No need to name students Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, April 14, 2017
What is the point of the GNWT making public the names of, and the amount by which, anyone who has benefited from the territory's student loan forgiveness program ("MLA questions possible student privacy breach" Yellowknifer, April 7) in any given year?
Government department heads, lawyers and privacy experts may hum and haw over whether or not this represents a bona fide legal breach of a student's right to privacy, but Frame Lake MLA Kevin O'Reilly cut to the chase when he requested the GNWT simply stop doing this.
There is likely no legal reason forcing the government to publish an itemized list naming every student and the amount of his or her debt forgiveness.
If there were some kind of legal requirement behind naming each Jane and Charlie who shared in a student loan forgiveness program that cost less than $1 million last year, then surely there would be a legal requirement to let the light shine in on public servant remuneration which amounts to more than $700 million annually.
But as no so-called sunshine list exists for bureaucrats in the NWT, one has to assume there is no legal requirement to publish the specifics in the case of these students.
We understand the need for a public accounting of what government programs cost the GNWT and taxpayers. That the GNWT forgave close to $1 million in student loans is good to know.
Expenditures on student loan forgiveness are a good thing. Each loan forgiven represents NWT students getting higher education and returning home or not leaving, a requirement for loan forgiveness. Sounds like damned good value for the money. Hopefully next year the GNWT will need to forgive double that amount.
The exact amount of what each student is forgiven is irrelevant. This isn't bad debt being wiped clean in a gesture of territorial benevolence where the taxpayer has the right to know exactly what's up, who's involved and how much it cost.
This is a program funded to encourage Northerners to return north after completing education or other training in the south, or to stay in the north after completing their education here.
Publishing the name of every student and the amount he or she was forgiven serves no purpose. The practise should be abolished.
Arts success puts Yellowknife on the map Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, April 14, 2017
Congratulations to the three Yellowknifers who took home Juno awards earlier this month.
When people such as Quantum Tangle's Greyson Gritt and Tiffany Ayalik, and Isis Essery, who worked on Gord Downie's Secret Path project, excel on the national stage, it creates many positive benefits: it encourages other young, would-be artists to try their luck, puts the city on the map when it comes to arts and cultivates an interest in the North.
All of these things show those who divvy out arts grants that investing in the territory's arts community can pay back dividends. The territory already boasts Juno-winner Leela Gilday, and Digawolf, who has been a nominee. It is quite an accomplishment to see more artists added to this venerable list.
Yellowknifer is excited to see what's next for the Junos' newest inductees, and who else might grace that stage in the future.
Passion and work ethic all that's needed in new economyInuvik Drum - Thursday, April 13, 2016
She's just 14 but Savannah Elias-Beaulieu is showing impressive ambition pursuing an opportunity to compete in the Miss Teen Canada Globe contest this August.
The teen is working at Northmart and fundraising through other means to cover the costs.
Her passion is makeup and she wants to turn it into a job one day.
Not everyone in her life is completely sure makeup is a viable career path.
But look at Christen Dominique, NikkieTutorials, jeffreestar and many others on YouTube. They are running makeup and cosmetics channels and all have millions of subscribers each. Estimating ad revenue, those channels are likely generating a six-figure income at least, if not more.
The potential to turn a passion into a career without even leaving the house today is incredible.
Considering that young people make up a substantial amount of any of the top channels' viewership, makeup tutorials from a Miss Canada Teen Globe contestant, especially from an Arctic Canadian showing off some Northern culture, could be a hit.
Of course, it's not as easy as simply making a video and getting paid. Like any lucrative pursuit, making a channel on YouTube takes a lot of hard work and a lot of time for search algorithms to catch up, and a true passion for the subject is necessary to keep up the video stream and audience interest.
The economic prospects on social media get brought up regularly on this editorial page. But that's because the opportunities are marvelous.
The Town of Inuvik is big on tourism these days and tries to influence shows and their video crews to visit and document the area. But why fly in a whole production crew? A local with a video camera can do the same and reach millions of people around the world. That's the whole beauty of the Internet age.
