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Hamlet councils and their administrators across Nunavut are livid as they scramble to figure out how they will foot the bill for the diesel fuel they didn't realize they had used last year.
The Nunavut Power Corporation should smarten up and take responsibility for their own mistakes. So-called computer errors resulted in every hamlet, and hundreds of commercial customers, being undercharged for last year's "peak demand" usage.
That's thousands of dollars they'll have to cut from their budgets -- thousands of dollars that they thought they could spend on maintaining and improving their communities.
Rick Blennerhassett, president of the Power Corp. has an explanation. He says the billing system put in place last year "couldn't correctly calculate the demand portion of the bill for large customers."
First, there's no such thing as a computer error. Improperly written software is a human problem, not an electronic one. Second, NPC may be a young corporation, but that does not excuse the fact that senior administrators failed to ensure the new billing system was fully tested before it was implemented.
It's also important to ask: was the proper billing information input to begin with?
So what is the solution? In a perfect world, Nunavut Power would accept the blame for the mistake and forgive the outstanding fees. But then the corporation would likely have to raise its rates.
The territorial government could come to the rescue, but it won't.
In the end, hamlets would end up covering this year's shortfalls anyway, and we're back to where we started.
But that doesn't excuse the mistake. It's good to know that hamlets will be given many months to find the money, and no late charges applied.
Unfortunately, big faceless public utilities are too often let off the hook because they are creatures created by government and are left to operate at arm's length.
Could this error be a sign that the rot that has infested so many other utilities has already taken root? Let's hope not.
Just to make sure, the minister responsible for the corporation, Ed Picco, ought to call president Blennerhassett to his office for a meeting. Picco can then read the riot act, letting NPC know that the next time there's a mistake like this, there will be more severe consequences.
The fact that Nats'enelu, a Fort Simpson-based Dene clothing company, has remained closed for most of the summer begs immediate attention by the NWT Development Corporation.
Started five years when a local sewing circle hooked up with a successful fashion designer, Nats'enelu had enjoyed nothing but growth since its inception.
D'Arcy Moses, a high-powered Montreal fashion designer, took on the job as manager in 1997, when he returned to the Deh Cho in search of his roots. Within a year Nats'enelu employed eight full-time staff and 15 home workers.
The plan was simple: To take Dene traditional designs and manufacture a line of top-quality clothing for all the world. Within the first two years of business they had accomplished just that. Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson and her husband are among the company's faithful customers.
It's clear Moses, who has now moved on to Winnipeg, held up his end of the bargain. He originally only committed to 16 months, but stayed for five years.
The NWT Development Corp., on the other hand, pumped in cash to help get the business off the ground, but then walked away.
Its only support came through the Development Corp. becoming a minority shareholder three years ago.
It's ironic the NWT Development Corporation's logo is "Investing in the future of Northerners," yet its president told News/North: "We just don't have the money to reinvest in companies that are in trouble."
Are we missing something here?
Clearly the development corporation should have been there for Nats'enelu, offering business support and help with management.
The development corporation proved how much its help could benefit a company with the Fort McPherson Tent and Canvas Company. After three years of financial support by the development corporation, the canvas company has shown a six-figure turnaround. They supported the canvas company by hiring a full-time manager -- a position Nats'enelu now struggles without.
Nats'enelu is a business with tremendous potential, not only in terms of dollars and cents, but in preserving a traditional way of life. It's a company that started with a dream and now, thanks to the lack of support, is hanging by a thread.
To lose something that shows so much potential would be unfortunate, to say the least.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Rankin Inlet hamlet council voted down a proposal earlier this month to join a tax-base study being conducted for Cambridge Bay by the Department of Community Government and Transportation. Council's reasoning in the matter was more than a little weak, fearful if it lets CG&T "get a foot in the door," moving to a tax-based structure would be forced upon them.
That notion is a little far-fetched (some would say paranoid), but that's not what troubles us the most.
For the past year, Rankin council has impressed us with its move towards a more proactive approach in dealing with hamlet matters. Recently, however, the spectre of ways past has been rearing its head.
The council was caught with its head down when it came to preparations necessary for the long-promised installation of artificial ice. Failure to do its homework on the project translated into another year's wait for the community. With its decision not to take part in the tax study, council is repeating that mistake.
We agree that Rankin is not ready to move to a tax-based economy. However, the move is inevitable. Taking part in the study would have provided council with the information necessary to start preparing for the transition.
When it comes to moving towards a township and instilling a tax-based economy, council finds itself caught in a Catch 22 situation. On one hand, it wants the increased independence in managing its own affairs a township provides. It also opens the doors to funding initiatives the community is not privy to while retaining hamlet status.
On the other hand, council is worried about fallout being sparked by property taxes being imposed and an increase in municipal service fees.
