Monday, January 10, 2005
It would appear the federal government is committed to protecting the Mackenzie Valley's fragile ecosystem now that an oil and gas pipeline along its course appears imminent. We're not so sure.
The federal money, along with multi-million dollar contributions made by the World Wildlife Fund and the territorial government, is being used to fund the Protected Area Strategy, which has already identified several places, like the Horne Plateau and Scented Grass Hills, as having historical significance.
These areas have long been used as hunting grounds and spiritual gathering places. Many lay on or near the path of the proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline.
The question is not whether these lands will eventually be set aside for parks and wildlife refuges, but how much of them will be left for conservation after a path for a pipeline is cleared?
Is it a coincidence the federal government's funding announcement comes two months after the oil companies and Aboriginal Pipeline Group filed for regulatory approval of the pipeline?
A large chunk of this money will be used to fund surveys to determine what sort of mineral and oil and gas potential these areas might hold. A lot of this work has already been done on the Horne Plateau, where federal officials say there is a moderate to high potential for diamonds and a moderate potential for oil and gas.
We can't see industry objecting to this kind of work -- better to get the government to do it for them than cough up the cash themselves.
The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline route will surely open the door to development for a lot of areas under consideration for protected status near Wrigley, Fort Good Hope and other places.
Maps released last week by the Canadian Arctic Resource Council show the pipeline route as "not just a ribbon of steel," but a project with wide-ranging offshoots that will affect 30,000 square kilometres of boreal forest, muskeg and tundra.
Undoubtedly, some areas will eventually be set aside, parks will be made, and monuments erected. Yet we suspect, when the choice is between green forests and green cash, any area worth developing won't stay under moratorium for long. It's time for the representative parties to come clean with what the Protected Area Strategy really is -- a fishing trip.
When they find what's really there -- wildlife or raw resources -- and how important it is to people, then the question becomes do we develop or do we leave it alone?
Statistics list government as Nunavut's main industry. In 2005 and beyond this must begin to change. Nunavut needs more real jobs, meaning private-sector wage employment. Only 44 per cent of government jobs are held by Inuit, a figure the government must improve.
According to Income Support at the government of Nunavut, as of Dec. 1, 2003, 2,876 households in Nunavut received income support - fancy words for welfare.
Statistics Canada says there are 7,175 households in the territory: more than one out of every three people is being partially or entirely supported through handouts.
There's nothing wrong with that because there aren't enough jobs to go around.
Mines like the Jericho diamond project will provide some jobs, but not every community will have mines nearby.
Small businesses, managed and run by Nunavummiut, are part of the answer.
With help from Kakivak Association, the Baffin Regional development organization, Martha Kyak opened a retail store in Pond Inlet.
She knows what people want, because she now sells what she looks for when she goes shopping.
There must be others like Kyak with ideas. They should approach their regional economic development associations and follow her lead.
Are businesses supported?
But are those who do take the chance to start their own business supported in their efforts by the GN?
How many jobs does the territorial government contract out to southern companies - jobs that could be done right here?
Business owners need to get louder. And governments have to start using them more.
We also call on the GN to work with southern construction companies to get more residents to work on projects being done in their community.
In the past, literacy has been a problem for many people with the skills, but not the education, to work on a construction site.
Nunavut needs to get creative and make use of the unharnessed potential found within its communities.
To its credit, the GN has created a department of Economic Development and Transportation.
But as of now, it is unclear what that department has accomplished.
This department needs to produce tangible results in the coming years, because without jobs, Nunavut will not survive.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
It was more than a little interesting to interview our first two editors, as I begin my seventh year at the helm of the Kivalliq News.
I shared a number of their worries my first four years in Rankin Inlet, especially fretting about the weather on a weekly, if not daily, basis.
I also share most of their sentiment on the warm-and-welcoming aspects of the region, but I wouldn't try to fool anyone by saying every organization in the Kivalliq remains happy to see the editor of the Kivalliq News coming its way.
That being said, the paper has grown a great deal during the past decade, as has the region itself.
A few years back, a close friend and fellow journalist asked me what the attraction was here.
In short, what makes me want to stay?
I told him there are a number of reasons, but three stand out the most.
First and foremost, I have come to feel at home in the Kivalliq.
The vast majority of people in Rankin Inlet have welcomed my family and I into the community, like us or not, based on our merits as human beings.
It did take me a few years to understand those who only saw three white faces arrive in December 1998 and that they will always only see white faces when they look at us.
But they are by far the minority.
Another reason I gave was my time spent at local arenas.
Although I played hockey my first few years in Rankin, I revived my refereeing career and have worked hard for the past four-plus years to help further develop the officiating program here.
There's still work to be done and I'm enjoying every minute of it.
Thirdly, and most importantly to me, you could spend a lifetime in journalism and never get the opportunity to have a ringside seat to a people's first attempt at self-governance.
While my job description dictates I must view certain proceedings with a critical eye, the vast majority of regular readers would admit the positive features within the pages of the Kivalliq News far outweigh the negative.
That is a reflection of the efforts being put forward by the people we write about.
My friend ended our conversation by asking me what the most difficult part of my job is here.
That one was easy -- resisting the temptation to become a cheerleader.
