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Education, not secrecy, will save wildlife
NWT News/North - Monday, September 7, 2009

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If there is one thing that is shared among the voting public, it's a distaste for governments that refuse to divulge information.

That is especially true when it comes to issues of a contentious nature. Presently, wildlife protection in the NWT ranks near the top of controversial issues, and the draft Species at Risk Act may only fan the flames of the brewing political firestorm.

Some, like Chuck Gruben, vice-president of the Tuktoyaktuk Hunters and Trappers Committee, have their backs up over a clause that allows the environment minister to withhold information that may be detrimental to a species' survival.

The assumption is the government will use the clause to hide what some call questionable science demonstrating the decline of caribou herds in the territory.

The science includes size, location and migration patterns of the herds and therefore could be interpreted as information detrimental to the safety of the caribou.

The Alberta Research Council released a report earlier this year stating that the GNWT's methodology for determining caribou numbers was flawed.

Any attempt to hide that science under the pages of the new Species at Risk Act would be circumspect and easily construed as a cover up.

During a meeting with NWT outfitters in July, the GNWT said it would release its caribou count to the public in the fall. We hope that will come with a full description of how the herds were assessed.

When it comes to protecting species at risk the more information the public has as proof to why a species is in need of protection, the more support it will lend to conservation activities.

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An event worth saving
NWT News/North - Monday, September 7, 2009

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It is unfortunate that this year's Dene Summer Games was unable to get off the ground due to a lack of participants.

This is by far one of the best cultural events showcasing Dene culture and it would be a shame to see it die.

News/North has attended past games, such as the one held in Whati a few years ago. There could not have been a better example of community support and participation, culture and, good healthy fun. Members from several Dene communities turned out to compete in a host of traditional games; members of the community kindly opened their homes; delicious meals were prepared by members of the community and a dance was held every night.

It would help if the GNWT and the Tlicho government supported the Dene Games as an official event each year. Both governments could provide funding that could help teams travel, purchase prizes and ensure the success of the games - perhaps held every two years.

Communities are in need of consistent recreation activities that include all ages. With everything from Dene baseball and canoeing to tea-boiling and fish-frying contests, the Dene Summer Games encompass all age groups and genders.

We'll all benefit if it carries on.

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Unconstitutional
Nunavut News/North - Monday, September 7, 2009

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The qualifications to become a senator are few.

One of the common sense rules is that a senator must be a resident of the province or territory he or she represents. In fact, the constitution further addresses this requirement by stating that if the senator ceases to be a resident of said province or territory, aside from living in Ottawa during Senate proceedings, he or she is disqualified from being a senator.

Yet when the prime minister appointed Dennis Patterson, a former Iqalummiut, as senator for Nunavut, he was living in Vancouver.

Patterson told Nunavut News/North he was assured this wouldn't be a problem, as other senators had previously been appointed who didn't live in their regions of representation.

Among those senators would be Pamela Wallin and Mike Duffy, representing Saskatchewan and P.E.I. respectively. Both were appointed by the Conservative government within the past 10 months to controversy in both provinces. This hardly serves as precedent.

Patterson is qualified in almost every other respect. He was an MLA for Iqaluit and served a term as premier of the NWT before division. He owns property in Iqaluit. His children are land claim beneficiaries. He also played a role in the election of MP Leona Aglukkaq, now a member of Harper's cabinet, which may be why he ended up at the top of Harper's list of candidates.

Patterson has now said he intends to live in Iqaluit during his time as senator. But the prime minister should have followed the rules and required Patterson to move back to Iqaluit before he could be appointed. That would have shown Nunavummiut the respect they deserve.

Knowledge of the politics and issues of the territory is good, but sharing the everyday life of Nunavummiut such as buying expensive produce at the Northern, going to great lengths to get dental care or an eye exam, waiting out blizzards and listening to elders talk of the changes in the climate is much better.

Patterson has accepted the job for no longer than eight years at Harper's request, as the prime minister maintains that he's aiming to have senators be elected in the future.

