Sour grapes ruin French school announcement Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, July 1, 2016
This September it will have been 17 years since Yellowknife's francophone students walked through the doors of the newly built Ecole Allain St. Cyr.
It will also have been 17 years the school has been sharing a gym with neighbouring William McDonald School, something which is scheduled to change within the next two years.
Last week, Education Minister Alfred Moses announced the territorial government will build a gymnasium at Allain St. Cyr by the start of the 2018 school year.
This announcement came as a surprise to the Commission scolaire francophone (the French school board) and was greeted with a touch of skepticism by board superintendent Yvonne Careen.
"We have heard absolutely nothing about it," she told Yellowknifer. Quite reasonably, she declined to comment on the news until she had official confirmation.
This new gymnasium is a step toward the GNWT meeting court-ordered obligations.
In 2012 the French board won an NWT Supreme Court case giving it greater control over admissions, and a $15 million expansion of Allain St. Cyr that would have included the new gymnasium, expanded lab facilities, and an improved playground, among other things.
A early 2015 appeal court 'victory' saw the GNWT claw back most of those court-ordered concessions but left the requirement for a new gymnasium in place.
It seems the GNWT is finally making good on its obligation to the French school board but its sour grapes handling of the announcement was not the way to treat the french community in Yellowknife.
Yellowknife's francophone community is a vibrant contributor to the city's culture. A strong school system that reflects and protects that culture is a natural fit and benefits all of Yellowknife.
Allain St. Cyr is a locally designed and thoroughly modern facility that has won accolades from the international architectural community. Expanding that facility, starting with a gym, only makes sense.
For the GNWT to fight this expansion tooth-and-nail to the bitter end must have frayed nerves on both sides. Announcing funding for a new gym at Allain St. Cyr without first mentioning it to the French school board suggests a disregard for the people the GNWT is mandated to serve.
This lack of communication between the GNWT and the school board needs fixing, and the minister should act now. Tossing court-ordered money at a school board -- no matter how much it is -- in a back-handed manner does not set the stage for healthy co-operation in the future.
Important to take bad with good Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, July 1, 2016
A recent survey Abacus Data on behalf of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines shows good news for mining.
The results show by and large people in the territory greatly value the industry. Eight out of 10 people surveyed held a positive view of mining, according to the survey.
So it is odd some results that could be construed as slightly negative were left out of a presentation shown to media - and by extension, the public - while the full survey was heard by MLAs in the legislative assembly. They were told 36 per cent of people surveyed were in favour of more regulation compared to 51 per cent who were fine with the existing amount.
Tom Hoefer, the mining chamber's executive director, said the pollster didn't intentionally leave out the results, suggesting the company simply didn't want to overload the public with information.
Innocent as that may be, it was unwise to do so. By presenting an incomplete picture, one that excised the most negative results, it opens the door toward speculation on the motives for doing so.
Regulations over mining are undoubtedly a contentious issue in the territory. One doesn't need to look far to see why. Giant Mine and the 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide buried beneath it in perpetuity is the poster child for what happens when regulations are too lax.
In the eyes of most people in the NWT the mining industry is welcome but there will always be detractors and their voices are just as important.
Burying them one day only assures they will be louder the next.
New tactic for understandingDeh Cho Drum - Thursday, June 30, 2016
After what seems like years of stagnancy, Premier Bob McLeod announced during the Dehcho Assembly on June 27 the creation of a new role - a ministerial adviser to both the territory and the Government of Canada - responsible for consulting with all Deh Cho communities and reporting back.
While on one hand, it seems as though after decades of consultations the governments should already know where the people of the Deh Cho stand, it has been made clear over the past couple years that's not actually the case.
After all, just last year the negotiations broke down to the point of halting altogether after the territorial government delivered a thoroughly uninspiring land offer to Dehcho First Nations.
Now there is renewed hope. One person from the government dedicated to seeking out the position of each band could signal a change in the spirit of negotiations, if implemented correctly. And the spirit of negotiations most certainly needed to change, at least on the territorial side.
This person needs to be willing to listen, first and foremost, and they cannot come to the table with an agenda already in mind. They need to hear what communities have to say - and the government needs to be willing to hear what this adviser reports to them, however harsh it may be.
