Wild West on water must stop Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, July 15, 2016
The North is one of the last frontiers where people are relatively free to enjoy nature's bounty and beauty without excessive regulation.
On the water people are free to go just about anywhere they like, and camp wherever they fancy.
But as events demonstrated last week, when travel on water goes awry there is the expectation and hope that a co-ordinated emergency search and rescue response will take place.
The happy conclusions to last week's reports of three missing boats that included a family that spent five days stranded on an island in the East Arm of Great Slave Lake near Lutsel K'e are a testament to boater resolve and the excellence of search and rescue response in the North, but mostly to the excellence of search and rescue.
In the case of the stranded family, running out of gas and failing to ensure the batteries in one's emergency locator device are fully charged are two very avoidable situations.
The co-ordinated search and rescue response that followed was resource intensive and involved a CC-130 Hercules airplane dispatched from Winnipeg, a 440 Squadron Twin Otter (the planes dropped radios to the stranded boaters and maintained air support), and an RCMP boat dispatched from Lutsel K'e 40 km away.
Boaters, if they expect this kind of professional - and free - response when things go sideways, ought to accept some form of boater licensing as part of the social contract that allows them to head out onto open waters with the assurance that professional search and rescue resources are available.
Boaters elsewhere in Canada have been required to obtain a pleasure craft operator's card since 1999.
The exemption for the NWT and Nunavut has been dressed up as a desire from Ottawa not to interfere with traditional activities in the North but that rationalization merely sidesteps the main issue. The problem in the North is that there are not enough certified instructors to administer the course and issue the test.
The simple fact remains there is virtually nothing stopping a complete novice - aside from a lack of disposable income - from purchasing an $80,000 boat armed with a 200-horsepower motor and then blundering off into some of most treacherous waters on Earth.
Surely a compromise can be reached to help Northerners receive a bit of instruction before they blast off down the bay with a half-dozen passengers on board.
It's a project that should be handled by the Canadian Coast Guard or perhaps delegated to the coast guard auxiliary. Providing instruction and licensing is more of a challenge in remote communities outside of Yellowknife. Perhaps a course can be implemented in schools in communities that rely on water for sustenance and transportation.
At the very least, people should be required to take some kind of online course and pass it before being allowed to operate a boat in the Northwest Territories.
People are loath to new rules where there once weren't any but the alternative is more boater safety illiterate operators heading out onto the water, putting themselves, their passengers, other boaters and rescuers at risk.
Striving for equality a good move Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, July 15, 2016
Earlier this month, women's groups across Yellowknife and cabinet minister Caroline Cochrane challenged Yellowknifers to complete a course called Gender Based Analysis Plus Training.
Some of the first MLAs to rise to the challenge — Glen Abernethy and Kevin O'Reilly — were men, which is kind of the whole point. The online training course is geared toward combating assumptions that anything with the word 'gender' in the title is only talking about women.
This training goes beyond gender or sex (there is a difference), to include identity factors such as age, culture, language, geography and income in how government policy is created and implemented.
It sounds complicated but it's really not. The training points out disparities such as "pink taxes," as in the BIC company's line of pastel pens 'for her.' They retail for double the cost of the regular, or 'male' equivalent. Another example is the outrage over stores such as Target desegregating its toy aisles. Even if they're gender neutral, the Barbie aisle will still be a swirling headache of neon pink hair — only now it may be a little easier for boys who want dolls to get one.
Gender based analysis, in many ways, is not for people who actually don't understand the concept of gender equality and probably now are wondering why women are in their workplace instead of at home making their men sandwiches.
It's for people who are already striving for equality -- it's to highlight what even the most well-intentioned may miss.
It's about embedded structural inequality that people might not even notice, until suddenly it's effecting how health research is done, for example, or which bathroom people are allowed to use.
The 'plus' is about how policies and practices affect actual people, with all their diversity.
For a community such as Yellowknife, growing and changing so rapidly, it's an exceedingly excellent thing that so many of the people in positions of influence have jumped on board with both feet.
A Deh Cho expressionDeh Cho Drum - Thursday, July 14, 2016
There is a common inside-joke of an expression in Yellowknife I've heard since arriving in the North in May.
"I once came up for a visit for two weeks, stayed for 30 years" it goes, referencing how sudden people decide to move there.
Even when I was accepting the job at Northern News Services I was surprised when my boss, Bruce Valpy, told me he was born in the same New Brunswick town as I was.
"I'm down for adventure," I said, taking the job.
