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The empire strikes back
Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, February 5, 2010

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What were the big campaign issues from last fall's municipal election? Affordable housing, and adequate green space were two.

Spend hundreds of thousands of dollars setting up a harbour committee to control Yellowknife Bay? That wasn't a campaign issue.

Residents have hardly been demanding the city spend $200,000 of taxpayers' money to unleash a regulatory frenzy on evil houseboaters clogging up the shore of Jolliffe Island.

The city insists its desire for the eventual creation of a harbour authority - partnered with the Yellowknives Dene and various other government bodies - isn't just about controlling houseboat development. But we wonder if the sting of defeat still lingers at city hall after losing a number of costly lawsuits against the houseboat community a decade ago.

Back then, the city wanted houseboaters to pay property tax. The courts ruled the city has no jurisdiction over the lake bed - that's a federal government responsibility.

As if to legitimize the money city hall has committed, Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl's offered a matching $200,000 gift for the harbour committee, which he chalks up as a "business development opportunity." What business development opportunity? For consultants maybe, no one else.

Should there be some sort of organization governing the houseboating community? Sure. Should they pay property taxes, or some sort of fee in lieu of taxes? Yes.

The problem with this latest adventure by the city is a lack of any guarantee this will benefit the city in anyway whatsoever, and $200,000 is a lot of money to burn on yet another study.

It remains doubtful the city will ever have ownership of the lake bed, and thus the power to impose property taxes on houseboats. It's a sure bet, however, that this will eventually cost taxpayers even more money when city hall bureaucrats insist on conducting safety inspections and demanding building permits on the harbour authority's behalf.

City council has recently had their knuckles rapped over draconian park bylaws and overly cumbersome zoning rules.

Now they appear to have been roped into yet another empire-building scheme by administration. Even Paul Falvo, a former houseboater, voted in favour of it without protest.

It should make houseboaters shudder, and it concerns the city as a whole, because even though houseboaters do not contribute to city coffers through taxes, there is no denying the benefits houseboats bring to local tourism, and as a source of affordable housing. As stated earlier, affordable housing was a goal trumpeted by many city council candidates in the fall election.

Instead of mounting a regulatory assault on houseboaters, the city ought to open a dialogue with them, offering more than a single seat on a 16-member harbour planning committee.

If handled fairly, the city might even get some co-operation on development rules and rates for city services.

It would certainly cost less money and create less acrimony.

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A cautionary tale
Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum - Thursday, February 4, 2010

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The territorial and federal government's announcement last Friday of their joint support for a study to examine the feasibility of the Mackenzie Valley Highway is a shot in the arm for a much beloved dream.

While many have groaned about another protracted study that won't necessarily end in a concrete action, others see it as a promising move forward.

For decades the idea of an all-weather road up the Mackenzie Valley has been a dream for many residents in the territory including those in the Deh Cho. There is something inherently exciting about the thought of being able to drive up the valley and loop around onto the Dempster Highway. A completed Mackenzie Valley Highway would set a new standard for epic road trips in Canada.

The benefits the road could bring to the Deh Cho can't be underestimated.

An economic study completed by the territorial government last September estimated the jobs the construction and maintenance of the road would create. They included 7,785 one-time jobs and more than 200 long-term jobs. Some of those jobs would unquestionably go to Deh Cho residents if the project moved forward.

Portions of the construction contracts might also go to local companies with the expertise and equipment for road building.

To reach the southern entrance to the highway all traffic would have to go through the Deh Cho. This would mean an increased volume of customers for businesses catering to travellers including gas stations, restaurants, hotels and repair shops.

The key beneficiaries would be Fort Simpson and Wrigley.

Because Fort Simpson already gets a lot of traffic, Wrigley would experience the greatest rise in opportunities. Fuel sales alone would skyrocket as a result of an all-weather highway.

However, the reality check is the three-year study. The study's length coupled with an environmental regulatory process and a search for funds to build the nearly $2 billion road add up to a long wait before the highway is functional.

Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington had a valid point when he said residents don't want a three-year study to bog down potential progress on the highway. The project, however, appears to be moving forward.

Because of the very real benefits the Deh Cho could reap from the highway, leaders and residents in the region need to fully participate in the study and the consultation it will entail. Wherever possible the Deh Cho will need to expedite the study and continue to press the territorial government to prepare for the next steps that will lead to construction.

