When Bruce and I traveled to Yellowknife, Inuvik and Sachs Harbour in 2008, our goal was to capture some of the economic and cultural changes taking place in Canada’s north; I remember pitching the series as something of a “boom” story at the time.
But looking back I think we produced a series of snapshots of life in the North, from homelessness issues in Yellowknife and Inuvik to the Inuvialuit of the northwest reclaiming their language.
As well, any follower of Canadian politics is familiar with the federal government’s annual pilgrimage to the north to discuss issues of Arctic sovereignty; Bruce and I spent a week with the members of a two-man detachment in the northern-most RCMP detachment in the Northwest Territories in an effort to shed light on what “Arctic sovereignty” means to people in an 80-person hamlet on the coast of Banks Island.
In turn, I must admit my brief experiences in the Inuvik region inspired my interest in pursuing an MSc in Media, Communications and Development at the London School of Economics.
- As a sidenote, if you’re keen on the story about Yellowknife’s “water squatters,” check out this YouTube video posted by someone living on Yellowknife Bay as the ice comes in.
Trish Audette-Longo 