The hall in the tiny Nunavut community of Baker Lake was packed last Thursday and the debate lasted all night and into the morning.
The crowd of about 150 people -- nearly 10 per cent of hamlet's entire population -- didn't stop talking until 1:30 a.m.
They were talking about uranium, a familiar subject in the community where French nuclear giant Areva has proposed a $1.5-billion mine for the radioactive metal.
But this forum, one of several organized by the territorial government, was different than so many previous community meetings on the topic. About halfway through, an elderly Inuit man stood and asked the question that underlined why.
"His question was, if it's so safe, why are people in Japan asked to leave their homes and not to come back?" recalled Sandra Inutiq, a member of a Nunavut anti-nuclear group. "If it's so safe, why are people in Japan so scared?"
Nunavummiut have been asking whether they want uranium mining on their land for years.
Last fall, six Nunavut communities asked the legislature to call a public inquiry on the issue. Thursday's forum -- the second of three being held throughout the territory -- was Premier Eva Aariak's compromise. Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, Nunavut's land claim organization, is also reviewing its conditional support for uranium mining.
Now, the unfolding disaster at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant has added a new note of urgency to that debate.
"Everybody's talking about what's going on in Japan," said Inutiq, of the Iqaluit-based group Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit. "You can't help but think about it."
Aariak has also sensed rising concern, as news reports from Japan filter through the territory.
"I think that through media there is more attention given to what is happening in Japan," she said.
"Perhaps because of the fact that they have witnesses through the media as to what can happen if there is a disaster, they will have more questions. Nunavut is certainly concerned about what has happened in Japan."
One of the goals of the forums is to gauge the depth of that concern, she said.
Terry Audla of NTI acknowledged that the Japanese situation has arisen in discussions about uranium mining.
"There have been one or two mentioning (Japan) as part of the preamble to their questions," he said.
But he said it's mostly Makitagunarningit that has been making the link. He said NTI treats uranium the same as any other resource --development is OK is it's safe, environmentally responsible and of benefit to Inuit.
"NTI is pretty much neutral on uranium," he said.
Nunavummiut understand the difference between a nuclear reactor and a uranium mine, said Areva's Alun Richards. He said Areva is committed to education.
"We support whatever level of discussion Nunavut people want. We know this takes a lot of discussion -- particularly in Nunavut, where there's a tradition of people working co-operatively."
Areva's proposed Kiggavik mine is now in Nunavut's regulatory system. An environmental impact assessment is being prepared.
By most accounts, the debate last Thursday in Baker Lake was about evenly split between those who favour the mine and those who fear it. That's roughly the same division displayed in letters about the project sent last year to Nunavut's environmental review board. It suggests Japan's disaster may not have changed public opinion in the territory very much.
But if nothing else, the nuclear disaster half a world away has encouraged Nunavummiut to speak up about their concerns, Inutiq said.
"In terms of people speaking out publicly, there's a lot more than there was a year and a half ago," Inutiq said.
"It's now part of the discussion. It's out and the more people speak out, the more people feel free to speak out."
