Preparing for forest fire season aheadNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, May 22, 2017
Everyone was able to escape unharmed, as a forest fire leaped towards them in the near distance.
Not only lives were at risk but also a cherished family fishing lodge on Harding Lake, about 50 kilometres east of Yellowknife.
The lodge owner was not warned to flee before that fire destroyed Namushka Lodge in July 2016.
To this day, Bryan Chorostkowski remains skeptical the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has learned from the experience.
The lodge had 21 guests at its fly-in location when a wildfire swept through on July 15. The fire began a day earlier near Pickerel Lake, roughly 12 kilometres to the northwest.
By 7:15 p.m., the wildfire had jumped a fire break in the woods near the lodge and people fled the flames by boat.
An independent review concluded Environment and Natural Resources had "inadequate" communications with people whose property was at risk and recommended "significant communications improvements."
The department, its forest fire crews, and assisting crews from out of territory deserve credit, after the 2014 forest fire season in particular -- one of the worst on record, consuming 34,000 square kilometres of forest -- with not a single loss of life. Their spectacular defence of Kakisa that year was nothing short of heroic.
But there are still lessons to be learned.
Much like in 2014 when a forest fire destroyed a family homestead on the Hoarfrost River, the Namushka fire was flagged by someone -- in this case, Chorostkowski's brother -- concerned about the approaching fire but nothing was done to save the lodge.
Ahead of the upcoming fire season, the territorial government is trying to gather more contact information for people who have properties in the bush. But there are hundreds and hundreds of cabins, lodges and camps in the territory
Ahead of what could be a "very difficult" forest fire season, the territorial government now has some new fire-fighting equipment. Eight new Air Tractor 802A FireBoss amphibious water bomber aircraft have arrived in the territory over the past several weeks.
The aircraft, at about $3.5 million each, replace four GNWT-owned CL-215 planes that will be sold off. Four of the planes will be based in Yellowknife while the other four will be in Fort Smith.
The water bombers arrived as a long-term forecast developed with Environment and Climate Change Canada and Canadian Forest Service predicts a warm and dry summer in the southern part of the territory.
Areas that "look like they may be trouble" are the Deh Cho and parts of the South and North Slave regions, he said.
In fact, the fire danger in Fort Simpson was listed as high for several days last week and into the weekend of May 20. Though only one small wildfire has been reported so far in the territory. That was near Inuvik.
So what can the GNWT and you do to stay safe this spring and summer?
Basic precautions such as FireSmarting your property and knowing your community's emergency plan are good starting points.
And according to the report into the Namushka Lodge blaze, the GNWT must improve communications and use computer software that can predict fire growth in real-time. The GNWT also needs to be able to source a fire behavior analyst when needed and generally update training for staff - this just to satisfy previous recommendations for improvement.
Frank Lepine, the department's director of forest management, acknowledged problems during the Namushka fire.
"It's possible we could have done a better job and we're always trying to do a better job."
If the government believes it has the ability to do a better job in these life or death situations, then it is a goal that must be pursued.
The government has a duty to do whatever it can to protect the people. It's just common sense that in a territory so vast with people spread out so sparsely that every lodge or cabin can't be protected from wildfires. But surely the human beings can be.
Call for action needs loud bell to be rungNunavut/News North - Monday, May 22, 2017
Mary Simon, former president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, has travelled all over the North listening to Northerners as Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Minister Carolyn Bennett's special representative on Arctic leadership.
After 65 meetings with 200 Northerners, Simon told the federal government the obvious: they want the things other Canadians take for granted.
That includes a quality education, access to universities, reliable energy, economic development opportunities and basic infrastructure.
Surely Simon did not need to have a single meeting to come up with her list of 40 recommendations. Northerners have been broadcasting these concerns for ages.
We're generalizing, to an extent. But looking at the recommendations in detail, they are mostly a relay of concerns raised in these pages and elsewhere. Despite being raised over and over, response from the federal government is typically slow and insufficient but always enough to allow for a photo opportunity.
