Lining up my Ducks

Weather: -12c and cloudy

MONTREAL- Well, we’re off to the Arctic in less than three weeks now!

We’ll be hitting three communities in Arctic Canada: Iqaluit, Clyde River (Kanngiqtugaapik) and Cape Dorset (Kinngait).

The trip is all part of Radio Canada International’s massive “Eye on the Arctic” project. Basically, it’s a kind of web program that RCI is launching this spring to look at how climate change is affecting the North.

In a nutshell, RCI contacted news organizations in every country in the circumpolar world. And we asked them to contribute stories on how climate change is affecting life in their own backyards.

And we’re not just talking about the weather.

Producer Levon Sevunts told us all to think outside the box on this one and look at how climate change is affecting the North in everything from culture and security, to even personal relationships.

When I was asked to be part of the project, I was drop-dead thrilled. This despite the warnings I got from others that had previously reported there like: ‘But you do know that people in the North only grant interviews for money, don’t like journalists and never show up on time, right?’

Not very encouraging.

In any case, I haven’t run into any problems so far. I’ve got three stories going for the project; a story on Inuit languages that I’m working on in Iqaluit and later on in Greenland, a story on sea ice that I’m working on Clyde River and Greenland, and lastly, a story on Inuit art that I will be working on in ….of course…. the unoffical capital of Inuit art … Cape Dorset.

Basically, all my ducks are in a row. The interviews are lined up and the interviewees seem enthusiastic to tell their stories. And, I’ve got Jimmy –confidante to the artists, translator and fixer extraordinaire and all-around great guy– booked for the entire week we’re in Cape Dorset.

What could possibly go wrong?

Eilís Quinn, Eye on the Arctic

Eilís Quinn is an award-winning journalist and manages Radio Canada International’s Eye on the Arctic news cooperation project. Eilís has reported from the Arctic regions of all eight circumpolar countries and has produced numerous documentary and multimedia series about climate change and the issues facing Indigenous peoples in the North.

Her investigative report "Death in the Arctic: A community grieves, a father fights for change," about the murder of Robert Adams, a 19-year-old Inuk man from Arctic Quebec, received the silver medal for “Best Investigative Article or Series” at the 2019 Canadian Online Publishing Awards. The project also received an honourable mention for excellence in reporting on trauma at the 2019 Dart Awards in New York City.

Her report “The Arctic Railway: Building a future or destroying a culture?” on the impact a multi-billion euro infrastructure project would have on Indigenous communities in Arctic Europe was a finalist at the 2019 Canadian Association of Journalists award in the online investigative category.

Her multimedia project on the health challenges in the Canadian Arctic, "Bridging the Divide," was a finalist at the 2012 Webby Awards.

Her work on climate change in the Arctic has also been featured on the TV science program Découverte, as well as Le Téléjournal, the French-Language CBC’s flagship news cast.

Eilís has worked for media organizations in Canada and the United States and as a TV host for the Discovery/BBC Worldwide series "Best in China."

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