Monday, April 25, 2005
Instead, basic freedoms are being beaten up.
Now, one person can accuse another person of a crime and based on that accusation alone, have them banned from their family home for up to 90 days. Based upon statistics, the accuser will almost always be a woman and the accused a man.
If a person makes a complaint to a Justice of the Peace, saying they are being beaten or threatened by their spouse, the law says the Justice must decide whether or not to ban the accused person from the home.
The new law says the accused person does not have to be heard before the Justice makes a decision. Police charges do not have to be laid, nor must the police be involved.
If the Justice of the Peace decides a ban is in order, a real judge must look at the case within three days, again without the input of the accused, and may uphold the ban preventing the accused parent visiting the home and children.
Another part of the law says police may enter the home of a person they suspect is being abused and remove them regardless of the person's wishes.
Is this a bad law? Major Karen Hoeft, head of the Salvation Army in Yellowknife, manager of detoxification and halfway homes, called parts of the law "unconstitutional."
"Where's the balance?" she asked.
We agree.
The government has done the unthinkable - attacked the rights and freedom of its people. Every person deserves the right to stand before the legal authorities and tell their story. To remove that right and take away a person's freedom to be in their home is wrong however noble the intention.
Curbing family violence requires police be more accessible to victims, stiffer sentences and enforced treatment programs for offenders. Intensive social services counselling support for the families should be available in every community. Special income support should be provided to allow the family to function properly with a single income.
Territorial politicians and bureaucrats are vulnerable to criticism because they have been negligent in providing the very social services needed to keep families healthy in a time of rapid change and wealth.
That's why this law is a political gesture that does nothing to deal with the problem of family violence.
Police are in every community and are trained to assess threats and acts of violence. They can make arrests and lay charges. If a charge is laid, let the court system then act to protect the accuser and ban the accused until the charge is dealt with.
Innocent before proven guilty is a right as dear as the right to be protected by the law. Let police decide if someone needs to be protected or removed.
Taking the responsibility for laying charges away from police and placing domestic conflict in the hands of Justices of the Peace means we all need protection now - from bad lawmaking!
The voices are out condemning same-sex marriage legislation and MP Nancy Karetak-Lindell's decision to support it.
Nunavut has a vigorous religious right wing that will give same-sex marriage a run for its money for years to come.
Nunavut News/North applauds Karetak-Lindell for taking this risky stance. Allowing same sex marriage is a human rights issue, a matter of ending discrimination based upon sexual orientation. As well, churches are not being forced to marry homosexuals, nor are people being forced to change their opinions.
Even though her job may be on the line, Karetak-Lindell has really stirred things up in Nunavut.
Nunavummiut, both in support of gays and against the homosexual lifestyle, are talking more than usual now.
Nunavut, like the rest of Canada, is clearly divided on same-sex issues. But at least everyone is talking.
That is a good thing.
Even if it costs her votes, it is not a bad thing for Karetak-Lindell either.
Perhaps this will be the defining moment in Karetak-Lindell's career. She will be remembered as the Nunavut MP who supported same-sex marriage and got certain people in Nunavut thinking more outside the box.
Youth around the territory will stop drinking soft drinks for a week.
The idea behind the Drop the Pop campaign is to teach students soft drinks aren't a healthy option to replenish lost fluids.
While pop may be cheaper than milk or juice in Nunavut, the eventual costs to health, like obesity, tooth decay and diabetes, don't justify the choice. According to Stats Canada, 23 per cent of Nunavummiut are already obese.
A week of abstinence is a start, but it needs to translate to lifestyle changes.
One week can turn to a month and then a year if students understand why dropping the pop is a good thing.
While youth who participated in the campaign can start drinking pop again soon, we hope some will have gained a preference for water, milk or fruit juices.
Editorial Comment
Shortly after our last federal election, I warned in this column that, historically, minority governments don't have a very long lifespan.
With the sponsorship scandal eating away at the Liberal Party's credibility on an almost daily basis, it won't be long before we're marching off to the polls to cast our votes once again.
If Liberal MP Nancy Karetak-Lindell plans on running again next time - and we have to believe she will, given the possible short time frame since her last win - she may not enjoy the same landslide victories as she did the past few times out.
While Lindell suffered very little political fallout for voting against Private Member's Bill C-263 (the Bill to amend the Canada Labour Code to ban replacement workers during a work stoppage was defeated again in Ottawa this past week), this time around may be a different story.
Unlike Bill C-263, we loudly applaud Lindell's decision to support Bill C-38, the legislation on same-sex civil marriage.
And, we also applaud her reasons for doing so.
However, Nunavut has a strong religious community and there will be negative fallout coming her way after supporting the bill.
Lindell is absolutely correct in her assertion that the church is protected from the legislation because it will not force any church to marry someone it doesn't want to.
So, what we're talking about is matrimony before the eyes of the government, not necessarily before the eyes of God.
Lindell felt voting against Bill C-38 would be akin to saying discrimination against a minority group is all right and we tend to agree with her.
To her, a vote against C-38 was saying she would not discriminate against people except for this particular group.
Bang on, again!
With her reasons for supporting the Bill put out for all to see, one comment stood out above the rest and made us here at Kivalliq News stand up and say, bravo!
Lindell pulled no punches while talking about the state of marriage in the North when she said, "If anything is threatening the sanctity of marriage, it is spousal assault and adultery in our communities."
Nunavut's MP produced an articulate, intelligent, sensitive and challenging set of reasons behind her decision to support Bill C-38.
