 hours.

Their findings show a very high prevalence of food insecurity in Canada's Arctic. The term food insecurity covers a broad range of nutritional issues – from having poor quality food to eating less, skipping meals and going hungry.

Being insecure was associated with low hemoglobin, a marker for anemia, poor iron levels and high levels of trans-fats. Researchers found those who weren’t eating traditional foods had lower levels of protein, iron, vitamin A and C and were consuming more sodium, carbohydrates and saturated fat.

Egeland hopes their findings will be used to help prevent “an epidemic in Western chronic diseases” in Canada’s Arctic communities, citing the high preponderance of type 2 diabetes in aboriginal communities across Canada and the United States.

Last year, Egeland, associate professor at the Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment at McGill’s Macdonald campus, released a study which found seven out of 10 preschoolers in Nunavut lived in homes where there wasn’t enough to eat.”

Please care enough to become part of the solution. Help us to help relieve the poverty and suffering of our fellow Canadians. Donate funds and/or volunteer. Contact us now!

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

All content © Canadian Arctic Service Corps. All rights reserved. Any use without prior written permission is prohibited.

THE $200 TURKEY

2011-10-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

The bulk of supplies come to remote Arctic stores (and individuals who can afford it) by barge, once per year via the annual sealift. Otherwise, people must shop at the local store and pay even more exorbitant prices. In between the annual sealifts, stores fly in perishables and other items, which substantially increases their already-high prices. Often, stores have empty shelves and items that are past their expiry dates.

Northerners able to afford it can also get supplies directly from southern distributors via a federal government program intended to reduce the cost of shipping to remote hamlets. The now-defunct Food Mail program subsidized shippers so that shipping costs to the individual consumer could be lower. While there were complaints and problems with Food Mail, many people believe it was better than what the federal government replaced it with. The newly-implemented Nutrition North program subsidizes retailers, who are expected to negotiate lower shipping costs and pass savings on to consumers. The reported results are generally higher prices overall, and many suppliers refusing to participate due to the administrative requirements of the program. The cruel irony (besides consumers having to rely on retailers to pass along their savings) is that it is believed this ill-conceived federal government program rendered our beleaguered Arctic Canadians even worse off than they were.

Here is a list of recent prices in our Arctic. Please note that prices can vary by locale and season. The prices shown are from published articles and photos, and anecdotal reports.

Gas – to $2.00/litre

Turkey, frozen, 11kg (24lbs): $200 (later reduced to $90 due to adverse publicity)
Breaded Chicken: $77/bag
Lean Cuisine, single serve: $7.49
Frozen Pizza: $17.89
Vienna Sausages, small tin: $2.99

Milk, 2L & 4L: to $15
Yogurt, single-serve cup: $1.69
Butter: $26.96
Margarine, small tub: $27
Ice Cream, 1.66L: $13.69
Ice Cream, 4L tub: $21.95
Eggs, 1-dozen: $4.00+

Cranberry Cocktail, 1.89L: $38
Sunny Delight, orange, 1.89L: $25.29
Minute Maid Juice, cans, 6-pack: $37.89
Fruitopia, can, 355ml: $5.99
Fruitopia, 1.89L: $13.29
Tropicana Orange, 1.89L: $8.49
Orange Mango Juice, 1.89L: $13.99

Apples, small: $12/bag
Potatoes, 5lb bag: $9.50
Watermelon: $30
Red Peppers: $12.69
Eggplant: $26.19
Asparagus: $14.49
Pineapple, whole: $11.29 - $25.00
Fruit Salad, 1.6L tub: $17.69
Blueberries, fresh, 1-pint: $7.49
Fruit Cocktail, tin, in water: $4.95

Cheese Whiz: $29
Mayonnaise, 750ml: $9.29
Bread: $5.19+
Olive Oil: $24.59
Doritos, 250gr: $7.39
Granola Bars, small box: $8.25
Cheerios Honey/Nut cereal, 1.3kg: $19.99
Lays Potato Chips, 250gr: $6.69
Minute Rice, 700gr box: $8.15
Spaghetti, small bag: $13

Pop, can, single: $2.50 - $5.00
Pop, can, 12-pack: $27 - $60
Beer, can, 24-pack: $200 (where permitted)

Listerine, 946ml: $17.99
Toilet Paper, 36-roll pack: $47.99
Disposable diapers: $79.99
Tide laundry detergent, liquid, 1.47L: $24.69
Tide laundry detergent, powder, 3.8L: $36.99
Grocery bags, plastic: 25¢ each

With prices like these - where pop is often cheaper than milk - it’s no surprise that cash-strapped Inuit forego healthy food in favour of lower cost, less nutritional substitutes that lead to serious health problems.