"That's what I said 30 years ago," he replied, with me paraphrasing.
But if that is the inside-joke for Yellowknife, since arriving in Fort Simpson earlier this month and seeing some of the Deh Cho for the first time, I've been left wondering what its expression should be.
The first weekend I arrived here was the Open Sky Festival and, while I can only assume it's not like that every weekend, if you were trying to make a good first impression you succeeded.
There was a sense of openness I felt in Fort Simpson that I didn't feel back in Yellowknife (not to knock the city, cheddar cheese that isn't $14 has its appeal).
It's clear to me that communities in the Deh Cho have a greater sense of community than other parts of Canada and I appreciate that.
Anyway, the main point of this column is I want to introduce who I am. My name is Joseph Tunney and I'm filling in for April Hudson while she's on vacation in the Yukon until the end of the month.
I'm a maritimer, I like to read and write, I'm a bit of a dweeb, elderly ladies constantly ask me if my hair is fake (it isn't) and I don't bite.
While I realize it's sometime difficult to trust outsiders, I hope that I can I get a chance to meet many of you.
And, hey, if you really don't like me, at least it's only for another two weeks. That's easy enough medicine to swallow (as long as Canada Post still delivers it).
Speaking of my hairdo, if you see a large puff of dirty blonde hair walking around town, don't be alarmed; I'm not a dust bunny.
Feel free to come up and strike up a conversation. I'll be all ears.
Anyway, I'll keep trying to think up a good expression that sums up the region and get back to you.
If all else fails, there is at least one sentence I've learned that sums up what I want to say to you, the people, so far: masi cho. I was told this means "thank you," and I look forward to learning other phrases in the language.
Small steps a big dealInuvik Drum - Thursday, July 14, 2016
I must admit, I was disappointed when GNWT specialists told town council a renewable energy project would only displace about 10 per cent of Inuvik's current diesel consumption.
The turbine -- possibly two of them -- would cost about $25 million at current estimates and wouldn't be able to run when the weather is at its coldest, although they are designed for places that hit -40 C regularly. The system that would allow it to contribute to the local electricity grid is complex and expensive, according to these specialists, but the real barrier to using more renewable energy is battery technology.
$25 million is a hefty price tag for something that has yet to be tested by this government, although the same technology has proven itself in other similar jurisdictions like Alaska. With the inevitable hiccups and bugs that will need to be worked out, getting technicians and specialists out to Inuvik to work on the turbine project could very well be an added and ongoing cost on top of that. Still, we have to start somewhere.
This is an excellent time and place to start moving towards renewable energy in a meaningful way, and -- albeit small -- this is indeed meaningful.
We just finished up with the first ever Arctic Energy and Emerging Technologies conference and tradeshow which, beyond being a mouthful, had as its mission to bring exactly this kind of development to Inuvik.
A few hundred people came to town to talk about energy needs and possibilities in the North, and wind power is just one of them.
We know that renewable energy development, like all infrastructure development, will come at a pretty high cost, especially here. Still, it is a cost that pales in comparison to that residents are paying and will be paying as a result of a continued dependence on fossil fuels.
No conversation with anyone who has lived here a reasonable length of time doesn't involve some observations of the way the weather has changed in the past 20 years.
The technology is not perfect. The turbines themselves are made using massive amounts of petroleum products in their manufacturing process, and getting them here remains a fossil-fuel-laden endeavour. But all that is outweighed by the good they would do, even in just changing the energy mindset in the area.
A wind turbine or two would maybe only reduce our diesel consumption by 10 per cent, but it would be one whole step forward in changing the energy future of this community.
Highway needs amnesty from illegal dumpersYellowknifer - Wednesday, July 13, 2016
People are generally always going to follow the path of least resistance, and this principle extends to the way they manage their garbage.
This is why illegal dumping is a never-ending problem in and around Yellowknife. Most recently, a group of residents who live along Prelude Lake talked to Yellowknifer because they were fed up with fuel drums, chimney parts and other exotic waste piling up along the Ingraham Trail.
It's safe to assume most of those dumping their waste are trying to evade costly tipping fees at the city dump. In the short span of 10 years, the city has seen a lot of changes when it comes to these fees. They were implemented in 2005 - prior to this date, dumping a fridge, scrap wood or old washing machine cost nothing.
Obviously, a crystal ball wasn't needed to predict what would come next. The almost instant response to this 'rate shock' were piles of refrigerators and washing machines discarded on side roads and clearings along the Ingraham Trail.