Now, it's worth a disclaimer that the social media industry could be experiencing something of a bubble - seeing as almost none of these companies paying creators make money themselves - but even if the market corrects itself and pulls back some, it's not a market that's going anywhere or getting smaller in the long term.
Regular TV is dying, for good reason. The cast of characters on social media, from YouTube to streaming channels like Twitch or even short-lived booms such as Vine, is so much more diverse than in traditional media. Every niche one can think of is covered.
CNN just had one of its best quarters in years, and even at its viewership height in March, YouTube vlogger Casey Neistat, now affiliated with CNN, crushes the numbers Wolf Blitzer or anyone on that newscast gets. And he doesn't have a crew, just him and a camera.
Elias-Beaulieu already shows the type of work ethic and ambition that will open up doors for her that peers less focused on the future won't see.
Living in our dogs' filthYellowknifer - Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Yellowknife has become a dog-poop minefield. It's quite obvious heading up the main entrance to Tin Can Hill - to the right and left of the pathway up are dozens upon dozens of droppings.
According to city administration, some of these gifts may be from wild animals such as foxes, bears or coyotes. Sure, but the number of domesticated dogs in town dwarf the number of large, wild mammals, and certainly they aren't all using the entrance to Tin Can Hill as a communal latrine.
Let's not kid ourselves. It's dog owners abandoning the vast majority of these messes.
Three years ago, administration updated the city's dog bylaw to include, among other things, a provision that requires dog owners to carry bags. Since then, this portion of the bylaw hasn't been enforced once.
City officials say people have been ticketed for failing to clean up after their dogs and officers have done public engagement on the issue but the city did not share the number of tickets given out or any data to say how much public engagement there has been.
City councillors who took part in approving the bag carry measure are obviously upset. Not handing out tickets makes this part of the bylaw "a pointless legislative exercise," said Coun. Adrian Bell, a proponent of the bag carrier provision in 2013.
City officials are being somewhat circumspect about why they are not handing out tickets to bag-less dog walkers but the reasons seem obvious.
For one, it's doubtful it would stand up in court should it be challenged. What if a dog walker insists she had been carrying three bags upon interception by bylaw officers but had used all three and deposited them in a city-supplied receptacle? Is the city going to conduct DNA analysis of the receptacle to prove none of the bags came from her dog? And just how many bags are people supposed to carry anyway?
The weaknesses of this particular portion of the dog bylaw aside, it's clear council was fed up with the status quo when they passed it. The fact that nothing appears to have changed since then reinforces the impression that the city doesn't take this issue very seriously.
Considering the annual uproar over dog feces that comes with the snow melt each spring, administration should be able to point to specific results - the number of tickets issued, the dates on which officers patrolled popular dog-walking trails to investigate compliance and conduct public engagement. Yellowknifer has asked for this information before but has yet to see actual numbers.
Now, Yellowknifer is not advocating for a doggy police state of bylaw checkpoints shaking down owners for their poop bags. But it's clear council and the public would like to see more enforcement.
What if bylaw picked a time of year to do a blitz, where they make themselves visible around off-leash areas, let people know about the bylaw, hand out bags - and some tickets. Then report back to council.
Dog feces isn't just gross. According to the city's own Facebook page, it can contain E. coli, giardia, parvo, tapeworms, roundworms, salmonella, coccidia and these organisms can survive in the soil for years.
And it's not just dogs using these parks. Children do too. Children who love to play in the dirt. The fact the city has such a laissez faire attitude toward this mess just makes it seem like it doesn't care.
And if the city doesn't care, why should dog owners?
Whale of a taleEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Patrick Moore found himself in a little hot water after voicing his opinion on whale hunting at the Nunavut Mining Symposium in Iqaluit last week.
To come to Nunavut and suggest Inuit should think about phasing out whale hunting; well, them's fighting words in these parts, so you have to expect people to be upset by the notion.