If the Senate, whose value is constantly questioned, isn't abolished in the future, then an election process should be put in place.

Inuit represent nearly 85 per cent of Nunavut's population. Having an Inuk senator – Willie Adams served in the role for decades – signals to young people that, like being premier or member of Parliament, they can represent Nunavut at the highest levels of government.

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Unhelpful dump response
Yellowknifer - Friday, September 4, 2009

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Dumping refuse anywhere but the dump is sure to get people riled up, and for good reason. Nobody wants their neighbourhood turned into a junkyard.

Naturally, residents are going to direct their anger at those who left the mess behind. Therefore Nova Builders, the development company that recently left a pile of demolished building debris at the old Bartam Trailer Park site along School Draw Avenue, has incurred public wrath.

Milan Mrdjenovich, Nova Builder's regional manager, stated in the company's defence that the dump was not accessible due to a broken bulldozer.

Mrdjenovich's cavalier attitude - "I have no time for this petty stuff," he said of the illegal dumping controversy - is not to be excused. While Nova Builders has survived a number of scrapes with the city and its residents over the years, it should work harder on improving its image - through its words and actions.

Breaking bylaws isn't acceptable, but the city has to bear some responsibility in this instance. Taxpayers fork over good money to keep our city dump up and running. Should the system break down, municipal officials must show more forethought than simply turning people away from city hall without a solution.

In this case a temporary permit should have been issued. That way the city would have been aware of the contents, volume and location of Nova Builder's load of debris. The city would also have put itself in a position to respond to citizens who had complaints about the situation.

This was poorly handled all around. The debris is now gone, but the lesson shouldn't soon be forgotten.

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Long road ahead for Handley
Yellowknifer - Friday, September 4, 2009

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Federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff is insisting his party will attempt to force a fall election, and the Liberals decided on Aug. 22 that Joe Handley is the candidate to lead the way in the NWT.

Residents here won't soon forget that the Liberals had from 1993 to 2006 to accomplish many things, but left much unresolved, including some land claims.

While the red party is now critical of the Conservatives over infrastructure spending, Stephen Harper's government is on pace to far surpass the Liberals in funding devoted to the North.

Handley has to overcome that record and his own. While premier, Handley proclaimed that devolution was only days away; we never saw anything come of it.

Then there's the Deh Cho Bridge Handley approved just days before he left office as premier in 2007. That troubled project has already experienced contract disputes, delays, the prospect of cost overruns and there are growing questions about how high tolls will be once they're in place, plus higher costs for consumers and reduced Northern benefits.

Handley and the Liberals have one thing in common: they're both going to have to work extremely hard to win back votes in the NWT.

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The driving force
Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum - Thursday, September 3, 2009

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Across the Deh Cho students are getting back to classes and settling down for a new year of learning.

The Deh Cho is fortunate to have winning staff teams in each of the region's nine schools. The Deh Cho has a dedicated set of educators who seem to be especially willing to motivate, cajole and push students to meet and exceed their academic potential.

The regions' teachers are willing to go above and beyond the regular day to day class work to make a difference in their students' lives. Schools across the Deh Cho offer a variety of different extra-curricular programs to enhance the student's learning experiences including computer clubs, chess clubs, canoeing clubs, graphic design clubs and many others.

There is also a willingness in the Deh Cho to try new ideas and initiatives if they look promising. The exercise equipment program that two of the schools are undertaking this year is a perfect example.

Principals Lois Philipp and Robert Byatt both watched a documentary on CBC's The National about the link between sustained aerobic activity and increased academic performances and attention spans. Philipp and Byatt were both excited by the results that a teacher in Saskatoon saw in her students after making them run on treadmills for 20 minutes a day during class.

Philipp and Byatt shared the documentary with their respective staffs at Deh Gah School in Fort Providence and Thomas Simpson School in Fort Simpson. As a result both of the schools are using funding to install exercise equipment that students will be encouraged to use.

