Services key in Housing FirstYellowknifer - Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Simply giving a homeless person a home may have an immediate visual effect on the downtown streets but it only transplants the issue.
Give a homeless person a home where they're connected with resources to face their addictions, their mental-health issues and impediments to joining the workforce, and they stand upon a foundation of possibility.
Those who are determined can use the stability of a home and the accessibility of services to vastly improve their lives. As the city stands at the doorstep of a program that connects the homeless with homes and services, it's critical the latter aspect is stressed.
The city, via the Community Advisory Board on Homelessness, has secured $1.08 million in funding over the next three years for Housing First. The first person is expected to be housed sometime this summer and will be joined by up to 19 others over the next few years.
But exactly how the program will look is yet unclear. City councillor Linda Bussey - a strong advocate of Housing First from its early stages - underlined the importance of support services. These could include on-site addictions counselling, job placement and social services programming, and a building supervisor.
"We need clinical services, we need tenant relations services, we need tons of service," she told Yellowknifer last week.
Bussey said a staff of about three or four will be hired to provide the services. Cameron Keller, with Kaleidoscope Consult, suggested to city council last week that Housing First units be scattered around the city but spreading these units out could impede the necessary access to services which could be the difference between a successful and unsuccessful program. It would also make the program more susceptible to not-in-my-backyard-syndrome that will inevitably arise on multiple fronts if units for homeless are placed among home owners and full-rent paying tenants.
A central, downtown, multi-unit location for the program will have a better chance of thriving.
Along with continual access to support services on site, such a facility has a real chance of becoming more than political platitudes cast toward a seemingly endless and hopeless problem.
Hats off to paying it forwardYellowknifer - Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Taking care of our neighbours is a Northern tradition.
The Fraser Institute, a Vancouver-based think tank, has repeatedly rated the NWT as one of the least charitable jurisdictions in Canada but that distinction simply doesn't ring true.
Enter the co-ordinated efforts of Coyote's Steakhouse and Lounge, Buffalo Airways and Northbest Foods who together are delivering fresh fruit to Kugluktuk where the cost of groceries far outpaces the national average.
The inspiration, says Coyote's owner Ed Butt, came from his own period of hard times when his restaurant's water pipes froze and burst in 2014. The incident cost him $50,000 after he was forced to shut down and repair the damage. He says customers saw his plight and came down in droves after he re-opened, resulting in a banner year business-wise.
Now, to borrow a term, he is paying it forward with help from two other companies. Buffalo is transporting the food at a discounted rate and But's food supplier, Northbest Distributors, is forgiving half the cost of the fruit. The plan, said But, is to eventually expand the deliveries to other communities so students can enjoy a nutritious meal and stay healthy, which has direct influence on their ability to learn.
The high cost of food is something that affects all of the North but it is especially acute in the High Arctic. As governments struggle to find ways to provide meaningful help, whether it be inadequate programs such as Food Mail or Nutrition North, these companies are stepping in where government is often too slow to react.
This is another stellar case of Northerners using their ingenuity, connections and a desire to make life a little easier for our neighbours so we can all benefit in the long run.
New facility would truly put safety first in RankinEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Rankin Inlet senior administrative officer Justin Merritt may not be the most popular man in the community right now, but the move to enforce capacity numbers at the local arena and community hall is the right one - sort of.
It's hard to argue with someone who puts safety first, as Merritt did in taking his concerns to hamlet council on the dangers of having too many people in the community hall and/or the arena.
When it comes to people's safety, it's better to be safe than sorry.
Merritt also showed for the umpteenth time over the years, he's fearless when it comes to making tough decisions while holding public office or an administrative position within his community.
All good things.
The downside, of course, is that we're talking about the absolute hub of the community.
And, let's be honest, there's not a whole lot to do during an average Kivalliq winter, even in a community as big as Rankin Inlet.
The winter blahs often set in with many people before Mother Nature decides to allow spring to arrive in the region each year.
And, any one who says sports tournaments, the Christmas Games, or any other major event held at the arena or community hall doesn't help lift the blues is whistling Dixie.
And whistling out of tune at that!
Then there's the other matter, which Merritt admits himself, of nobody being able to remember the numbers being enforced in the past.
Anyone who knows Merritt realizes the man is one sharp cookie, and he would never make such a move without first weighing the pros and cons.
The promised enforcement has already attracted its share of media attention.
And that, no matter which side of the fence you sit on, is also a good thing.
