Justin Trudeau: ColonialistNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, January 23, 2017
There is absolutely no need for a ban on offshore oil and gas drilling in Canada's North.
In fact, the move by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to impose a ban on any new activity - there aren't any sites in operation now in the Beaufort Sea - simply tramples on desires of communities such as Inuvik to eventually reverse their declining fortunes.
In fact, for Trudeau and his Liberal government to callously ignore the new way of life in the North dredges up comparisons to the way the feds once strode through the region imposing their will on inhabitants.
Yes, there is only way to look at Trudeau's move to demonstrate solidarity with now-departed United States President Barack Obama: Slapping a drilling ban on the Arctic - without any consultation with stakeholders - is just outright appalling.
We wonder if NWT Liberal MP Michael McLeod was even informed of Trudeau's decision, or did he hear about it through the media? We invite MP McLeod to publicly defend his government's move and explain how it will improve life for people living in the NWT. No, not the ideals of career environmentalists but the lives of common folks looking to forge a real living in the North.
The push back from the ban is starting to develop. You'll read a report in this week's News/North about how the Town of Inuvik, Nihtat Gwich'in Council and Inuvialuit Regional Corporation are angered by Trudeau's move ("Arctic forces join to reject drilling ban").
"We were taken aback," Duane Smith, president of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation is quoted as saying. "We were not consulted in any meaningful way on the matter."
Smith said he was told by the minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada about the move shortly before it was announced to the public.
Stewart Burnett, editor of Inuvik Drum, wrote a column on the issue re-published in News/North ("Wise southerners light the way," Jan. 16.)
Following the tongue-in-cheek headline, Burnett decried the drilling ban imposed by "latte liberals" and the "compulsion to spread their virtue."
"Northerners are certainly used to this show of force by now, living in somewhat of a repetitive history of outsiders telling them what's good for them."
In this week's News/North, Nunavut News/North editor Casey Lessard shares that territory's concerns over the ban, ("Trudeau's green crusade shows lack of respect.")
Writes Lessard: "Trudeau's siding with Obama is a smoke-and-mirrors trick that enhances his green credentials while cloaking the same old colonial attitude carried by governments past."
Indeed. The fact the Canadian version of the indefinite U.S. ban can be reviewed every five years clearly shows Trudeau was all ego on this move - either drilling in Arctic waters is too risky to the environment or it isn't? Half-measures avail you nothing, Mr. Trudeau. Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper showed much more interest in, and sensitivity to, the needs of the North.
What good has it done for the NWT to have sent a Liberal MP to Ottawa?
During the 2015 federal election, Trudeau visited the NWT and spoke of the Liberal Party's "real plan to grow our Northern economy."
Since being elected prime minister, we have not seen hide nor hair of Trudeau in these parts.
So we're simply left with these originally vapid and now just plain empty words from his party's platform: "Canada's North is a vast and beautiful part of the world, home to a rich culture and tremendous economic potential."
We can only hope Trudeau and his government - the territories don't even rank having a voice in cabinet - won't further hobble the economic pursuits of people in the North.
Lives are on the lineNunavut/News North - Monday, January 23, 2017
This month, Iqaluit Coun. Joanasie Akumalik called on council to protect the lives of homeless people in the city.
It's an important message, and he's chosen the right venue.
Iqaluit city council needs to better support the men who rely on the men's homeless shelter.
The shelter serves marginalized men - many of whom are unwelcome elsewhere due to mental health issues or recent incarceration - but the shelter is hobbled in its ability to do so by city regulations that require the men to leave the shelter throughout the day.
This is in contrast with the women's shelters, which correctly allow clients to remain indoors rather than face the elements.
It may be true that some of these men are able to find work during the day, but too many are left to find a daytime hangout space, when they could be taking part in mental health and employment support activities similar to the ones offered to clients at the city's two women's shelters.
We understand that the city has limited resources, and that the territory needs to help, too.
The city is unable to free up more land for more homes because it doesn't have the infrastructure money for more roads, water, or sewer lines.
This lack of progress impedes the ability to ease thehousing crunch experienced by many who seek refuge in the capital city.
Those living on couches or floors, with family and friends, across Nunavut know the need for progress in this regard.
But those pushed to the periphery of society, who have nowhere else to turn for help but the shelters, need special attention.
They are souls ready to be lost.
