Grise Fiord

Transportation

There are no connecting roads on Ellesmere Island, so Grise Fiord is connected to the rest of the world by a small airstrip (Grise Fiord Airport) 1,670 feet (510 m) in length. It is one of the most difficult approaches for aircraft, and it is cautioned that only very experienced pilots and DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft attempt the approach. For local travel needs, the villagers use all-terrain vehicles in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter. But during the winter months travel is limited to the town site and a small patch of land to the east called Nuvuk, due to mountains and ice fields that cut the town off from the rest of the island. Small boats are used in summer to reach hunting grounds, or hunting sea mammals on the ocean. Once a year large ships (sealift) arrive with supplies and fuel.

Economy, development, and sustainability

Looty Pijamini in his shop where he creates his carvings.

There is a local co-operative which is the main place to purchase supplies. There are local guide and outfitting operations which are an important source of income for many families. Carving and traditional crafts and clothing are also important sources of income. The economy is a subsistence-based one due to the extreme location. Grise Fiord is the most isolated true community anywhere on the planet. Because of falling rock/avalanche potential from mountains, there is no room for growth.

Broadband communications

The community has been served by the Qiniq network since 2005. Qiniq is a fixed wireless service to homes and businesses, connecting to the outside world via a satellite backbone. The Qiniq network is designed and operated by SSI Micro. In 2017, the network was upgraded to 4G LTE technology, and 2G-GSM for mobile voice.

Crime and safety

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

A Simon Fraser University study of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) activity in the Baffin Region states that Grise Fiord had the lowest rate of criminal offences of all communities looked at in 1992,^[7] and cites a 1994 Statistics Canada survey that gives the highest perception of personal safety.^[8]

Settlement

Monument to the first Inuit settlers of 1952 and 1955

The settlement (and Resolute) was created by the Canadian government in 1953, partly to assert sovereignty in the High Arctic during the Cold War. Eight Inuit families from Inukjuak, Quebec (on the Ungava Peninsula) were relocated after being promised homes and game to hunt, but the relocated people discovered no buildings and very little familiar wildlife.^[10] They were told that they would be returned home after a year if they wished, but this offer was later withdrawn as it would damage Canada's claims to sovereignty in the area and the Inuit were forced to stay. Eventually, the Inuit learned the local beluga whale migration routes and were able to survive in the area, hunting over a range of 18,000 km² (6,900 sq mi) each year.^[11]

In 1993, the Canadian government held hearings to investigate the relocation program. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples issued a report entitled The High Arctic Relocation: A Report on the 1953–55 Relocation, recommending a settlement.^[12] The government paid $10 million CAD to the survivors and their families,^[13] and gave a formal apology in 2010.^[14]

In 2009, Looty Pijamini was commissioned by the Canadian Government to design a monument in memory of the relocation.^[15] Depicting a woman with a young boy and a husky, the monument was unveiled by John Duncan, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, on September 10, 2010.^[16][17]

Telephone network

In 1970, Bell Canada established what was then the world's most northerly telephone exchange (operated since 1992 by Northwestel). It is in the 867 area code (formerly 819, before October 1997) with its only exchange code of 980.