---

Housing corporation isn't being clear
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, April 28, 2010

---

The NWT Housing Corporation clearly isn't spelling out what exactly the details for its financial assistance program are.

The Providing Assistance for Territorial ownership program (PATH) is run by the NWT Housing Corporation, allowing first-time home buyers a remissible loan to help purchase a "modest home."

Yellowknife resident Joanna Maguire was given a loan of $70,000 toward the purchase of a house, but the housing corp. failed to inform her when they gave her the grant how much the home should cost. Of course she was more than disappointed when the loan was taken away as the house she planned to buy, at a price tag of $392,000, was over what the housing corporation said was an acceptable limit.

It is a good thing the corporation isn't allowing people to bite off more than they can chew in terms of housing costs, but Maguire - along with other Yellowknifers who applied and were turned down or had offers taken back - should have been given a solid number on how much to spend before hand, not after an offer had been rejected.

One woman described the housing corp. as "dangling the funding" in front of applicants only to take it away.

The residents who believed they were going to be able to get a home through this program only to find out they were too deeply in debt or had other payments that were too high, among other things, were not only let down, but wasted their time and the time of banks and realtors.

Some people even lost money - one couple sold off a truck and bought a cheaper vehicle only to be told the payments were still too high, leaving them with no truck and no home.

It is obvious there needs to be a major overhaul of the PATH program. Even Stephen Pretty, the communications manager for the NWT Housing Corporation, pointed out not many Yellowknifers apply for the program because there aren't enough affordable homes.

This program just isn't suited to Yellowknife. Which begs the question, if this program isn't for Yellowknife then why is it being presented to Yellowknifers as an option?

And, more importantly, what can be done for Yellowknife's housing market?

Clearly there is a vital need in the community for more affordable housing. The market is booming with expensive executive homes priced at $400,000 and over, but the reasonably priced houses available for first time buyers are slim. Those that do come on the market are so popular bidding wars are often the result.

Yellowknife isn't like Toronto, Ottawa or other big cities down south. There is no suburbs to move into in order to find an affordable home and commute into the city for work.

All levels of government have to address the pressing need for more affordable housing or face the fact that a lot of people will either never settle here or will pack up and leaving for greener pastures - much like Maguire who has decided to head to Alberta where there houses she can afford.

---

Time to build a brighter future
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, April 28, 2010

---

There's been a real resurgence of interest in the trades across the Kivalliq and, if it continues to grow, there may be a lot more homegrown talent earning nice paycheques while they help our region flourish during the coming years.

The trades aren't for everyone, which is no different than universities not being the path of choice for many Grade 12 graduates each year.

For that matter, even admirable professions such as doctors, nurses, lawyers and police officers do not hold universal appeal.

The fact of the matter is, everyone's different and we all have varying interests and expectations in our professional lives.

Perhaps no adage holds more truth in modern society than that of a person truly loving their job never having to work a day in their life.

All that being said, a strong argument can be made that nothing casts a wider net over more diverse groups of people than the trades.

And, anyone unaware of the take-home paycheque of folks in the plumbing, electrical, refrigeration, welding, heavy equipment and carpentry trades, among many, many others, is either a tremendous do-it-yourselfer or an incredibly lucky individual.

Any of us who have had to enlist the services of a tradesperson in the past few decades has a pretty good idea of the pay they earn for their skills.

Another strong drawing point of many trades is that you don't have to possess a genius IQ or be tops in your high school class to be successful.

More often than not, a love of working with your hands, operating machinery or creating something from scratch - combined with good work habits and a determination to succeed - lead the way to many productive, and profitable, years in the workforce.

The rising popularity of the Nunavut Skills Competition is proof the message is starting to be received by a good number of our high school students, and that's a positive step forward.

Likewise, the efforts of people such as Kevin Bussey in Rankin Inlet to integrate trades apprenticeship training into the high school curriculum are also slowly starting to produce results.

There has been a genuine spark of interest clearly evident in the eyes of many students during the past two career fairs held at Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik in Rankin.