Two years ago, we witnessed the Christmas fire that killed a man living in a beach shack.
The December death of Jake Angurasuk -last seen at the shelter, his body was found weeks later 10 kilometres outside of Iqaluit -is only the latest tragedy that could have been prevented with a serious effort from our community.
They were both preventable.
People should be asking why the city still does not permit the shelter from staying open during the day.
What is the GN doing to provide the mental health care too many of these men need but go without?
Where is the execution of innovative ideas, such as a sea can compound to house these men, even in the short term until something better is in place?
Why is a three-bedroom shelter housing 22 men, which costs a charity $8,000 in rent each month, only open at night?
Jake Angurasuk's life mattered.
Lives are on the line.
It's time for each of us to consider what we can do to help and to get decision makers to act.
Hospital will shelter homeless regardless Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, January 20, 2017
As second vice-president of the Union of Northern Workers, Marie Buchanan's concern for worker safety following the hospital's decision to allow the homeless to warm up and spend the night in the hospital lobby is understandable.
It's her job to look out for workers rights, but that vigilance must always be balanced with the labour movement's general compassion for the well-being of all, especially those most disadvantaged in society.
Hospital administration demonstrated that compassion when it quietly took steps last year to open the hospital lobby at night to those in need of shelter from the cold. Security keeps an eye on the lobby, and a set of rules define how the lobby is to be used and how that privilege could be revoked if the rules are broken.
So far, both the union and hospital administration report no official complaints regarding the sympathetic policy.
It seems all involved have found a way to balance workplace safety with compassion for others.
As Union local 11 president Frank Walsh said, none of those who escape Yellowknife's cold nights every dreamed of waking up homeless one day needing shelter from the cold. Hospital staff, administration, the union and security should be commended for the humanity they have shown.
While it's true the hospital lobby is not a long-term solution for homeless in need of shelter during frigid winter nights, it does take some pressure off the hospital's emergency department.
As hospital staff know only too well, the emergency department can also be used to escape the cold. This is a potentially more disruptive situation with valuable emergency resources directed toward individuals who really just need a warm place to spend a few hours or the night.
The hospital will always be a place of refuge and last resort for the homeless. The current practice where they can come through the front doors and quietly settle in so long as they are non-disruptive and abide by the rules is a much better solution than having those same individuals arrive by way of the emergency department.
Parents: let your voices ring Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, January 20, 2017
On Jan. 24 Yellowknife Education District No. 1 is holding a town hall meeting to discuss with parents how the planned roll-out of junior kindergarten will affect services.
The big question is how the board will fund their share of the program now that the GNWT has said it will be going ahead.
A promise of some funding to boards - $2 million of the overall $5.1 million - is a marked improvement over the GNWT offering no funding and telling boards to use their accumulated surpluses.
The board has already been made clear there will be some unspecified cuts to other school programs to fund junior kindergarten but the
program is coming no matter what.
Now is the time for the board to figure out how to avoid that, as they wait for confirmation of the number of students they will have enrolled next year.
Superintendent Metro Huculak estimates up to 145 junior kindergarten students may be added to the public district enrollment.
How the government money will be allocated will hinge on how many students each board receives.
Both the public and Catholic school boards administrations in Yellowknife have been very well funded for a good number of years. As with all organizations, bureaucracies especially, there will be a calculated and determined effort to maintain what they have. This will shape their arguments and their presentation of 'facts' and options.
It is up to the elected board members and parents to send their respective school administrations a firm message - no cuts until there has been a serious effort to find efficiencies and forgo some professional luxuries.
The success of junior kindergarten will benefit teachers and parents as much as students.
It's up to the boards the ensure that success.
Funding hits the markDeh Cho Drum - Thursday, January 19, 2016
The Northwest Territories received a welcome surprise on Jan. 16 when the federal government announced it would be providing millions of dollars in targeted funding to the territory's health-care system.
In total, $36.1 million will be making its way North for health care in all three territories over a span of 10 years.
In the Northwest Territories, that includes $7.4 million for home care infrastructure and $6.1 million for mental health initiatives.
The money was secured nearly a month ago, on Dec. 19, as part of a new agreement for health care funding with the federal government.
Any money in support of health care - especially mental health care - is money well-spent.
And this particular chunk comes with two expectations: that children and youth will receive better access to mental health care, and that the number of patients in-hospital can be reduced by treating some at home or in their respective communities.
