Friday, October 28, 2005
That's what happened in the legislative assembly this week when Premier Joe Handley got caught with his political pants down over the Territorial Treatment Centre being moved from Yellowknife to Hay River.
Masters at justifying what their departments do, even deputy ministers require a thin thread of logic with which to weave their tale. Unarmed with any solid reasons, the deputy minister wrote in the memo: "Frankly, it was a political decision."
That's because moving the territorial treatment centre makes no sense.
Most of the troubled kids are from here, it's been operating here for 15 years, and all the health professionals they might need are here.
After much badgering, Handley, with some irritation, admitted the truth, it was a political decision. "We're all politicians!" he cried defensively.
And that, for the kids, parents and 17 staff of the treatment centre, is the ugly truth.
To say ferries aren't an essential service is to completely misunderstand life in the North.
During the recent Liard ferry labour conflict, federal officials decided ferries aren't essential because communities manage without them for weeks at a time each spring and fall.
The truth is, the very fact that we know freeze-up or break-up are coming means people take last trips out on the land while they can and businesses stock up on supplies.
Another argument is that one can always fly out. Again, these officials have never paid to fly in and out of the North. The cost is prohibitive, to say the least.
When groceries and other goods have to be flown in, prices skyrocket. Being unable to buy essentials in such times is the same as not having them.
Labour officials living in Ottawa cannot be expected to understand how necessary ferries are to Northerners.
GNWT politicians do understand, which is why they stepped in to keep the Liard ferry running until freeze-up. They may have to do the same if newly unionized workers running the Mackenzie River ferry at Fort Providence go on strike against the same employer involved in the Liard ferry strike.
If the federal labour board can't be convinced that ferries are an essential service, the GNWT may have to resign itself to running the ferries indefinitely.
And make no mistake, it will cost more for government to do it. That is another fact of life.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
The spectre of too many bingos for a community to support without children going hungry or bills not being paid is raising its ugly head once again.
This time around the concerns are coming from Baker Lake.
We all know the paradox bingo has become in the Kivalliq.
On one hand, the vast majority of our hamlet recreational departments depend on bingo revenues to run effective programming.
Left solely to the budgets councils are able to designate to them, our region's recreation co-ordinators and committee members would soon be slashing programs at every turn.
But that's just the tip of the problem.
Numerous charitable and non-profit organizations depend on bingo revenues to keep offering their services.
We have athletic teams in every hamlet that need bingo-and-Nevada revenues if they ever hope to travel to tournaments or attend territorial events.
Even the vast majority of our schools must turn to bingo revenues in order to grow and support their extracurricular activities.
These are all worthwhile causes that need funding, and are deserving of approval when they seek their lottery licence.
However, try explaining that to a child who hasn't eaten in two days, or a person who became the victim of a spouse's rage after losing the entire monthly family income pulling the tabs from Nevada tickets.
The Christian Pastors of Baker Lake have taken their concerns to Community and Government Services (C&GS) Minister Levinia Brown in hopes of gaining her support.
It may be time for Baker's hamlet council to impose a limit on the number of games that can be held in the community each week.
Even knocking it down to two or three would, at least, begin the process of tackling the gambling problem many in the community believe has grown out of control.
We're quite certain C&GS, along with the Consumers Affairs Division, would honour any such written request from hamlet council.
And, as Brown indicated to Mayor David Aksawnee, council should also take the time to put together a thoughtful set of guidelines to help government departments prioritize the lengthy list of lottery applicants.
Such moves are not going to erase the problem of gambling in Baker overnight, but they will show that council cares about the overall health of the community.
Yes, it will be sad to see some worthy organizations shut out of the bingo lottery by a reduction in the number of weekly games allowed.
However, such sacrifice will eventually lead to smiling little faces fuelled by full tummies and happy families.
It will be a slow process, but the damage done by gambling addiction can be halted and, eventually, healed.
For community leaders in Baker Lake, now is a good time to start.
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
Pipeline proponents say it will take two seasons to construct the proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline.
Touted as one of this country's biggest projects, building 1,300 km of pipeline through remote areas of the country will be a feat in terms of both engineering expertise and the mobilization of manpower and materials.
