Monday, February 19, 2001
The Yellow Rose of Texas may symbolize the oil and gas potential of the NWT, but the luck of the Irish and the four leaf clover are more apt for Joe Handley's "good-news" budget.
If not for a one-time tax windfall from some anonymous corporate elephant, and more cash from the federal government due to population growth and formula financing quirks related to provincial spending, the territory would be facing a $13 million deficit rather than a $23 million surplus.
There are also some surprising new revenue twists that indicate the GNWT has turned its covetous eyes away from federal coffers to our pockets.
In satisfying two high profile public demands -- investment in road construction and tourism -- Finance minister Handley has introduced two new taxes on Northerners. He has more plans for Northern taxes too. He intends to break the linkage to federal personal income tax levels and base it upon our total incomes.
This is to "allow more flexibility to design our tax system to meet the needs of the NWT population." Surely that's code for the ability to raise our taxes at will.
Further, the results of Handley's broad consultation can be seen. The $805 million budget touches on all bases with golden optimism, as if our present challenges are now well in hand and the government is about to expand and intensify its efforts in all areas.
But there is no way for the public to judge how the government intends to repair our disintegrating health and education system because there is no admission of just how serious things are. We are seeing signs of huge strain as precious professionals flee schools and hospitals.
In at least one instance recently reported by News/North, health system breakdown has brought tragedy. A paltry $800,000 increase in health and social services, hardly the equivalent of three and a half doctors, offers little hope. The five per cent increase in education, culture and employment may plaster over some of the gaping holes but will hardly prime the pump for meeting minimum standards or overwhelming training requirements.
Bottom line on Handley's budget? It's a public relations success full of promise. Whether it will transform short-term pain into long-term gain or just more pain remains to be seen.
The luck of the Irish will play a large role.
The saga continues. Metis Hunter Kenny Hudson has once again proven that time is merrily moving along while his rights lie in limbo.
Earlier this month Hudson returned to Wood Buffalo National Park to do as his forefathers had done - he went hunting.
Two years ago Hudson purposely shot a moose in the park to try and force a court ruling on the question of Metis rights to hunt inside a national park.
At the time, the Crown managed to get a stay of proceedings and denied Hudson the satisfaction of a legal scrap.
Now, after bagging himself a cow moose, Hudson once again turned himself in to the RCMP.
This time no charges were laid, but his gun was confiscated.
We sympathize with Hudson's frustration.
Clearly, it's time to either charge him or change the law.
Nobody's benefiting from this except the federal government which is avoiding a legitimate issue.
Noah Kadlak should take time to consider his next move.
In his attempt to have his traditional hunt proposal passed, he has been left with everything but what he wants: a polar bear he killed with a spear.
Three ministers refused Kadlak's request; the court said not letting the hunt take place violates Kadlak's Inuit rights; elders said the hunt is too dangerous, especially the method Kadlak wants to use; and the press has both supported and vilified him.
Kadlak has cleared the legal hoops, so whatever he decides, we all should accept it.
This started out as a man simply wanting to kill a bear by a method his ancestors used. But it turned into Kadlak's quest to exercise his Inuit rights. And it looks like he won that battle.
It's easy to squander time when your house is warm and your belly is full of food. Indeed, the luxury of a full tank of oil and a full fridge provides fat-cat politicians and languid bureaucrats with all the time and space they need to ensure their decisions are as well thought out as they say they need to be.
We are willing to make a little wager concerning the lethargy of our elected leaders. We are willing to bet that if they were forced to decide -- as is the case for many constituents -- between food for their children and a few litres of heating fuel, they'd be spurred into action quicker than they could say "fill it up."
By action we mean releasing the promised territorial heating fuel subsidy.
About a month ago, Nunavut Housing Minister Manitok Thompson said her department is looking into developing such a program.
It will target low-income residents, many of whom are giving up their homes to move back into public housing.
Nunavummiut are forced to accept government dependence to avoid freezing their families, an old colonial story.
