Monday, February 14, 2005
What a difference a year makes!
In 2004, Roland's first budget was more of what we heard in 2003, 2002, 2001 - a deficit budget, more tough talk aimed at Ottawa. This year was different. For the first time in years, there should be money in the bank - $49 million.
And the government is still building roads, schools, sewage systems and water treatment plants. There's money for social programs, cash for increasing apprenticeship training subsidies and efforts to create new high school courses to prepare students for future jobs.
Ten new RCMP officers will be added, in Rae, Fort Providence, Tuktoyaktuk and Yellowknife, including the territories' first police dog.
Sure, the debt wall still looms as NWT Power Corporation continues to dip into the red ink - its government-guaranteed debt is expected to grow by $10 million to nearly $102 million in 2005-2006.
Still, things are looking better, in large part due to the fact the federal government has found its chequebook and pumped $110 million more into territorial government coffers.
The economy is booming, expected to grow by 10.1 per cent in 2005. Two diamond mines are going full bore, producing $2.1 billion worth of gems last year. Construction will begin on Snap Lake Mine this year and it should be in full production by 2007. The Mackenzie Gas Project is also on the horizon.
If anything, last Thursday's territorial budget proves that the NWT can stand on its own and sends a message to Ottawa that this territory is ready to take control of its future. Let's hope that message rings loud and clear as talks on resource royalty revenue sharing gathers steam.
The budget also sent a strong message to all NWT residents because while the government has turned the corner to becoming a "have territory," too many people continue to be "have-nots."
It was refreshing to hear Roland talk about the need for everyone to take control over their own lives. Too many people depend on public housing and income assistance when good-paying jobs and the wealth that go with them are filled by southerners looking to cash in on the Northern boom.
Don't let the good times pass you by.
Mining, quite justifiably, is often held up as a light at the end of Nunavut's dark economic tunnel.
And about two weeks ago we learned that more than 1,100 mineral exploration permits were issued this year.
The department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada says the high level of interest in mineral exploration is good news for Nunavummiut.
For the most part, we agree.
But during the same week, we also saw why Nunavut needs to get ready for the day when one of these prospectors finds a deposit that will become a mine.
During a recent public meeting, residents of Arctic Bay - hurt by the Nanisivik mine closure in 2002 - discussed concerns about the cleanup with their elected officials.
They feel abandoned and find themselves without any salvageable materials from the mine townsite.
The community is gripped by unemployment and a lack of housing.
When Nanisivik was open, only about 30 of the more than 200 workers were residents of nearby Arctic Bay.
This was not enough.
Idle chat often includes mention of the benefit mines will bring to Nunavut. But let us remember that mining companies are not forced to do anything for Nunavummiut. They are out to make money.
While there is an Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement with Tahera's Jericho diamond mine in the Kitikmeot region, Nunavummiut must ensure other upcoming projects, like Miramar's Hope Bay site near Bathurst Inlet and Cumberland's Meadowbank deposit near Baker Lake, provide similar or better benefits.
Over in the NWT, aboriginal and government groups have negotiated solid benefit agreements with companies such as BHP Billiton, Diavik and De Beers Canada.
At the Diavik diamond mine, almost 75 per cent of the mine's approximately 700 employees were Northern residents as of this past summer. The Ekati mine says it has close to 50 per cent. Fifty-six per cent of the workers at De Beers' Snap Lake diamond project are expected to be from the North.
We need to strive for at least the same thing here.
And the agreements should not stop with a guaranteed number of workers.
A guaranteed percentage of contracts must also go to local suppliers.
Promoting the potential mining boom is important, but so is ensuring that Nunavut's residents are not left out of the boom.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
The fact Team Baffin may not compete for the 2005 junior "C" Challenge Cup in Rankin Inlet next month due to the lack of a coach is almost incomprehensible.
The junior "C" program has enjoyed tremendous success during its first two years of existence.
The players have enjoyed competing for the Cup in Nunavut and travelling east to vie for the Atlantic-Northern junior "C" championship.
Fans in Rankin and Iqaluit have been treated to some extremely entertaining action and players in the lower ranks of minor hockey have been given something to work towards as they grow older.
In fact, with the Kitikmeot announcing it will be challenging for the title this year, this should have been the Challenge Cup's finest hour to date.
This is not even to mention the fact Hockey Nunavut may get the nod to host the 2007 Atlantic-Northern championship, which would be an historic day for Northern hockey.
But, as is often the case with any activity in Nunavut that doesn't pay a stipend, the lack of people willing to give of their time is threatening to undermine the accomplishments of a handful of volunteers during the past few years.
What does it take to get more Nunavummiut interested in helping out with these programs?
This is the territorial capital we're talking about, and not one adult has the wherewithal to step up and help out with a successful hockey program?
Let's fast-forward the clock a bit and assume no coach is found and Team Baffin does not manage to compete.
Could anyone really blame those 21 young men for walking around with a chip on their shoulders when nobody cared enough about them to help with their program?
It is getting increasingly difficult to keep a straight face when government or Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. leaders state publicly that we need more for our youth to do.
The first thing these leaders need to do is find enough people who care that their youth have little or nothing to do.
Of course, every time they offer $100 a day, free meals and an airline ticket to the host community, they get all sorts of people willing to meet and talk about the problems facing our youth.
