Council proves it can say no Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, December 18, 2015
Typical human behaviour dictates the more time individuals spend in one-another's company, the better they look to each other and the more sympathetic they become to their respective needs.
Going against these basic instincts can be like walking straight into gale-force winds. Nonetheless, our new city council appears yet unaffected by the steady headwinds generated by city bureaucrats and their budgetary demands.
Administration has made a habit of asking for a property tax increase every year, and historically, its attempts to persuade council to implement one is mostly successful. This year's proposed 2.87 per cent increase and a number of projects, however, sparkled a little too brightly for this council's liking.
This time councillors drew their scythes and trimmed it right back down. The result? A back-to-the-basics, zero increase budget.
Doing so required them to endure a lecture from Mayor Mark Heyck who criticized some of their attempts at frugality as being "troubling" and "rash." He even whipped out a child's imploring letter in an attempt shame council into supporting his pet project - a $570,000 splash park near Somba K'e Civic Plaza.
Heyck has far more experience in municipal politics than anyone else on council, having served a previous term as mayor and three more on council. But this familiarity with city governance can also make it harder to say no to an ever growing wish list of expenditures.
The city depends on property taxes for spending like a child depends on its mother for food - we don't want to go into a state of deprivation - so the onus is on councillors to justify their cuts to ratepayers.
Cutting for the sake of cutting, or achieving zero increase, is just as unacceptable as over-spending but as usual there was plenty of fat to trim, and Yellowknifers have been quite clear that the cost of living is a top concern.
Spending hundreds of thousands on a splash park, tourism kiosk and softer flooring at the Fieldhouse does not heed that message.
This budget, for residents, is not like opening the latest, greatest toy on Christmas morning. It's like unwrapping a package of socks.
But behind the seemingly unexciting gesture, is the fact that somebody cares about ensuring one's basic necessities are met.
Bridging the generation gap Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, December 18, 2015
Young and old got together at Avens Manor earlier this month when Walter van Bochove celebrated his first birthday Dec. 6, creating a mutually beneficial link between the last generation and the next.
The one-year-old benefits because he's introduced to the idea that he may seek advice, assistance or conversation from elders outside of family and school.
The 22 elders who attended also benefit from socialization. Avens officials say seniors can feel isolated from time to time when they can't socialize, same as the rest of us. Considering that everyone who attended was there by choice, it's safe to say they enjoyed the event.
The children who attended the event enjoyed themselves too.
"It is cool (to mingle with seniors) because they know stuff we don't," said eight-year-old party-goer Inais Jackson-Grau. "They can tell stories about stuff they know and how they used old machines like telephones."
There are already school and day care centre programs that take children into Avens Manor. This is a good thing. But it's different to have it promoted within the family, because it introduces the idea that this may be done outside of school hours of one's own accord.
From time to time, young people may wish to seek the wisdom of experience from outside school and work. Bochove now knows another option and hopefully that lesson will be shared with others.
Ice road delays have impactDeh Cho Drum - Thursday, December 17, 2015
With warm weather delaying ice roads and bridges for weeks at a time, the communities of Nahanni Butte and Trout Lake may not have a road open by Christmas.
Currently warming trends are rampant in the Northwest Territories, with predictions of more of the same as the winter progresses.
Those who have lived in the North long enough can see the effects the changing climate is having. A land that once relied on winter to provide access out of many Northern communities may have to adapt.
According to a Department of Transportation map of road conditions in the Northwest Territories, much of the territory is currently inaccessible due to closed roads.
That includes communities further North as well as ones in the Deh Cho.
Transportation staff are feeling the effects as well, as weather pushes them later into the season and requires them to devote time and effort to building ice roads and bridges.
It is good timing, then, that the newly elected members of the legislative assembly are in the process of determining their priorities for the next term.
Foremost among those should be infrastructure.
As winters warm up, the government should be proactive and look at finding solutions to the potential problems a changing climate can bring.