Last week, the minister refused to talk about the program. That is not progress.
Thompson apparently doesn't see the urgency of the issue.
If she did, one would think she'd step up to announce what the GN plans to do to help their residents. Instead, she went home to her nice, warm house. The need for her subsidy is even more urgent now that the federal government's heating fuel rebate proved to be such a bust north of the border. The cheques were paltry and, in characteristic bumbling, the money was sent to many people who don't even pay for their own fuel.
It would be wrong for Thompson to announce an off-the-cuff program that would end up failing.
But, what's even more wrong is that our friends, family, and neighbours lie awake at night wondering how high the bills will climb and what they might be forced to do, while Thompson and her fellow MLAs live the high life.
It seems there's always money to start a business here, subsidize an export there, but when it comes to protecting the environment, pennies are always pinched.
That's wrong because preservation and development must proceed hand in hand, especially in the North. We are already paying too high an environmental price for the devastation left behind by non-renewable resource industries.
First Nations understand that and they're right to pull out of an environmental committee sponsored by the federal government. Ottawa has broken many promises to fund environmental projects over the past few years.
This boycott may be the only way to make politicians and senior federal bureaucrats understand that while we need jobs, we need clean land, air and water to hand down to our children, too.
Even though $350 million has been set aside by the federal government to help healing groups, Nunavut has only received about $315,000.
And that small amount is not for lack of groups trying to access more funding.
The problem is that 13 proposals submitted from largely Inuktitut-speaking communities do not meet the guidelines of the Ottawa-based Aboriginal Healing Foundation. The foundation now says it is going to help Nunavut organizations by hiring co-ordinators in each region and an Inuktitut-speaking aid in Ottawa.
That is a step in the right direction and, hopefully, a measure that will entice discouraged Northern healing organizations to continue to ask for the money they deserve.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Any conclusion on Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (Inuit traditional knowledge and science) based solely on Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.'s (NTI) battle with the Department of Sustainable Development would paint quite an alarming picture.
On the surface, we tend to agree with Minister Olayuk Akesuk's assertion that NTI only appears to accept Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) when it supports NTI's point of view.
Akesuk's decision to once again disallow Noah Kadlak's traditional polar bear hunt prompted a stinging verbal attack from NTI president Paul Quassa, who accused the minister of manipulating the elders and "using" them to support his stance.
We doubt very much this would have been the tune sung by Quassa had the elders supported the hunt.
In his original proposal, Kadlak listed no less than 12 Coral Harbour elders and community members who told traditional stories of killing polar bears without the use of a gun or Ski-Doo.
This was, of course, intended to strengthen his proposal by showing he had experienced guidance in conducting a successful hunt.
In fact, one of the names included on Kadlak's original proposal was that of Mikituk Bruce -- one of the same elders who Quassa now says were manipulated by the government into supporting Akesuk's decision.
If the traditional knowledge of our elders is to be used wisely, it cannot be used as a tool and applied unilaterally to further one cause or ambition.
If our elders are to be used as pawns to further our own goals and ambitions, then Quassa is correct when he says IQ will not work.
As the relationship between NTI and the Nunavut Government becomes more adversarial, it does not bode well for the negotiation of a new Nunavut Wildlife Act.
The last thing needed in drawing up a new Wildlife Act is for NTI, the Department of Sustainable Development and the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board to become locked in a power struggle.
The battle over Kadlak's proposal has driven a wedge between the three and the heightened rhetoric we've heard over Akesuk's decision will only serve to widen that gap.
The delivery of a solid Wildlife Act by 2003 will benefit all Nunavummiut.
It is time for the three to come together and focus their attention on the common good.
We have no reason to doubt Kadlak's sincerity in his desire to pass on his traditional knowledge and cultural pride to future generations.
However, there are ways he can accomplish his goal without dividing our leadership and costing our territory thousands of dollars in legal fees and man hours.
