Monday, May 21, 2001
No one wants to see power bills climb. Hefty hikes are just about as inevitable as death and taxes, though, and the news that the NWT Power Corporation is preparing for another round of increases should come as no surprise -- not as long as we rely a fuel controlled by transnational corporations whose best interests are served by keeping supplies tight and demands high.
There is a way out of this bind, however, one that can kill a second bird with the same stone. Converting to alternative and renewable sources of energy could free many NWT and Nunavut communities from the tyranny of the fossil-fuel industry while reducing emissions of the "greenhouse gases" that are responsible for our changing Northern climate.
Making the switch, won't be a snap, but study after study around the world has shown that it can be done, and that the financial savings are worth the investment. All it takes is leadership.
Which is why the absence of any representative from the NWT Corporation at least week's public consultation on an NWT greenhouse gas strategy in Yellowknife is inexcusable.
To be fair, the corporation did send members to previous meetings in Hay River and other communities. And NWTPC has been tentatively studying some of the renewable options, such as wind, solar and small-scale, run-of-river hydroelectric turbines, for years.
But Yellowknife's session was the only one attended by more than a handful of interested citizens, and the logical venue to explain its plans for the future. It was also the best opportunity to explain why a decade of proposals and studies have yet to be implemented, despite the enormous potential such technologies offer in the North.
The still-young Nunavut Power Corporation, meanwhile, has a chance to avoid making the same mistakes. Both companies have an obligation to reduce our impact on the climate, and keep power rates as low as possible. The old ways of thinking won't suffice.
Running a dog team takes training and skill.
You can't walk up to a sled, jump on the runners and expect to have an easy time on the trail.
Yet we're perfectly willing to let children hop on a powerful snowmobile with little or no training. Or race around towns with no helmet or jump aboard while drunk.
There was a call last fall for greater snowmobile regulation when three young men in Fort Good Hope lost their lives in a crash, and again earlier this year when a young Inuvik boy sustained severe head injuries in another crash.
Now, NWT coroner Percy Kinney has added his voice to the call for snowmobile regulation, with nine powerful recommendations that aim to have people give snowmobiles the respect they deserve.
In the NWT, we use them like other Canadians use cars. We use they to go hunting and we use them for fun.
No longer can we accept the death and injury to our young people. Today's snowmachines are powerful pieces of equipment that propel riders at high speeds.
That's why Kinney's recommendation's make sense. Mandatory helmet use within town limits is wise.
Stricter regulation for snowmobile use on NWT roads, streets and highways is needed. Licencing of drivers is overdue.
Another winter during which people are killed and injured aboard snowmobiles cannot pass without government action.
When it comes to helping men heal and ending the cycle of abuse, showing them the tools to use is only half the battle.
Aftercare is also essential. Without ongoing maintenance and help, problems will arise in putting those tools to use.
Such was the case for Qikiqtarjuaq's Johnny Ayaruaq. After attending a Qikiqtani Inuit Association-sponsored men's healing workshop last fall, Ayaruaq went home to help other men heal. Various obstacles made that difficult, although Ayaruaq refuses to stop trying.
QIA should follow his lead.
His dogged determination and focus is missing from their approach. Without follow up and continuing support, our husbands, brothers, fathers and sons face an uphill battle in their quest to get better.
"God knows, the people here need jobs."
Those are Charlie Lyall's words. As president of the Kitikmeot Corporation, he ought to know.
Although they're surrounded by enormous wealth locked in the ground -- gold, diamonds and more -- he's understands how Kitikmeot residents have had to deal with high unemployment while other parts of the North have boomed.
Thanks to the KC's foresight, training programs have given a number of people new skills that will help them find work. Efforts to build a road and port in Bathurst Inlet will pay more dividends.
It will unlock the region's riches and be another boost to all of Nunavut.
The port may seem like a dream, but dreams can come true through hard work.
Editorial Comment
Maria Canton
Inuvik Drum
The decision to yank funding to the Aurora College jewelry and metalwork program not only leaves talented students in the lurch, but tells artists and would-be students in the region that their work just doesn't measure up -- on the money scale that is.
The sad thing is, the funding agencies, in this case the Inuvialuit, Gwich'in and the college, are failing to see the long-term benefits of establishing programs exactly like the jewelry and metalwork program.
Training artists creates and fosters small, sustainable industry, something the region needs more of. By cutting the program two years into it, right when it has started to run efficiently and the students are developing the skills, the money has all but been wasted.
Not wasted in terms of the students, because they are all the better for having started the program, but one could say the funding agencies have wasted their money.