That could mean seeking out alternatives to ice roads and bridges in order to reduce the isolation of small communities such as Nahanni Butte -- because if years like this are any indication, the communities that rely on the ice could see even lengthier periods of being cut off from the rest of the territory as transportation crews wait for temperatures to drop and ice to thicken.
Transportation crews are already working as hard as they can to open the roads. The problem, then, lies with the resources and solutions available.
The territory needs a contingency plan in the event of a future winter that may see southern ice roads not open at all. That is not out of the realm of possibility.
Better infrastructure assists with other issues these communities face as well. Shorter periods of isolation may have a less-damaging effect on the mental well-being of some youth and residents. It would also mean less money shelled out for services and food.
If the new government were to increase its infrastructure spending, that can also lead to a boost in the local economy as more local jobs become available and attract workers to stay in the North.
The government already spends a lot on infrastructure. But from the eyes of communities in the Deh Cho, those dollars are rarely seen.
It is time to put the money where it counts -- and where it is most needed -- in order to head off future difficulties.
Students learn vital social media lessonsInuvik Drum - Thursday, December 17, 2015
Young people aren't the only ones who need a reality check when it comes to use of social media.
Earlier this month, workshops were held with students in Inuvik and communities across the Beaufort Delta about the consequences of sharing information on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. Not all of those consequences are bad by any means, but, according to those interviewed this week, a lot of it was news to the people who attended.
Nothing shared on social media is truly private, no matter how many disclaimers you copy and paste to your Facebook status. Snapchat keeps hundreds of photographs on its servers and will release them to police if warranted in the case of an investigation. But that's only on one level -- a corporate one -- in which there is an important difference between customer and user. Customers are the ones who pay Facebook for the information it gathers on millions of people. Users are those who provide that information for free.
On another level, one that is perhaps more disconcerting, the point of social media is to share things. So, by nature, whatever a user shares is no longer under their sole control. Sending risque photos to a significant other is all well and good until the relationship goes sour and you can't take them back. Everyone from celebrities to regular people have been in the news for their struggles with this situation, and yet many people don't think it could ever happen to them.
In the most extreme cases involving those under 18, the people involved in spreading those photos (or the people who pay for their phones) are involved in police investigations for child pornography.
These incidents are troubling and stand out, but compromising behaviour on social media is far more insidious.
Examples of posts made to groups on Facebook that blow up and are then quickly taken down are rampant, especially in the North where the platform is so useful for keeping in touch and running what amounts to an unofficial marketplace.
The examples that stand out for me are those in which someone posts a strong opinion online about an issue of public interest but then declines to be interviewed about it, as if posting to a group with thousands of members is somehow less public than saying it to a newspaper reporter. That post may seem more transient by nature -- it will get bumped down and lost in the next tide of outrage or excitement -- but it nonetheless exists forever on a server somewhere or in screenshots taken by interested parties.
Social media is a hugely useful tool that allows people to reach far beyond the confines of their communities to the wider world, but it is also a dangerous medium that lulls users into a sense of false security as they sit comfortably in their homes using their various devices.
It allows people to say things they wouldn't say face to face and feel like they are contributing without doing anything more than clicking "like."
People can't expect children to behave responsibly online when they see the adults in their lives failing to do so.
A fork in the roadYellowknifer - Wednesday, December 16, 2015
These early days of Liberal government suggest it intends to keep promises made on the campaign trail - at least those that contrast most with positions taken by its seemingly hard-hearted Conservative predecessor.
The promise to launch an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women is case and point. Canadians have long called for one in light of more than 1,000 homicides and 164 missing women as of 2013. That former prime minister Stephen Harper refused to undertake an inquiry in all his nearly 10 years in power is an inexplicable failure of duty for him and his government.
That said, there is a fork in the road awaiting our newly minted prime minister Justin Trudeau - one that will lead this inquiry to either failure or success.