Now that the highway dream has gained a bit of momentum, the Deh Cho has to make sure it keeps rolling forward right up the valley to Tuktoyaktuk.

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It takes a community
Editorial Comment
Andrew Rankin
Inuvik Drum - Thursday, February 4, 2010

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Samuel Hearne Secondary School deserves credit for trying to implement, in a sense, a new code of conduct for its kids. In the face of some serious issues, especially the constant attendance problems, you have to hand it to the school for trying in some way to deal with the situation.

On Monday, school principal Roman Mahnic met with students of each grade, explaining the basics of the new code. Students are not longer allowed to listen to their iPods during class time, even if their work is finished. They can't have their cell phones in plain sight so teachers can see them. The school also seems to be taking a more collective approach to disciplining students. With each infraction it appears more and more professionals will get involved, whether it be the principal himself, or perhaps outside counsellors.

The idea is to provide students with the support they need to succeed. My sense is that Mahnic really cares about the kids and from what I could see many of the kids are responsive to him. I sat in on the session with the Grade 7 class and they were an alert bunch eager to participate. It's no surprise that they have the highest attendance record of all the grades in the school.

Grade 10 attendance ratio is at 69 per cent, the lowest of all grades in the school.

Sure these new rules might encourage more students to come to school if the desired result is achieved: a better learning environment.

The subject of education came up constantly during the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation all candidates meeting held here last month. I thought Nellie Cournoyea gave a good reason why some kids stop going to school. Basically many of the elementary school students get drawn through the system, sometimes unbeknownst to them, even though they're not working at their grade levels. By the time they reach puberty they start to become more self-conscious of their scholastic inadequacies and they simply stop going to school out of embarrassment or humiliation.

The problem isn't an isolated one. I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that many of these troubled kids come from troubled families. There aren't sufficient or affordable housing for many families in Inuvik and beyond. There isn't enough addictions services for the men and women who desperately need it here. Until the territorial government starts dealing with those problems, then any school code of conduct isn't going to amount to much.

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Kudos for pushing healthy living
Inuvik Drum - Thursday, February 4, 2010

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Darelene Burden deserves a pat on the back for following through with her community weight loss program, which is featured in this week's Drum. So far she has 12 residents signed up and counting. Called Inuvik's Biggest Loser, it's an intelligent program that doesn't push fad or crash diets. Instead it pushes gradual weight loss through healthy living, which includes healthy eating, exercise and education. Let's hope the program catches on and is here for the long haul.

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What does it take?
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, February 3, 2010

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Timothee and Helen Caisse have finally gotten off the roller coaster ride they've been on courtesy of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) since last November.

First, the seniors were allotted a public housing unit. But Income Security, a division of ECE, neglected to confirm their damage deposit with the Yellowknife Housing Authority. That left them homeless for two days, their belongings outdoors and exposed to freezing rain.

Once they moved in, the Caisses applied for $1,800 compensation from Income Security, an amount Timothee insists wouldn't even cover the cost to replace the furniture, food and electronics ruined by the department's oversight. Income Security gave them $1,000. They appealed for the extra $800.

That appeal went in the Caisses' favour, with the Social Assistance Administrative Review Group granting them the $800.

Then the government appealed to the Social Assistance Appeal Board, and it revoked the compensation.

Timothee protested. Gloria Iatridis, an assistant deputy minister of ECE, and Income Security managers met with him. He threatened to take them to court, and suddenly the department paid up. In addition, further public damage to its reputation through coverage in this newspaper probably dampened ECE's appetite to continue battling over the $800.

Though he and his wife now have the money they asked for, Timothee is far from satisfied due to bureaucratic red tape he had to wade through, followed by the sudden turnabout once the assistant deputy minister got involved. His persistence paid off, but he worries that many elders would have put up with the loss of their possessions rather than take on the government.

He's justified in asking why it should take three months and the intervention of an assistant deputy minister to get the compensation he deserved. The government should be asking the same thing, and take steps to fix the bureaucratic bungling at Income Security that jeopardizes the wellbeing of our territory's most vulnerable citizens.

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Going to waste
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, February 3, 2010

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It has been five months since a fire robbed salvagers of access to the dump.

After promises from the city that salvaging will resume soon, the process seems no further along than it was months ago.