However, it is wise to remain skeptical until the fruits of this new advisory role are evident. Less than a month ago, in the legislative assembly, Premier Bob McLeod backtracked on the promise he gave when campaigning for premier to deliver a land offer to Dehcho First Nations within 90 days. On May 31, McLeod defended the fact he had failed to live up to that promise by telling MLAs, "We can do (an offer) anytime. What we want to do is focus on results."
Discrepancies like that show the government has a long way to come in order to meet Dehcho First Nations at the negotiating table.
The first thing to watch will be who the government appoints, and how that person is appointed. Some suggestions were already made during the Dehcho Assembly, and the government needs to take all these suggestions into consideration.
If they appoint a bureaucrat who intends to push the government agenda in these communities, the whole notion of an advisory position will fall apart rather quickly. But if they appoint someone who genuinely cares about the process and about these communities - ideally, someone who currently lives in the Deh Cho - that will be a good sign.
While the creation of an advisory position is not a leap toward successful negotiations, it is the first tentative step. It shows the governments - territorial and federal - are finally acknowledging they need more information.
Fresh faces follow new voting systemInuvik Drum - Thursday, June 30, 2016
The Gwich'in Tribal Council election has ushered in a new wave of younger faces at the organization.
According to chief returning officer Mary Ann Ross, Bobbie Jo Greenland, the presumptive new president, and her counterpart in vice-president Jordan Peterson, could have defeated the other candidates because they got out the youth vote.
But part of getting out that youth vote, she added, was probably due to the new online voting system implemented for the election. Preliminary results also show that overall voter turnout was slightly down from the last full election, held in 2012.
Whatever the reason, there is a clear shift in leadership at the tribal council level and -- with no disrespect to previous leaders -- this is a good thing.
All we ever hear from politicians of all stripes is that the youth are the most important asset of any group or nation. We talk about the importance of education, the need to protect land and traditions for future generations, and the need to help children and teenagers through rough patches to allow them to succeed. These are always feel-good talking points, both during and after elections.
And yet every election, young people are some of the least well-represented in the ranks of voters who cast their ballots. Typically, people are more likely to vote the older they are, and we see the results both at home and abroad.
Finally, at least in this case, young people have stepped up to the plate, cast their electronic ballots and have elected leaders that can understand the issues related to young people.
Greenland-Morgan and Peterson cannot -- and should not -- be in this alone. Elections are not the only time democracy is active, and members of the electorate need to remain involved deep into the heart of the term to ensure their voices continue to be heard and their needs met.
New energy is all well and good, but it fades quickly under the yoke of a multimillion-dollar organization, with disparate factions, facing a rocky economic future and challenging self-government negotiations.
What remains to be seen is how these new, younger leaders handle the responsibilities they have been given. While there is great value in experience, there is also something to be said for fresh faces, new perspectives and optimism.
Time for Aboriginal Day to go national Yellowknifer - Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Northwest Territories residents are lucky and they may not even realize it.
Because the territorial government recognizes Aboriginal Day as a statutory holiday, the territory's many indigenous people have the day to celebrate and commemorate their own culture. This gives non-indigenous people an opportunity as well.
They get to learn about indigenous cultures, reflect on the disastrous effects of colonialism and the residential school system and commemorate the lives of people who have championed tradition in the wake of Canada's cultural genocide.
Now, the Northwest Territories is generally a place where people have a higher understanding of indigenous issues than in southern Canada. There are people alive today who can remember life before the territorial government was formed.
The Northwest Territories is where some of the strongest self-government agreements are taking place. It's a place where indigenous language revitalization is an ongoing project, not an abstract ideal.
The legislative assembly is made up of mostly indigenous leaders. The issues raised in the legislative assembly often regard indigenous rights, such as land-claim negotiations, caribou hunting and whether resource development should happen.
On Monday, Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy tabled an amendment which will allow indigenous characters on government documents such as birth certificates. While colonialism, indigenous history and residential schools are no less important in the south, many southerners don't have the blessing of living in a place where these issues are front and centre.
Making Aboriginal Day a national statutory holiday would go a long way to give weight to the federal government's talk on making amends with its indigenous populations.
