Armed and ready

There were a lot of visitors in town last Friday. I suspect that happens from time to time in Iqaluit. It is the service centre for this part of the arctic. So if there is a conference to be held, its likely going to be here. If there's a large group of people heading to another part of the arctic, odds are they're going to stop over here first. It explains why that for a community of about 6,500 people there are at least four hotels, probably more. And not small hotels either.

So on Friday there was a bunch of military people in town. I thought they might be coming from somewhere up north, but as Cathy pointed out, they had a vaguely dazed look on their face, so it's quite possible this was their first trip up north. Even if you know what you're in for, you can still have that look on your face when you first land in Iqaluit.

I thought they might be army, but judging by the number of Canadian Navy stickers that magically appeared around parts of town shortly after their arrival, I strongly suspect they were navy. Didn't see a vessel off-shore, though, so I don't know where they came from.

Perhaps they were here to protect us from the Danes, who were prowling the waters upset over the Hans Island dispute. It looks like it's going through diplomatic channels now, but you never know...those Greenlanders are sneaky.

It's a good thing that if troubles break out, however, we're ready here in Iqaluit.



I confess I don't know the story behind the building. Perhaps the armory has moved to a more secure location and I haven't spotted it yet. Perhaps armory means something other than what I think it does. All I do know is I saw that building and thought "Yup, welcome to Canada." Here's hoping the Danes don't start to feel agressive. It could get ugly.