A public meeting without media presence

In early May, Igloolik hamlet councillor Paul Quassa invited me to attend a May 29 public council meeting at which Baffinland president Tom Paddon and the Qiqiktani Inuit Association (QIA) were expected to discuss, among other things, Inuit compensation for the port at Steensby Inlet. QIA and the hamlet council said if Baffinland won’t re-plot its shipping route, they would like to see subsidized housing for the workers, paved roads, in-community training and a fishing boat for the Hunters and Trappers Organization (HTO).

I confirmed through email and telephone that the meeting was public and on the morning of the 29th, the hamlet made a public announcement on the community radio station, inviting people to attend. Here is a record of the extent to which the meeting was public:

Nicolas Arnatsiaq: Thank you for coming. I welcome the president of Baffinland as well as the Board of QIA. It has been the intent of the Igloolik council to invite Baffinland to one of our meetings along with QIA.

And also, we’re requesting that Baffinland, the hamlet council of Igloolik and the QIA president will have a closed-door meeting. This is in no way intending to get rid of the people here who are attending the meeting; however we will need to have the closed-door meeting between Baffinland, the council and the QIA president. The idea is, what’s going to be discussed at the closed-door meeting is not going to be a secret, but we do need to meet in a closed-door meeting between council, Baffinland and QIA.

I would also like to welcome each and every one of you for coming, and welcome to Igloolik. Now I’m going to turn the chair over to my deputy mayor during the meeting. So, thank you for coming. And we will have a closed-door meeting in a bit.

Paul Quassa: I think it’s important that we have the Hunters and Trappers Organization and the senior administrative officer here as well.

NA: Yeah, let me make a correction to what I was saying. Okay, the meeting will be between the council, Baffinland, QIA and the Mary River Project Committee, but we will have to ask the media to leave the room when we have our closed-door meeting. That’s what I should have said in the first place. Thank you.

Deputy mayor Peter Ivalu: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Now we should go around the room and introduce ourselves before we start the meeting.

Introductions. The members of the hamlet council, QIA, the Mary River project committee, HTO, Baffinland president Tom Paddon, vice president of corporate affairs Greg Missal and director of sustainability Oliver Curran introduce themselves individually.

PI: Thank you. Looking at me. We will be dealing with sensitive issues, so now I’m going to have to ask you to leave. We will be going in camera.

BW: Sorry, I didn’t hear you. No cameras?

QIA president Okalik Eegeesiak: No media at all.

BW: The in camera meeting is starting now?

OE: Now.

BW: Okay.

Laughter.

I leave chambers, enter the hamlet office and ask the assistant senior administrative officer how it is possible for a meeting to be suddenly changed from a public meeting to an in camera session. He says it is highly unusual and requires a motion to be introduced by the acting mayor and voted on by council. I ask him if I am entitled to ask that a motion be passed and he says yes. I return to the meeting. Deputy Mayor Peter Ivalu pauses the conversation.

PI: I’m sorry, but this is an in camera meeting. We asked you to leave.

BW: I’m sorry, but I was talking with an officer of your council, and he said in order to turn a meeting from public to private, you have to introduce a motion and the councillors have to vote on it.

PI: We are asking you to leave. We are discussing sensitive issues. Please leave.

BW: I am only wondering if this is a public meeting or a private meeting, because I understand there was an announcement on the radio this morning inviting the public to take part.

PI: It is a public meeting but we are asking the media to leave.

BW: The media are members of the public.

PI: We are not continuing the meeting until you leave.

BW: Okay, I will leave. I was just wondering why there wasn’t a motion to change this from a public meeting to a public meeting without media presence.

The meeting is adjourned, Deputy Mayor Peter Ivalu introduces a motion to turn the meeting from public to private and the motion is passed. Greg Missal, Baffinland’s vice president of corporate affairs, comes out to tell me that Baffinland never requested the meeting be private.