It is time to lay the bear to rest. No spear required.
Editorial Comment
Malcolm Gorrill
Inuvik Drum
For most pupils, a typical school day consists of sitting through classes, chatting with friends, writing tests and assignments, and maybe extracurricular activities.
They probably pay little thought to the amount of effort put in by their teachers every day, patiently marking tests and conducting classes. The work done by janitors would also largely escape attention.
Then there are those who are truly behind the scenes. They're the ones who work for educational bodies which hire the teachers, and the janitors, and bus drivers, and keep up maintenance to buildings and equipment, and generally do the thousand-and-one-things necessary to keep a school running.
This past weekend the Beaufort-Delta Education Council held a regular council meeting.
It was an interesting event to sit in on, with lots of spirited, informed debate on what's positive within the district, as well as how best to solve problems facing the area.
Much discussion centred around standardized tests conducted last fall which show BDEC students comparing poorly with the rest of the country.
Reaction to the recently released test results ranged from anger to numbness, but a common theme seemed to emerge that something different must be tried to end this trend.
One important step to combat some of the problems highlighted in these tests was the adoption -- complete with applause -- of a proposal to provide a much greater focus over the next three years towards kindergarten and Grade 1 throughout the district.
The program is ambitious and clearly has entailed a lot of planning. It was interesting, however, that while the educators approved the plan, many still argued something else must be done to help improve the quality of education to BDEC students.
Some discussion centred around the importance of the attitudes towards school that children learn at home. It was pointed out that kids don't learn if they don't attend school regularly and their parents don't place a high value on education.
The meeting was also noteworthy in that a new executive was elected. Outgoing chairperson Bob Simpson said the BDEC has had to contend with cuts and other problems in recent years, but that they had also accomplished a great deal.
Simpson stressed the need for the council to continue to exercise regional co-operation, and he was not the only one to describe the benefits of the entire area working together.
Luck is wished to the new executive members, and to the entire council, as it guides this area's education into a new century.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum, Fort Simpson
The Acho Dene Koe First Nation is making a wise decision by conducting a community study related to oil and gas activity.
The effects of having a mammoth industry descend upon a small community should not be understated.
There is no question that job creation has been of great benefit, as have the donations to the community from wealthy oil and gas companies.
But there have been those who have questioned whether the flow of money into Fort Liard has resulted in greater societal woes. These are the sorts of issues that must be examined, as well as any effects on wildlife and any other environmental issues.
Chief and council have sensibly chosen to include all Fort Liard residents in the study. The issue, as Chief Judy Kotchea pointed out, does not affect band members only. Everyone from students to elders is to be asked their opinion.
This winter has been slow in Fort Liard by industry standards. There are fewer jobs than usual.
Part of the reason for that is Paramount Resources Ltd.'s decision to withdraw its applications for land-use permits near Fort Liard and in the Cameron Hills area. That withdrawal came after the Mackenzie Land and Water Board referred the applications to environmental assessment, delaying the decision by months.
The Acho Dene Koe's group of companies was counting on those natural gas projects for revenue and jobs.
Despite that disappointment, and the added pressure it must bring to create additional opportunities to keep people working, chief and council are following through with the study. When elected last year, Kotchea had promised to take a step back and allow the community to gauge the local changes associated with oil and gas.
It's not as if there's a possibility that all oil and gas activity in Fort Liard will ground to a halt. That's not going to happen. The purpose of the study is essentially to find out how it can proceed in everybody's best interest.
As long as the results of that study are analyzed in an objective manner, and recommendations are made based upon the input of the majority, the community should truly be better off for it.
On a related note, the ADK deserve full marks for keeping business and politics separate. The band is currently embroiled in a boundary dispute with the Kaska First Nation in the Yukon. Despite that, they have formed a business deal to purchase a share of a drilling rig with the Kaska. Shane Parrish, general manager of the ADK Group of Companies, said its likely that the two First Nations will continue to collaborate on a number of projects.