Monday, April 09, 2001
Patsy is an English term referring to an innocent person getting slapped around by others more guilty.
A Northern example is the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board regarding the case of the Patterson Sawmill in Hay River.
A few weeks ago, sawmill owner Eugene Patterson denounced the review board after it prevented him logging 10,000 cubic metres in the forests near Pine Point, lumber worth over $1 million Cdn. Before the first tree fell, an environmental review was required. That meant more time and money than the sawmill and its 20 employees could afford.
Then it came out the board was doing exactly what it is legislated to do because the Deninoo Community Council in Fort Resolution had requested the review.
While the effect logging would have on wildlife was a concern, the general manager of the Deninu K'ue Development Corporation told News/North the amount of cash Patterson offered - $5,000 for each area trapper, $100,000 for the band - wasn't enough.
Two things have to happen before the situation can be turned around.
Patterson's Sawmill has to accept that the federal government controls the land and has decided the band has a say over what happens on it, if only through the Mackenzie board, although treaty land negotiations are coming. Patterson has to deal with the band as any other supplier, namely pay their price or shop elsewhere.
As for Fort Resolution, they have to recognize that Patterson Sawmills has been able to do what the band has not for two decades run a sawmill and put people to work year after year.
To see that such partnerships work, they can look to the North Slave where established business experience is developing Dene resources and skills for profit.
That's the way business is now being done in the North. Making the review board a Patsy isn't going to do anyone any good, not even the environment.
Despite the costly lessons of contaminated mine and military sites, recycling is a hard sell in the Northwest Territories.
Maybe it's the vast reach of the tundra that persuades Northerners that there is no end of space in which to hide trash.
Whatever the reason, the Deh Cho Friendship Centre director Gerald Antoine hit a wall of indifference when he organized a weekend conference on recycling in Fort Simpson.
Barbara Armstrong, co-ordinator of Inuvik's new recycling program was there to lend a hand. But few residents showed for what was to have been a first step in developing a waste management model for smaller communities.
The cold shoulder didn't discourage Antoine. Recycling is not a dead issue, he said. Armstrong was equally optimistic, and said if recycling can work in Inuvik, it can work anywhere.
And it will, if Northerners take their cue from leaders like Antoine and Armstrong.
Multiculturalism Minister Dr. Hedy Fry and her Northern fact finding mission on racism was a colossal disappointment.
Worse, her cross-country tour that concluded in Iqaluit late last month will do nothing to improve the lives of Inuit.
The information she brought along said as much.
In order to move forward, victims of racism and discrimination should be afforded the opportunity to tell their stories, according to her supporting material.
With all due respect Dr. Fry, that's only part of the solution. What's the point of re-recounting past and present injustices unless action is taken to address them?
Her government's 2001 draft document "Combatting racism and discrimination against aboriginal peoples" points to 35 reports already written about human rights violations against Canada's indigenous people. Such reports are carbon copies of what Inuit told Fry.
Does Fry think the stories she heard of dog slaughters, relocations and residential schools while in Iqaluit is the catharsis Inuit have been looking for?
It does no such thing in a territory with disproportionately high rates of crime, tuberculosis, shortened lifespans and suicide.
While it's good Fry gathered current information for a United Nation's declaration against racism, her government has to address past wrongs and be more aware of what people need.
The gun law is a current example of southern thinking that doesn't address Northern realities.
It's time to make commitments to improve the social, economic, educational and medical ills that are inextricably linked to the past.
Nunavummiut were promised increased opportunity with the coming of the territory and just two years into it, we've seen one part of that promise come true -- the Akitsiraq Law School.
The one-time chance to earn a law degree provides Inuit students with a salary and living expenses while they study. The courses are offered in Iqaluit and are open only to Inuit. The offer sounded great and more than 100 people applied to the program.
Fifteen -- and possibly five more -- will be accepted. The tremendous response shows just how ready Inuit are to seize a good thing.