Today, while one person talks, the other often puts on the appearance of listening, but they're really waiting, and rather impatiently at that, for the person to finish so they can hear the glorious sound of their own voice staunchly defending their stance, cause or opinion.
There were a few interesting points I took from Moore's little spiel in Iqaluit.
First, when something happens in public, be it Moore's intentional comments or something quite unintentional, we've learned from the American media to instantly adopt the blood-in-the-water mentality and make as big a deal out of the situation as we can, whether it's warranted or not.
And we've cleverly elevated certain terms that, by their very nature, mute one's voice under the unspoken, but all too real, threat of racism.
We don't get upset today, nor do we get even. There's far too much energy required with those types of approaches.
On those types of paths, we risk the possibility of having to substantiate a point or claim, and, heaven forbid, we may end up face-to-face with the biggest little three-word question in the world, why? Once you put yourself in that situation, someone may actually expect you to answer.
Well, we can't have that. Fortunately, we've learned to play the role of the victim and the put upon to perfection in this country. We know the best thing to be today is offended. Once you establish yourself as genuinely offended (and, psst, hey, who's to say, really?) it's a slam dunk from there.
Play your cards right, and the media may do it for you by cleverly placing the all-powerful word in a sensational, attention-grabbing headline.
And even if, after reading the story four times, you're still not sure who was offended, unless you count the person on Twitter who thought it was cute the way the "white dude" (the white dude is always fair game) expressed his opinion, there's still no worries.
In fact, even if Moore went out of his way to state he has no intention to advocate against Inuit hunting whales (which he did), or even if he was quoted, on the record, saying he respects the rights of aboriginal people to hunt them, if that's what they want to do (which he did), it wouldn't matter.
Moore alluded to a couple of minor points, being entitled to his opinion and having the right to free speech, but - let's be honest, right? - the "white dude" and his rights, up against someone who has been offended? Moore would soon take to Twitter to publicly explain his beliefs on the matter.
One can't help but wonder how many public explanations soon became admissions of guilt in somebody's courtroom.
But, the best was yet to come.
That sour little moment came courtesy of the Nunavut Mining Symposium itself, when it turned its back on Moore, his rights, opinions and well-spoken, if ill-conceived, thoughts on alternatives to whale hunting, and issued a statement apologizing to any guest offended by Moore, making sure to note some of the views expressed by Moore (gee, wonder which ones?) are not reflective of the symposium's or, more importantly, any of its sponsors.
Moore picked the wrong battlefield, and Inuit face too many real threats to their way of life to be concerned with his Disney-like depiction as reason to stop hunting whales, but the man should get points for acknowledging aboriginal rights, while not renouncing his right to free speech and being entitled to his opinion.
If Moore had been a Clash fan, he would have known, "You have the right to free speech, provided, of course, you're not dumb enough to actually try it."
Government foot-dragging holding back First NationsNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, April 10, 2017
Darryl Boucher-Marlowe says he will explore ways to boost infrastructure and investment after being elected chief of the Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation.
"I want to get the young people's voices heard," he said after his win on March 28 ("Lutsel K'e elects new chief," April 3).
At 30-years old, Boucher-Marlowe said he believes he could be the youngest chief ever elected in Lutsel K'e. He wants to find ways to boost infrastructure and investment in the community, such as developing a hotel and restaurant to increase tourism.
He wants to create jobs and sell local goods.
"When we get visitors into the community, we have nowhere for them to stay or for them to come and spend their money," he said. "We want to help create jobs more sustainably for our First Nation."
Boucher-Marlowe is not alone.
And it's time government bureaucrats wake up and take notice.
There is simply no good reason to throttle efforts by indigenous people to have a life truly free of the invisible grip of colonialism.
Take a look at the roiling situation in the Deh Cho between the Nahanni Butte Dene Band and the Department of Lands.
Nahanni Butte Chief Peter Marcellais said the band had asked for the department's assistance in putting together an application for a land use permit in early February and has been waiting to sign off on the final application ("Lands dep't seeks injunction for road," News/North, April 3).