Really, there is no conceivable downside to this initiative. Dedicating a statutory holiday is not an expensive endeavor, it doesn't require a complicated implementation strategy and best of all - it gives people a day off from work and school to immerse themselves in whatever cultural activities their community chooses to host.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls for a national holiday to commemorate the residential school system in one of its 94 calls to action, so it would satisfy this as well.
Considering the federal government gives Queen Victoria Day vaunted stat holiday status, adding a day for indigenous people is really a no-brainer.
A new season brings a new faceEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, June 29, 2016
If you have noticed an unfamiliar qallunaaq with a big beard in the last few days, there's a good chance it was me.
I have come to replace Darrell Greer while he takes a well-deserved holiday on the East Coast. I have many friends who have either lived in or visited Rankin Inlet over the years and told me what a great community it is. For the longest time I have wanted to come and see what the fuss is all about. So when I was offered the opportunity to come to Rankin to fill in at the Kivalliq News I jumped at the opportunity.
Even though it's been less than 24 hours since I've landed in Rankin Inlet, I'm already positive I've made the right decision.
Everyone I've met so far has been extremely friendly and I look forward to meeting more between now and the beginning of August when I will hand the reins back to Darrell. I'm also very excited by the chance of getting out on the land and - once the ice finally retreats from the bay - out on the water.
When I went to introduce myself to the acting SAO Micky Adams she told me the same thing that everyone else I've met has been saying to me since I landed. "You picked the right time of year to come."
While the decision to come in the summer wasn't mine, I can't help but agree. (My only contention is that I wish I had made it here just a few weeks earlier so that I could meet Felix "The Cat" Potvin.)
After what seems like endless months of winter, the constant sunlight is a welcome relief and there is something about summer time in the North that seems to bring out the best in people.
Sure enough, as I left my hotel to take advantage of the gorgeous afternoon weather, one of the first things I noticed was how many people were out cleaning up the streets. I later learned that people across Rankin had taken the afternoon off to take part in the annual clean up of the community. We have the same annual clean-up in Yellowknife and it was great to see so many people chipping in to get the community in tip-top shape just in time for summer.
After a quick meal in town I continued to stroll around while the sun slowly started to set. Seeing countless children playing in the streets and soccer fields, basking in the freedom brought by the end of the school year and the endless hours of sun, brought a smile to my face. Eventually I made my way down to the bay where I caught the end of a softball game between Team Todd and the Juggernauts. There was not shortage of spectators both young and old cheering on the two teams.
After the game wrapped up a group of men and women made their way onto the field to play a friendly game of soccer-baseball on the artificial turf.
I watched for a while and chatted with a young man named Alurut who was watching his wife play with his one-year-old son, Joel. Joel took an interest in the $10 bag of apples I had purchased at the Northern Store and with his father's help he was able to eke out an extremely cute "Pleeeeeeease" as I handed him one from the bag.
As I made my way back to the hotel under the midnight sun I started to get an idea of what my friends had been talking about when they spoke highly of Rankin Inlet.
Fair or unfair, it's the lawNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, June 27, 2016
Lives of friends and family of a homicide victim are shattered beyond belief. They go through the stages of grief -- denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. But for many, acceptance is simply never fully achievable.
This is especially true when it appears that the legal system has let them down. It angers many. This happened on June 16 when a teenager who admitted to killing Brandy Vittrekwa was sentenced to two years in jail, and one year in community supervision.
Vittrekwa, 17 at the time of her death, was living in Whitehorse with her family but was originally from Fort McPherson. She was a popular girl and had many friends in both communities.
The teenage male offender was 15 at the time of the crime. On Dec. 8, 2014 he and Vittrekwa were walking home from a party and were both drunk. The male - who as other media have reported was already serving a community sentence for another violent assault - beat Vittrekwa unconscious and left her to die in the snow.
Crown prosecutors argued he should be sentenced as an adult. However, the judge treated him as a youth and gave him the maximum sentence available under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
In delivering his sentence, Judge Peter Chisholm noted he took into consideration the boy's troubled, violent family history and spoke of the boy's recent efforts to upgrade his education and curb his temper.
