Local Business Supports Inuit Broadcasting

In a strong demonstration of support for the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation’s Nunavut Media Arts Centre, RL Hanson Construction Ltd. has committed to haul freight for the project at no cost from the sealift dock to the building site.

“We believe in the project, and we’re ready to contribute,” said Bob Hanson, owner of RL Hanson. “This is one way for us to help make it happen.”

RL Hanson Construction Ltd. is an Iqaluit-based company specializing in general contracting, sealift delivery, grading, gravel hauling, heavy equipment operation, bussing and snow clearing. As a Nunavut-based business, Hanson sees the many benefits the new Nunavut Media Arts Centre will bring to Nunavummiut. “Our kids grew up watching Takuginai,” says Hanson. “Inuit broadcasting is part of our family, and it’s part of the culture.”

The Media Arts Centre Project is built on a strong foundation of local support. The eye-catching facility was designed by FSC Architects, and will be located on Inuit-owned land donated by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association in the core of the business and government district of Iqaluit.

IBC President Madeleine d’Argencourt hailed the announcement as an example of private sector support for Inuit culture. “Cultural industries are one of the pillars identified in the Nunavut Economic Development Plan”, said d’Argencourt. “When public spirited businessmen like Bob Hanson step forward to support us, it’s because they recognize that the benefits of a project like this are real – good for the community, good for the culture, and good for business.”

By providing full-spectrum digital, high definition studio and editing facilities, the new Media Arts Centre will attract local and territorial freelancers, small to medium sized production companies, and other broadcasters – both Canadian and international – to work in Nunavut, creating a host of unprecedented opportunities for Nunavut talent.

IBC’s new Media Arts Centre will be Nunavut’s first full-scale, state-of-the-art, digital audio, video, recording, performance and postproduction facility. Scheduled for completion in the summer of 2013, the Centre has drawn wide interest and support from Nunavut's cultural community.