If the results from Saskatoon can be replicated students will gain a full grade level in reading, writing and math. The idea is unorthodox and it will likely require a lot of convincing on the parts of the teachers to get students to participate but they are willing to do it if academic performances will benefit.

It's not every educator who would be willing to go to the work to set up a room of exercise equipment and organize a program in the hopes of helping students' grades.

In Fort Providence the dedication of educators, especially Philipp, was also visible during the graduation ceremony on Aug. 28. Seven students and three adults graduated with their high school diplomas from the school.

Many of the graduates had come close to not finishing their studies. Most of them credited Philipp for never giving up on them and helping them find alternate options to fulfill their graduation requirements.

It may take some longer than others but all of the students in the Deh Cho are capable of achieving a level of academic success. It is the educators in each of the schools who help to ensure that each student is supported and encouraged on that journey.

The educators all deserve grateful recognition for the work that they do with the Deh Cho's youth.

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It's about communication
Editorial Comment
Andrew Rankin
Inuvik Drum - Thursday, September 3, 2009

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Denny Rodgers' letter to the editor came as a welcome addition to this week's edition of Inuvik Drum.

Not only was it well written but it spoke directly to the heart of an issue that seems to have caused a stir among many residents in town: whether the mayor's position should revert to part time and take a 50 per cent pay cut given the slowdown in the economy.

Looking at the big picture, $40,000, which is the amount at stake here, doesn't seem like that much money and it would probably be difficult to find someone qualified enough who would be willing to work part time for an annual salary of $40,000. It seems to me that a mayor of a town with a population of about 3,500 should be working full time with a salary that reflects that. When times are tough, the mayor should be working just as hard to try to stimulate the economy.

Rodgers' central point rests on the importance of keeping the public informed on important matters such as this. Since it's their money that pays the mayor's salary, residents obviously should have a say about how that money is spent. It's too bad there wasn't a public debate on the issue and the decision made by council to maintain status quo happened when three councillors weren't present.

It's certainly OK for some councillors to want to cut back on the mayor's salary but at the same time there should be a plan about where that money should be spent. Maybe it shouldn't be spent at all. But there probably should have been more dialogue on the matter.

While we're on the topic of communication, Rodgers also writes that the mayor should present a report to council at every regular meeting that would demonstrate whether he or she is earning the salary. That makes sense. I wonder if that is something other residents support? If community members are concerned about the issue, then maybe they should show up to the next council meeting to voice their concerns.

The same holds true about the prospect of having a bus service for elementary school students. I've talked to a handful of people about the possibility and most agree that it's needed, especially in the dead of winter. An interest group has already been formed to lobby for the service, which includes Melissa Lennie and Kathy English. A meeting to discuss the issue was scheduled this summer but only a few parents showed up.

The Inuvik District Education Authority receives money from the Department of Education for a bus program. Its members have decided that a Beaver program to mentor elementary school students is more important. Maybe it is.

But if you feel passionately enough about the bus service and how your tax dollars are being spent then perhaps you could give Lennie or English a call.

Maybe a bus service is the answer or maybe a car pool can be created among concerned parents. It doesn't seem like an impossible situation.

It just means that people have to be willing to work collectively to find a solution.

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Tin Can no man's land
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, September 2, 2009

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Five years ago, when Tin Can Hill was still solidly slated for future development, and city councillor Mark Heyck was a long ways from achieving his dream of preserving it forever as a dog park and hiker's hill, Heyck pointed to the enduring wisdom of Vancouver's civic fathers for creating Stanley Park.

Leading the charge to re-zone Tin Can Hill from growth management to parks and recreation, Heyck must view himself in a similar vein. He's almost there. A couple more council votes will ensure Tin Can will never be burdened by bulldozers and real estate agents – unless they're out there walking their dogs, of course.

Fortunately at city council last week, there were enough municipal politicians wary enough of pressing forward with a vote that there will yet be another debate before all is said and done. We owe that to councillors David McCann, David Wind and Paul Falvo, and tie-breaker Mayor Gord Van Tighem.