Obviously lots of thought and care has to go into a project like this, but with big oil backing things up, nobody seems in awe of such a short window for construction.
I wonder, if big oil were in charge of GNWT infrastructure, would this community have to wait - and wait - for replacement schools to be built?
After meetings in Inuvik last week between education officials and public works, it seems the odds are in favour of a joint high school and elementary school facility.
It is said the planning for this project will take two years, with shovels expected to hit the ground in summer 2008.
Well, it's nearly the end of 2005 and fingers are crossed that the aging Samuel Hearne secondary school will be habitable in time for classes to resume after the Christmas break.
In the amount of time it apparently takes to check the pilings, close the school and repair the pilings - barring further disaster - theoretically a Mackenzie pipeline starting construction at the same time would have been lumbering past Fort Good Hope by the time the school reopens in January.
With ongoing discussions - both official and coffee talk - about how and why big oil should pony up some cash to address social impacts in the GNWT, maybe this community should invite Imperial to build Inuvik a new high school, just as a sign of good faith, you know?
Then the good people of the GNWT could sit back and observe textbook corporate efficiency for spending money and, more importantly, getting results. The key difference here is between a corporation's bottom line and a government's accountability.
Imperial doesn't like to waste money when its board members are accountable to the shareholders. Who is the GNWT accountable to?
If the perceived dilly-dallying is any indication - not to mention complete failure of the government to take any responsibility for SHSS woes - the answer is pretty much nobody.
Sure, there's always somebody around to complain about this and that when government simply points to a planning bureaucracy or spending bureaucracy as rationale for why its wheels seem to grind along at a pace slower than molasses in January.
Regardless, that is hardly any consolation for parents and students affected by what is indeed a crisis.
People wonder why there's so much cynicism about government and the politicians caught in the midst of its machinery.
Too bad the powers that be didn't simply throw convention out the window, pull up its bootstraps and order a new school be built, pronto.
My cynical side says that would be asking too much.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
It turns out the federal body that ruled Fort Simpson's ferry is not an essential service actually deemed the power plant at Ekati to be just that.
So Fort Simpson and Wrigley got kicked to the curb, while the money-making machine in the middle of the barrenlands got a thumbs up.
While our six ferry crew members - who live in the community for at least six months of the year - were allowed to walk off the job, Finning employees - who come and go from the mine site on a bi-weekly schedule - were forced to stay put to ensure the Ekati plant continues to run. No matter what might have happened to the folks in Fort Simpson and Wrigley, the diamonds must keep coming out of the ground!
In light of the mess at the Liard River ferry, it seems that getting fuel into these Deh Cho communities is rather essential indeed. With the ferry back in operation on Tuesday, it looks as if we've dodged a bullet. But if we hadn't, do you think those insightful individuals from the Canada Industrial Relations Board would have come up here to join us around a giant bonfire to stay warm?
Perhaps they would have thoughtfully mailed us toques or an extra blanket? This federal legislation, which leaves such decisions in the hands of a southern board, must be amended to include more input from the NWT. Granted these decisions must be impartial, but those North of 60 must be given a stronger voice.
Unions aren't always winners. They fight a hard battle, but sometimes the gains they seek are not realized. Yet the potency of the union was manifested in one sense last Thursday.
Dave Thompson, a negotiator for the Public Service Alliance of Canada, stood at the ferry landing reading aloud a contrite letter from one of the replacement workers. The engineer aboard the vessel made his apology in writing and pleaded to be removed from the union's blacklist. He stated that he had become acutely aware how difficult it would be for him to find a job elsewhere.
The striking workers and their supporters expressed little sympathy as they listened to the words Thompson read from the page.
Because that replacement engineer pulled the plug, the house of cards came tumbling down for Rowe's Construction. Although the loss of one of the temporary ferry captains days earlier only caused a hiccup, Rowe's couldn't maintain the service beyond last Thursday without the only fill-in engineer. As the replacement workers drove off the ferry for the last time, the jeers on the picket line turned to cheers.
"Yeehaw, go home," one person yelled.
This time the union won the battle and the war.