Monday, December 13, 2004
The corporation is also owed more than $5 million in back rent on its 2,300 public housing units. That's almost $9 million the government agency doesn't expect to recover.
When asked about the problem, Housing Minister David Krutko refuses to say anything, except that he's "new" to the job and doesn't "feel comfortable" discussing this serious issue.
This is a classic case of a cabinet minister refusing to take responsibility. His comfort level is a far lower priority than the need to clean up what is clearly a longstanding and still growing financial scandal in a self-proclaimed "cash strapped" government.
Krutko moved into cabinet in June with two responsibilities: NWT Housing and the Workers Compensation Board. If he is unable to get up to speed on his cabinet responsibilities within six months of being appointed, we have to question his abilities.
A further test of Krutko's mettle as cabinet material will be how he handles this issue from here on. At least corporation president Fred Koe, faced with such disastrous figures, accepts responsibility.
"There is a period where we weren't stringent in our collections."
That is a gross understatement. Only now, with mortgage arrears clearly creating a crisis, is there action.
"We're now just starting to move to foreclose on some that have been long outstanding," Koe told News/North.
Even so, the housing corporation will hand off responsibility for mortgage payment and collection to local housing authorities next April. Before that happens, Krutko and NWT Housing must fix what's gone terribly wrong.
Such a towering debt can't be wiped away by downloading responsibility to community housing boards. Boards should refuse to take over mortgage collection until the mounting debt is brought under control.
Krutko and Koe must make sure their staff understand that these mortgages are backed up by public money and that homeowners must live up to their responsibilities. To slack off on rental collection and mortgage payments is to lead families into debt and drain much needed cash from other important government services.
Krutko and Koe must also make a full accounting to the Legislative Assembly as to how this problem has grown to such huge proportions and the steps to be taken to ensure it doesn't happen again.
Mention sex to a group of 13-year-olds and you'll get a lot of giggling.
Mention it to some elders in Cambridge Bay and you will probably get some tough talk about how young people should think first and love later.
Eva Otokiak recently interviewed 55 elders and sex education was one of the main concerns. Elders want to come to class and help explain the facts of life to their grandchildren.
Elders say the baby boom is getting out of control. Kids are having sex and leaving their grandparents to care for the babies.
Involving elders in sex education is a great idea.
Who knows better what it takes to raise a family?
That matter-of-fact education would probably do a lot of good for youth who don't understand that having a baby is more than just 20 minutes of fun. It's a lifetime responsibility.
People living in a homeless shelter, even if only for a few desperate days, tend not to have a whole lot to smile about.
Their lives are upside down for a any number of personal or professional reasons. In Nunavut's capital city, the Oqota Emergency Shelter is the only place they can turn.
Recently, a $10,000 cheque from Uqsuq Corp. put a dent in Oqota's debt and gave the shelter a boost.
The people who use the 14-bed facility must have been happy, but it was hard to tell because they were completely out of sight during the cheque-passing ceremony.
Premier Paul Okalik; minister responsible for homelessness Ed Picco; representatives from donating company Uqsuq, Joe Enook and Scott Cooper; shelter rep Bill Riddell; and MLA Hunter Tootoo all spoke to the small gathering of media.
It is too bad the homeless people did not take that opportunity to tell their stories, too.
Were the homeless people embarrassed to be seen or heard? There are many reasons why the homeless and the struggling hide their faces and voices. We don't know for sure what they have gone through or even how serious the problem is.
But one thing is certain, the politicians once again took the spotlight while the homeless problem remained in darkened corners.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Aren't numbers fun?
People who use them for a living, especially those involved in the colourful world of public relations -- read: spin doctors -- have known for quite some time that numbers can say pretty much anything you want them to.
Numbers speak their own language and, by themselves, don't come close to telling the whole story.
A perfect example of numbers in action comes from two separate surveys conducted in Canada recently that drew immediate responses from Northerners.
The first showed less than 30 per cent of Canadians believe improving the quality of life for aboriginals is a high priority right now.
Now, as you can imagine, this prompted an immediate outcry from a number of Nunavummiut.
The opinions voiced ranged from southern Canadians knowing more about conditions in Iraq than in the North, to they just don't give a damn about us up here.
While the opinions varied in their context, they all had one common underlying theme -- that of ignorance.
If southern Canadians truly understood more about the conditions in many Northern communities, they'd want to do more to help.
In short, they don't think the North is a priority because they don't know any better.
The other survey had those more vocal among us singing a completely different tune because it showed Northerners to be the happiest of all when it comes to the health care they receive.
Can you imagine?
Making it clear
Now, let me make one thing perfectly clear: we, in no way, shape or form, mean to downplay the significant contributions made by our doctors and nurses, who are among the most dedicated and hardest working in Canada.
That being said, do you really believe there is any other reason behind a survey result such as this other than plain old-fashioned ignorance as to what top-notch health care is really like?
Could you imagine the public reaction in Ottawa if word leaked out a hospital's or clinic's X-ray technician was also its janitor?
While you're giggling over that concept, keep in mind that has been the case here in the Kivalliq.
Dangerous language
These polls, questionnaires and surveys are far from being an exact science.