Nunavut Tunngavik and the Government of Nunavut should give themselves a hearty slap on the back. They have illustrated to the naysayers that progress is being made in Nunavut.
Education Minister Peter Kilabuk, responsible for income support, exercised good judgment by choosing not to claw back the federal fuel rebate from Nunavut recipients.
His counterpart in the west, Education, Culture and Employment Minister Jake Ootes, didn't make such an astute decision and dinged the people most in need in the NWT. He counted Ottawa's $125 and $250 cheques for the Relief for Heating Expenses as income earned from other sources. He deducted those dollars from monthly support cheques and left people scrambling to find money to put food in their mouths.
While Ootes should be ashamed of himself, Kilabuk can seek comfort in the sure knowledge that he acted appropriately. Any other decision would have been reckless and given Nunavummiut reason to question Kilabuk's leadership skills.
The Hay River District Education Authority is outraged over recent cuts they say will cost them teachers in the classroom.
The South Slave Divisional Education Council says the DEA will receive more money for teachers so no positions should be lost.
The DEA will get more money for teachers, but salaries have gone up and other funding in other areas has been slashed to build a surplus required by law.
Under the GNWT's funding formula, schools get money based on enrollment. Individual DEAs decide how to spend it. Money earmarked for books or computers can be re-directed to teachers' salaries.
Making children numbers on a spreadsheet makes it easier for accountants to justify pulling teachers out of classrooms, but it smacks of a government so mired in rules and procedures that mistakes accounting for accountability.
Editorial Comment
Malcolm Gorrill
Inuvik Drum
Some misdeeds can have far reaching effects.
Samuel Hearne secondary school grads have been taking part in various activities to raise funds this school year. They've held at least one car wash and a dance, plus shared the concession for a weekend at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex.
The grads also have been holding hotdog lunches at the school on Fridays. However, their hotdogs were stolen recently, casting doubt on whether these lunches would continue.
Whether the lunches continue or not, this theft will discourage grads and their hungry customers.
Events like these are more than just a chance for people to get a quick meal, or for the grad committee to collect a few more dollars.
They serve as a chance for people to interact with the future leaders of tomorrow. And students get to interact with the world outside their school during what should be some of the happiest days of their lives.
Events like hotdog lunches don't just happen magically. Supplies have to be bought and stored, and volunteers have to be recruited to serve up dinner.
Not to mention the fact that none of it would take place at all were it not for customers -- be they fellow students or members of the general public.
The theft might also cast a pall for other activities the grads put on. After all, it's hard to volunteer for something after it seems a lot of effort was wasted.
Hopefully, the grads won't let this incident get them down.
Beautifying the town
Efforts continue to make Inuvik a more beautiful and better place to live.
The town's community beautification
committee has hired a firm from Edmonton, Gibbs and Brown Landscape Architects, to come up with a long-term plan to beautify Inuvik.
Members of the community will be invited to have their say in what should be done.
Such a plan could also result in making the town more attractive for tourists, and businesses, so all could derive benefits.
The community beautification committee should also be commended for planning to carry on some of the things that were done last year, such as the placement of flower pots and banners.
A pick up day will again be held to get garbage off the ground and in the bins, where it belongs.
Flight of fancy
Now to switch gears to those just embarking upon their educational journey.
The kids at Inuvik Preschool recently took a trip to the moon as part of their space studies.
Watching them don moon boots (sneakers) and air packs (juice containers), and squeeze into their two rockets (cardboard boxes), serves as a reminder of how unlimited a child's imagination can -- and should -- be.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum, Fort Simpson
News of Nahanni Butte's seismic deal with a Calgary-based company has some people jumping for joy while others are scrambling to gather more information.
There's immense pressure on some First Nations' leadership from within their own communities to sign deals with seismic, oil and gas and mining companies, amongst others. That was quite evident at the 1999 Deh Cho Assembly in Kakisa when then Nahanni Butte chief Peter Marcellais broke down and cried under the strain as he revealed to fellow aboriginal leaders that his community had decided to enter into a pre-bid process for oil and gas. As it turns out, that process was supported and later adopted by the Deh Cho First Nations (DCFN), but little in the way of real development came of it.
