Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

Companies in many industries know the squeeze a tight job market can put on their operations, and the City of Yellowknife is feeling that pressure, or it ought to be.

Its building inspections department has gone from four inspectors to having only one on contract. City hall has become solely reliant on Bill Fandrick, who, as of the end of August, is the retired manager of the department. The city flies him into Yellowknife from Calgary on an as-needed basis, but that need is substantial.

Phil Moon Son, executive director of the NWT Construction Association, and contractor Niels Konge are right to air their concerns that the construction industry may grind to a halt if the city is relying on one person to help fulfil the duties of an essentially vacant building inspections department.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem pointed out that it's cheaper for the city to pay for Fandrick's flights rather than pay a full-time salary and benefits. In addition, the city is saving the salaries of the other inspectors who have resigned.

While attracting new, permanent staff may prove to be challenging, the city cannot allow that to hold up construction.

In addition to trying to recruit full-time replacements, city hall must quickly find other building inspectors who are available on contract.

It's not an ideal situation but even worse would be for building projects in Yellowknife, and for all the occupants of those buildings, to be left waiting longer than they should.

After four years of weighing the pros and cons of three possible paths for the re-route of the Ingraham Trail, a decision was finally announced on Sept. 1.

The Department of Transportation's preferred bypass route travels through Fred Henne Territorial Park.

The other two options that didn't make the cut were through the boat launch near Giant Mine and near the dump. These two routes, although cheaper, do not allow for anywhere near as much land development or come too close to the area where years of Giant Mine clean-up work is scheduled. All three options end up just before the Yellowknife River bridge.

Changing the route has been on the government's radar for about two decades, and the conclusion is on the horizon at long last. It's hoped the new road will be open to the public by November 2012, barring no bumps in final consultations with aboriginal groups, the public, and the city.

Although the Fred Henne route is the longest and most expensive at $17 million, it boasts benefits for future development in the area.

The corridor will improve access on the Ingraham Trail, create an opportunity to further develop the sometimes overflowing campground eastward for residents and tourists and allow the Giant Mine clean-up project to move onward while the road is constructed. With the government's support behind the best route, it is now time to get the show on the road.

Angry, nervous and, truth be told, maybe even itching for a fight.

That's the cocktail of emotions that hit me when I became aware of Quebec's plan to start licensing journalists in an opinion piece penned by Ezra Levant.

The nervous part evolved strictly from our territorial government's love of all things Quebec when it comes to trying to copycat its retardation of the English language.

You know, all that life-improving stuff like not allowing evil English words to be larger than French words when publicly displayed on the same sign, or workers running the risk of getting a pink slip for saying "good morning" during a momentary loss of sanity while answering the phone.

Of course those who support such measures would tell you it's all about preservation, but aggression rarely preserves anything other than the harbouring of ill will.

My anger over such a notion even being considered in this country is multifaceted.

Who gets to decide who among us are professional journalists worthy of being licensed?

In the end, can the credentials really amount to anything more than a willingness to report the news as the ruling government sees it?

Of course not, and that's the whole point. Censorship comes in many forms, and Quebec's idea of licensing journalists is a blatant example of the misuse of power.

Fuelling my anger even further is that leading the charge to regulate Quebec's media is Culture and Communications Minister Christine St-Pierre, based largely on a study written for the Quebec government by Dominique Payette.

Between them, St-Pierre and Payette spent about 50 years with the CBC.

Not enough they both have the benefit of comfortable lifestyles through their employment with a state-paid and federal news organization, now they want to take what they learned there and impose their idea of journalism on an entire province.

To them, good journalism amounts to no more than adding a few sound bites to a press release and off you go with no criticism allowed, constructive or otherwise.

Good reporter. You get a one-on-one interview with the minister tomorrow for your loyalty and subservience.

With the Government of Nunavut's all-to-familiar disdain, or fear, of dealing with real members of the media, chances are such a draconian approach to muzzling the media may have some appeal to those in Iqaluit, should the notion not die a quick and painful death in Quebec.