Kivalliq works hard
The people of the Kivalliq are working hard to develop their region and they should expect no less from their newspaper editor.
Honest people deserve an honest newspaper, no exceptions.
As much as I, personally, want to see Nunavut succeed, I have a duty to report on all aspects of our journey. And that, unfortunately, means a little bad mixed in with the good.
So here's to the past 10 years and the next 10 to come.
Thanks for your support along the way and we look forward to continuing our journey together.
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
It's time for the territorial government to take some action that will actually have a positive effect on the average Joe on the street.
Sure the GNWT talks about the holy grail of revenue sharing and devolution, while visions of a pipeline remain in the realm of possibility but what does all this really mean to the family struggling to make ends meet? Not a whole heck of a lot if you are barely scraping by and your landlord decides to jack up the rent.
After reading some editorials published in the Aklavik Journal almost 50 years ago, it is amazing to see that the more things have changed, the more they have actually stayed the same.
More housing, less alcohol and a less-centralized territorial government were sentiments shared in the region when Elvis was becoming King and aboriginal people were struggling to make sense of their ever-changing societies at the mercy of bureaucrats chained to desks miles away, completely oblivious to the situation "on the ground."
Nearly a half-century later, the king is long dead but communities in the region are still asking for more housing, less alcohol and more control over their own affairs.
On top of everything else, an Alberta-based company (its president and CEO a former senior bureaucrat with the GNWT) has decided to dramatically increase the rent it charges on 200 properties purchased in Inuvik last year.
Left unchecked, this kind of thing is sure to have a domino effect, as tenants not renting from the above company wait for their landlords to follow suit.
The territorial government continues to sing the same-old song about mitigating the socio-economic impacts of the coming pipeline all the while this rent increase is hitting people immediately, literally right where they live, and seemingly right under the government's very nose.
Something stinks and its time for the legislative assembly to put away the Febreze and do some real cleaning.
It is easy to imagine the impact of skyrocketing rents on those at the low end of the economic scale but when professionals earning good wages start to talk about leaving, it's a warning sign of impending doom straight ahead.
It brings to mind another GNWT jukebox classic called It's So Hard to Recruit Good People from Down South.
It's true that most professionals working in the NWT are southern imports but as more local people become qualified to take on such responsibilities, how many will want to return if it costs a half-million to buy a home or $40,000 per year to rent one? Here's hoping that question never has to be answered.
Naysayers argue that such policies as rent control only deter development and push up the cost of buying a home.
However, when capitalist ventures intrude on a heavily subsidized region, such as the NWT, what results are corporate monopolies intent on pushing up the prices anyways.
The bottom line is, the government needs to listen to the people and make it a priority to implement some form of rent control in the NWT.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh cho Drum
As we ring in 2005, we look back on 2004 as the year of the bear.
The Chinese calendar had 2004 pegged as the year of the monkey, but it was really bears that grabbed most of the headlines among the animal kingdom (probably because we don't have any monkeys in this part of the world).
There was the ingenious black bear that figured out how to open a valve on the Enbridge pipeline, causing a 12,000-litre oil spill near Fort Simpson.
Then there was a black bear that attacked a camper and made its way onto the porch of a mobile home in Fort Simpson.
Another black bear ambled into the Antoine Drive area of Fort Simpson, amid children playing in the street.
Fortunately it didn't attack anyone. Instead, it feasted on garbage from a residence until a Renewable Resources officer plugged it with bullets to prevent a more tragic outcome.
Bear attacks did occur last year, however.
A grizzly bit and clawed a Nahanni National Park tourist, who survived after he and his wife fended off the enormous predator with rocks and paddles.
It was the first recorded bear attack in the park.
Near the Colomac mine site north of Yellowknife, a young man was attacked and severely injured by a grizzly.
Let's hope the bears are having a peaceful hibernation and aren't so restless this summer.
Soothsaying
Gazing into the crystal ball, 2005 will undoubtedly provide many developments on the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline and Deh Cho self-government negotiations. That much is a safe bet - it's the specifics that nobody can predict at this point.
There will also be interesting situations to follow in Fort Simpson, where a decision on village versus hamlet status stands to be made.
By the time September rolls around, a review of the impacts associated with increased liquor availability should take place.
The rationing of alcohol may finally become history in the village, or the review may precipitate a battle to retain the status quo.
In Fort Liard, the outcome of a forensic audit on band finances should paint a very interesting picture.
In Fort Providence, work on a long-awaited Mackenzie River bridge should commence this year.
There will continue to be situations relating to loose dogs and the weather.
Those are universal issues as constant as the sunrise.
Tied to the weather will be the forest fire season.
The Deh Cho has avoided a catastrophic fire season for many years now, but 2005 could bring the cyclical blazes that some resources and environmental officials say are bound to ignite.
All those stories and a few surprises will unfold in the days and months ahead.
There were a few errors in the Dec. 20 edition of Nunavut News/North.
A photo on page 19 incorrectly identified Henry Boaz.
The person in the picture is actually Saila Kipanek, a master carver in Iqaluit.
As well, the new Mayor of Kugluktuk's name was spelled two different ways.
His name is Ernie Bernhardt.
And incorrect information appeared in the story on Page 3. Taloyoak is a non-restricted community when it comes to booze, meaning it is a "wet community."