Far be it for me to read anything into Merritt's decision other than his stated concerns for the safety of all who spend time at the arena or the community hall.
But the move should ramp up pressure on the Government of Nunavut to start investing itself a little more into the community it defines as the transportation hub of the territory.
To have an arena and community hall that can service a scant 18 per cent or so of its population is both laughable and degrading to such a vibrant community. Rankin has fallen so far behind with its infrastructure needs, its government thinks it's ahead. And, while enforcing the capacity numbers in our old building may increase the safety factor somewhat, the truth of the matter is it's an old and dilapidated building that can cause injury at any time, no matter what the number of people inside.
And that alone goes nowhere near encompassing the hit the community's collective mental health takes by having to turn roughly 82 per cent of its population away from entertaining and uplifting events.
It's long past the time for Rankin to receive a new community hall and arena for its residents.
The people as a community have earned them and it's time for the government to deliver.
We'll all have fewer "safety concerns" when the community has a new facility it is more than deserving of.
Support local businessNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, February 8, 2016
Could it be that the NWT's stagnant economy might be partially caused by stagnant legislation?
A new Conference Board of Canada economic outlook forecasts rough times ahead for the NWT, mostly caused by the collapse in demand for the territory's main trade -- metals and minerals.
While the GNWT is somewhat helpless in alleviating the globally-caused stresses on this industry there is one business sector that lawmakers can help right away - territory-based contractors.
As Mike Bradshaw, executive director of the NWT Chamber of Commerce, notes in "Little economic growth anticipated in 2016, says economic organization" (Feb. 1 News/North), the territorial government doesn't do a very good job supporting local business. Despite the fact the government does have the Business Incentive Program (BIP) to enforce local procurement, it doesn't go far enough. While the BIP offers a 15 per cent bid advantage to NWT contractors and another five per cent if they're regional suppliers, Bradshaw points out that an Edmonton contractor, on average, can do a construction job 30 per cent cheaper than an NWT contractor could. He is calling on the GNWT to update its 20-year-old contract procurement legislation so Northern businesses can bid on a level playing field. After the resource sector, small and medium sized businesses are the largest employer in the NWT, according to Bradshaw.
The government can't control worldwide commodity prices but it can control how much, or how little it supports those who choose to open businesses in the territory. The government could be doing a better job at this.
Putting our thinking caps on!Northwest Territories/News North - Monday, February 8, 2016
Up until last week, readers may have noticed a dearth of blunt opinions on page 9 of News/North.
This is because, as stalwart columnist Cece Hodgson-McCauley herself explained last week, ("My first column of the new year," Feb. 1 News/North), she spent some time in Vancouver dealing with health issues.
The return of Cece spurred News/North's editors to question exactly how long she had been writing for the paper, so out came the archives. Her first column, dubbed then as it is now Northern Notes, appeared May 24, 1985. Before becoming a columnist she regularly penned letters to the editor, which might explain why her first offering contained little ceremony over the beginning of what would eventually become 31 years of writing.
She hit the ground running, asking why MLAs packed up and moved from community to community for different legislative assembly sittings. In spring 1985, the government was set to travel to Rankin Inlet.
"The cost of moving the speaker's chair, which probably weighs a ton, plus all the technical equipment, translators and equipment, all the fancy trappings, transportation, hotel, food and staff for the MLAs ... just how much is it?" she asked, calling for a televised system so everybody in the Northwest Territories (which covered today's NWT and Nunavut back then) could watch proceedings from the comfort of their own homes.
"In these technological times, the sky is the limit," she wrote, before making a prescient request.
Before the age of information technology and before the Internet, this now 93-year-old writer who still faxes her handwritten columns to News/North called for a satellite system to be built in the North so people in the communities and children at the schools could be connected to their government in Yellowknife. Today, there is indeed a satellite farm growing in Inuvik as well as a fibre optic line, which will bring high-speed Internet to communities along the Mackenzie Valley, connecting people not only to Yellowknife but to the south.
Now, if only the government would get around to building Cece's other great wish - the Mackenzie Valley Highway.
Time to put those thinking caps on!
Numerous benefits from Nunavut training programsNunavut/News North - Monday, February 8, 2016
If the future of Nunavut involves more employment for Inuit residents, the prospects are encouraging.