The trouble is, these same people pull a disappearing act that would make David Copperfield proud when they return to their own communities.
Hockey is but one sport and the dilemma facing Team Baffin is but one example of the dire shortage of volunteers in Nunavut.
However, all Nunavummiut should be embarrassed if the youth on this team are denied the opportunity to compete due to the lack of one single adult willing to volunteer their time and help out.
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
Does the territorial government need to spend upwards of $20 million on a new elementary school in Inuvik or would a retrofit at a fraction of the cost be sufficient?
One really has to question the logic of a territorial government already strapped for cash even thinking of building a new facility to replace Sir Alexander Mackenzie school (SAMS).
There are plenty of reasons why this doesn't make sense but one of the most compelling is that it would force the community daycare, currently housed at SAMS, to seek a new home.
Daycare proponents are talking about the need to raise $1 million to build a new facility if SAMS goes the way of the dodo and many are left wondering where this magic money tree is going to come from to make everything OK again.
The scenario does not have to play out like this.
Take the petition for rent control, for example. Though legislation could be months away, if it comes at all, at least the folks in Yellowknife got the message loud and clear.
Maybe a petition to save SAMS school should be circulated, with an added clause that any money saved by going the route of a retrofit be pumped back into the actual task of educating the town's children.
Almost a full year after the high school foyer roof came crashing down under the weight of accumulated snow, the school has yet to be completely repaired. The facility went through some tough times last year, including a gymnasium fire shortly after the roof incident.
Meanwhile, students attending Samuel Hearne secondary school (SHSS) are without a functioning library more than halfway through their 2004/05 school year.
What's wrong with this picture?
Perhaps it's time once again to let the elected officials know that their responsibility is to take care of the people who elected them and that children's education and safety should not be compromised by the bottom line.
The basic argument for replacing the elementary school is that a new building would outlast a retrofitted one; basically a "more bang for the buck" take.
If the government really wants to get more for its money, it should channel funding towards curriculum and teaching materials rather than nailing up another bland corrugated steel building.
SAMS school has stood for more than 40 years and with the right care and attention it would probably outlast us all.
As well, the school could qualify as an historic site. Most would agree that the town just wouldn't be the same without SAMS.
Unfortunately, we live in a disposable society and this attitude has permeated to the point where the new and shiny most often trump the old but reliable.
And at what cost?
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh cho Drum
Sometimes perplexing thoughts go through one's mind, other times they're inane. Here are a few examples of what I've pondered lately:
Canadian sports fans' dreams are about to come true with Bell Globemedia, Roger's Communications and CTV being awarded Olympic broadcast rights in 2010 and 2012.
Among the networks, which include TSN and Sportsnet, there will be blanket coverage. That means Canucks can avoid turning to the U.S. stations for programming. We won't have to listen to as much American bias, but instead the more objective - or "slanted the way we prefer it" - commentary from Canadian sportscasters.
The CBC, which has provided fine Olympics broadcasts over the years, came across a little bitter in some news reports of its failed bid. One reporter's perspective made it sound like the private networks ganged up and unfairly spent more money than the CBC could offer (which would have come out of taxpayers' pockets, of course). Apparently the ones offering the more extensive coverage and better product won. Imagine that!
The "Mother Corp." may have some history and tradition in Olympics coverage, but it certainly didn't have a lock on being the official broadcaster of the Olympics 'til the end of time.
Will the Fort Simpson Tsunami swim team change its name in light of the tragedy in southern Asia? I'm not suggesting it should be switched, but most of the team members are children and they will certainly have a negative association with tsunamis now.
The club's name isn't unique; many swim teams use the same or similar nicknames. The monikers aren't really meant to glorify a force of nature that can cause so much death and destruction.
Athletic teams - other than those with historical monikers (the Philadelphia 76ers and San Francisco 49ers immediately come to mind) - commonly project fierce images by adopting meteorological events or predators for nicknames.
There are many examples: the Sacramento Surge, the Carolina and Miami Hurricanes, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the San Jose Storm and so on.
It's just that every once in a while we're reminded of how awesomely powerful and violent those phenomenon can be.
On the other hand, the benign Fort Simpson Flotsam just wouldn't cut it.
Anyone who accuses anyone else of "not thinking outside the box" is a hypocrite. The phrase has become trite. If you want to be truly innovative or creative, come up with a fresh variation of that cliche. Of course that would also qualify me a hypocrite as there are more than a few cliches found on these pages each week.
How is it that expiry dates, or even "best before dates" have come to be so precise? How can a food company actually predict that my salad dressing won't taste so good as of May 18, 2006? Will they eventually narrow that down to the minute?
The six-person jury for the coroner's inquest held in Iqaluit recently was made up of members of the public, not the coroner and lawyers as was stated in the Jan. 31 edition of Nunavut News/North.
Also, the caption with the photo of Ann-Margaret Jeffrey in the same paper contained incorrect information. Jeffrey died on Sept. 2, 2003. Nunavut News/North apologizes for the errors.
Two boys pictured with Santa Claus in the Jan. 31 edition of Nunavut News/North were wrongly identified. They were Braden and Jordan Allukpik. We apologize for the error.
To the trained eye, a DC-3 aircraft is very different from a DC-4 ("Plane spotting is great fun," Jan. 31). News/North apologizes for the error.