For the Northwest Territories, home care and mental health care are two very important issues families in small communities struggle with.
And more and more, the mental well-being of youth is emerging as an issue that needs to be addressed.
Hopefully, the territorial government will not be shortsighted where this funding is concerned, given the litany of problems plaguing smaller communities in the Northwest Territories.
Chief among these mental health problems are suicides, crime rates, drug and alcohol addiction and homelessness. Although none of these problems are specific to the youth, they all have a foothold in the youth population of many communities in the Deh Cho. A healthy youth population means a healthy future for the territory as those youth grow into adults.
The money for mental health care needs to be put into programs for youth in small communities. That includes addressing the strain of isolation, intergenerational trauma and re-connecting aboriginal youth with their culture and heritage.
Some of that money could be best used on developing school programs to address these things, while the rest would be best put into community programming.
As for home care, there are plenty of patients in the Deh Cho who would be relieved to not have to fly to Yellowknife just to receive a shot or be given a handful of pills. The stress medical travel puts on patients and their families should not be underestimated, especially if it seems like a frivolous matter.
But before any of these problems are resolved, the Deh Cho and Nahendeh electoral districts are going to need some strong representation from MLAs Michael Nadli and Shane Thompson in the legislative assembly to ensure some of that money comes south of Yellowknife.
Nadli and Thompson need to convince the territorial government that money given to smaller communities is money well-spent. Instead of having funding trickle out of Yellowknife, this particular chunk is best used directly in the territory's other communities.
Smaller communities cannot be left out of this funding. Any initiatives used under this funding must not be centralized to Yellowknife but instead need to be offered to each community - with the most remote ones getting top priority.
Reliving past might not prepare for futureInuvik Drum - Thursday, January 19, 2016
As an ideal, language and culture revitalization are unarguably good things.
But some things sound better as ideals than they are in reality, and chasing a warm, fuzzy nostalgia for the past can impact and limit one's future if due care is not taken.
I found this an especially interesting subject in Nunavut, where the government is pushing very hard to keep Inuktitut alive and even expand its influence in public schools and places.
It certainly sounds nice. It's a beautiful language, gives you a window into the past, and is tied closely to the culture of Inuit people.
Younger generations have the Internet nowadays and a very English-centric Western world, so naturally they have much more exposure to English than their native language, leading to the old ways dying out.
As nice as the old ways are, we also have to recognize that the world changes, and we have to change with it.
What I'm saying is more true for Nunavut, where in my experience the command of English is rather poor overall, compared to Inuvik.
It's clear that in Nunavut an inability to communicate in English limits Inuit people's job prospects. If they don't learn to speak and write English to a decent standard, they are basically confined to working in Nunavut, likely for the government.
By far the most professionally successful Inuit, the ones who have taken up high positions in government or represent youth councils, or who have become doctors, lawyers or engineers, all have a superb command of English.
Look at any job posting in North America, and it's obvious learning English to a high standard is critical for career development.
Now, there are certainly some career paths where knowing a native aboriginal language would be beneficial. These would likely be in cultural tourism and very local programming. But these jobs don't exist on a wide scale.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping a beautiful culture alive. It becomes misguided only if it impacts your ability to succeed in the future.
English might not be sexy, but it sure is useful. Government-funded education in Canada must be focused on excellent communication skills in the modern world's ubiquitous language.
Keeping culture alive is a good thing, but it comes with the challenge of balancing the old with the new. Traditional skills at the expense of modern ones could hurt a young person's prospects. But putting the work in to develop both is a noble and worthwhile goal.
There is always a place to honour, nurture and celebrate our history. The only requisite is it does not come at the expense of our future.
Delay increases sufferingYellowknifer - Wednesday, January 18, 2017
For those in the territory counting on implementation of the new Mental Health Act, the gears of government must be grinding painfully slow.
The overhauled act, unveiled in June 2015, promises to essentially streamline mental-health care in the territory.
The admissions process for those with mental-health issues will be easier, paperwork demands lessened, and people receiving care will be able to continue their treatment in their home communities.
Other changes include a provision to require patients take their medication, and an expansion of who can examine and assess patients.
This new tool is intended to help those in smaller communities receive mental-health care.