Please help us to help our Arctic Canadians. Care enough to become part of the solution - donate, volunteer, something or somehow – we’d love to hear from you!

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

OUR TEAM GROWS

2011-10-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

The Canadian Arctic Service Corps is operated by the not-for-profit Canadian Arctic Aid Society, which is now governed by a seven-person board of directors.

We are pleased to announce that the Society’s board of directors recently expanded its depth through the addition of directors having complementary expertise – and the compassion to help people in need. The original founding directors continue serving on the board, plus, four additional Society members offered to serve.

NEW DIRECTORS:

Gregory Ellard (Registered Nurse; northern aboriginal healthcare experience)

Frances M. Heath (Lawyer & educator, aboriginal issues; historical author)

Martha Wyeth Elkins (Retired law librarian; volunteer and humanitarian service)

Douglas MacKinnon (Property management; volunteer youth mentoring)

FOUNDING DIRECTORS:

Jason Manchester, Director-at-Large (Agent - airline serving Canada’s north; professional photographer)

Mona E. Ferguson, Secretary-Treasurer (Business owner; financial manager; healthcare volunteer)

Eric W. Manchester, Executive Director (Military, corporate & non-profit management; writer-photographer)

Detailed bios of each director will be posted to our website (http://www.arcticaid.ca/), when its construction is complete.

If you would like to join our Arctic Circle and help in some way to provide much-needed aid to our farthest-north citizens please contact us (information shown at upper right of this blog).

Please consider donating to help us help others – every penny really does count (mail cheque to address shown).

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

THE THREE “R’s” PLUS HUNGER, HOUSING, HEALTH & HOPE

2011-04-12T02:41:00.000-07:00

We are just beginning our first humanitarian relief project. Recently, we began to work with the Hamlet of Ulukhaktok (or, Holman if you’re keeping score on older maps). It is a community of 436 people in our Northwest Territories, located along the west coast of Victoria Island facing frigid Amundsen Gulf.

Ulukhaktok (oo-luke-hak-tok) is typical of most Canadian Arctic hamlets – operating a food bank to help its residents survive; struggling with overcrowded, inadequate & substandard housing (ten families waiting for homes); short of school & library supplies; and, serving complex physical and mental health issues from a meagre facility.

Our present collaboration with hamlet officials and agencies will identify their unique needs to determine how we can best help, which will guide our efforts to mobilize resources and to focus fundraising efforts.

These out-of-sight out-of-mind fellow Canadians need our best creativity and endeavours. Please care enough to be part of the much-needed solution. To donate or volunteer (please also donate) – send a cheque or contact our office now. Every dollar and every person contributes hope – and there can never be too much of that!

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

THE GENEROSITY OF STRANGERS

2011-03-16T23:55:00.000-07:00

We wish to express our gratitude to the Sidney, British Columbia branch of TD Canada Trust bank for its kind contribution toward our operational development. Every bit of encouragement and generosity helps fuel our mission to deliver humanitarian aid to our Arctic communities – and it is immensely appreciated. For it is that support - be it small or large – which, cumulatively, makes all things possible. And, when it comes to helping our Arctic citizens cope with their daily adversities it is vital that we find all possible things.

While we readily find it in our hearts to fund relief where it’s needed around the planet, we must always remember that charity begins at home. Despite Canada’s affluence, an out-of-sight, out-of-mind segment of our population - children, adults & families – are in straits every bit as dire as those we strive to help elsewhere.

If you wish to become part of the solution here at home, please get involved. To volunteer or make a donation - individually or corporately – please contact us now!

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

NORTHERN FOOD SUBSIDIES EXTENDED, CONSUMERS RELY ON RETAILERS TO SHARE

2011-03-15T18:36:00.000-07:00

Next time you complain about the cost of feeding your family, imagine the sticker-shock of filling a single tote bag in a Canadian Arctic food store. It can leave you with an empty feeling – literally!