Considering that the Nunavut Roundtable on Poverty Reduction last fall heard that 45 per cent of residents were on income assistance at some time in 2014, there is a demonstrated need for more people to be gainfully employed. The territorial government's Department of Family Services last August pointed to statistics that only 45.8 per cent of Inuit residents in the territory were employed in 2014, compared to the 85.1 per cent of the non-Inuit population who are employed. Of course, statistics must be put in context.
The fact that many Inuit in the territory are not gainfully employed has been identified as an issue by the territorial government and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) by virtue of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, which calls for Inuit to be employed by government at a representational level.
The good news is there are a number of new initiatives to assist Inuit who want to find work.
The Nunavut Inuit Training Corporation is a new joint initiative by NTI and the Government of Nunavut to increase the number of Inuit in government positions. Using $175 million from the settlement of a lawsuit between NTI and Ottawa, it will operate under the name Makigiaqta Inuit Training Corporation once it is established. A board of directors has been chosen and a strategic plan is in the process of being developed to offer Inuit training for jobs within the public service.
Meanwhile, a new entrepreneurship training program called Inspire Nunavut offers help for Nunaviummiut to turn ideas into sustainable businesses during a workshop with experts, by setting up mentorships, work placements and assistance from a co-ordinator. The program financially supports participants for six to 12 months so they can develop realistic businesses.
On the trades front, Skills Canada and Nunavut Arctic College is teaming up to offer what is billed as the only way to get a stable job for life. So far there are more than 120 apprentices in Nunavut and Skills Canada is reaching out to high schools to attract more by offering training in a variety of trades as alternatives for those who don't find academic post-secondary education attractive.
Sanatuliqsarvik, the Nunavut Trades Training Centre in Rankin Inlet, offers training to Nunavummiut who want to become journeyman in a variety of fields. Nunavut Arctic College trains people to become carpenters, plumbers, electricians, teachers, chefs, camp cooks and workers in other occupations.
Between the three offerings there are opportunities for Nunavummiut to fill positions in business, bureaucracy and building, setting the stage for the territory to solve its own housing problem.
After all, with an entrepreneur, a carpenter, a heavy equipment operator, a plumber, an electrician and a government employee to approve the permits, Nunavut has all the occupational ingredients needed to build houses, filling a void needed to address a serious social issue.
Cuts must serve purpose Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, February 5, 2016
Finance Minister Robert C. McLeod will probably be wearing some pretty ugly shoes while making his budget address later this month.
Should he continue the tradition of donning loafers that match the fiscal forecast, one may expect what's on his feet to look quite ratty.
The grim picture is multi-dimentional - the latest-available figure shows the amount of goods and services produced in the NWT in 2014 is 7.5 per cent lower than the five-year average before the 2008 recession; the closure of the Snap Lake Diamond Mine in December has had a yet-unquantifiable impact on the economy with the layoff of more than 434 workers; and the government is having trouble paying its bills. It expects GNWT debt to rise to around $1 billion within four years.
The territory is in dire straits and as McLeod himself said, these changes "puts us in a fairly difficult position fiscally ... we need to make some decisions on how we are going to deal with that."
'Tis the season of tough decisions and the 18th Legislative Assembly indeed will have its work cut out for them - but what should be remembered is that budget cuts should have a purpose. Each item on the chopping block must be considered in a manner that asks, 'What for?'
What is cut and what is preserved in the budget should have the overarching goal of generating economic activity.
As Kam Lake MLA Kieron Testart also expressed, the GNWT must still hold strong to business and industry, despite an economic storm brewing around them.
Right now, the territorial government is in negotiations with the Union of Northern Workers, the latter of which is seeking improvements to worker benefits.
While the union's demands will be heard through the process of negotiation, representatives would be wise to remember those demands may be up against the fiscal reality of the times.
So long as the GNWT makes its cuts strategically, with the economic future of the territory in mind, it will helm the ship that gets us safely to shore, eventually.
Pioneers saw big bucks in Northern lights Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, February 5, 2016
When Tokyo's Canadian Pacific Airlines representative Toshi Togo suggested to Bill Tait in 1989 that he should guide Japanese tourists on trips to see the Northern lights, he likely didn't expect the idea would one day blossom into a major industry.
Yet that's exactly what happened, which puts Tait on par with the likes of Stewart Blusson and Charles Fipke, whose discovery of diamond-bearing kimberlites in the tundra lead to the opening of Ekati Mine in 1998.
Those diamonds might still be there waiting for someone to find them if they hadn't been discovered. Had Tait overlooked the economic opportunity in aurora tourism, it might never have been found either.