Simon is concerned her report will sit on a shelf somewhere in Ottawa and it's a fair concern.
Simon herself is a good photo op for Bennett and the government. Send a prominent Inuk leader north to hear from the people and show them the feds are listening.
And certainly she has collected 40 action items that would improve life in the North. Improve infrastructure, raise housing above Third World standards, make efforts to preserve and strengthen language, give broadband projects access to the Building Canada infrastructure fund, account for Northern costs and head counts in funding calculations, and consider local knowledge in research and programs.
Some of the recommendations are easy to direct bureaucrats to implement. Others are moonshots that will take far longer than one government's mandate. Cheap fixes versus courageous investments.
The majority of southern voters will want to know that their money is being invested wisely, and southern jurisdictions have their own big dollar concerns. Unfortunately, there are only a small number who speak for the few of us living in Canada's North, and too many in Ottawa who speak for many more.
But perhaps Mary Simon's brand is big enough in Ottawa, and perhaps her role gives her access to the right people to move the North forward.
If her report is a roadmap to nation-building, she needs to get it in the right hands. Bennett is a start but every MP and bureaucrat who could have a hand in this needs a copy. People from St. John's to Vancouver need to see the benefits of investing in the North. They need to understand the issues and see why it matters to them.
People can talk about our problems all they want up here but the real audience for this is in the south. That's why you can skip the old advice to write your MP, and go one better. Write someone else's MP.
Secret weed meetings butt out public input Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, May 19, 2017
If a government meeting happens in a boardroom and no records are taken, did the meeting actually happen?
Right now, a territorial government working group is holding meetings to draft recommendations on how the legislative assembly will develop corresponding legal marijuana legislation for the territory.
The only thing the public knows is the group exists and has met five times as of May 10. What the public doesn't know is who is going to these meetings, what they are discussing or a timeline for acting on the group's recommendations.
Why don't we know these things? Because this working group keeps no records of their meetings or discussions.
Marijuana is set to be legal in Canada by July 2018. That might seem really far away right now but drafting, passing and implementing legislation moves at a glacial pace. For example, the legislative assembly passed a new version of the Mental Health Act in the fall of 2015 but as of this day, there is still no timeline for implementation.
Think about that. Eighteen months after passage of a new Mental Health Act, it has yet to be implemented. Right now, the NWT is 13 months from the expected federal implementation of legalized marijuana and nobody has the faintest idea of what the territory's legislation will look like.
Yellowknifer doesn't necessarily believe the working group needs to go so far as to keep meeting minutes but is it so unreasonable to expect members to document what topics they are covering at the very least? Things such as minimum age, intoxicated driving laws, intoxicated snowmobile driving laws, education and health issues?
The Department of Justice has said there will be a public consultation component to the drafting of this legislation.
Meanwhile, the working group might be discussing topics that the public may not even realize are issues. This sort of information is unquestionably valuable to know, so the public is informed and ready to give feedback when the time comes.
The more government shares about what it is doing, the better off we all are.
A small initiative with a big impact Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, May 19, 2017
It started with a Facebook group with one member and expanded to 600 active volunteers over the course of three years.
Renee Sanderson's Pay it Forward NWT is now a small army of individuals who want to make the world a better place.
They do things like put together Christmas gift bags for homeless individuals, deliver baby baskets to new moms at Stanton Territorial Hospital, host toy and coat drives and deliver care packages to families going through tragedy.
For example, the group recently fundraised for the recovery effort of four missing hunters in Fort Chipewyan, money that helped make possible a planeload of groceries for families affected by the tragedy, as well as the rescue team.
Sanderson's group shows how much can be achieved when people work together to make their communities a better place.
The next step for Sanderson is to reach out to other community organizations, such as Salvation Army Yellowknife, to see how Pay it Forward NWT's work can benefit them. Bravo to Sanderson and Pay it Forward NWT for everything they do.
