After stepping out of the plane, it was official; I had arrived in Inuvik, and I was officially (okay, maybe not officially) a resident of Canada living north of the Arctic Circle. Upon disembarkation from the plane, the few other passengers and I hustled into the airport where I was greeted by my new boss Joe, who I’m guessing was able to pick me out with relative ease. Having only spoken to my new employer over the phone and through email, he was nothing like I imagined him looking like. For some reason that I’m still not sure of, I had drawn up this picture in my head of a short bald man, when in fact he was about 6’6” and had a full mop of hair! Can’t say I was even close on that one. With my fictitious portrayal now blown to shreds, we loaded up my life possessions/two suitcases into his bright yellow Hummer and headed into town for the grand tour. Since Joe has been living up here for around twenty years, he was able to give me an ample tour of the town and all that Inuvik has to offer. We drove around for the better part of an hour and I was shown many of the businesses and amenities on tap in this, the hub of the Western Arctic. Since I have now been living up here for just under two months, I shall attempt to pass on the little that I have absorbed about the town so far.
The first thing that surprised me upon driving into town was just how sprawling Inuvik is for a town of 3,300 people. I must admit, I was expecting a town with a couple major roads and maybe one or two really small subdivisions. Well it is true, that there is only one major road, Mackenzie Road, it’s safe to say that the outlying houses seem to stretch for a fair distance in every direction. Many of the houses are brightly coloured and are of the modular construction variety. Apparently, the houses were first painted these colours because the powers that be felt it would increase morale and happiness amongst the Arctic dwellers during the long, dark winters. Now, maybe it’s just me, but seeing a purple house is generally not going to make me any happier. All it’s going to get out of me is a confused look and some self-questioning like, “how much weed did that dude smoke when he decided to paint his siding?” In addition to being brightly coloured, most of the building foundation structures are built on piles of rock, which prevents the permafrost from getting at them and turning the ground to mush. Another bizarre feature that you don’t see in your every day down south subdivision is large conduit boxes that run through the whole town and seemingly connect every home and business. The conduit boxes measure probably about two feet by two feet and sit a couple of feet off of the ground. Much like the foundations of the buildings, these conduits which contain various pipelines such as water, heat, and sewage are built above the ground to avoid the many problems that the permafrost poses.
Since Inuvik is considered “the gateway” to the Western Arctic and also happens to be the largest populated town in the area, it serves as both the commercial and administrative capital for the area. While it is a small town, it is remarkably the third largest populated town in the Northwest Territories, trailing only the capital Yellowknife (pop, 16,000) and Hay River (pop. 3,600). Since both of those communities are significantly further south, Inuvik is by default the capital of the Arctic region. It acts as the main hub for a number of outlying native communities, with such exotic names as Tuktoyaktuk, Aklavik, and Paulatuk. This in turn means we have a relatively modern and well-equipped hospital, a whole slew of government buildings, a library, a golf driving range/small course, cross country skiing facilities and a recreation centre that rivals and is in fact bigger and better than most of the ones you will see elsewhere in the country. The recreation centre has a hockey rink, squash courts, curling rink, fitness centre, various banquet rooms and bars, and the icing on the cake; a swimming pool complete with fake palm trees! And that’s just the stuff I know about. I’m sure somewhere in the complex they’ve got some sort of hidden bat cave or an evil petting zoo complete with sharks with freakin’ laser beams attached to their heads.
In addition to all of the social services on tap, the town is also home to a number of businesses. On a national front, the one bank in town is a CIBC, so your options on that front are pretty limited. Inuvik also has a Rexall Pharmacy, Home Hardware, and my personal favourite, a KFC/Pizza Hut Express. Other than that, most of the businesses to my knowledge are locally owned, or at least unique to Northern Canada. Some of my personal favourites, include establishments with names like Arctic Digital, Arctic Foods, and Shivers Lounge. There is definitely an underlying theme to a lot of the names, and it is a general rule that if the name of the business doesn’t relate to the cold weather, it has to somehow tie-in to the fact that in the summer we are known as “the land of the midnight sun”.