The first model is the royal commission, a politically expedient procedure famous for diverting attention from the present and punting it safely out of harm's way into the future. Royal commissions guarantee reams and reams of information will be gathered and stuffed into a book bound for some lonely corner of a dusty shelf in the National Archives in Ottawa. It will recommend much but affect nothing. In other words, it will be a complete waste of time.
What exactly has been improved by the Romanow Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada?
The future of public health care remains as uncertain as ever despite the federal government's pledge to cough up an extra $40 billion for it.
Or what about the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples that concluded 20 years ago, chaired by the NWT's Georges Erasmus? Many of the pledges offered then had no realistic chance of getting off the ground. Where is the aboriginal parliament or the aboriginal peoples' university?
The more successful and indeed, most responsive model, is the recent truth and reconciliation commission.
While royal commissions tend to be top down - experts talking to experts preparing reports for experts - the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Residential Schools was successful because of its attempts to reach grassroots organizations and regular people.
These interactions gave this commission a sort of legitimacy and critical momentum never enjoyed by previous royal commissions, which never traveled as far and in seeking truth and practical solutions.
This was abundantly clear in the Northwest Territories, which the TRC visited widely and often, whereas royal commissions largely stayed clear.
There is much to be learned about the truly appalling figures on missing and murdered aboriginal women and the more grassroots voices are heard, the clearer the picture will be.
Setting up a new Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women will be an arduous process but one deserving of its aim if Trudeau and the Liberals are truly serious about stemming the tide of death and sorrow so many aboriginal families in this country have experienced.
Format change a good one in RankinEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, December 16, 2015
A wise person once said you can't please all the people all of the time, and nothing rings truer with the way the new format in the Rankin Inlet Senior Men's Hockey League has been going this year.
As a hockey official, I have a bird's-eye view of what happens on the ice during hockey season.
And I have the added advantage of viewing the situation with no worries over who wins.
With, perhaps, the small exception of one 'B' team not being able to ice as many players as the other two squads on a regular basis, the league's move to an A and B Division this year has been a great success so far.
I really would have thought the success of adding a recreational division to the Calm Air Cup mixed slo-pitch tournament this past summer would have opened more minds to the benefits of having a B Division in Nunavut's best senior men's hockey league.
First off, it has done this old zebra's hockey heart a world of good to see some guys I haven't seen for years out on the ice playing, competing and having a blast.
Many guys in the B Division now get a heck of a lot more ice time than they did as a third- or fourth-line player in one combined league.
There can be no arguing the fact the hockey in the B Division is not as "good" as that being played in the A Division.
But the B Division's hockey has, in its own right, been every bit as competitive as that of the A Division.
It may not be as smooth or as fast, but who cares? That's not the point.
The division has guys on three teams giving it their all game in and game out and the majority of the matches are darn close on the scoreboard.
Crowds for the B Division have also been every bit as big as those for the higher group, so far, and most players, who were miserable over their lack of ice time this past season, are having a blast.
And that is the point: a competitive division of players having fun, showing up almost every night and staying physically active.
On the other side of the ledger, the A Division has the vast majority of Rankin Inlet's best hockey players spread over just three teams.
The hockey is fast, uber-competitive and highly entertaining on most nights.
You can believe me or not, but, the truth is, the amount of perspiration on my referee's uniform as it hits the washing machine following every 'A' game tells me a lot more about the level of hockey being played than it does about how long I've been officiating this great game.
The few guys who still complain about the new structure of Rankin's senior league are, in reality, putting their own wants and beliefs over what works for the game.
And that's one of the biggest problems with team sports today.
There's too many people involved who put themselves above the game.
The truth be told, our region's biggest senior men's hockey tournament of the year, the Avataq Cup, would benefit in a big way from adopting the same format as the Rankin senior league.
The vast majority of mercy games would be gone, the fans would get a lot more competitive games for their money and, set-up correctly, both divisions would have plenty to play for.
Sounds like a win-win situation to me.
Transparency half measureNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, December 14, 2015
In the interest of transparency, the new pack of MLAs have changed the process by which they will choose their premier, speaker and cabinet.
