26 days for MLAs doesn't do the jobYellowknifer - Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Mayor Mark Heyck's frustration over the glacial response by the territorial government to the city's needs is entirely justified.
Bellyaching from below is a common feature of Canadian politics. Municipalities claim neglect by the provinces and territories, provinces and territories complain about inattentive politicians in Ottawa - the trickle-up of griping is nothing new here or anywhere else.
But for the GNWT to tell the city that no changes are possible to the Cities, Towns and Villages Act during the remaining three years of its four-term is beyond ludicrous.
If MLAs don't have enough days in the legislative assembly to debate changes to the legislation - changes that would allow the city to offer energy efficiency rebates to help homeowners upgrade and lower heating costs or allow it to enact a hotel tax to better prepare the city for the deluge of aurora tourists spending millions of dollars in our territory - then perhaps they need to sit for more days.
Our legislative assembly sat for 26 days in fiscal year 2015-2016. The House of Commons was scheduled to sit for 122 days over the same period.
If the territorial government, with its army of 4,700 staff, can't find time to draft changes then perhaps the workforce is too large to work effectively.
It's not like the city dreamed up these requests yesterday. The hotel tax has been on the table for more than 15 years. Charging the surtax on hotel rooms would allow money to be set aside to better promote the city and increase its tourism potential.
Despite near unanimous support from the Yellowknife Hotel Association, then-finance minister Michael Miltenberger scuttled the proposal for a territory-wide tax in 2011, stating most formal submissions to his office were opposed to it.
Well, then fine. Give Yellowknife the power to enact its own hotel tax where there is support for it.
Too often, the GNWT excuses its inaction by pointing to so-called opposition in smaller communities or to difficulties applying legislation that might work in Yellowknife but not in the communities.
This was the excuse offered up in 2009 by then-municipal and community affairs minister Robert C. McLeod when he refused to move on a 911 emergency phone service even though the government's own study showed it would be easy to implement in larger centres.
The territorial government has increasingly turned to Yellowknife taxpayers and its city government to prop up agencies of government that ought to rightfully be the responsibility of the GNWT, whether it be to provide funding for the day shelter or demanding that the city build a new water treatment and making the city pay for it.
City administration is far from perfect but if the GNWT refuses to get out of its way the least it could do is give the city the tools to succeed - or fail - on its own.
Muddied waters show no factsEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, October 5, 2016
I allowed myself to be dragged into a conversation I was trying to avoid this past week.
Discussion soon turned to argument, which was how I saw it going when I first hit my internal mute button.
Once things calmed down, however, a word I have grown to loathe during the past decade, "privilege," was once again hurled in my direction.
At least this time the accusation didn't have its usual companion, "white," along for the stinging journey.
I was thankful for that much.
The original discussion, turned argument, was on numbers showing two-thirds of Nunavut graduates failed the Alberta standardized diploma exam this past year.
Everyone in our little ethnically- and gender-mixed group had an opinion.
They ranged from the "dumbing down" of Nunavut's curriculum, to the pros and cons of social promotion, and the merits, or lack thereof, of a Grade 12 graduate having 70 per cent of their final mark come from classroom work and only 30 per cent from exams.
The discussion on classroom work and the grades given to students I found, pretty much, irrelevant, since we had no idea what actually constitutes a course-work grade, and even our own Department of Education, apparently, has no idea what the average classroom grade was for those students who failed the diploma exam.
But, that's the evil of numbers to begin with.
In the hands of just an average spin doctor, they can be manipulated to say whatever you want them to say, and facts be damned.
So while the auditor general's note in 2013 showing Nunavut students followed over a three-year period had, on average, a 30 per cent higher grade from the classroom than from exams is troubling, without a clear picture of how the marks are arrived at, they're just numbers.
I made the mistake of admitting I had a soft spot for classroom grading due to my own high school experience.
I was an all-star goalie on a small school team challenging for a provincial title for the first time in its history, and I could make no sense out of physics or French in my academic course load.
So I volunteered for everything in both classes, slapped more chalk brushes than I could count, and took everything worth extra credit for three very long years.