What benefits can they see to their investment? Upset students unable to complete the program? Thousands of dollars worth of tools and a studio sitting empty, collecting dust? Trained instructors left without a program to teach? Another push towards the elimination of talented artists and jewellers in the Western Arctic?
Aside from that, one could say that the funding agencies have an obligation to allow the students already enrolled to complete the program.
What about not accepting new students, but letting those already studying the chance to complete the program? The move to cut the program entirely might be just enough to discourage a student from returning to school, to drop out right when they gave it a shot.
What's failing to be seen here is that the creation of long-term sustainable industry is what the region needs. The oil and gas industry is good, but we all know it won't last forever and then what?
Is that when the decision to re-start the jewelry program will be made, when the bottom falls out of the resource work? Is that when funding agencies will wisen up and realize there is a future in small industry if they give it time to develop?
It's a sad day in the Western Arctic and an even sadder school year coming up as there will be no jewelry and metalwork program at any of Aurora College's campuses.
With this decision an entire group of artists are effectively being eliminated from the arts scene in the NWT. Congratulations funding agencies, you have failed to plan for the future.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum, Fort Simpson
Last December, the Deh Cho elders' council advised the region's chiefs to work together, rather than as 10 separate communities. On Monday, they reinforced their call for solidarity.
Many of the elders around the table acknowledged that industry representatives, particularly oil and gas officials from Calgary, have visited their communities to promote exploration and development.
The prospect of having 10 communities plunging headlong into oil and gas or mining initiatives is something the elders do not welcome for fear that the land and its wildlife will be harmed irreparably.
The analogy of everyone in the Deh Cho living in the same house was made often during Monday's meeting. The consensus was that if everyone works together, then industry can only come in the front door of that house rather than sneak in unannounced.
At the same time, the elders heeded the cry for jobs, especially for young people. Job creation is a key selling point for industry representatives.
To keep things in perspective, Deh Cho First Nations chief negotiator Chris Reid told the elders that 500 jobs is the optimal number for full employment this region of just over 3,000 people. By comparison, oil and gas exploration and development in Fort Liard has created approximately 1,500 jobs alone, according to Reid. The vast majority of those jobs have been filled by southerners, he said.
Therefore it would only take one or two designated projects to employ everyone in the region who wants to work, he suggested. That doesn't even take into account the possibility that other ventures could still become operational, such as the Prairie Creek lead and zinc mine near Nahanni Butte or the tungsten mine near the Yukon border. Those undertakings could employ hundreds more.
However, agreeing to work together is always the easy part -- practising it is when it gets difficult. Granted, the Deh Cho's communities have maintained a remarkable alliance while following the rocky road to self-government over the past few years, and several more years will be needed. There has been some tension along the way -- more of which can be expected during the leadership meetings this week -- but they have managed to hold things together.
Yet when money enters the picture, that's usually when major conflict arises. The question is whether Deh Cho leaders can agree upon the location of one economic development project, and, more importantly, how the revenues from the project will be divided equitably. It's a predicament that they will have to tackle sooner or later.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
You can't blame Kivalliq regional fire marshal Tim Hinds for being more than a little saddened by the results of a fire in Rankin Inlet this past week.
It never ceases to amaze the fire marshal after a fire breaks out in a community and he discovers the victims of the blaze had no insurance on their belongings or property. Yes, with today's high cost of living, personal finances can sometimes be tight, but think about it.
Why risk everything your hard work has paid for just to save a few bucks a month?
Fire insurance is still a relatively cheap proposition, when one stops to consider the possible consequences of being without it.
We all like to think these types of tragedies will never strike us, but the truth of the matter is, sometimes they do. Better to be insured than to risk losing everything you own.
Always thinking big
You have to hand it to Rankin Inlet's Jim Ramsay, when he decides to dream, it's always in technicolour.
Ramsay is currently involved with a mammoth undertaking, trying to launch the Jammin' on the Bay music festival.
Take it from someone who represented bands for a number of years, these types of events take an enormous amount of time, dedication, planning, understanding and negotiating.
Despite some of Ramsay's past accomplishments, there are still some doubting Thomases who don't believe he can pull this one off. Maybe not, but we here at Kivalliq News would never bet against him.
One of Ramsay's biggest strengths is his ability to surround himself with the right people for the right jobs.
His exuberance and confidence quickly rubs off on those around him when working towards a goal such as Jammin' on the Bay.
And, with local personalities such as Louis Taparti, Therese Tungalik, Jim MacDonald, Justin Merritt and Dave Petryshen involved -- along with many others -- Ramsay once again has the right people involved to make his project become a reality.
We're betting that, come the Labour Day weekend, the hills around Rankin Inlet will be alive with the sounds of music.