Lack of boarding home in Rankin Inlet makes medical travel difficult, Nunavut father says

For over nine years, Rene Aggark has travelled out of Nunavut once a month for health care for his daughter.

Aggark travels from his home in Arviat, then to Rankin Inlet, and south from there. His daughter Saittuq has a physical disability which requires care in Winnipeg.

He says it’s usually a full day of travelling with the stopover in Rankin Inlet leaving them waiting for hours.

Unlike Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet doesn’t have a medical boarding home where people can stay if they're travelling for medical care. Instead, many people are forced to wait in the airport.

“It's tiring and it's struggling, mentally and physically,” Aggark said, describing what it’s like waiting at the terminal. “This is very difficult at times because most of the time we do not have [a] place to go.”

He says the airport terminal in Rankin has a small waiting room with limited, uncomfortable seating and food options. Saittuq often has a hard time because she doesn’t like the selective juice and snack options there.

“Sometimes she cries because she's getting impatient to get on the plane and keeps asking constantly, ‘when are we going to hop on?’” Aggark said.

Francois De Wet, Nunavut’s health chief of staff, says the lack of a medical boarding home in Rankin Inlet is an issue.

“We are a little bit limited in terms of the amount of people that we can bring in,” De Wet said.

Rankin Inlet set to open new airport terminal

There are plans for a new airport terminal in the community, however.

Last year, Darrin Nichol, director of the Nunavut Airports Division, told CBC News the new terminal will be about 40,000 square feet, which is triple the size of the current one. It will include more seating and food options.

In an email, Heather Grant with the government of Nunavut’s transportation and infrastructure division said the terminal will seat 200 people.

Grant says the first phase of the two-phase project is set to be complete this year. It was originally expected to open in 2023 but the project has seen several delays.

Aggark says he is hopeful the new terminal will be better for waiting.

"We feel like getting impatient to use the new terminal that is supposed to be opening,” he said. “Hopefully, they will provide more comfortable sofas, especially for the elders.”

Still, Aggark says he'd rather see a boarding home in Rankin Inlet, as a more comfortable place to stay for his daughter when travelling to Winnipeg.