Being able to do that to obtain a minimum passing grade and remain on the team was, I was told, privilege.
It may have been athletically granted, rather then by the colour of my skin, but privilege nonetheless.
However, what a black-and-white assertion fails to take into consideration, is all the years of dedication to hockey that stripped away a significant portion of a normal adolescence (a more than fair trade in my books).
While so many of my friends did teenage things to build up a pile of lifelong memories, I worked out, attended countless practises and team functions, did my homework by flashlight at the back of the bus on road trips, and worked extra jobs to help my dad afford having a goalie for a son.
If it was privilege, it was privilege well earned.
That is why, without a crystal-clear picture of what is being discussed, educational systems included, it is only talk.
And numbers bereft of the understanding needed to decipher them speak loudest, without saying anything at all!
Empty shelves are Canada's shameNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, October 3, 2016
There are about 18 organizations offering meal programs or food bank services in the NWT. And business is brisk in these places. Too brisk for some.
One study in 2014 showed across the three territories, there was a 247 per cent increase in the use of food banks between 2008 and 2014. Nationally, the increase was 24.5 per cent over the same period.
"Across the (NWT), there is a widening gap between those who are prospering and those who are struggling," Food Banks Canada quoted a GNWT study in its HungerCount 2014 report.
"Poverty disproportionately affects vulnerable members of society, including single-parent families, people with low education levels, elders, people with disabilities, and those with addictions or mental health issues. Children in poverty are especially vulnerable when their basic needs are not met," the report states.
The situation for many is dire. And it's also heart-wrenching for those trying to help the needy.
As reported last week in News/North (Sept. 26, "Food bank bare") yet another charity has been forced to make a public plea for help.
The stock at the Inuvik Food Bank is rapidly depleting as the group is on its last legs financially. The food bank's one-time sponsorships and recurring fundraising activities are not keeping up with demand in a community where 10 per cent of its residents show up to make withdrawals of boxed milk, canned stew, eggs, corn flakes, canned tomatoes and tuna.
In the first seven months of 2016, the Inuvik Food Bank has spent a little more than $60,000 but has taken in just over $30,000, said treasurer Margaret Miller.
The organization typically spends around $100,000 per year. The food bank gets no ongoing funding from any governmental sources, with all its money coming from donations and fundraisers.
"Now that the funds aren't there, we are having to cut down considerably," said Miller. "Unless we get some fresh money we won't be able to continue at the rate we're going."
There are many reasons why so many people can't make ends meet. A lack of jobs, expensive housing, shoddy social safety nets, mental and physical disorders or just plain bad luck. But the bottom line is people need to eat.
Nobody should be starving in a country as wealthy as Canada. This should be a no-brainer for the Trudeau government.
Instead of trying to solve the world's problems, our jet-setting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - he of the 'sunny ways' mantra - has an obligation to attend to matters at home first.
But until the feds get moving on this issue, it's up to all of us to help our neighbours out when need be. And the Inuvik Food Bank needs donations of cash or appropriate foodstuffs now.
Alternatives being found to diesel-generated electricityNunavut/News North - Monday, October 3, 2016
A long winter filled with days that have more hours of darkness than light should not be an absolute deterrent to the pursuit of renewable energy alternatives.
Nunavut is too dependent on diesel-fuel generated electricity. Power plants in many communities are already past their best-before date, with potentially catastrophic results if an entire hamlet experiences a power outage at an inopportune time.
One has only to look at what happened in Pangnirtung to realize how vulnerable some hamlets have become on their power plants. Qulliq Energy Corporation crews were scrambled onto early morning flights with backup generators to partially restore power after there was a fire in the electricity generation station. It was months before a chartered heavy-lift helicopter brought in the necessary equipment to get life in the hamlet fully back to normal.
Renewable energy projects, as they exist today, might not have been able to provide enough power to meet the needs of the entire community but it would have been something.
Qulliq is now turning some of its attention to renewable energy options, particularly following a Northern summit on the topic held in Iqaluit Sept. 15 to 17.