While we appreciate Heyck's passion for protecting green spaces in the city, removing Tin Can Hill entirely from development plans would be a particularly reckless move in a city with a real lack of available land for residential development. Where else can the city build other than the last couple of remaining phases at Niven Lake?

That's why Tin Can Hill was included in the 2004 General Plan inventory; that's why it's acknowledged in the city's own Metroquest study into long-range growth needs as the logical location for future residential development. Should council ban development on Tin Can right now, it will be against the advice from members of the city's own Smart Growth committee, which has yet to complete a study of development there.

Tin Can Hill is approximately 100 hectares – around a quarter the size of the aforementioned Stanley Park. But unlike Stanley Park, there is no actual municipal infrastructure there to service it: no maintained trails, no street lights, no police or bylaw officers making patrols.

If council votes against any development there, what they're really voting for is no man's land – for more broken glass and litter, for a place where dog owners let their pets defecate with impunity, and for more squatters to set up tents.

Levelling Tin Can and dumping a bunch of trailers there would be a terrible crime, but if development is nixed entirely it will remain the domain of few and enjoyed by fewer still.

Let's not forget that this city does need places to put workers and their families. When the economy is again red hot, as it was a few years ago, there will be plenty of calls for more homes and apartments.

Therefore a compromise of limited development with tax dollars created to pay for real parks and trails makes the most sense.

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A needle in the H1N1 haystack
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, September 2, 2009

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While top Canadian health officials have been promoting immunization against the next wave of H1N1 (swine flu), there are many health professionals around the world who refuse to endorse or receive the vaccine themselves.

The estimated number of Canadian health workers who get vaccinated against seasonal flu tops out at the world average of 60 per cent.

But the number of health professionals in many countries who accept flu immunization shots are far lower, with American professionals routinely coming in at about 40 per cent and those in Britain known to register around 20 per cent.

And, even more fear surrounds the H1N1 vaccine.

It's already been reported in the British Medical Journal that more than 50 per cent of health workers in Hong Kong have refused the vaccination, as well as 30 per cent of British nurses.

In short, health workers around the planet have grave misgivings on both the effectiveness and the safety of the H1N1 vaccine.

That's led to about half the world's health workers balking at the same vaccine we're urged to accept.

This is extremely concerning in the Kivalliq, which, to date, has accounted for 48 per cent of Nunavut's 560 confirmed cases of H1N1.

Add to that the evidence of aboriginals being more susceptible to the virus, and we could be in for a nasty flu season if a second wave of H1N1 does, in fact, strike.

The disparity between the number of confirmed cases during the first wave in other countries compared to Canada is bad enough.

A total of 24 in every 100,000 Canadians have been infected by H1N1, compared to 11 in the United States and nine in Mexico.

But what's truly alarming is the infection rate among aboriginals.

According to published reports, First Nations people in Manitoba have an infection rate of 130 per 100,000 people, while, in Nunavut, the number of Inuit infected by H1N1 swells to a staggering 1,070 in 100,000.

Nunavut's Department of Health has been saying for months it doesn't want to needlessly alarm people over H1N1, but these numbers are alarming!

They're especially alarming considering how many health workers - rightly or wrongly - have little or no faith in the H1N1 vaccine.

So, what's a person to do when a local health-care professional ramps up the public relations on the benefits of getting the H1N1 vaccination?

With what we know right now, and the almost continual mutation of the virus, the vaccination seems to be a 50-50 proposition at best.

A fact most of the world's health professionals seem to already know.

There is also evidence, yet to be substantiated, that there could be a genetic component at play in the infection rates being seen in Nunavut.

If so, the vaccine could prove itself to be far more of a benefit to Nunavut's minority population than Inuit.

As it looks now, good hygiene, including frequent washing of hands, proper diet and exercise, could very well be the best needle in the H1N1 haystack when it comes to effective vaccines in the Kiv this year.