At this particular juncture, the other hand wins. However, council should have seized the opportunity to learn all it can about a tax-based structure. It was, in fact, painfully obvious at the last council meeting that a number of councillors had very little understanding of the move, outside of the fact homeowners would be shelling out a pretty penny in taxes.
And, while definitely a hurdle to be overcome, it is but one brick in a much larger structure.
Council must lay aside its preconceived notions when it comes to matters of this magnitude. The quicker we have all the information regarding such a move, the quicker we can start analysing data and properly prepare for the day we are able to make the switch. In all probability, that day is not far off.
Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum
Seismic slump Seems the interest in oil and gas in the Delta has fallen off sharply this year, with major producers holding their cards close to their vests until they see what will happen with this pipeline.
They were ready to boom once before and were disappointed. No doubt that fiscal uncertainty is buzzing through the Calgary and Houston boardrooms again.
With so many other new prospects opening up, the big players are hedging their bets. Oil and gas on the east coast with Hibernia and Sable opening up, as well as new finds along the Rocky Mountain trench and in the Gulf of Mexico, are leading producers where the game is a sure bet.
Up here, they don't know what cards they're going to get dealt.
With pitch men and politicians dealing these wild cards and wild promises of 100 per cent ownership and billion dollar subsidies, the producers would just as soon place their bets where the game is played straight.
With slumping gas prices and shell-shocked stockholders every CEO is looking for a safe bet and with the winds of political pandering blowing south, I'm not sure they are ready to sit in on this Northern game.
Walking and talking
It was good to see the crowd of people walking the streets last Sunday to raise awareness of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Far too long this was a dirty little secret that was hushed away at the detriment of the unborn.
Generations grew up not knowing the evils of drinking during pregnancy and events like this one get people talking about the issue.
Help on Husky
The residents of Husky Trailer Park have a few options open to them, but it looks like none of them are going to be cheap.
Moving the trailers is out of the question for some of the people with older homes and doling out money for a new lot won't come cheap either.
The town will crawl out from under the situation one way or the other, so it's up to the home owners to seek the best route out for themselves.
Buying the existing lots to pay for a new utilidor may appear to be a quick fix to the problem, but the area still needs a proper survey done.
Once surveyed, one trailer will have to be moved out completely and the rest nudged over to meet with code.
Moving a trailer a foot or a mile costs about the same, so the owners had might as well look to cutting their losses and move into the new trailer lots the town has for sale.
Seems like a hard sell, but the options are few and all expensive.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
It's bewildering to think that more than $32 million has been pumped into a mine within the Deh Cho region, but a mere pittance has accrued to local businesses and residents.
CanTung mine resumed production in January and had been making preparations for months prior to that. The most commonly used defence for the lack of Deh Cho benefits is two-fold:
- The road through the Yukon is the mine's lifeline.
- Little interest has been expressed to date by First Nations and businesses in the Deh Cho.
For the record, there hasn't been anyone vigorously refuting those arguments, not since the departure of Shane Parrish, former CEO of the Acho Dene Koe Group of Companies, anyway.
Another factor that makes CanTung a tough nut to crack is that it has been around since the '60s. Therefore it can cling to exceptions for existing third-party interests and can fall back on some of those infamous grandfather-type clauses -- although North American Tungsten currently has a heck of a battle on its hands against the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, which won't renew its water licence under dated terms. It looks like that matter will be decided in court.
The Deh Cho First Nations' struggles to guarantee royalties and impact benefits agreements through the federal government -- equitable measures, all -- wouldn't apply at CanTung even if the details were worked out and ratified yesterday or last year.
Therefore, having a delegation meet face-to-face with the mine's top executive last week, although overdue, was a step in the right direction. The demands placed on Udo von Doehren, president of North American Tungsten, last Friday were neither great nor unreasonable.
The challenge was for CanTung to provide more jobs for local people and to pay to get them to and from the mine. Although von Doehren balked at picking up the full tab for the employees' return flights from Fort Simpson, he was willing to entertain a lesser cost if government or any other group would subsidize it.
To hold up its end of the bargain, the Deh Cho will now have to produce some committed employees. A three-week in, three-week out camp environment in such a remote, but scenic, location isn't appealing to every unemployed individual. Whatever the reason, there's obviously a hurdle to overcome when 10 of 11 CanTung employees from Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte walked away from their jobs.
In a region of 3,000 people, not all of them of working age, not all of them seeking employment, there are only so many workers to spread around as development projects become a reality. Opening the door to other NWT residents and Southerners who are willing to make their home in the Deh Cho is inevitable.
By starting now to figure out other ways the Deh Cho can benefit when the larger and richer MacTung deposits are tapped into, the better off we'll all be.