Current Nahanni Butte chief Leon Konisenta told The Drum he has 10 people waiting for jobs. In a community of fewer than 100, that's a significant number. These are jobs that will keep them relatively close to home, something that potential employment through Tungsten mine, if and when it goes back into production, wouldn't offer. That's an important factor, as witnessed in Fort Liard, where some residents turn down oil and gas positions because they would be isolated hundreds of kilometres from their families for weeks at a time.
There's also a question of what other benefits the Nahanni Butte Dene band has procured from this seismic deal. The DCFN has been working fervently to ensure that impact benefits agreements are made mandatory within the region.
Whatever the terms of Nahanni Butte's contract, it's obviously acceptable to chief and council. Whether anyone else applauds them or criticizes them, as it now stands, they are the ones who have the final say.
Pay the mayor?
Whether Fort Simpson's mayor deserves a half-time salary is debatable. Looking at what the NWT's other cities, towns and villages offer their municipal leaders may help.
The territory's smallest town, Norman Wells, like Fort Simpson, doesn't offer anything more than an honorarium. However, the honorarium totals $12,600 annually as opposed to a total of $4,440 offered in Fort Simpson (assuming the mayor is able to attend every meeting). Fort Smith, which is twice the size of Fort Simpson, pays its mayor a half-time salary of $25,900 each year.
The NWT's chiefs are also paid for their work, although not very much, but that's another issue for another day.
Wilson's request apparently fell on deaf ears. That's understandable because the timing is suspect.
If Wilson has been an advocate of compensating the mayor over the past five years, as he says, then it should have been fresh in his mind during the municipal election campaign six months ago. Not a popular campaign plank, perhaps, but one that should have been addressed.
In a flier issued by his supporters last October, point number four read: "He (Wilson) is prepared to commit his time doing the job now that he is retired from his real job... This is important."
This is indeed important.
Paying the mayor is an issue that needs to be given serious consideration -- during the next election campaign.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Pierre Richard's hint about the results of the Repulse Bay narwhal survey is good news to all parties involved in the three-year co-management pilot program.
The program got off to a rocky start with Repulse hunters going more than 400 per cent over their quota in the first year, but has levelled off substantially since.
With 1999's survey showing no stock decline, the door is wide open for the Repulse Bay HTO, Nunavut Tunngavik, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board and the Keewatin Wildlife Federation to make community co-management successful in the Repulse area.
As time goes by, the key to continued success may very well rest with the hunters' accuracy in reporting their numbers, especially the struck and lost.
Repulse Bay has earned itself a sterling reputation the past two years for its honesty in reporting landed narwhals and struck and lost.
The hamlet's plea to other communities to honour its limit and reporting procedures when hunting narwhal in the Repulse area should be adhered to, legal grounds for doing so or not.
It will also be interesting to view the reports from last year's traditional knowledge survey conducted by the DFO during a series of workshops in November and December.
It will be especially interesting to see the difference in opinions, if any, between Repulse, Coral and Rankin Inlet hunters.
If the various opinions are segregated when made public, it may give Repulse an idea of what to expect when it comes to other Kivalliq communities respecting their self-imposed rules and limits.
Proper planning?
We certainly have no argument with the Keewatin Chamber of Commerce's assertion that the tourism industry is in a sad state in Nunavut, mainly because of the shortsightedness on the part of the government to properly fund Nunavut Tourism so it can do its job properly.
However, we do find its claim of no proper tourism plan being in place rather amusing, considering the chamber planned its own AGM to run right smack in the middle of budget week at the capital.
Holding an AGM this past week guaranteed there would not be a single MLA or minister on hand for its members to lobby.
With planning like that, Nunavut Tourism may have a hard time deciding just how closely it might want to work with the chamber in the future.