There are several options worth pursuing. A pilot project using solar panels on a Qulliq building in Iqaluit is returning encouraging results. Analysis of their performance exceeded expectations. At least one community in Nunavut uses solar panels to run its community freezer during the summer, keeping country food frozen for residents to use later.
Harnessing energy from the wind is another option actively being investigated. A wind mapping study, completed earlier this year, looked at capabilities in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, Baker Lake, Arviat and Sanikiluaq. It will be followed up with installation of wind monitoring equipment. Communities such as Rankin Inlet, where there is wind for days at a time, seem like good prospects for wind turbines, perhaps as large as those used at Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories to offset the cost of diesel fuel.
It is encouraging that, as time passes, the technology used to convert solar and wind energy into electricity is getting better and better while the costs of the infrastructure to capture the energy is dropping.
Then there is the option of hydroelectric power plants, using water to turn turbines which create the energy to create electricity. Given that all of Nunavut's communities are situated near water, perhaps there are possibilities worth exploring.
Besides cost savings, what is making renewable energy options most attractive is the federal government's desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and Ottawa's growing joint-funding programs to replace fossil-fuel based generation with cleaner technology.
None of this will happen quickly. An agreement on a research project was the biggest accomplishment of the Arctic Renewable Energy Summit last month.
We are confident there will come a time when renewable energy will provide a more affordable, reliable alternative to diesel-generated electricity, even in the dark days of Nunavut winter.
Diamond mines keep giving Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, September 30, 2016
By the time the Gahcho Kue diamond mine is running at full production early next year, majority owner De Beers Canada expects 530 workers will be in full-time positions along with an additional 630 indirect, mine-related jobs.
Over its expected 12-year lifespan the mine will generate $5.7 billion in wages and revenues within the Northwest Territories alone.
The development and construction of Gahcho Kue between 2006 and 2016 has meant more than $440 million injected into the NWT economy. Last year, during peak construction, the mine supported more than 2,700 jobs in the North.
Construction at Gahcho Kue gave jobs to approximately 200 of the 434 people who lost work when Snap Lake mine ceased production and went into care and maintenance late in 2015. Gahcho Kue has been the most significant bright spot on the North's economic horizon and will remain so for quite some time.
This activity is a much needed boost for the North which has been struggling with stranded mineral resources in an era of sullen commodity markets.
The presence at the opening ceremony by aboriginal leaders from Lutsel K'e, Yellowknives Dene First Nation, the Tlicho Government, Deninu Ku'e First Nation, the North Slave Metis Alliance and the Northwest Territory Metis Nation demonstrates that De Beers has worked with impacted First Nations to ensure the mine bears financial and social benefits in their communities.
But none of this would mean much if wages made at the mine are spent outside the North.
So it is heartening to hear De Beers CEO Kim Trutter say approximately 45 per cent of mine employees are Northern residents - as of Aug. 30 - with 28 per cent of the total mine workforce being aboriginal.
De Beers has committed to bringing those numbers up even higher. The target agreed upon by the territorial government and De Beers is 55 per cent Northern resident employment, with a priority given to Northern indigenous people.
De Beers has struggled in the past to find northern residents to fill its employee roster at Snap Lake.
De Beers has done its part with the commitment to ensure financial benefits stay in the North.
The onus is on Northern residents and aboriginal communities to make the most of the economic opportunities the mine brings.
This starts with getting jobs already earmarked for Northerners.
JSL a local casualty of global influences Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, September 30, 2016
The city lost a longtime fixture in the business community last week with the closure of JSL Mechanical.
The business has gone into receivership, putting 19 people out of work. Padlocks were put on the doors at the company's Kam Lake headquarters on Sept. 20.
The news has been a shock to many in the North where the plumbing and heating company has been operating for 45 years. With winter right around the corner and hundreds of furnaces in need of servicing, there is certainly no lack of work.
Indeed, JSL's closure shouldn't be taken as an indicator of a slumping city economy. The fact is, business is hard. The company took a gamble venturing into northern Alberta and paid dearly when the oil and gas sector faltered.