One business that is truly unique to Inuvik has no name (at least to my knowledge), but the man who runs it is somewhat of a local legend. He goes by the name, “Bill The Fruit Man”, and pimping produce to the locals is his racket. Now as I understand it through talking to co-workers and such, this fellow Bill drives his 18-wheeler big rig down to Vancouver (I think about 3500km each way) and fills his truck to the tits with a wide assortment of produce and groceries. It takes him about ten days to complete the round trip and when he gets back, he sets up shop in a parking lot on the main street and his truck is converted into a makeshift store if you will. The word on the street was that he had much better produce than the local stores and at far better prices. So one day a few weeks ago I headed down to visit “The Fruit Man”, and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. As promised, his prices were much lower, his produce was respectable (a lot of it in this town is pure grade-A shit), and the novelty of doing my grocery shopping in the back of a big rig was pretty sweet, if not a little bit chilly.
On the opposite end of the fruit truck spectrum is the Mecca of all stores in Inuvik and many a northern community, the aptly named North Mart. Yes, it’s actually called North Mart. The best way to describe it is a poor man’s Wal-Mart. It sells a wide variety of stuff, from electronics to clothing to groceries. The only difference is that everything is about two to three times as much as you would pay for it in the south, and it is usually of two to three times poorer quality. Most of the shit you buy there, makes you realize why people shudder and gasp when they purchase products featuring the famous, “Made in China” tag. I purchased a number of household items there when I first arrived, and it’s safe to say that you couldn’t find crap this bad in the free section of your local Salvation Army back in Toronto.
One question I am often asked by the curious citizens of the south (everywhere is the south from here) is how much stuff costs up here. To put it bluntly, A LOT OF FUCKIN’ MONEY! It goes without saying, that the main staples of my diet are Kraft Dinner, Mr. Noodles, canned beans, canned tuna, and no-name Froot Loops. After scanning a recent receipt from my grocery shopping expedition to North Mart, here are a few prices:
Milk (2L) - $7.04
Apples- $5.69/kg
Bananas- $6.35/kg
Ruffles Potato Chips- $4.59
Pepsi Max (2L) - $3.69
Becel Margarine (454g) - $5.69
And these are just some of the things I actually do buy. Other things that are way out of my price range include things like Delissio frozen pizzas (almost $20 if I’m not mistaken), Tropicana orange juice (2L, goes for almost $10), and don’t even get me started on the name brand cereals. Safe to say, I now purchase cereal that comes in a bag, not a box, a bag. Yes, I have arrived in life!
Aside from North Mart, the next busiest place in town, or the busiest depending on the time of week, and one that I am fond of donating to is the Inuvik Liquor Store. Located off the main drag, the store is pretty unassuming, with not a single window and two steel doors that would not be out of place in Kingston Penitentiary. One can only assume that the lack of windows and Hulk-proof doors are to prevent break-ins. Drinking is seen as a professional sport up here, and well athletes need fuel to keep up their athletic endeavours (great analogy, right?). Or on the other hand, maybe they just don’t want people to see the price of beer before they get in the front door. My first visit there, I could hardly believe it, a 12-pack of Bud was $32! No, that’s not a typo. Beer generally costs just under $60 for a 24-pack of the cheaper varieties. If you feel like drinking something like Corona or Heineken, well my friend you better take out a second mortgage on your house! One other comical aspect was that if you want to buy cold beer out of their fridge they tack on a “cold surcharge”. This amounts to $3 for a 12-pack and $1.50 for a 6-pack. Clearly, I’m in the wrong business. Despite beer prices being almost double what they are back home, I was surprised to see that liquor, wine, coolers, etc were only slightly more expensive than they were in my past life. I have recently tried to drink more spirits and wine, but I almost always end going back to the barley. Safe to say that old habits die hard, or in this case die hard with a northern pricing premium tacked on!
Until next time, stay classy and much love to everyone…
~Brent~
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