In December public works director Dennis Kefalas told Yellowknifer salvaging would likely resume in the new year when the three-cell salvaging area is built.

It is now February and the city is still in the process of buying the materials to build the three-cell area and are waiting on an estimate. From the sounds of it, Yellowknifers will be waiting much longer before they can once again search the dump for discarded treasures.

City councillor Paul Falvo told News/North last week that he has heard from a number of residents dismayed by the amount of time it's taking to re-establish the salvaging area.

As administration continues to drag its feet on the project, it is clear someone at city hall needs to take the lead.

Dump salvaging is a green initiative, so why aren't the "green" city councillors demanding to know why it is taking so long to get salvaging back at the dump?

Where is the outrage over the needless amount of recyclable material being bulldozed because the dump is off-limits to people in search of reusable materials?

If the city was really interested in getting salvaging back up and running it could install a temporary area.

Let's see some leadership from council on this.

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Singing the Beatles blues
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, February 3, 2010

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I've been a music fanatic for most of my life.

I've played in bands, and managed both bands and individual recording artists.

In fact, if I had a dime for every song I've heard, people would say, baby you're a rich man.

So, I've always considered myself a little smarter than the average bear when it comes to music and the recording industry in general.

A lot of that has changed, however, with the age of digital and the influx of new terms and abilities ranging from MP3 players to ripping, burning and, the term I like least, copying.

While many people use these new abilities in an honourable fashion, a whole new shady industry has emerged which has me right back in learning mode.

And the lessons aren't cheap!

You couldn't wipe the smile from my face with an electric sander that fine January day when I turned my parcel card in at the post office and received my recently ordered Beatles stereo boxed set.

Beautifully packaged (on the outside), I gleefully went through the disks to make sure each Beatles studio album was there, along with two special past masters CDs and a mini documentary DVD on the making of their studio efforts.

All present and accounted for.

But, alas, this is a very busy time of year for me and enjoying my Beatles collection would have to wait.

And then it happened.

An e-mail arrived directing me to an industry review on the box set, which reported at great length about the infiltration of illegal Chinese bootleg copies.

The article informed me the first way to spot a fake was to look at the Universal Product Code (UPC) near the bottom of the back of the box.

The genuine set should have an anti-piracy stamp near the UPC.

Horror! No stamp!

The second way to tell the phoney is if it has thin red ribbons between the disks, as the authentic set has wider black ribbons.

Double horror!! Red ribbons!!

Finally, the article instructed me to check the back of the Revolver album CD and check the names of the Beatles.

Horror of horrors!!!

Unless the Beatles drummer was named Ringo Start and that incredible singing voice belonged to a guy named Paul McCarin, I had purchased a phoney set.

I can't just let it be, so now I'm in the process of trying to retrieve hundreds of dollars from a music shop - and here's the kicker - from my original hometown in Cape Breton where I purchased the set from.

Since I can't get back, I need help down the long and winding road because I don't have a ticket to ride to get a refund in person.

From the Kivalliq to Newfoundland, and across the universe, pirating music is a crime for good reason.

Too many people think it only affects millionaire musicians and companies that don't need the money anyway.

But it doesn't. It affects thousands of people everyday who lay down hard-earned money for an inferior product.

Maybe things will change when I'm 64, but, for now, when it comes to ordering digital disks over the Internet, I should have known better.

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Caribou conservation mishandled
NWT News/North - Monday, February 1, 2010

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Minister Michael Miltenberger's perception of his own authority is an embarrassment to the GNWT and an insult to the people of the territory.

For the third time, Miltenberger has sparked controversy and vehement protest by trying to impose his will on the people he represents.

First, last year he failed to push through a poorly conceived board merger that sparked a demonstration in front of the legislative assembly. Then, he was forced to retreat from his plan to hike a variety of taxes during the economic downturn.

Now Miltenberger thinks his power supersedes federal First Nation treaties. While the minister jetted off to Copenhagen last December, he had his department announce a ban on caribou hunting in the North Slave - a ban that included First Nation hunters.

The minister insists he consulted with all aboriginal groups before imposing the ban. Many leaders deny that assertion. If his consultation practices have remained the same since the board merger fiasco, we don't hold high hopes the groups he claims to have spoken to had much input.

Since the ban, Miltenberger has decided to remain in his office allowing his staff to take the brunt of criticism.