Here is a CBC news report about a food subsidy program run by our federal government. It’s a cruel irony that subsidies expected to relieve the food expense burden on cash-strapped consumers are given instead to the retailers - who are expected to pass the savings along to their customers (who have no choices where to shop).
CBC NEWS (09 March 2011)
Cheez Whiz, ice cream and toilet paper in remote northern grocery stores will again be covered by a federal subsidy program after a public outcry over skyrocketing prices. Indian and Northern Affairs Minister John Duncan announced the change Wednesday in Iqaluit.

Historically, the federal government has provided grocery transportation subsidies to lower the food prices in northern communities that don't have regular road or marine access.

Under the new Nutrition North program, which takes effect April 1, the subsidies will go to retailers, who will negotiate freight rates for lower costs that the federal government says must be passed on to consumers.

But when the transition to the new program began last October, federal officials phased out subsidies for non-food items and food not deemed to be healthy, including processed cheese spread, ice cream, bacon, margarine, toilet paper, laundry detergent and toothpaste.

Prices for these items later became exorbitant and attracted national attention. Last month at the Northern Store in Arctic Bay, a community of 700 in Nunavut's High Arctic region, Cheez Whiz sold for $29, tubs of margarine for $27 and bags of breaded chicken for $77.

With the change announced Wednesday, Cheez Whiz and the other items will be subsidized by Nutrition North from April 1, 2010, until October 2012. Many of those items will receive a lower subsidy, however, compared with fruits, vegetables and other nutritious items. Duncan conceded the previous timeline for Nutrition North was a "little bit aggressive," adding the federal government is committed to ensuring northerners have access to nutritious, affordable foods.

With the subsidy extension to 2012, retailers will also have more time to adjust to the new program, Duncan said. The costs could amount to another $1 million a month, Duncan said. The Nutrition North program was originally expected to cost $60 million for the year.

"Today's announcement is another example that our government is listening to northerners," Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, the Conservative MP for Nunavut, said at the news conference.

In February, after photos of the expensive Arctic Bay groceries were published, Aglukkaq said decisions by retailers, not changes in the federal subsidy, were responsible for high prices in the North.

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If not now - when? If not us - who?
All content © Canadian Arctic Service Corps. All rights reserved. Any use without prior written permission is prohibited.

FOOD INSECURITY IN THE CANADIAN ARCTIC

2011-03-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

According to a study conducted by McGill University and the government of Nunavut, recently published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, 70% of Inuit preschool-age children in that Territory regularly don’t get enough to eat because their families can’t afford to buy food. In some cases children miss meals or don’t eat for an entire day – with many adults trying to stretch food supplies by foregoing meals themselves.

That Arctic families must cope with insufficient quantities of affordable, nutritious food is not surprising. As successive generations become more obsessed with the worst elements of our southern diet, traditional and beneficial food sources – and the methods of acquiring that sustenance - are being abandoned in favour of nourishment from a box and beverages in a can.

Groceries in our far north can cost triple what folks in Canada’s lower latitudes are used to, necessitating cruel choices for a financially-struggling population. Consequently, expensive high-nutrient foods are often passed over for less-expensive, low-nutrient but filling substitutes. Such food choices have expected results – of the children studied, nearly 40% are overweight with another 30% even worse off.

The study was undertaken by McGill professor Grace Egeland, who led a medical contingent to the Arctic during 2007. Working from onboard Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen, Egeland’s group interviewed families and examined children in 16 Nunavut communities to uncover signs of diseases, toxins, physical development, and to learn about struggles with addictions, suicide and other conditions impacting daily Inuit life.

Almost more troubling than Arctic kids going hungry is that it is so pervasive it has its own clinical term - food insecurity - defined as a shortage of food that is safe, nutritious and meets the requirements for a healthy and active life.

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If not now - when? If not us - who?

All content © Canadian Arctic Service Corps. All rights reserved. Any use without prior written permission is prohibited.

WE'RE OFFICIAL!

2011-03-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

Our not-for-profit Canadian Arctic Aid Society is incorporated under the Society Act of British Columbia. Our operating name is Canadian Arctic Service Corps.

The purposes of our not-for-profit Society are:

• To provide humanitarian aid to people and communities in the Canadian Arctic.

• To provide resources and support to ameliorate hunger, housing, medical, educational, employment, financial and social suffering and distresses for people and communities in the Canadian Arctic.

• To educate the general public about, and foster an appreciation for, the culture and needs of people and communities in the Canadian Arctic.

