On the election trail
Kivalliq
Nunavut candidates are hitting the campaign trail harder as the Oct. 21 federal election draws nearer.
Trade shows are big stops on the trail, and the Kivalliq Trade Show was no exception with Conservative candidate Leona Aglukkaq and Liberal hopeful Megan Pizzo-Lyall making their presence felt in Rankin Inlet on Sept. 24 and 25.
Child exploitation charges
Iqaluit/Nunavut
An Iqaluit man is facing four charges as the result of an investigation begun on Sept. 23 into allegations against him by the Iqaluit RCMP, with the assistance of the newly formed Special Victims’ Unit.
As a result of the investigation, Craig Dunphy, 55, of Iqaluit was arrested and charged with two counts of luring a child, one count of procuring a child and one count of sexual exploitation of a young person.
The investigation is ongoing and the RCMP asks anyone who may have information on Dunphy’s activities, to contact Iqaluit RCMP in person or via phone at 867-979-0123.
As of press time, a date had not been set for Dunphy's first court appearance.
Unified orthography
Rankin Inlet/Nunavut
The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) board of directors agreed to move forward with a unified orthography, or spelling system, for Inuktut during its recent meeting in Rankin Inlet.
The new orthography will be implemented as an auxiliary system alongside the existing orthographies used regionally.
The Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait orthography was developed by Inuktut language experts during the past eight years.
Throughout that time, members of ITK's Atausiq Inuktut Titirausiq task group and, later, the Atausiq Inuktut Titirausiq development team, consulted widely with elders, teachers and other key users of Inuktut.
There are nine different Inuktut writing systems across Inuit Nunangat introduced since the mid-1700s.
Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait has been developed by Inuit, for Inuit.
It is a common set of symbols for Inuktut sounds that allows written text to reflect spoken words in any dialect of Inuktut.
Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait is based on the Roman alphabet, which is already used as a primary or a secondary script in all regions of Inuit Nunangat.