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JesseoftheNorth says...

OK, so having grown up in Nunavut, I feel I should weigh in on this and dispell some of the misconceptions that have come up in the comments. These prices are from two of the larger communities in Nunavut which means that the prices are even higher in the more isolated communities. The prices are so high partly because everything has to be flown in or shipped during the few months of ice-free summer. Also, there is basically a duopoly when it comes to grocery stores in Nunavut meaning they can charge pretty much whatever they want.

I don't know where citystats.ca got their data from on the median incomes, but it's actually much lower according to Statistics Canada. The median income reported by Nunavut tax filers in 2008 was only $26,460 a year and $57,330 for Iqaluit that same year. In Sanikiluaq, which is one of the poorer communities, the median income was a measly $9,730. In Arctic Bay, where I grew up, the median income for the year fell to $11,810 from $12,500 in 2006.

There is a serious income disparity problem in Nunavut and it is the local Inuit that suffer as a result. The largest employer in the Territory by far is the Territorial and Federal Government. Those of us who are lucky enough to have a job in the public center enjoy high salaries and benefits and are able to afford the exorbitant cost of living here, but everyone else is pretty much shit outta luck. Unfortunately, it is mainly southerners that enjoy the high wages. There are of course southerners that live here because they genuinely love the land and the people (such as my Quebecois mother) but the vast majority of southern workers are here only for the purposes of lining their pockets and don't contribute much to the communities.

As for those who don't understand why people live up here, I'm not even going to bother to explain it, because you probably won't get it anyways. I'm proud to be from Nunavut despite all the problems there are up here.

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