• To provide similar or related services in the Canadian Arctic or other locales, as recommended by the membership and executive.

Our web domain is registered (http://www.arcticaid.ca/), and our website is now being built.

We’ve begun the process to obtain approval from Canada Revenue Agency as a registered charity. Until approved by CRA, we cannot issue tax receipts for donations received although we may accept donations.

Our founding members and directors (all unpaid volunteers) are now developing the infrastructure, program, fundraising and sponsorships needed to deliver much-needed aid to our Arctic citizens. If you want to be part of the solution, your suggestions or fundraising activity will be greatly appreciated. Our contact information appears above – we’d love to hear from you!

If you care to make a humanitarian difference in the life of Canadians in our high latitudes, please donate now. Make your cheque payable to Canadian Arctic Aid Society and mail it to our address shown above. Every dollar counts - $75, $100 or more!

Please join with us to improve living conditions for our farthest-north citizens.

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ONE SMALL STEP

2011-03-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

I’m asking for your help to assist Canada’s Arctic people.

When I see how Canadians rally to help those in dire need around the planet, it bothers me to think that we can do such good elsewhere yet all but neglect the Canadians here at home who need so much. To me, that is not only an embarrassment in our affluent nation but also a travesty among the worst kinds.

My passion for the Arctic ignited with my first deployment there as a youthful paratrooper, becoming evermore intrigued with successive missions from Alaska to Hudson Bay and points between. More recently, I had the privilege to better know the people and communities while plying the waters of the western Canadian Arctic aboard CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier. (My daily journal: http://www.ewmanchester.com/arctic.html)

Learning their stories and seeing their life struggles left me inexplicably unsettled since returning to my southern comforts. I feel compelled to find ways to benefit their existence and to personally be challenged in the pursuit of a greater good. From my experiences in the Arctic, and because I want this amazing country of ours to be truly great everywhere within itself, I see this as an endeavour worth pursuing – if not long overdue.

Consequently, I created an organization that is not-for-profit, non-governmental, non-political, non-religious, and non-partisan. Its only purpose is to deliver humanitarian relief to our out-of-sight, out-of-mind Canadians, who exist in sub-standard, often-overcrowded dwellings and struggle with poverty, hunger, disease and despair – due in large measure to the northward encroachment of others interests.

I would welcome your collaboration to help make a difference in the lives of our farthest-north citizens. Please care enough to become the solution!

For more information, or to get involved (please do get involved):

Interim Website: http://www.ewmanchester.com/arctic.html

Email: info@arcticaid.ca

Thanks to those of you who have already expressed your encouragement and desire to participate in this critical effort!

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If not now - when? If not us - who?All content © Canadian Arctic Service Corps. All rights reserved. Any use without prior written permission is prohibited.

THAWING OUT

2011-03-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

After the intense bustle of my 76 days in our Arctic aboard the Canadian icebreaker, CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier, it took some time readjusting to life larger than my tiny seafaring cabin. Even after all this time, I may be home but I’m far from settled.

Now, sitting here in a landlocked office below the 49th parallel, my time in the far north feels like a past-life memory. Worse, sometimes it feels like it never happened at all - despite my cache containing thousands of photos and volumes of notes, arising from countless interviews and experiences. But, there are times when the Arctic is once again intensely real to me.

Every time a southerner whines about a trivial thing in their have-everything world, I see the smiling faces of the youngest Arctic children who are still happy with practically nothing in theirs. When I see the teenagers around me throwing away their unlimited opportunities, I recall those far-north adolescents whose future is too-often a dead-end path to despair and suicide. Each time I endure some huckster trying to sell the value of buying yet another new something, I hear those old hunters explaining what it meant to their hamlet’s survival when they were able to bag that one extra caribou. And, all the commotion about Boxing Day sales and cross-border buying orgies for all that must-have crap, reminds me of that Inuit woman’s annual shopping spree down south – a six-hour flight, roundtrip – so she could purchase affordable groceries for her family.

Life’s contrasts above and below The Circle are so striking – on every measurable level – that it seems inconceivable for it all to be in the same country. There’s much more than climate change destroying Canada’s Arctic. Perhaps that’s why I’m so unsettled.

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If not now - when? If not us - who?
All content © Canadian Arctic Service Corps. All rights reserved. Any use without prior written permission is prohibited.