Outside the Whitehorse courtroom, media reported that Vittrekwa's family and friends hugged each other and cried.
Leadership in Vittrekwa's home region also spoke out against the sentence.
And the Gwich'in Tribal Council executive didn't mince words.
"We feel the sentence was too light," said tribal council vice-president Norman Snowshoe. "It's not going to be a deterrent for that behaviour ... it has happened in the past and it's going to keep happening in the future."
We can't imagine the pain the Vittrekwa family is going through. And we understand how frustrated the tribal council is with the justice system.
But the judge was following the law. Sentencing guidelines heralded by aboriginal groups when first implemented are designed to help reduce sentences of aboriginal offenders - or divert them to other forms of punishment or treatment.
In the 1990s - and still to this day - aboriginal people are the most over-represented population in Canada's jails and prisons. Many point to the disproportionate socio-economic disadvantages faced by First Nations. These hark back to the effects of colonization and the residential school system.
In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada handed down a landmark decision that subsequently forced lower courts to consider an aboriginal offender's background when making sentencing decisions.
The case lends its name to Gladue reports -- personal histories for judges to outline mitigating factors to consider. The judge must take into account "all reasonable alternatives to incarcerations," especially when a crime is minor.
This is a point that has received wide support among aboriginal group across the country.
While a homicide is far from a minor crime, and the sentence handed to the teenager who killed Brandy Vittrekwa on the face of it seems very light, the judge was following the law.
So while the legal system tries to find ways to help rehabilitate First Nations offenders instead of just throwing them in prison to rot, there are times when the Gladue principle will seem inappropriate.
Sure, the judge could have decided to slap Vittrekwa's killer with an adult sentence, but he chose to take the teen's background into consideration with the hope he gets a chance at rehabilitation in the youth criminal justice system.
It should be pointed out, had the judge handed down a harsher sentence it may have triggered an appeal based on the killer's age and aboriginal background, furthering the anguish the family would have endured with the case back in court.
The law's the law. Even if at times it seems unfair.
Release of benefit deal key to iron mine's futureNunavut/News North - Monday, June 27, 2016
It is admirable that the Qikiqtani Inuit Association last month made a point of publicly releasing its Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement with Baffinland Iron Mines Ltd. for the Mary River project. It's not a landmark move -- the Kivalliq Inuit Association and other organizations who represent Inuit beneficiaries have made details of impact benefit agreements with private corporations public in the past.
However, at least $10 million is involved in the case of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and the iron ore mine on north Baffin Island. The agreement also sets out mutually agreed upon goals for Inuit employment and training. Details related to scholarships, labour relations and languages are also included in the agreement.
"The board of directors strongly believe in transparency between QIA and all of the beneficiaries," stated QIA president PJ Akeeagok in a news release. "It is crucial for beneficiaries to have access to information from their organization
to be well informed."
On first glance it may appear to some that the agreement is rich with benefits to the Qikiqtani Inuit.
But what about the benefits to Baffinland Iron Mines Corp., a company jointly owned by the European mining giant ArcelorMittal SA Ltd. and Nunavut Iron Ore Acquisition Inc., a subsidiary of Iron Ore Holdings?
News reports in 2011 suggested the project could triple the territory's annual gross domestic product growth rate and provide nearly $5 billion in tax revenue and royalties to the territory over the life of the project.
The impact agreement shows the specifics of the deal, what the Inuit are giving up to allow it to proceed and the potential for damage to the environment and wildlife, including prized habitat for walrus, whales and fish.
The impact agreement also shows what the Inuit association is doing to benefit its members, mitigate damage, impose restrictions and set out a mechanism to follow through on commitments it is making to its people.
That is good for elected representatives, residents and the company. It protects the deal from being contaminated by a whisper campaign, in which people make baseless allegations about backroom deals that cannot be substantiated while they are hidden behind a corporate veil.
Baffinland Iron Mines Ltd. is still seeking approval for its latest modified plans to be approved by the Nunavut Impact Review Board and has other challenges to meet before production begins in earnest.
Knowing the details of the deal with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association will certainly impact how plans proceed and how much support will come from elected officials.
