There are two regions of Canada that, until this past June, I had never visited - the prairies and the Arctic. In a sense, I experienced them both through my research at Arctic Co-operative Limited’s head office in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Crouched over old boxes in the storage cupboard of the ACL office, I kept being distracted by fantastic photos of the early days of co-operative activity in the Canadian Arctic. The ACL staff was incredibly helpful and friendly. The result was very interesting and inspiring research. For example, I learned that in 1968, the co-op members of Qikiqtuaq Co-op in Gjoa Haven winched three 20,000 gallon fuel tanks across 20 miles of frozen tundra in 35 below weather so the co-op could start selling fuel. The research from my trip will go towards a book Ian MacPherson, the Director of BCICS, and I am writing on the history of co-operatives in the Arctic.

My trip wasn’t all work. I stayed with Vera, Bea, and Andre Goussaert who showed me the many fabulous sites of, and around, Winnipeg. On an evening when one half of the prairie sky was full of thunder and lightening and the other half was sunny and blue, I traveled to the lovely town of Lowe Farm (where the only store is a co-op). I drove a tractor bigger than the BCICS office (or nearly) and watched a prairie sunset.

It was a fantastic trip, full of artic co-operative history and prairie experiences.

Julia Smith