Adversity or Opportunity?

As both an Inuk and someone from the Nunavik region I have been closely following the relocation of Nunavik House, the medical boarding home (Module du Nord Quebecois) from St. Jacques street in NDG to the Villeray district in Montreal.

There is considerable misinformation within the Montreal community surrounding the medical boarding home. It is not, for example, a substance abuse rehabilitation centre. Rather it is a place where Inuit who are ill and need specialized medical attention come and stay during their treatment. There has unfortunately been overtones of racism (whether it is intended or not) that distort the conversations and discussions.

It has been the desire of the Inuit of Nunavik to have a boarding home for sick people that is located in an area of Montreal that can accommodate the needs of the Inuit in a more fulsome and centralized way. For instance a part of the proposed relocation that has not been publicized is the Inuit cultural centre included within the project. This will provide not only a much needed place for Inuit patients to gather and have activities but it could also be a place where people in the Montreal area can come and learn about our Inuit culture and way of life, and get a better appreciation and understating of who we are as a people. Montrealers could visit the Inuit cultural centre and actually meet and talk to Inuit about our homes, our lives, our language, and our culture. I suspect we have a lot in common with Quebecers when it comes to the preservation of language and culture.

It does not help the situation when there are pre-conceived attitudes that seem to have come to light within this discussion.
Rather than focusing on the negative, we should all be focusing on the positive opportunities and benefits of what can be.

The primary concern should be for the people that have to leave their communities and homes to get medical care in Montreal because it is simply not available in our Arctic communities. We often talk about this issue when we talk about the gap in living conditions between Inuit and other Canadians living in southern Canada. There are so many things that southern Canadians take for granted which are simply not available to Inuit as full tax-paying Canadians.

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