However, the hardliners in the religious community will not approve of, nor care about, her reasoning.
Make no mistake about it, this decision will cost her votes.
Finest moment
But, in these days of seemingly never-ending political corruption, there are far worse ways for a politician to lose votes than by making a stand for equality.
Lindell felt the pressure from the religious community leading up to this decision, yet still had the courage to vote for what she believed to be right.
And while that may not win her any popularity contests in some corners, it may be her finest moment, to date, as a politician!
Editorial Comment
"It's all about the kids. It's so great to hear them laugh and give them a place to go. It's wonderful."
Since the moment Inuvik's Family Centre opened, sentiments like these have been heard many times, from many different Inuvik residents.
The countless times elders have said they couldn't have wished more for the kids, have not gone unrecorded by these ears.
The community, council planners, local businesses and designers came together with special effort to build a facility that would seem more likely for a large urban centre or beach-side resort.
Beaufort-Delta residents for generations to come have been given way more than just the resources to be healthy and fit. They will have vivid memories of howling laughter and children's smiles to look back on and cherish.
For this, I say kudos to you all!
This project came about through more than just effort and vision, it required some pretty big personal sacrifices by some pretty special people.
The pool would have been built without their donations, but many of the bells and whistles might be missing now without them.
"For the extras we tried to find extra sources of funding," said Jerry Veltman, Senior Administrative Officer.
Veltman and his wife Antje gave $10,000 to help purchase two chairlifts for the disabled and an aquatic wheelchair.
Longtime resident and businessman Danny Smith lobbed a weighty cheque at the town to the tune of $100,000.
Those are major bucks yet he seemed overjoyed to have been able to sign over the donation.
"The Family Centre is a really positive aspect for the Town of Inuvik," said Smith, who has lived here for 25 years.
Town council puts its sweat and tears into all the programs around the community, be it garbage or paving the streets, he noted.
"They get a lot of negative feedback and it's not always right. Peter and the rest of the council do a great job," Smith said.
Speaking modestly, Smith added that he just wanted to reward them with a little "boost."
All the dollars in that little boost will no doubt go far.
Perhaps the most touching tribute came from the Billingsley family.
The open-spaced foyer with grand mural and flowing walls came courtesy of a $50,000 donation in memory of Doug and Vicky Billingsley, who moved to the community with their family in 1973. Both have now passed on and a plaque near the front entrance explains why the donation was made: "In appreciation to the people of Inuvik for many good times."
The spectacular Playland may not have materialized without the help of Michael Fabijan, whose $20,000 donation went a long way towards the $60,000 cost of the play area.
"A lot more people gave more money than me," he said.
This attitude of dowplaying their contributions to the centre seems to be common among the donors. None of them wanted to make a big deal about their donations or see themselves in the spotlight but how could we simply ignore this amazing thing they've done for their community?
There has to be a way we can express our gratitude.
As I drive by the Family Centre daily and see the parking lot packed with cars and kids with beach towels amidst the falling snow, I can only think, this is exactly the thanks these quiet philanthropists want in return for their generosity.
Editorial Comment
This isn't a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. Nor is it a crazed concoction from the mind of Stephen King.
It is my experience on the Liard Trail in the wee hours of April 17.
With Dakota House and friends coming to town on the weekend, it was a prime opportunity to make a last trip to Fort Liard prior to the road blocks going up at the Liard River crossing.
I was on my way by 8 a.m. on Saturday. The drive was a slow one as the roads were in crappy condition due to the repeated thaw and snowfalls. After close to four hours, I pulled into Fort Liard. The day was eventful and very much worthwhile. The youth empowerment workshop seemed to be inspirational to the teens and pre-teens who got involved.
With a feast and traditional dance performance for the public on the agenda for the evening, I was hoping to head for home by around 8 p.m. Time slipped by and it was actually after 10 p.m. by the time I hit the road. Staying the night was an option, but there was plenty of work to do back in Fort Simpson on Sunday, so I wouldn't entertain the idea of bunking down.
Shortly after reaching the peak of the Liard access road and turning left towards the Mackenzie Highway, the truck's headlights illuminated some tracks in the freshly fallen snow. Being the farthest thing from an authority on wildlife, I couldn't tell what type of animal it was, but it had come up over the snow bank on the right-hand side of the road and it apparently trotted along the highway for several kilometres. As I drove I wondered if I would eventually catch up to this beast. At some point, the tracks disappeared and I never gave it any more thought.
After two-and-a-half uneventful hours, I came to a slight bend in the road about three kilometres from the Mackenzie Highway junction, near Checkpoint. Right there in the middle of the road were three caribou. Then all three of them starting running right toward the truck! Their eyes reflected bright red in the headlights, just like someone in a picture with red eye from the flash.
Let me tell you, it was quite a scene.
Because the roads were in horrendous condition, I was only doing around 80 km/h when I spotted the maniacal hoofed ones. I hit the brakes and got down to about 50 km/h as the distance between us closed fast. I actually slumped down in my seat, bracing for impact. I knew it wasn't likely that they'd turn out to be Dancer, Donner and Vixen and miraculously fly off into the night sky.
Nearly just as incredible, the caribou on the right veered off to the right. The other two broke to the left. The one on the inside was so close to the truck that I don't know how he avoided getting hit.
So it turns out this is a tale of a near miss. But I can guarantee you it's one that I will never forget.
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Chris Hunsley
Inuvik Drum
Derek Neary
Deh cho Drum