And, while they're sometimes fun and mildly interesting to read, they are not to be taken too seriously.
The Nunavut government should be careful not to pat itself on the back too loudly over the great job this survey shows it's doing with the delivery of health care.
There just might be someone with their hands on the purse strings in Ottawa looking at those same numbers and concluding since people up here are so happy with the health care they're receiving, it's probably time to shift focus to somewhere else in the country.
Such is the danger of listening too closely to the language numbers often speak!
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
The fire at Samuel Hearne secondary school earlier this year, in which a volunteer firefighter had a portion of his finger severed while battling the blaze, highlighted the need for our growing community to better outfit the brave men and women of our fire department.
Had the department been in possession of a ladder truck capable of reaching the school's gymnasium roof, this unfortunate accident would not have happened.
Without the ladder truck, firefighters had to employ unsuitable equipment and the result was a preventable injury.
In comparison to a more serious injury or, God forbid, a fatality, the loss of part of a finger was not so bad; a sentiment shared by the firefighter who suffered through the loss.
On the other hand, what a horrible thought, that the situation could have been so much worse. What is it going to take before the fire department is provided with the proper equipment to take on any situations that could arise in town?
All firefighters insist that for tackling fires in buildings higher than two storeys, a ladder truck is necessary. Not only does it allow personnel to fight fires in hard-to-reach places, it also gives those stranded there a better chance to be rescued.
The new Capital Suites on Mackenzie Road, the hotel currently being constructed beside The Finto, as well as the Lakeview and Parkview apartments are all either three storeys or elevated to the equivalent height.
Last winter, overheating boilers were the cause of two fires and as we head into the cold season once again, this scenario could easily replay itself.
Nevertheless, we continue to ask our volunteer fire fighters to step into the breach without the proper equipment.
Whatever motivates somebody to join a volunteer fire department -- whether it be the camaraderie, the desire to help people or a combination of these and possibly other factors -- the common link between all of them is their willingness to lay it on the line to save lives.
If firefighters are ready to go to those lengths to keep us safe, the least we can do is urge those in power to pony up the cash and give generously when the firefighters come looking for a donation to help fund such an endeavour.
According to one senior member of the department, most of the equipment already employed by our firefighters was purchased through donations. While the issue of getting a new ladder truck has been put to town council and there has been some discussion, no action has yet been taken.
The cost of getting a ladder truck could be upwards of $800,000 or even more. A small price to pay if it saves even one life.
There are those who will argue that the town can't afford it right now. I say can the town afford not to get one? Unfortunately, until a ladder truck is secured for the fire department, only time will tell.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Last week's public hearing for Imperial Oil's proposed winter geo-technical project provided the latest in a long string of tense exchanges between representatives of the First Nations and Imperial Oil.
For most of the morning, it was as if a giant amber light hung over the community hall where the hearing was held. By afternoon, Liidlii Kue Chief Keyna Norwegian arrived and, in short order, the light went from amber to red. Fresh from an LKFN meeting the night before, Norwegian obviously heard a resounding message from Fort Simpson band members that the pipeline and its related projects are still a no go. She relayed that position in no uncertain terms to the board and Imperial Oil representatives.
Now, the regulatory board has the authority to run this red light. It may not happen, but theoretically it could. The DIAND minister could also blow right through the stop sign.
Both decision makers have the power to allow the geo-technical project to proceed with conditions in place, but it's hard to imagine how any stipulations could appease either side when the parties are so far apart.
What's puzzling is how we always hear of multi-national corporations' influence in Ottawa.
The perception is that corporate bigwigs have the ear of the ministers. If that is the case, then why has this project been stalled for two winters and now quite possibly a third? Is it that Imperial Oil is strategically biding its time, waiting for a pivotal moment to lean on Ottawa? Or is it that the board and Ottawa can clearly see the First Nations in the Deh Cho are not yet in a position to benefit significantly from the project? Fort Simpson Mayor Raymond Michaud pondered whether the First Nations will continue to be given what essentially amounts to a veto over the winter works program.
Duncan Canvin, a local businessman, openly asked how the actual pipeline project will ever get the OK if this "rinky dink" geo-technical project doesn't go ahead.
The federal government, however unwilling, could answer those questions and solve this dispute. Ottawa could make the Deh Cho an equal partner in a pipeline environmental assessment and work out an equitable resource revenue and royalty sharing deal. That would open the door to the First Nations negotiating access agreements, impact benefits agreements and harvesters' compensation with the pipeline proponents.
Until that happens, we could watch another winter season come and go without any geo-technical work.
Premier Joe Handley came to Fort Simpson on Monday and said everybody wants benefits from the pipeline but sometimes compromise is needed. He emphasized how imperative it is for all groups in the NWT to work together to support the project.
Believe it or not, Dehcho First Nations has also been calling for a single-minded approach to the pipeline all along.
If other regions, the territorial government, the Chambers of Commerce and even industry would get behind DFN's negotiations position with the federal government, maybe then mighty Ottawa would finally bend.
Without that backing from enough other organizations, DFN has turned to the courts as a last resort.
In the Dec. 6 issue of News/North, the headline on page A13 should have read "Norman Wells wants a highway."
News/North apologizes for any confusion this error may have caused.