We wonder why Miltenberger did not attend the Dene Nation Leadership meeting in Fort Simpson, opting instead to send his deputy minister for the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources.

It's difficult to trust a want-to-be leader who doesn't have the good sense to personally get involved in resolving conflicts rather than creating them. He squandered a perfect opportunity to speak with the groups directly affected by the ban - and he should be working to remedy that mistake soon.

Now, as his extra hired guns confiscate meat from aboriginal hunters harvesting on their traditional lands, Miltenberger's poor decision-making and abysmal forethought has turned an important conservation issue into a political firestorm that will likely cost the NWT millions in legal expenses.

The caribou need to be protected. Few deny that fact. However, Miltenberger's actions have done nothing to protect caribou. Aboriginals have already demonstrated their commitment to defying the ban. More than 17 carcasses have been confiscated from hunters.

Miltenberger's totalitarian enforcement of the ban will do little to deter aboriginals from exercising their traditional rights - rights enshrined in Canadian law -- and his policy is effectively stealing food from NWT families.

Once again, Miltenberger has demonstrated his poor leadership and inability to communicate.

Our government's seeming disregard for the rights of the aboriginal population does not bode well for the future of devolution negotiations - whenever our government decides that endeavour is worth pursuing.

If ministers such as Miltenberger cannot take into account the needs and rights of the territory's aboriginal population, how can the cabinet be trusted to sign a deal that will be fair and representative?

It's time for Premier Floyd Roland to step in and fix this blunder. Miltenberger has proved to be too combative and closed-minded.

It's hard to believe he was raised in the North, considering his complete disregard for Northern realities.

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Golden opportunity
Nunavut News/North - Monday, February 1, 2010

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When the Meadowbank mine pours its first gold bar in February, it will be the only producing mine site in a territory rich in mineral resources.

As Denis Gourde, the mine site's general manager for Agnico-Eagle, said in last week's Nunavut News/North, "We 're the biggest show in Nunavut."

The Jericho diamond mine, which was so full of promise in 2006, closed in 2008 and Tahera, the company that owns it, has now put it on the market. Lupin, the territory's previous gold mine, closed in 2006. The most recent operating mine in the Kivalliq Region was the Cullaton Lake-Shear Lake gold mine near Arviat that closed in 1985.

Nunavut still has plenty of exploration activity, but the work is seasonal and the jobs it brings are fleeting. An operating mine is more likely to provide stable, long-term employment.

The mayor of Baker Lake has said the mine is having a positive impact on the hamlet, as families with members working for the mine or its contractors are generally well-fed and well-clothed.

But in a culture where family, community and tradition are priorities, these employees and their families are also making sacrifices. Due to the demands of an operating mine, there will be many meals eaten alone, tearful phone calls, hunts missed and lonely Christmases, even though they're just 70 km north of home. What keeps them going is the knowledge that they are working for the benefit of their loved ones and communities.

Meadowbank has an expected operating life of 10 years. In this relatively brief window of production, we hope Baker Lake and nearby communities take advantage of every opportunity the mine provides, especially when it comes to training. There will be more companies doing exploration work, and more mines needing skilled labour. The Meliadine gold project near Rankin Inlet is progressing, as are Kitikmeot prospects such as Newmont's Hope Bay gold site and Sabina Silver's Hackett River location.

Experienced workers - those who have paid their dues at Meadowbank -- will have an advantage as opportunities continue to arise, not only employees but as service providers and business partners.

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Such generous people
Nunavut News/North - Monday, February 1, 2010

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Nunavummiut are renowned for their generosity. Despite having little, when disaster strikes, we open our hearts and wallets without reservation.

The response of Nunavummiut to the recent earthquake in Haiti has been inspiring. Though divided by geography, climate and culture, donors responded to the plight of fellow human beings halfway around the world.

The Government of Nunavut stepped up to donate $25,000 to the Red Cross. Nunavut Tunngavik gave $20,000 and each of the three regional Inuit associations gave $10,000.

In addition, there have been innumerable fundraisers and collections in every community for Haiti relief.

Statistics Canada has reported that according to 2007 tax returns, residents of Nunavut tended to give more to charities than any other province or territory. In Nunavut, the median donation was $470, meaning half gave more and half gave less than that amount, versus the national median of $250. And these statistics only counted donations for which donors received tax receipts.

A willingness to share what one can spare is a cultural identity to be proud of.