And, these types of initiatives should grow even stronger once the long-awaited trade school officially opens its doors in Rankin.

We have nothing but gratitude for the numerous tradespeople from the south who have lived in Nunavut and helped keep our territory moving forward during the past decade.

Yet there is a growing demand for skilled tradespeople in Nunavut and it's time for those jobs to be taken by qualified Nunavummiut, and for the majority of the money and benefits they provide to remain in our communities.

The foundation is slowly being put in place and the tools provided for our region to start taking full advantage of what the trades have to offer.

It's time to start using those tools to build a brighter future for many families and individuals in the Kivalliq.

---

Imaginary battle
NWT News/North - Monday, April 26, 2010

---

We had hoped that the election of Antoine Michel as chief of Lutsel K'e First Nation, would mean the band would be more open to sharing with the Metis Nation.

Former Chief Steve Nitah was adamant in his protest against recognizing the Northwest Territory Metis Nation's claims to the proposed park land encompassing the East Arm of Great Slave Lake which the LKFN is negotiating with the federal government. Unfortunately it seems Michel shares Nitah's stance on the issue.

However, Nitah wasn't always so dismissive of the Metis and he should have been reminded of the spirit of camaraderie he once shared with Metis.

Following last week's article, a photo was delivered to the offices of Northern News Services demonstrating Nitah once had a close relationship with the Metis.

In the photo, Nitah, clad in traditional Metis garb, proudly stands as a member of the NWT Metis Reelers Dance Group. George Mandeville, a prominent Metis musician from Fort Smith and a representative of the North Slave Metis, submitted the photo along with a note stating that Nitah didn't mind being Metis when the photo was taken.

Earlier this month, when referring to the NWT Metis Nation's claim on future park land in what the LKFN considers Akaticho territory, Nitah said: "There should not be two distinct aboriginal groups in our area."

The Metis - who are recognized in the Canadian constitution - are not the Akaitcho's enemy. In fact, for the two groups to be at odds over the development of the park is senseless.

There is strength in numbers and it makes more sense for the Metis and the Akaitcho to work together.

Betty Villebrun, president of the Northwest Territory Metis Nation, has extended the hand of co-operation to the LKFN. Both groups seek the same thing, recognition of their traditional rights and protection of their traditional lands.

The Metis have a long history in the Lutsel K'e area. Mandeville can trace his lineage back to a man the Akaitcho once called Katehwi. Mandeville described his ancestor as a Metis who was a recognized leader of the Chipewyan. Katehwi, Mandeville says, was also an accomplished peacemaker.

Divisiveness between the Metis and Akaitcho will only serve to weaken both groups' negotiating position with the federal government. It's time to put aside small differences and act in a spirit that will best serve both the Metis and the Akaitcho. Let peace and co-operation rule the day.

We hope that Chief Michel will eventually see the value of working with the Metis.

---

Take care of our own
Nunavut News/North - Monday, April 26, 2010

---

In the 1950s, the federal government promised several families from northern Quebec a much better lifestyle if they were willing to relocate to uninhabited parts of the far North, to what is now Grise Fiord and Resolute.

What those "volunteers" found was an extremely harsh environment, a scarcity of wild game to survive on and inadequate housing - some actually lived in tents.

Ottawa's ulterior motive was to populate the High Arctic to demonstrate Canadian sovereignty.

It took close to 40 years, but the federal government acknowledged how it manipulated and disrupted those families' lives. In 1996, Ottawa set aside $10 million dollars for those who were essentially treated like guinea pigs in the harshest of conditions.

Eight million dollars was bankrolled for the families while $2 million was given directly to them.

The money that was invested made hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest annually for a number of years, resulting in fairly substantial payments to the High Arctic exiles.

Then the good returns hit a brick wall in 2008 as the stock market sunk like a stone. The trust fund has not even turned enough profit to cover the administrative costs to run it, estimated at up to $60,000 a year.