Should that day ever come to pass, however, I would hope our territorial government could come up with someone better than an ex-CBC personality to determine who among us are "professional" journalists.

Those of us who earn our living in ink are judged far more harshly by our readers than could ever be accomplished by someone in a recycled suit.

When not coming up with plots against journalists who would dare criticize the Government of Quebec, St-Pierre is in charge of enforcing Bill 101, the province's charter on the French language

It would appear her affinity for censorship and a government-approved media closely parallels another card-carrying menace of not all that long ago.

Since the time of contact between aboriginal and Western cultures, a war has been raging between contemporary life and the traditional ways of the North's First Nation, Metis and Inuit populations.

That battle has been waged perhaps most fiercely along the lines of language, where the casualties span generations. Whereas some languages, such as that of the Tlicho people, have weathered the war better than most, the Gwich'in and Inuvialuit languages are on the verge of vanishing forever.

In the Beaufort Delta, the stronghold of both the Gwich'in language and Inuvialuit languages (Uummarmiut, Siglit and Innuinaqtun), there has been a significant decline in the number of aboriginal people who speak an aboriginal language, according to the NWT Bureau of Statistics.

In 1989, 34.4 per cent of the Beaufort Delta population spoke an aboriginal language, whereas in 2009 that figure decreased to 22.1 per cent. Ulukhaktok has traditionally been the strongest community in terms of language preservation. In 2009, 60.1 per cent of the community reported speaking an aboriginal language -- although that's 20 per cent higher than the second strongest community, Sachs Harbour, it is still a 36 per cent decline from 1989.

There are no easy solutions, but, ironically, the best hope for traditional languages is its perceived nemesis -- the contemporary world.

Language programs in schools are helping bring youth back to tongues primarily spoken by their grandparents. However, new technologies might be an opportunity to renew the enthusiasm for traditional languages at home, where it might not be spoken as often as in the past.

Projects such as the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre's Nauvikhaq (A Place to Grow) database, which has been diligently transforming the oral history of the region into digital recordings and website content, are vital. Having a resource where language material can be heard, seen and interacted with is essential, especially in environments where the opportunity to hear a language spoken is rare.

Technology such as smartphones and tablets should be the next target for language resource material. Mobile technology is all the rage with younger people, especially as devices become more versatile. A quick scroll through the applications menu of most major smartphones will reveal hundreds of programs designed to teach or improve skills in hundreds of languages worldwide.

That resource base is beginning to expand. British Columbia may be at the forefront of Canadian provinces using new technology to advance aboriginal languages. The First Peoples' Heritage, Language and Culture Council created the Firstvoices program, "a suite of web-based tools and services designed to support aboriginal people engaged in language archiving, language teaching and culture revitalization," according to its website. Last year, Firstvoices mobile went live, expanding the program's services to the iPhone and iPad.

The GNWT should consider a similar program across the territory. A territory-wide language program, similar to Nunavut's Inuktitut Living Dictionary, would be a huge step towards saving the nine official aboriginal languages the government claims to support.

Developing those resources into interactive website and cellphone applications will unite today's youth with the traditional languages they are at risk of losing.

When it comes to the traditional languages, the youth are literally our future. As it stands, as our population ages, each death deals an irreparable blow to our knowledge of the past.

The meeting of fisheries ministers in Iqaluit Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 put the state of the industry and ocean-health on the national stage, even if provincial and territorial ministers from Western Canada didn't attend.

Environment Minister Daniel Shewchuk had the chance, at least, to emphasize to federal Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield the importance of Nunavut getting a bigger share of the turbot pulled from Baffin waters, and to take Ashfield to Pangnirtung to see the progress of the small craft harbour, which will allow for fishing vessels to dock at the community, currently in construction on its shore.

The harbour, supported by $25 million from the feds, is just a step toward creating a large, viable and safer industry that could bring income to a significant number of Nunavummiut.

