Iqaluit environmentalist 'prepared for anything' amid Nobel hype

Canadian Sheila Watt-Cloutier will learn Friday if she has won the Nobel Peace Prize, but the Iqaluit-based environmental activist said she's already inundated by worldwide attention leading up to the big decision.

"The volumeis justso high in terms of the interest of media around the world. Anywhere from China, Japan, Greece, you know, all of Canada, U.S. and Europe," Watt-Cloutier said Thursday at the Iqaluit airport, upon her return from a brief trip south.

"It's a little bit overwhelming already, so I'm trying to get prepared for anything, whatever the outcomewill be."

Watt-Cloutier, the 53-year-old former chairwoman of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, and former U.S. vice-president Al Gore were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Norwegian MPs Boerge Brende and Heidi Soerensen.

They were impressed by the work Watt-Cloutier and Gore have done to raise awareness about the impact of climate change. Watt-Cloutier has travelled the world to speak about the impact of pollutants and climate change on Inuit.

As well, while she was on the Inuit Circumpolar Council, she persuaded the international community to agree with the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced at 5 a.m. ET in Oslo, Norway. Watt-Cloutier will receive the news at her home in Iqaluit.

She couldbe the first Canadian in 50 years to be awarded the prize. Former prime minister Lester B. Pearson is the only Canadian to date to receive the award, in 1957 for his creation of the United Nations peacekeeping force during the 1956 Suez Crisis.

Watt-Cloutier, who is originally from northern Quebec but now lives in Iqaluit, would become the first Inuk to win the prize. She was inducted into the Order of Canada in December 2006.

"This is so big for the circumpolar world, Canada, Nunavut, Sheila especially, and her hometown in Kuujjuaq," Nunavut Commissioner Ann Meekitjuk Hanson said. "This is absolutely huge and I'm absolutely delighted."

Paul Kaludjak, president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., said Watt-Cloutier has been successful in bringing the issue of climate change onto the world stage.

"This opens the people's eyes and makes them understand what kind of impact is happening today," he said. "She's educated a lot of people as a result."

Whether she wins or loses, Watt-Cloutier said the awareness that has been generated about climate change would be the best prize.