It started with Tait guiding 80 Japanese tourists through his company Raven Tours more than 25 years ago.
According to 2013/2014 stats, about 21,700 aurora visitors, most of them from Asia, brought in $21 million to the NWT economy. The number of aurora tourists continues to be on the rise.
While the Ekati Mine has contributed much to the NWT economy, given enough time, it may be overshadowed by aurora tourism in the long run and that is no small accomplishment.
Tait has since moved to Vancouver but he has left an indelible mark on the territory.
Aurora tourism's growth potential is only limited by the market's ability to respond to it.
Funding for the futureDeh Cho Drum - Thursday, February 4, 2016
The long-awaited territorial review of the junior kindergarten program has finally been released.
Since the program was first implemented for four-year-olds in 2014, it has been fraught with criticism as schools tried to fit the program into their already-stretched budgets.
The territory has received flak for the way it funded the program, which put pressure on the schools, and for the way it initially rolled out the program, with a broad brush seemingly without consideration for existing programs.
Some schools, including Deh Gah School in Fort Providence, opted out of the program altogether in favour of more traditional methods such as Aboriginal Head Start.
Other schools that supported the program had to make compromises to ensure it stayed viable.
After its first year of offering junior kindergarten, Fort Simpson's Bompas Elementary School combined the junior kindergarten class with the kindergarten class, offering junior kindergarten half-time in order to keep the program going.
It is obvious from the government's review many smaller communities in the Northwest Territories see the benefits of the junior kindergarten program. More activities, involvement and learning opportunities for children is always a good thing.
With the territorial review now out, the government can at last move forward on practical solutions for the junior kindergarten program.
The first thing they should consider is putting some additional money aside for the program so schools like Bompas can provide the appropriate supports for the students who are already enrolled in junior kindergarten. That could include moving junior kindergarten back to full-time and hiring a teacher dedicated to the program.
Another issue the review addressed that needs to be taken very seriously is concerns raised by Aboriginal Head Start representatives of the institutionalization of four-year-olds.
In an area of the country heavily impacted by residential schools, the government should have known better than to roll out an education program, even a voluntary one, without proper consultation.
After giving the program appropriate funding to continue in the communities that want it, the government must pursue positive consultation in other communities.
The fact is that younger children require more support than school-aged children. At the age of four, junior kindergarten students need that support more than ever. It is unfortunate that it took the government so long to consider those supports.
It is important to note the review does not bind the government to any course of action. However, it is a step in the right direction because it gives the government conclusive evidence for the successes and failures of the program.
While flawed, the program does indeed have benefit and deserves support for that reason.
Need for apartment project to be savedInuvik Drum - Thursday, February 4, 2016
It's hardly news to anyone that Millennium Construction is no longer a functioning company in Inuvik but confirmation that the new singles' apartment building the company was constructing near town hall won't be completed this winter is still something of a blow.
It's a tired trope that the North is in the midst of a ridiculously drawn-out and ongoing housing crisis and anything or anyone seeking to alleviate that crunch is good news.
The flip side of that is a lot of hope for new projects and a lot of disappointment when they are delayed or even fall through.
Sydney Apartments was touted as a bright shiny future in many ways. It will mean new public housing options for both single people and couples, with an open-plan concept, one-bedroom apartments, a change from the old Sydney Apartments, which feature thin walls and only bachelor units. It was also meant to have solar panels.
It can still absolutely be all those things, it's just a shame it had to hit this stumbling block.
The reality is that in this kind of economy, the only agency or group with the wherewithal to build pretty much anything is government. The other part of this reality is that in this kind of economy, more people need affordable housing than ever.
This is a town of less than 4,000 people with two well-used homeless shelters.
Hopefully the Government of the NWT will move quickly to find a new contractor for the singles apartments project.
Hopefully a company will be found to take up where Millennium Construction left off and manage to do it reasonably within budget and as quickly as possible.
One building was never going to solve all the housing-related problems in this town -- and public housing has its own slew of problems in and of itself -- but it was a step in the right direction in a place that seems to be barely crawling forward right now.
As the court documents obtained by the Drum this week suggest, there is definitely blame to be doled out here, but right now that doesn't much matter.
The hope is that those responsible for this mess will be held accountable and that it won't happen again.
Right now, what matters is getting this project back on track so it can house the people it was always meant to accommodate.