Having Ashfield see the construction of the harbour, set against the sometimes violent Arctic Ocean and the people who pull their sustenance from it, will convey the importance of projects such as these.

Pangnirtung is getting its harbour, but more communities need them. The GN Department of Economic Development and Transportation identified Pangnirtung, Clyde River, Qikiqtarjuaq, Pond Inlet, Repulse Bay, Chesterfield Inlet and Kugaaruk as top candidates for small craft harbours.

Hopefully Ashfield saw the need, and more funding will open up for these projects. Without adequate infrastructure to take advantage of the bountiful Arctic Ocean, Nunavummiut are being deprived of further opportunities they deserve.

There won't be three empty seats when the legislative assembly reconvenes on Oct. 18.

Joe Enook will represent the Tununiq/Pond Inlet riding, Pangnirtung will have Hezakiah Oshutapik as its MLA and Monica Ell will speak for constituents in Iqaluit-West.

Congratulations to these successful candidates in the Sept. 12 by-election, as well as to their opponents, who gave residents a choice and prevented acclamations.

Voters were quite motivated to mark their ballots with turnout at the polls hitting 69.3 per cent in Tununiq, 60.1 per cent in Iqaluit-West and 55.7 per cent in Pangnirtung - not bad numbers for a byelection.

Enook campaigned with housing as one of his primary issues.

Ell also said she plans to fight for better housing, as well as improved health care and daycare services, and she wants GN hiring practices to be reviewed.

Oshutapik has health care on his agenda, sees the need for dust control and wants to lengthen the arena season for youth in Pangnirtung.

These are obviously issues that voters are throwing their support behind. It's imperative our new MLAs, as well as their counterparts, follow through on these important issues and don't lose sight of the people who put them in office.

A lack of accountability from MLAs, something that has been a problem in the past, isn't something Nunavummiut should have to endure.

If all goes well for Bob McLeod, he will slip into the NWT premier's chair without planting a single campaign sign, or going door-to-door to talk issues with constituents, or having one solitary vote cast in his name - at least not in a voting booth.

The Yellowknife South MLA, one of three incumbents acclaimed for another term to the legislative assembly last week, let it be known he's willing to take on the premiership if other MLAs are willing to give it to him.

So we may have a situation again where 19 voters -- the sitting MLAs -- will choose the leader for the remaining 43,000 or so residents of the NWT. This is exactly what happened with Premier Floyd Roland and former Premier Joe Handley before him.

While a Premier McLeod may be a good thing for Yellowknife -- he lives here and understands well the role the capital plays in the territory -- it's not good for democracy where the majority of ALL voters are supposed get to choose either the party and leader or in the case of the United States, their leader by direct vote.

When asked whether he supported changes to consensus government following news of his acclamation, McLeod said: "If people don't like it and want to see real change, they have to start earlier rather than wait for the writ to be dropped."

Judging by the volume of comments on social media websites, people are becoming increasingly frustrated by the method in which MLAs select the premier and cabinet, which is done behind closed doors after the election. Criticism of consensus government itself is nothing new either.

For most of the critics of consensus government, whether they complain in the coffee shops or the media, party politics is the solution for fixing the undemocratic nature of electing our premier and the perceived problems with consensus government. We say 'perceived' because any observer of politics as it plays out either in Ottawa or Washington would be treading on thin ice holding those squabbling institutions up as models of efficiency.

The point is, there is nothing stopping individuals living in any number of NWT communities from declaring themselves members of a party, putting together a platform of policies and running as candidates in separate ridings. All they have to do is win enough ridings and, providing their chosen leader wins a seat, vote that person in as premier and others in the party as members of cabinet.

Under present election laws, there is no provision for party affiliation to be noted on election ballots alongside the names of candidates so it's not allowed. But as the legislative assembly has the power to change the law, it need not be a problem for long.