High dumping fees at the dump is no excuse to litter but the city's only real response to date has been to increase the fees.
In 2005, refrigerators required a $35 tipping fee, all other appliances cost $10. Fast forward to 2015 and the tipping fees are much, much higher. The 2015 to 2018 prices are set at $70 for appliances with Freon and $50 for appliances without.
While the dump does have two amnesty weeks per year, they only cover the $10 vehicle charge to dump residential waste, such as yard waste, animal carcasses, computers, monitors, scrap wood and construction waste.
The city does pick up large household items during these same amnesty periods -- by request only -- but white appliances are not allowed, only items such as couches, tables and television sets.
The question is, now that the city and surrounding area has endured more than 10 years of unsightly and environmentally destructive illegal dumping at the side of the road, what can be done to stop it?
The city will argue it cannot afford to revert to the pre-2005 era of free dumping for white appliances. Sorting and processing these items costs money.
But clearly the "user-pay" principle is having a tremendously negative effect on the environment, and is essentially counter-productive. It goes without saying, unless one is living in a cave with no electricity, practically everybody in the city uses appliances in their homes that periodically must be replaced.
It would seem to make more sense, considering the more dishonest among us who will simply toss their trash in the bush instead of paying the fee, that paying for the disposal of these items should be covered under general taxation.
Many other communities in Canada offer free pick-up of items, such as washing machines and hot water tanks, providing they are properly dismantled and cleaned. The City of Toronto will take away both. If one has an old fridge in British Columbia, BC Hydro will swing by and pick it up -- pay you $30 for it!
Yellowknife has a much smaller population base, of course, and is far away from the kind of facilities that recycle these items. Here, they typically get crushed and baled.
But surely, perhaps with some assistance from the territorial government, which has a stake in this issue as owner and keeper of the highway system where people are dumping their trash, a program can be implemented that emulates at least some portions of the free pick-up programs that already exist elsewhere in Canada.
That is the only thing that will stop people from polluting the outdoors with their junk.
Like a rock: celebrating Canada's historyEditorial Comment by Cody Punter
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Last week communities across the Kivalliq gathered together to celebrate Canada's 149th birthday. There were barbecues, bike races and parades. Rankin Inlet even hosted snowmobile races on a small lake outside of town.
But no one celebrated quite like Hugh Ikoe and his sister Joan Scottie. The two siblings were raised on the land approximately 180 kilometres south west of Baker Lake until they were taken away from their homes and sent to residential school. Ikoe had returned to the area a few times by snowmobile over the years but it wasn't until a reporter from Maclean's came up to the community in search of the precise geographical centre of Canada that he realized what the place truly meant.
Ikoe and his sister were part of a team of five people who made the journey.
With more than 75 per cent of Canada's population living within 161 kilometres of the American border, according to National Geographic, it's easy to see how people often turn a blind eye to the North, thinking that the centre of the country is somewhere in downtown Toronto. But the true centre of Canada is right here in the Kivalliq, just a short plane or snowmobile ride from Baker Lake.
For Ikoe and his sister, it was an personal journey full of personal and national meaning. Ikoe said getting to visit the centre of the country made him proud to be Canadian. But it also left him with a sense of loss that has come with the gradual integration of Canada's Inuit into modern society.
"It's kind of heartbreaking as well thinking about what you used to be," he told Kivalliq News.
His reflections beg the question: what does it mean to be Canadian? For starters, Canada has been evolving from its very inception. When Canada celebrated its first ever birthday in 1867 there were only four provinces invited to the party. Three years later the Northwest Territories joined Manitoba in signing up for confederation.
But it wasn't until 1999 when Nunavut separated from the Northwest Territories that Canada became the country we know today.
As the rock taken from the geographical centre of Canada by a reporter from Maclean's and gifted to pilot Boris Kotelewetz shows, it would be foolish to pretend that Canada was somehow magically born 149 years ago. The rock is between 1.85 billion and 1.7 billion years old. As Kotelewetz put it, it's "mind boggling" to try and even understand how old that is. And for thousands of years before we flew a red and white flag and drank Tim Hortons, there were people living off the very land that gave birth to that rock.
Ever since Canada became a country there has been a deliberate attempt to erase that part of the country's history, through residential schools and assimilation.
Thankfully, over the years we have come to accept the mistakes of the past and move forward toward a stronger, more inclusive, version of what it means to be Canadian.
