A pic­ture sent to a local news­pa­per caused quite a stir in North­ern Canada, and has renewed the focus on help­ing poor children.

From the CBC, we learn more about the photo and just why it was so con­tro­ver­sial. Our link to the story also includes this photo, if your curious.

A pic­ture of two boys sleep­ing out­doors near an Iqaluit gro­cery store has prompted calls for more ser­vices to help vul­ner­a­ble children.

The photo, sub­mit­ted to a local news­pa­per by res­i­dent Evie Eegeesiak, shows two young boys curled up along an out­side wall of the North­Mart store around 6:30 a.m. on July 26.

The boys, one wear­ing shorts, were try­ing to stay warm as they slept on the pave­ment sur­rounded by cig­a­rette butts and litter.

“It’s just now very ‘in our face,’ in the sense that they chose to sleep in front of North­Mart,” said Iqaluit lawyer and social activist Madeleine Red­fern, who applauded Eegeesiak for mak­ing the photo public.

“I think often chil­dren are not choos­ing to go home for what­ever rea­son at night, and often sleep here on the beach, in the shacks, in porch­ways, in any sort of area that they can find a place to lie down their head for the night.”

Iqaluit RCMP said Nunavut’s Health and Social Ser­vices Depart­ment is now involved with the boys’ case.

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