So, Yellowknife's contender for NWT premier has put the ball squarely in the court of those who want to see party politics erase the evils of consensus government: Get out of your armchairs, get organized, stay committed and run for office

You have four years to do it.

Fort Simpson is about to have another achievement to add to its list of accolades.

If a proposed solar panel installation is built, the village will have become an unofficial alternative energy testing ground within the territory. The village was put on this path last year when the Northwest Territories Power Corporation site for tested an in-stream hydro-kinetic turbine on the Mackenzie River near the community.

The turbine was the first of its kind in the NWT. The solar panel installation would be another first. Reaching up to 100 kilowatts, the installation would be the largest of its kind in the NWT. Once again, the power corporation, backed with funding from the GNWT's Energy Priorities Framework, is behind the project. Some may question why being the location for these two projects is something for Fort Simpson to be proud of. After all, the solar panels – like the turbine – won't result in a decrease in local power bills.

The answer is that the village is helping these two technologies reach a stage where they could decrease power bills and be an economically viable alternative, not to mention one better for the environment than diesel-generated power. At the moment, Fort Simpson has the dubious distinction of being the largest diesel-powered community in the territory.

The hydro-kinetic turbine was installed last year to test the design and functionality of the technology. Its first season led to the corporation learning a number of lessons, including changes that needed to be made in order to help protect the turbine from debris. Despite being guarded by a deflector boom, a log hit the turbine shortly after it was installed, putting it out of commission until the end of August.

As well, low water levels in the Mackenzie River over the testing period led to low flow rates which in turn decreased the amount of power the turbine produced, which reflects the importance of placement.

With last year's lessons under its belt, the corporation re-installed the turbine this year. When it is taken out of the river next week, new information is sure to be gathered.

The solar installation will undoubtedly undergo the same process. Problems discovered within the first year will allow changes and adaptations to be made to improve the facility's performance.

The protection of the land and the environment are always voiced as priorities Deh Cho residents believe in. By providing a location for alternative energy projects, Fort Simpson is taking a concrete step to support those priorities.

Someday, lessons that are learned in the village may allow Fort Simpson and the rest of the Deh Cho to benefit from these technologies.

With the announcement of candidates on Sept. 9, the battle now begins.

As Premier Floyd Roland vacates his seat in Inuvik Boot Lake, four men have put their names forward to take his seat. Robert C. McLeod was acclaimed to his seat, giving him a month free from responsibilities to relax and listen to the rhetoric.

Those four former "regular" members of your community – Grant Gowans, Chris Larocque, Alfred Moses and Paul Voudrach – have announced their interest in Inuvik and your concerns. What a brave step to take. Good luck to all of you.

In this week's Street Talk, many people voiced their concerns about the state of Inuvik and though they didn't all appear in the newspaper, the majority listed homelessness and housing as top concerns. Although the homeless shelter returned to business thanks to the community involvement through the Inuvik Interagency Committee, homelessness is still a major issue.

Despite this new and improved shelter, people still live on the streets and as the weather turns colder, the situation will become worse. We all see it, but who will do something about it? And what will these candidates think are the solutions?

As for the NWT Housing Corporation, something needs to change, not just in Inuvik, but across the entire territory. The way the system is set up now, when people get jobs, their monthly income lowers while their rent skyrockets. What incentive is there for them to continue working when it puts them further in debt?

Housing should help people up to the next level, to gain independence and the possibility of beginning a career, not make their lives more miserable by putting them further in debt or unable to save any money.

Local communities can only do so much, as demonstrated by the Inuvik homeless shelter, but there comes a time when the government will have to provide solutions for housing in the North.

With most recent housing minister Robert C. McLeod acclaimed in his riding of Inuvik Twin Lakes, one hopes that even though he doesn't have to campaign, he will still hear the concerns of his constituents when it comes to housing and homelessness.

As for the new candidates, keep this issue on your minds while campaigning. It's an important local issue, but could have implications across the territory.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.