NorthOfficials in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut have named the hamlet’s newly updated baseball diamond after Justin Merritt, a former senior administrative officer and avid sports fan who some say helped make the community a better place.Justin Merritt, who died in 2022, served as the Nunavut hamlet’s SAO, a volunteer league organizer and umpireCBC News · Posted: Aug 27, 2025 3:29 PM EDT | Last Updated: August 27Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, SAO Darren Flynn, second from the left; Mayor Harry Towtongie, fifth from the left; and members of the hamlet council, along with friends and family of Justin Merritt, all took part in a naming ceremony at the ball diamond last week. (Submitted by the Rankin Inlet Co-Ed Softball League )Officials in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, have named the hamlet’s newly updated baseball diamond after a former senior administrative officer and avid sports fan who some say helped make the community a better place.They unveiled a new sign Friday bearing the name Justin Merritt Ball Park.”Justin was very, very into sports in Nunavut,” said David Clark, who served as the hamlet’s recreation director this summer.”He loved his Blue Jays. He loved his Red Sox. He loved baseball, and he knew the game inside and out.”Born on Cape Breton Island, N.S., Merritt moved to Nunavut as a so-called “Bay boy,” for the Hudson’s Bay company in 1987, according to obituaries published after his death in 2022.He became a hamlet councillor in Rankin Inlet and later the SAO, Clark said.In his free time, Clark said, Merritt ran the softball league, organized hardball for youth in the summer, served on the board of Hockey Nunavut and ran Rankin Inlet Minor Hockey.’He gave a lot to the community’In his later years, Merritt served as an umpire. “He gave a lot to the community,” Clark said. “He was a mentor of mine for several years. … And getting to work with him for, I think, eight years with the hamlet was some of the best times for me in my development as a professional. And he was very honest with me and very straight, but also very caring. … He’s had a big impact in my life … not only me, but many, many others.”Lorne Kusugak, one of Merritt’s longtime friends, told the crowd at the Aug. 22 naming ceremony that Merritt always made sure games were fair and equal for everyone.”It was great to watch him work,” Kusugak said.”He was always volunteering at the games to make sure everyone enjoyed the games and had fun.”The idea to name the diamond after Merritt came after the community updated the facility earlier in the summer with new turf and new dugouts, Clark said.”The sun was shining, and it was like 8 p.m. at night, and we got the project done. And I remember taking pictures and thinking how proud [Merritt] would be of what it looks like,” he said.”And then that weekend, I went out fishing, and I was just thinking, like, our ball diamond doesn’t have a name. And I was thinking, ‘Man, it would be so nice to name it after Justin.'”Clark drafted a letter to the hamlet council and the senior administrative officer requesting the name change, he said.’Everybody was in support’Clark appeared at the next council meeting around 10 days later with images of a sign already drawn up.”Everybody thought it was a great idea,” he said. “Everybody was in support.”Clark credited Keenan Eetuk, Harry Kuksuk and the recreation department staff with helping make the renaming of the ball field a reality.”It’s pretty cool that his grandkids get to play on the field,” Clark said, referring to Merritt’s family members.”It’s fitting. He gave a lot to the community.”With files from Noel Kaludjak
Nunavut hamlet names ball field after Cape Breton man who was a tireless volunteer
