'We want it back': Grise Fiord wants to run its own co-op

Shelves have been stocked at the only grocery store in Grise Fiord, Nunavut, since the government stepped in to manage it.

The Grise Fiord Inuit Co-Operative is usually run independently by community members, but they hadn't been filing financial papers, meeting, or — most importantly — stocking groceries.

That prompted the territorial government to take over.

But now, residents of Nunavut's northernmost community are hoping to take the co-op back. For some, it's seen as an expression of the community's independence.

"I think we want it back," said Marty Kuluguqtuq, the assistant senior administrative officer for the hamlet.

"I think people think, 'we want to deal with the [territorial] government as little as possible,'" he said.

'Growing, serious concern'

The territory changed management at the co-op under the Co-operative Associations Act in June, when it became apparent local management wasn't meeting the needs of residents.

"Things like milk and perishables hadn't been on the shelves for a while, and from what we understood one of the complaints was related to the store not even being open regularly," said Jimi Onalik, the associate deputy minister of economic development and transportation for the government of Nunavut.

"It just seemed like a growing, serious concern related to access to food," he said.

The territorial government appointed Arctic Co-operatives Limited (ACL) to manage the store. The government thought it would be the best way to ensure that food would be immediately available in the community, said Onalik.

Arctic Co-operatives is owned collectively by the co-ops in the territories, including the Grise Fiord co-op.

The government signed a six-month contract with ACL to run the co-op in June, with one renewal for three months.

Since the takeover, the shelves have been stocked with food, and hunting equipment has been available — even if the prices of some items are higher.

"People just seem to take it as it is," said Kuluguqtuq.

Kuluguqtuq credited ACL for improving the layout of the store, and said members started to get notifications of their balances at the co-op — their credit and what they owe.

He said that's one area residents "have not lived up to their duties."

"People are not paying their accounts on a regular basis," he said, "and I think that's what led to the downfall of the previous administration."

"No one's saying that anyone in the community dropped the ball," said Onalik. "It's just a small community and there's always going to be capacity issues."

In the past, the co-op has been profitable, Onalik said.

Audit must be done before community can take over

The government doesn't want to hand back management to the community until it does an audit, has a community meeting, and figures out how much debt the co-op has, and what went wrong.

"We don't want to hand it back to the community and have the same problems that existed before," Onalik said. 

Onalik said that audit should take place in the next few months.

Onalik agreed with Kuluguqtuq that it's important to the community to run its own co-op.

"I recognize the co-op has been in many ways an expression of the community's independence and desire to be independent," he said.

For Kuluguqtuq, even if services have improved, it's important the co-op eventually returns to local control.

"Anytime that the government is in charge there's more strings attached and more requirements," he said.