It's a sad state of affairs as the families' payments have been next to nothing - or literally nothing - while the recession wreaked havoc over the past few years.

So, what can be done? For starters, land claims organizations Makivik Corporation and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated have dozens of administrators between them. They should be taking care of the trust fund paperwork for free.

These are Inuit people, many of them aging, who should not see a portion of their benefit eaten up by paying workers to cross i's and dot t's.

While the economy has been showing signs of a rapid recovery on a number of fronts, there is a proposal from the trustees overseeing the $8 million fund to release another $3 million for the some 35 original Arctic exiles who are still living, out of the 86 who were shipped off to the most remote part of the country several decades ago.

That decision rightfully rests with the survivors. They must be consulted.

But it is not all about money.

Simeonie Amagoalik, who was moved to Resolute all those years ago, said there's one other thing he still wants: an apology from Ottawa.

After all the anguish he's endured, that certainly doesn't sound like too much to ask.

---

Profiteers not welcome
Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, April 23, 2010

---

The blame game has long been a part of the politics of Northland trailer park.

It's an easy game to play when one considers its ownership history and transformation from a neighbourhood of tenants to a condo consortium.

Residents today point to Cliff Johnson, former co-owner of Triple E Developments, which bought the trailer park in 1988 and soon after began selling off individual lots. Previous to this, some of the trailers were owned by the lot tenants, who were charged rent for the land on which their trailers stood; other residents merely rented the trailers.

Regardless, for much of this period afterwards Triple E remained the largest owner and thus the largest voting block within the condominium corporation.

Johnson has been blamed for keeping condo fees recklessly low, according to the condo board in Yellowknifer's feature story on Northland last Wednesday, and because the fees were so low, money to replace ageing water and sewer lines - owned by Northland and not the city - wasn't there. Lot fees to the remaining renters, meanwhile, skyrocketed, while Triple E was seeking a 75 per cent profit on lot sales, according to a trailer owners association newsletter in 1990.

After selling off the last of the lots a couple years ago, Johnson quietly rode off into the sunset, taking his pile of money with him, or so the legend goes.

Northland owners may feel wronged now, but to lay the blame squarely at Johnson's feet is a bit rich.

Residents - tenants included - voted in favour of a condo association 20 years ago; and there is certainly no indication that they were not in favour of low condo fees - $65 a month six years ago - year after year. Nor, at least until very recently, have people been dissuaded from purchasing in Northland, generally the least expensive real estate in town.

Longtime resident and board member Pearl Benyk most recently told Yellowknifer that Johnson "was given carte blanche to run things they way he did."

But she identified at least part of the problem last fall, after learning Northland trailer owners needed $18 million for infrastructure improvements: "There are many people that think this is part of the city and the city needs to fix it. They don't internalize that this is their land, that they're responsible for it."

The city rightly reduced property taxes in Northland by a small amount last week, which were too high compared to other trailer parks in the city. The city is also seeking ways to help ease the pain for residents when it comes time to start paying for the crumbling water and sewer lines.

Despite hopes of finding money grants and loans with other levels of government, the city will likely be the source of most of the money and that should be done through long-term, low-interest loans.

And, should any Northland owner wish to sell the property before the loan is repaid, the remaining balance must be attached to the purchase price, with that portion going to the city.

It's only fair that if Yellowknifers come to the aid of Northland residents, there is no chance of people profiting from a quick sale.

---

Sports that excite
Editorial Comment
Guy Quenneville
Deh Cho Drum - Thursday, April 22, 2010

---

Two stories in this week's Drum highlight the importance of providing youth with a proper learning environment for recreational activities.

Late last month and early this month, 14 students from Echo Dene School in Fort Liard travelled to a first-class ski resort in neighbouring British Columbia to learn how to snowboard. Interest in the sport among the hamlet's youth spiked in the wake of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

So after a suggestion from students, the hamlet decided to bus the students south for a two-day crash course in the popular winter sport.

Hamlets, band offices, municipal governments and First Nations representatives all work continually hard to provide fresh and exciting ways for youth to spread their wings, inside and outside the community, and good on them.