Heated debate sometimes necessaryInuvik Drum - Thursday, May 18, 2017
A few sparks flew at town council after the final vote on the licensed premises bylaw last week.
Coun. Vince Sharpe, the most consistently outspoken member of council, declared the vote "disgusting" once it was made.
Councillor Darrell Christie took issue with that and Mayor Jim McDonald had to restore order.
It was one of the rare times Christie has spoken at council, so it was nice to see some emotion.
Agree with him or not, you have to respect the passion.
Councillor Kurt Wainman took issue with Sharpe's comments and let him know as much once the council meeting ended.
This issue hit many emotional notes, even including a member of the public crying during council while relaying what alcohol had done to her family.
On the one hand, there is the clear, rational case to be made that prohibition does not cure addiction problems.
If people want to drink, they will find a way to drink, or they will find something else to put in their body. Alcohol prohibition can lead to even more dangerous substance abuse.
On the other hand, there is the fuzzier but no less worth considering argument that Inuvik is a unique environment and conventional wisdom may not apply here.
Perhaps simply sending the message that the town does not support regular drinking habits is meaningful to enough people to have an impact. Gwich'in Tribal Council President Bobbie Jo Greenland-Morgan made this point.
To that end, though, one wonders where it should stop. Why not ban alcohol completely?
Either way, the licensed premises bylaw and KBL Environmental's proposed soil treatment facility have brought out the most debate in council in recent months.
This is when council looks healthiest. Nothing's better than a good war of words.
Voters want their political representatives to go to bat for them and to have no fear in the public arena.
There are too many wallflower politicians skating by with politically correct terminology, scared to open themselves up to disagreement.
Town council almost seems to regard these debates as a tragedy, as if the rift in opinion and forceful words means something is wrong in Inuvik.
But these debates are democracy in action, and if anything, having them more often and on many more issues would be even better.
It's also a great way to get people interested in politics.
It goes without saying that political theatre needs to stay on the stage.
Adults should all be able to express themselves freely in council chambers and shake hands afterwards.
People who aren't afraid to kick the hornet's nest make life worth living, and council worth attending.
RCMP: Use the media to warn, gather informationYellowknifer - Wednesday, May 17, 2017
It took three days and some gentle prodding by Yellowknifer for the RCMP to put out a news release last week seeking information from the public on a report that two strangers attacked a 15-year-old girl on her way to school.
The police justify the delay by insisting the attack was an "isolated incident" and that public safety was not at risk.
It's an odd response to say the least. Even if police have information ensuring them that the incident was indeed "isolated" and no else is at risk, it brushes aside an important fact – namely that a violent crime has been committed and suspects are still at large.
It's particularly concerning the crime involves a youth on her way to school in broad daylight.
If the RCMP is at all serious about asking the public's help in identifying suspects, waiting three days to alert the public is an odd way to advance its efforts in finding the assailants.
A more immediate alert would put the public on the lookout, better help identify possible eyewitnesses and provide suspects less opportunities to evade arrest.
The RCMP are careful about asking the public for help and for good reason – one doesn't want to overwhelm police with trivial observations and commentary that bog down investigative efforts.
Yellowknifer understands how having to answer questions from media is time consuming, even irritating.
To this we say, when seeking culprits in serious crimes let the media be your trumpet and the public your many extra sets of eyes.
The RCMP can rest assured
Yellowknifer can be a valuable tool, one police can use to get the word out about crimes and criminals.
Don't be shy RCMP, use us.
Creative business types wantedYellowknifer - Wednesday, May 17, 2017
The city should get full marks for its innovative approach to sparking business growth downtown.
A contest is being held awarding one year of free downtown commercial space to the winner.
The city has witnessed a business flight from the downtown core in recent years as retailers struggled with high rents, competition from online sales, and social problems related to loitering and public intoxication.
