Don't dress as seals, Churchill offers Nunavut neighbour Halloween advice

The mayor of Churchill has some advice for a Nunavut community facing the threat of wandering polar bears during Halloween activities.

"Nobody dresses up as seals. Nobody dresses up as polar bears here," saidMayor Mike Spence.

The hamlet of Arviat, located on Hudson Bay about 250 kilometres north of Churchill,has decided to hold Halloween festivities indoorsthis year.

• Polar bears push Halloween activities indoors in Arviat, Nunavut

Bears have been coming into Arviat more in recent years, especially in the fall during freeze-up, so it was decided to hold Halloween at the community hall.

The hall has limited space, so the hamlet is considering different times for different age groups. They're also arranging to have a shuttle bus take children to the hall.

Churchill is also visited by polar bears in the late fall but the townhas managed to keep Halloween festivities happening outside through an organized polar bear patrol.

• Polar bear patrol keeps Churchill's trick-or-treaters safe

A helicopter is used to chase the bearsaway from the town outskirts, and armed volunteers form a perimeter to watch for any that try to come back.

Any bears that make that mistake will be treated to noisemakers likecracker shells and sometimes rubber bullets to chase them back out again. There are also liveholding traps on the edge oftown and any bears caughtarereleased once the trick-or-treating is done.

"Basically, everybody knows their responsibility in terms of you know, where they're stationed, where they're located," Spence said. "We've been doing it for so long that, I mean, it's pretty effective."

Bears are just something they have to deal with as a northern community, he said.