The goal of the trip, according to the hamlet's manager of recreation and wellness, was to whet the students' appetite for the sport and hopefully encourage the students to put their new skills to use on the hamlet's small but capable snow hill.

Since several of the students have expressed an interest in getting a snowboard, consider it mission accomplished.

Meanwhile, in Fort Simpson, a dream that has long appeared unattainable is finally going to become a reality.

Yes, the village will install a skate park in the community this summer - several years behind schedule.

As one person put it, "Some of the people who originally pushed for this now have kids."

Regardless of the delays, the news has been met positively by Fort Simpson's skateboarding community, as it should.

Youth need a place to call their own, and youth centres and recreation halls - by virtue of their being indoors - can only serve that purpose to a point.

It's not just a matter of convenience, or having a place to hang out. It's a matter of safety.

It's not a rare sight to see teenagers skateboarding on the front steps of Thomas Simpson School, on the sidewalk or, perhaps most alarmingly, in the middle of the street.

They do it not because they get a kick out of scaring passersby, but because they have nowhere else to go.

Nathan McPherson, the village's recreation co-ordinator, is to be commended for taking the initiative one year ago when he decided, upon starting the position, that the money set aside for the park would no longer go on collecting dust.

Special mention must also go, of course, to the village and the Liidlii Kue First Nation who are footing the bill.

Now, let's roll.

Guy Quenneville is the interim editor of Deh Cho Drum. Roxanna Thompson returns next week.

---

Who's minding our dogs?
Editorial Comment
Andrew Rankin
Inuvik Drum - Thursday, April 22, 2010

---

It's that time of year again when countless stray dogs will be roaming the roads. I've already seen far too many for my liking. The pound is being constantly filled with neglected animals.

I don't know why it's taken me this long to say this, but I think the town needs to provide a free service where dogs can be spayed and neutered.

Maybe that means taxes have to be raised but I think the situation has come to that. I'll admit I would have no problem with that, but then again, I'm a dog lover.

The problem came to mind after I covered a rather heart warming event a few weeks ago involving our town veterinarian, Peter Krizan.

Mushing legend Frank Turner travelled here from the Yukon with his dogs en route to Herschel Island. Overnight one of them got injured and needed medical attention. Turner was surprised to find out we indeed have our own animal doctor. Instead of having to leave his animal behind, Krizan did the needed work, which included stitching the wounds, and away they went. The dog, Mischief, was well on his way to being healthy.

Seeing Turner so happy made me realize just how lucky we are to have our own veterinarian. It also made me realize that he's being taken for granted. Which is funny when you consider, aside from Krizan, the closest vets to us are in Hay River and Yellowknife.

Yet in talking to Krizan I know he's having trouble making ends meet. That's a shame. Through our discussion I found out that many dog owners in town don't ensure their animals get the proper vaccines to keep them healthy. As a result Krizan, on many occasions, has had to deal with severely sick animals whose illnesses wouldn't have gotten so bad if they were given basic care.

I'm not trying to point a finger here, but if you look around town there isn't enough being done to help the animals. In talking to some residents I've found most are willing to support such a free service.

So maybe we should get started on one.

I'm not saying that having it would eliminate the stray dog population but it would be a move in the right direction and show that we're at least trying to tackle the root problem. Part of the town bylaw officer's job is to pick up stray dogs and hold them at the pound until someone claims them. Surely their efforts could be put to better use.

Dog owners also used to be able to have their animals vaccinated against rabies free of charge. But that territory funded service was scraped once our veterinarian arrived. Meanwhile Aklavik dog owners are still offered the service for free. Where's the logic in that?

No one needs to be reminded that there are foxes hanging around town. Foxes sometimes carry rabies, which can be passed on to dogs if the animals come in contact. Everyone also knows that rabies can be passed on from dog to human.

The bottom line is that our governments could be doing a lot more to deal with the town's stray dog situation but they are not. It's up to us to do something about it.