September 8, 2010
Arrived in Iqaluit from Ottawa about 12:30pm. Had no idea that someone was there to meet me.
Box with files very crushed. Took a cab to Capital Suites (Hotel). Upgraded to a suite.
Vincent did call me and came and picked me up and took me to the office.
They have two offices here but I am in the one near the Legislative Building.
Judy Ricketts, my contact for the Iqaluit files, came over and we went over some paperwork.
Then she took me on a tour before we went to the other office. We drove around town and saw the courthouse, the hospital, the Lego houses (coloured like the toys), quite a few schools and then drove to the original settlement of Apex. Houses are built on stilts because of the permafrost.
There is a ship outside the harbour that is carrying supplies people have ordered and when the tide is high a barge will bring in the supplies in 'sea cans' (that look like railroad cars) on a barge. Tonight we saw large forklifts ready to unload the barge. Later we saw them moving the sea cans into a gated storage area but it was too dark for a photo.
Jessica Lott Thompson is a prosecutor who lives here with her family (husband, daughter Nora and son Wynn) and we will be doing court together in Iqaluit the week following my stint in Baker Lake. We went over some of the files. Then she invited me to her place for supper that her husband, Trevor, cooked. It was great. They get groceries from an organic store every two weeks as well as the sea lift with the sea cans (not sure how often, probably when you have a lot you need/want). Then Trevor and I played Chutes (used to be called Snakes) and Ladders with Nora. Nora won!!!! She is five and is in French school.
Sorry no photos today but will make up for it tomorrow.
We went to the grocery store and for $44 I bought a quart of milk, a chunk of cheese, some crackers, blueberries and muesli as well as some ice cream for Jessica. Yow!!!!!
It is quite mild here but not as hot as it was yesterday in Ottawa.
I was up at 4am my time and it is time to 'hit the hay'.
A pretty good day and I actually looked at a few more files.
