A presenting panel speaking on behalf of non-profit organizations sent out a clear message during the Kivalliq Trade Show in Rankin Inlet in September that they play a very important role in supporting economic development in Nunavut.
The show was held in Rankin from Sept. 23-25.
Kivalliq Trade Show Society president Robert Connelly said the panel allowed a variety of organizations to bring forward the issues, challenges and solutions that they face every day.
He said in Nunavut, there are community-based non-profits, either registered or not registered, and there’s a lot of separate organizations and committees as well.
“By that I mean things like fishing derby committees and organizations like the Pulaarvik Kablu Friendship Centre, which are all non-profits and play an important role and function in supporting our community-based economies especially.
“Some play a role in a single community, while others play their role regionally. In fact, a lot of non-profits are just small community groups like Ikurraq, the food bank society in Rankin Inlet, as an example.
“There’s many, many examples of non-profits that play such an important role in their community. And the message was pretty clear that they play a very important role in supporting economic development in the territory.
“However, they’re often on the fringes when it comes to access to funding. That was a clear message that all the non-profits expressed during the session.”
Connelly said non-profits don’t have multi-year funding arrangements like a lot of established for-profit associations have.
He said that means they’re always fighting tooth and nail for project money, admin fees, etc.
“Having access to more stable funding, being able to have multiple-year commitments on programming would go a long way for them recruiting and retaining their own staff. They’re competing with the government, Inuit organizations and private industry for qualified staff.
“I was pleased with hearing how vocal and very straightforward they were about their challenges. Every presenter went straight to the point and said listen, our organization plays a really important role in supporting community development.
“It was a very clear, targeted message that was delivered to the audience. And it was definitely a case of message given, message received.”