The new act also includes an expansion of criteria to force a person to get treatment, in an effort to let authorities intervene before a case reaches the point of causing harm.
Last year, Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy set a target date of Jan. 1 for implementation of the act, but that date has now been scratched and indefinitely delayed.
To be realistic, this new Mental Health Act is no magic bullet that will solve the layered, systemic, multi-generational problems that cause mental health issues here in the territory.
The $500,000 in new money to implement the act is a drop in the bucket of what could be spent fighting this problem.
Like any societal issue, addressing mental-health care needs a multi-faceted approach.
But it is an improvement that many people across the territory have said has long been urgently needed.
Because as it is right now, the only real treatment centres we have are the street, the psyche ward and the territory's jails.
And while we all wait for these new legal tools to provide better mental-health care in the territory, costs will continue to mount and people will continue to suffer without help.
Important to raise support for new poolYellowknifer - Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Across the board, for everybody who uses it, this is a unanimous assessment.
So it was wonderful to hear the federal government was willing to put up as much as $12.9 million toward the project.
This federal funding is certainly a welcome contribution, but is only 23 per cent of the $55.9 million the pool has been estimated to cost, as per a 2011 city-funded report.
A $55-million pool would require the city to come up with $42 million of its own money which might explain why administration has opted to work with a $30-million preliminary figure.
Will the pool actually come in for as little as $30 million? Maybe. But no matter what the cost, the city is going to have to put up millions
of dollars of its own money.
A plebiscite is always an option, and might actually be a good thing, because it will create a strong incentive for the municipal government to be clear with the people in terms of funding and planning.
Seeing as a new pool is still in very preliminary stages, the city would be wise to make one concrete decision right now - keep the public closely in the loop and get community users onside.
Violent offenders need not apply!Editorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, January 18, 2017
During the past decade, or so, we've heard a number of voices say we have to start bringing difficult issues out from behind closed doors in Nunavut.
It's time to discuss them openly and honestly, despite the pain that often accompanies them, if we're going to start making a difference in our ongoing battle to overcome some, if not all, of the barriers that yet stand in our way as a territory.
The issue of domestic violence and seeking election in our government has hit the front burner again, being fuelled by the YWCA's efforts in the NWT.
Up for debate is not allowing anyone convicted of domestic violence to run for office for a period of at least five years following their conviction.
First and foremost, it should be made clear that while, yes, the vast majority of domestic-violence victims are women, females are found guilty of the same crime in Canada every year, as well.
And, there is no doubt in this writer's mind, that the vast majority of men who suffer domestic abuse at the hands of a female spouse never report it.
It's an age-old stereotype of it just not being the manly thing to do, despite the fact there are millions of men walking around who really don't have a violent bone in their body.
And, despite what some would have you believe, there are millions more who would never, under any circumstances, raise their hand to a female.
Nunavut has the highest rate of domestic violence in this country.
I, for one, believe our leaders should lead by example, despite the growing number who fall from grace every year.
And, I would support any movement to ban for life, let alone five years, any person convicted of domestic violence, sexual assault or sexual interference from running for office.
We talk and talk and talk in this country, and we take to social media in droves to express our opinions, often in the most verbally inflammatory way.
Yet, at the same time, we're so damn worried about offending anyone, infringing on anyone's rights - real or perceived - or being accused of being this, that or the other thing, that we rarely bring about any significant change.
Unless a conviction gets overturned (it must be stated in good conscience, as people are, at times, wrongly convicted), do we really want anyone convicted of these crimes dictating policy?
Does someone who cannot control their temper enough to refrain from violence, or who cannot accept the fact that you're morally bankrupt the second you strike your spouse, deserve to sit in government and enjoy the perks that come with it?
How about someone who says no really means yes, or who interferes with a minor?
No! And it has nothing to do with democracy and a person's "right" to run for election.
Time and time again we've seen people with questionable pasts get elected, and time and time again we've seen them crash and burn (anyone remember a certain mayor in Toronto?).
We'll never achieve the utopian society some folks dream about.
Sadly, it's just not in our (human) nature.
However, we can better define and enforce our accepted parameters, and the top is as good a place to start as any.
Life is often about choices, and those choices are supposed to have far-reaching consequences.
If ever there was a time when we need morally upstanding leaders, it's now.
And setting the bar high for those who make the rules the rest of us have to live by, would be one giant step in the right direction.
