Latest news with #Kalingo
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Nunavik's 14 mayors call for public health emergency over tuberculosis cases
The mayors of 14 Inuit communities in northern Quebec are demanding the provincial government declare a public health emergency as tuberculosis cases in Nunavik reach the highest reported level in recent history. In a letter Monday to Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé, the mayors wrote that two issues precipitated the demand: an "unprecedented surge" in tuberculosis cases, and what they say is a plan by the province to cut back on infectious disease resources for Nunavik. CBC News wasn't immediately able to verify the cuts in question. Last year, the region's health board reported 95 cases of tuberculosis. To date in 2025, the mayors wrote, 40 cases have been reported. "These statistics are a direct reflection of colonial systemic racism that continues to dictate health policy and resource allocation in Quebec," the mayors wrote. "Inuit in Nunavik are not treated as equal citizens under Quebec's health system." In March, the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services said in a news release that six out of the 14 communities were experiencing active outbreaks. Aside from being the highest case count, it was also the highest number of simultaneous outbreaks they had recorded. The situation is "out of control," said Adamie Kalingo, the mayor of Ivujivik, a Nunavik village with about 400 residents. "Now we have a very high rate of tuberculosis cases, which we think could have been avoided if the health system could have worked with us more rapidly," Kalingo said. The mayors listed nine calls to action for the Quebec government, including sending emergency medical resources to the region. They are also calling for urgent investment in water, housing and utility infrastructure, as tuberculosis can spread more easily among overcrowded households. "It's difficult to gauge who has it or who hasn't. It's a very difficult situation, and it is all that much more dangerous for children, for elders that get a lot of [visits] from friends and relatives," Kalingo said. "So there is the matter of spreading it freely among friends and relatives. It's very hard to try to stop it." The mayors collectively described the state of Nunavik's health services as "abhorrent," alleging there aren't enough qualified staff, there are high levels of burnout and turnover, and basic health resources for tuberculosis, like testing kits and lab services, aren't readily available — if they're available at all. "Medical resources currently in place are insufficient to maintain regular large-scale screening needed to slow the spread," the mayors wrote. They pointed to the quick response of the health-care system when dealing with recent outbreaks in Montreal as an example of what Nunavik needs. "Inuit from Nunavik have died of TB in very recent years, and according to physicians working in the region, we will see more severe cases and more deaths unless the crisis is addressed with the resources needed," they wrote. CBC News has reached out to Dubé and the Quebec health department, as well as the Nunavik health board for comment.
CBC
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Theatre company brings Nunavik origin story to life in Aukkauti
Hundreds of people showed up for the debut of Aukkauti, a play about the origin of Nunavik's communities, when it debuted at the Puvirnituq Snow Festival in northern Quebec last month. The production was written by Lisa Koperqualuk, Daniel Gadbois and Adamie Kalingo and was performed by the Aasiq Theatre Company entirely in Inuktitut. Aukkauti tells the story of a man named Aukkauti whose wife and children were murdered in 1899 on the coast of Hudson Bay after he accidentally killed a young boy on a hunting trip. Aukkauti then had a mental breakdown and carried out a series of murders across the Nunavik tundra, causing families to flee out of fear. It's based on a true story that has been passed down orally from generation to generation, and which is said to have contributed to the migration of many families throughout Nunavik. Gadbois, who plays Aukkauti in the production, said that the writing process involved listening to elders tell the story, listening to audio recordings of it, and reading written versions too. He said they heard a lot of varying accounts of what happened. "There was certain families who ran away north and certain families ran away south, certain families heard of the story through a different way of how the guy died and whatnot." Gadbois said he and the other writers decided to use details that were agreed upon in the majority of versions of the story. After several years of research and staging work, he said he was proud of the end result and the broad range of support the company received along the way. "We did a tremendous job. It was so well made," he said. The Aaqsiiq Theatre Company registered as a non-profit organization in 2019, and was born out of Avataq Cultural Institute's efforts to revitalize the Inuktitut language through theatre in Nunavik. Kalingo, another of the play's writers and also the president of the theatre company, remembers a time in his childhood when students were punished for speaking in Inuktitut. He's proud, now, of what the company is doing to preserve it. "We did something good to have a tool whereby our legends, which are from hundreds and thousands of years old, passed on orally from mouth to mouth, and we're using them and turning them into theatre plays," he said. He said young people who are getting involved in acting with the company are "learning what it used to be like." "I can see that it can only get better for the young people." Kalingo said even though there's a lack of infrastructure, he hopes to bring the production to other communities in Nunavik. Gadbois is hoping for the same. "I personally want to see it go through all 14 communities [in Nunavik] – well, 13 left to go – and afterwards … anywhere where people want to see it, I guess. I wouldn't mind updating my passport, going to Greenland, going to Nunavut."