JSL owner Joe Leonardis explained the slide began in December when a company connected to the oil industry in northern Alberta didn't pay up on a $5-million contract. Then the bank called in on a loan the company owed.
While outside influences caused the demise of JSL Mechanical it will have a domino effect beyond lost jobs and taxes. There is now one less option to call when Yellowknifers need their furnaces repaired when temperatures plummet.
This is a sobering reminder that our local economy is not immune to global influences and everyone feels the sting when fortunes change.
Hold your horsesDeh Cho Drum - Thursday, September 29, 2016
Proposed restrictions to the types of animals Fort Simpson residents can have on their residential properties are kicking up a barnyard racket in the village.
On Sept. 19, members of Fort Simpson's village council agreed to pass the preliminary readings of a bylaw to ban farm animals and poultry on lands with a residential zoning.
Although people who already have poultry and farm animals would be allowed to keep what they have, this would mean they couldn't get any more while their land is zoned residential, shooting down any hopes of expanding.
Currently, the village does not have an agricultural zoning. That's something councillors are working to fix as they prepare to re-do their general plan and zoning bylaw.
In the meantime, there's an agricultural gap in the village's bylaws that needs to be filled.
It's important to note the bylaw in question only applies to animals. Vegetable farmers and recreational gardeners won't have their current operations impacted.
Arguably, councillors should seek educated opinions from agriculture enthusiasts in and around the village before casting their final vote on the bylaw in question. There is a lot to be said for promoting food sustainability in the North, and it's possible the bylaw could have been tweaked - taking a more measured approach as opposed to an all-or-nothing approach - before passing through first and second reading. After all, there's a big difference between a large-scale farming operation and a hobby farm.
Bylaws that restrict residents should not be passed haphazardly, or without input from those who are affected.
Luckily, residents of Fort Simpson will get their chance to provide input when the bylaw goes to a public hearing, prior to being passed in third reading.
Given the ruckus this bylaw has stirred up online, the public hearing will hopefully be a lively one. It would be nice to see everyone who is concerned show up to voice their opinions to council.
As the old saying goes, "don't count your chickens before they hatch." Councillors should not expect to push this bylaw through without some blowback from residents, and nor should they discount what those residents have to say. This is not necessarily a case of "village-knows-best" but rather should be taken as an opportunity to learn.
Likewise, residents should not expect the village to simply drop the bylaw. Both sides of the debate need to come together and discuss this openly and honestly - without goading each other with inflammatory rhetoric.
The question that needs to be addressed is a simple one: what restrictions, if any, should be placed upon residential landowners who want farm animals?
All parties have the opportunity to raise the level of debate on this topic. If they do that, there could be a favourable outcome for everyone.
Unfortunate incident an anomalyInuvik Drum - Thursday, September 29, 2016
Brian Kowikchuk's run-in outside the Mad Trapper was an unfortunate incident.
The 25-year-old gay man was allegedly punched and called a homophobic slur while leaving the bar late at night a couple of weeks ago.
We can hope the violence had more to do with intoxication than real intolerance of someone's lifestyle.
Either way, the incident didn't phase Kowikchuk, who used it as an opportunity to confidently bring the issue to public attention.
He could easily have withdrawn and hidden from fear of further action.
But like Kowikchuk said, Inuvik is a warm and welcoming place. What happened was an extreme anomaly in his experience.
That friendly feeling has certainly prevailed in my brief time here.
People have been extremely generous with me and kind in every interaction.
What stands out especially has been the atmosphere at East Three School. I was blown away at the Terry Fox Run assemblies, which were almost sporting event halftime shows in their enthusiasm and energy.
Smiling children in the photos show it, but I've never been in a school with as happy and loving a student body as this.
Students seem to love to hug each other, and there could be little better preventative for future violence than that. I was almost bewildered at the lineup of children waiting to hug the school's mascots at the assemblies.
Kowikchuk mentioned the outpouring of support he received after what happened, too.
I question if there could be a better community to grow up in and feel comfortable being yourself.
Still, it never hurts to continually reinforce the important of nonviolence, and the Take Back the Night march tonight, Sept. 29, is another chance to do so.