No, they will not be blowing open the doors to their secret enclave so the public can hold them accountable for who they choose for these positions. Instead, MLAs decided to host a public event at legislative assembly Dec. 9 where the two politicians interested in the premier's chair - Bob McLeod and Glen Abernethy -- could promote themselves to their colleagues. (Incidentally, in their speeches they both touted themselves as purveyors of transparency.)
The MLAs will have a week to consult the issue with constituents and then retreat back into their enclave to cast their votes in a secret ballot.
This way, constituents can still feel like they've had a say and MLAs can still make a choice without actually being accountable to anybody.
Members of the 18th Legislative Assembly can be forgiven for their reluctance to open the floodgates but what they are doing instead is a classic bait-and-switch: while they proclaim a step toward accountability, they are actually taking no steps at all.
In comments to News/North, newly re-elected MLA Glen Abernethy said he was opposed to an open ballot because he doesn't know any other situation where a group of people would employ an open vote to choose a person, using the process by which boards and committees traditionally choose their heads as an example. The idea is that keeping votes secret allows members to vote without peer pressure or the fear of hurt feelings.
These are fine points but the thing about boards and committees is that they are not governments. Those elected to run governments should be held to the highest of standards. If one politician holds a grudge against his colleagues over being passed over for premier, and this influences his or her assembly votes, wouldn't voters want to know this?
Last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau picked his cabinet of 30 from among 184 MPs and will remain accountable for those he chose. The new members of Parliament who have been passed over for cabinet positions are still expected to work with Prime Minister Trudeau, despite the fact their egos might have been bruised.
Putting one's ego aside for the sake of the group and handling disappointment with grace is a sign of maturity and good leadership.
Should we be worried our territorial politicians don't think they can handle this?
To give them an opportunity to prove their dedication to transparency, News/North will be contacting each MLA this week to ask them how they voted. Stay tuned for next week's newspaper for their answers.
Journey Through Heartache demands immediate actionNunavut/News North - Monday, December 14, 2015
There is criticism so harsh, so based in fact and so heartbreaking in the report resulting from lawyer Katherine Peterson's review into the 2012 death of an infant in Cape Dorset that it would be beyond belief if it does not spark change.
The 82-page report details a litany of breakdowns by staff and managers within the Department of Health. Included are details of failures to conduct a timely investigation after the death, failure by bureaucrats to properly report the death, communication breakdowns between supervisors and a failure to respond to known difficulties in the operation of the health centre.
The report is tough reading. The mother of the three-month-old Baby Makibi called the health centre on April 4, 2012 for help with her baby who was not breathing normally, was crying and would not eat.
The mother was allegedly told to give the baby a bath and bring him to the health centre in the morning if he did not improve. The baby's parents found him non-responsive at 3 a.m. and rushed him to the health centre, where he was declared dead.
The report's title, A Journey Through Heartache, is appropriate because of the emotions it sparks in the reader -- anger, frustration, rage and incomprehension.
Peterson spoke to dozens of people and should be commended for her thoroughness. But her report poses more questions than it answers.
There are various versions of events, leaving a situation of conflicting facts.
On April 11, 2012, the initial cause of death was determined by Nunavut's chief coroner to be sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). On July 24, 2012, based upon a pathologist report from Ottawa, that same chief coroner changed the cause of death to a treatable lung infection. Then, inexplicably, in October 2015, yet another pathologist's report, this one from Winnipeg, concluded the death was, again, SIDS. Peterson questions why such a report was even done so long after the fact.
The varying reports by the chief coroner have left Cape Dorset residents distrustful and angry, understandably so, according to Peterson.
She also makes 50 recommendations to the Department of Health for changes, not just in Cape Dorset but throughout the territory.
Most importantly she calls for an inquest into Baby Makibi's death.
The government must put a high priority on adopting the recommendations and holding an inquest, not only to regain some trust from the public but also to find out all the things that went wrong and prevent them from happening again.