It will take some revitalization and enticement to draw them back. The city can start by focusing on the problem it is most able to address - the high cost of real estate. There may be some great ideas out there for a downtown business that are stifled by the cost of leasing retail space in the downtown core.
That said, the city's core is not a lost cause. The success of new businesses such as The Fat Fox Cafe and Birchwood Coffee Ko attest to that, as does the success of not-so-new businesses like Bijou Boutique.
And nothing encourages success like success. The more new and thriving businesses that pop up in the downtown core, the better it is for all businesses and the people who shop downtown.
There are other benefits to this contest beyond its function as new business incubator. It will give the city a sense for how much interest there is in developing storefront businesses in the downtown core. Presumably, if the city is overwhelmed with solid applicants and business concepts, all waiting for a little financial help to get off the ground, then a contest like this one can be repeated in the future.
Out on the final limbEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Famous NHL coach Toe Blake set the bar high on those who would make predictions on the game of hockey, but with so much playoff talk going on in the region, it's time to stick my neck out and go against the grain in my choices for the Cup final.
In the East, the Penguins are defying the lord of the injury bugs and keep pulling out big wins in their quest to defend the Stanley Cup.
These guys are on a mission and, as exciting as Ottawa's run has been, the Pens are playing a smart, disciplined style of hockey and sticking to their playbook.
The Senators stud D-man, Erik Karlsson, has been the main reason they've made the semifinals, but he's going to find the sledding a lot tougher against Pittsburgh's strong forecheck and smart play in the neutral zone.
With both Kris Letang and Trevor Daley out with injuries, the Pens have circled the wagons and are employing a team defense that their forwards have bought into.
And, while Karlsson can light it up offensively, he may find the going a little tougher in his own end of the rink with the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel darting around.
Add to that the confident and dangerous play of Jake Guentzel, the speed and quick shot of Conor Sheary and the bulldog approach of Patric Hornqvist, and the Sens defense is going to have to come up very big.
Finally, the hockey gods gave a deserving Marc-Andre Fleury his long-awaited chance and the best backup goalie in the NHL this year has delivered in spades.
Fleury has reclaimed the starter's role and has no intention of giving it back to Matt Murray, at least not this year.
And for all the talk about Ottawa's "vaunted" offense, the truth of the matter is the Sens had but three 20-goal scorers this year in Kyle Turris (27), Mike Hoffman (26) and Mark Stone (22).
This team goes as far as Karlsson takes them, and, up against Malkin and a very determined Crosby, my money's on the Pens.
The West is a whole different kettle of fish.
The stats say Nashville should take out Anaheim in four or five games, and many folks have jumped on the Predators bandwagon after they eliminated Chicago in four games during the opening round.
Add to that Nashville has taken the Ducks down the past three times they've met in the playoffs, and things don't look too rosy for the Ducks heading into their semifinal showdown.
I'm going way out on a limb and saying the Ducks are going to get it done based on two things: Ryan Getzlaf is one of the greatest team leaders in hockey, and he was on a mission in the first two rounds, and the Ducks defensive corps is smart, tough when it needs to be, fast, and very well balanced.
Nashville is going to have to keep coming at them, game in and game out, in hopes of wearing them down as the series progresses.
That very well may happen, but the Ducks blue-line corps is still a relatively young one and they should have plenty left in the tank if the series goes six or seven games.
There's no doubt the loss of 32-goal scorer Patrick Eaves is felt by the Ducks, but they still have plenty of pop with Getzlaf, Rickard Rakell (33 goals), a hot Jacob Silverberg and Corey Perry to match-up against Nashville's trio of key offensive weapons in Ryan Johansen, Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg.
In all probability this series will come down to the goaltenders, and the majority of hockey talkers seem to give Nashville a huge advantage here with Pekka Rinne between the pipes.
The branch is pretty thin where I'm at, but I'm picking the Ducks to eek it out on the strength of Getzlaf's leadership and their overall balance.
That sets-us up for a Pittsburgh vs. Anaheim final.
Go Ducks! Go Pens!