As we get ready to celebrate the milestone that is the country's 150th birthday next year, we should honour that tradition of inclusiveness and remember that the heart of Canada is not in Toronto, or Manitoba or even Ottawa, but right here in the Kivalliq where it all began.
Wanted: a full-time MLA for NunakputNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, July 11, 2016
Herbert Nakimayak, the rookie MLA for the far north constituency of Nunakput, is on the defensive after it came to light that he had missed several key meetings and was forced to resign as chair of the standing committee on economic development and environment.
So what was the resident of Paulatuk up to when he wasn't chairing five meetings with his committee? Where was he when he wasn't at nine meetings of the priorities and planning standing committee, six meetings of the standing committee on government operations, one meeting of the standing committee on social development and one legislative assembly sitting?
Well, a lot of Nakimayak's attention is diverted to his job as vice-president for international affairs of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC).
Founded in 1977, the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) is now a major international non-government organization representing approximately 160,000 Inuit of Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia.
The ICC works to help Inuit speak with a united voice on issues of common concern and "combine their energies and talents toward protecting and promoting their way of life," states the group's website.
Clearly, this is a very important organization that does some very good work.
But the legislative assembly is also a very important organization. And it's also one that does some very good work - with your money.
When one enters public life, some sacrifices have to be made. Those include spending less time with family (especially if one represents a rural constituency), being in the public and media spotlight and having to give 100 per cent of your time to serving the people who elected you.
Being an MLA in the NWT is a full-time job. Regular MLAs earn a base salary of $103,851. There are also honorariums for serving as chair of standing committees and allowances for travel and accommodation.
Nakimayak told News/North he's "not concerned" with the suggestion he's shortchanging his constituents by apparently splitting his time between the two jobs.
Nakimayak said about 75 per cent of the committee meetings he missed were due to his work with the ICC. He seemed to be blaming the media somehow for turning his absenteeism into a news story.
Nakimayak needs to recognize that being forced out from chairing a committee in the legislative assembly is no small thing. What would he say if he had been selected to cabinet?
Nakimayak must choose which career he wishes to pursue. He can't be an MLA and hold a senior position with the ICC.
Program should focus on putting people back to workNunavut/News North - Monday, July 11, 2016
The Government of Nunavut's numbers on recipients of income assistance are startling.
The statistics show that, at 74 per cent of the hamlet's population, Gjoa Haven has the highest number of people in the territory receiving income assistance. Other communities also have a high percentage of recipients. Taloyoak, Sanikiluaq, Clyde River, Qikiqtarjuaq and Cape Dorset are all above 60 per cent.
Two of the largest communities have the lowest rate -- Rankin Inlet at 18 per cent and Iqaluit at 15 per cent.
The numbers certainly are high. However, keep in mind that the overall numbers don't represent only able-bodied adults who choose not to work or those who are unable to work. Lumped into the income assistance program are five main categories of the government's welfare spending -- the Nunavut child benefit, daycare subsidy, senior citizen's supplementary benefit, senior fuel subsidy and the income assistance program. Of the 14,428 people who received a cheque from the government in 2015, many of them got the money to help with the cost of raising a child or to support seniors who are living on a fixed income.
Although it is unclear how much of the $44.7 million budgeted for the 2016-17 fiscal year will go to people who are capable of working, changes to the system being considered are designed to encourage more people to get jobs without being penalized. There is little incentive for someone to work and save money if their benefits are reduced by the amount of wages they earn or if they do not qualify for income assistance because they have money in the bank.
The greatest improvements in the program can be made in the area of income assistance recipients who are capable of working, have a desire to find gainful employment and are able to leave their communities for training and education.
Many recipients want to reduce their dependency on the program but cannot get out of the cycle because they are not allowed to set aside money for emergencies or to purchase tools to find work in the trades. This rule not only traps them into a life that revolves around income assistance payments, it reduces their self esteem and removes the incentive for them to better themselves.
We congratulate the government for consulting with all the communities in Nunavut by having staff from the Department of Family Services and the Department of Economic Development and Transportation talk to the people and realize how vital the program is for the survival of many people.
The report resulting from last fall's process was tabled in the legislative assembly early last month. It will take some time for the government to consider recommended changes and make the legislative amendments for them to happen.
We would like to see most of the emphasis go toward helping find jobs for those who are able to work. Income assistance should be a temporary hand up for people capable of working, a means to a greater end, not a program that keeps people on the couches waiting for the next cheque to arrive.