So what does the government do? It seeks an injunction against Nahanni Butte for work the band has been undertaking on a road next to the community. The band has had members working for more than two months to slash brush and clear the road, which used to be an old logging road.
The department claims Nahanni Butte is trying to speed up development of Prairie Creek Mine by getting around an environmental assessment process required for construction of a road to the mine.
Currently, a proposed all-season road to the mine is before the Mackenzie Valley Review Board - no stranger to accusations that it has a fondness for long and drawn out processes.
The GNWT dodged a bullet in its decision to withdraw from the case last week and seek an out-of-court settlement. Its reputation as a legitimate level of government is already seriously hampered in communities outside of Yellowknife. The authority of its institutional power is being challenged but clearly this a case where patience and compromise would win a better result.
Metis leaders in the South Slave, meanwhile, are "frustrated" by the status of their long-running land claim negotiations with the GNWT and federal government, ("Metis voice frustrations," News/North, April 3).
And it's not just because negotiations are into their 21st year - with a final agreement years away - even though an agreement-in-principle on land and resources was signed in 2015. A final agreement would also deal with self-government.
The territorial and federal governments are reportedly trying to have new offers on the table for three outstanding NWT land claims by the middle of May, including Northwest Territory Metis Nation.
We will see if that moves the ball down the field any. Because it's been stuck in the mud for some time.
"I wouldn't say that it's an impasse," said Fort Resolution's Garry Bailey, president of the Northwest Territory Metis. "But we're frustrated because we've been dealing with these issues for a long time."
No kidding. Indigenous people have a paucity of faith in government. And for good reason.
It's time to cut the red tape holding indigenous communities back. Let them fly or fall - but at least let them try.
Arts partnership needed for new city developmentNunavut/News North - Monday, April 10, 2017
It's good that the Qikiqtaaluk Business Development Corporation - and Qikiqtani Inuit Association - are working together with the City of Iqaluit to develop a second core in the city's west end.
The development will see between 700 and 900 residential units - a major addition to the city's infrastructure - as well as a conference centre, hotel and other needed facilities.
We're hopeful culture will get serious consideration as this project develops. The city needs to encourage a second partnership that would help Nunavut's performing arts community through Qaggiavuut build the territory's first performing arts centre.
Just as the city benefits from the development of a second core, so too does the development corporation benefit from having traffic drawn toward its project.
Qaggiavuut's Ellen Hamilton indicated to city council that the conference centre will have a performing arts aspect but that it may duplicate her organization's efforts. If that's the case, the Qaggiavuut project could struggle to come to life as a result.
It makes more sense to look to the people who have fought for many years to develop a performing arts centre, and to bring the project into the fold. Qaggiavuut's project will be of significant benefit to Inuit, and give life to the neighbourhood.
The business development corporation's mission is to provide career development opportunities, and its mandate is to work with public and private partners. There's a lot of logic in aligning with an existing body that has received the Arctic Inspiration Prize, and which has strong leaders that include Hamilton - an Order of Nunavut recipient - and many respected Inuit.
This week, the Toronto Star reported that 401 Richmond - one of the city's heritage buildings and home to mostly artists, art galleries, and cultural startups - faces a dramatic tax increase due to the fact it is on prime real estate. Its assessed value is far more than the rents would indicate.
So Toronto is asking the Ontario government to change a tax rule that could help promote the arts by reducing the tax burden for such spaces where real estate is valuable. That's because places such as 401 Richmond keep the city alive by bringing culture to an otherwise all-business neighbourhood.
The same attitude is needed in Nunavut. Arts projects like the performing arts centre need the support of those with money, in this case the Qikiqtaaluk Business Development Corporation.
Nunavut is the only circumpolar capital without a performing arts centre, and we look with envy at NWT's, Yukon's and Iceland's centres. We encourage the QIA to direct its business development arm to work with Qaggiavuut and make a space that visitors to Iqaluit will want to make their first port of call.
