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Last week, the Commissioner of Environment and Sustainable Development, Johanne Gelinas, read her report to the House of Commons.
It took aim at DIAND's poor track record dealing with abandoned mines in the North.
Two of the four mines investigated by the commissioner are all too familiar with NWT residents: Giant and Colomac Mines.
Both, she warned, pose significant environmental and health hazards if long-term clean-up solutions are not found soon.
DIAND's "Band-Aid" approach to the mines was of particular concern to the commissioner.
To his credit, DIAND Minister Robert Nault agreed with all of the report's recommendations, and promised something substantive will be done. As always, we will be watching and waiting.
The resurgence of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce as a real presence in the life of the community is good news indeed for the capital city.
At this time last year, membership in the chamber was plummeting, bottoming out at 297 businesses.
A year later, the chamber is back up to 402 members and is aiming for 500.
Chambers of Commerce, which date back to the early 1900's, with their antecedents in the 19th Century boards of trade, are in some ways part social club, part discount exchange and part small business lobby group.
It is in the latter role - as small business lobbyist - that the Chamber of Commerce offers a useful counterweight balance to governments, organized labour and a whole array of other special interest groups.
While words like "lobbying" or a phrase like "special interest group" often seem to carry negative connotations, the fact remains lobbying for one's group interests is an essential part of a free, democratic -- and capitalist -- society.
Let's hope the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce has regained the vigour to re-enter the debates in the marketplace of ideas.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
We can only hope officials at the various levels of government are listening when Cumberland Resources Ltd.'s interim president Kerry Curtis says having trained workers at the ready will help the company maximize local hires when the Meadowbank gold project begins production.
And, it's beginning to look more and more like Meadowbank will be in production in a few short years.
Gold prices have inched back up over the $300 US mark and many foreign governments have stopped selling off their gold reserves.
These facts combine to cast a strong ray of optimism on Meadowbank.
So, as well, do the continued positive drilling results and the discovery of the new PDF deposit this year.
Curtis is correct when he says people are more inclined to seek out skills training once a mine is actually in production.
Residents of Baker Lake and neighbouring Kivalliq hamlets will, no doubt, be inspired by the new money floating around their communities when Meadowbank starts producing.
Why wait?
Baker MLA Glenn McLean has been quite vocal during the past two years in his attempts to get the Nunavut government proactive in developing a trained local workforce before Meadowbank goes into production.
The training task is made easier by the fact the majority of the mining at Meadowbank will be open-pit.
And, while all forms of mining require a highly skilled workforce, open-pit mining relies more heavily on machine operators than the more comprehensive set of skills required by those who earn their living deep underground.
Twelve to 18 months goes by quickly.
This time frame is, most likely, the last window of opportunity for training programs to be initiated to meet the job demands of Meadowbank once it starts production.
There are only so many labour and cook positions the company can come up with for local hires if there's no skilled workforce in place from which it can hire.
The Government of Nunavut cannot afford to miss the economic boat on this opportunity, and must proceed on the assumption Meadowbank will be in production shortly.
If not, it will only be two short years before, once again, the cries go up that Southern workers are making all the big bucks at a project right in our backyard -- and once again, a golden opportunity will have been missed.
Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum
When I first moved to the NWT, I thought consensus government was a great idea. With no party line to tow, each member is free to work in the best interest of their constituents.
Then there was the Morin Inquiry and now this most recent debacle.
As I see it, here is what happened:
In an effort to distance themselves from Don Morin's allies, the new government purges cabinet of anyone with even remote ties to Morin.
In the purge, Michael Miltenberger loses his cabinet post to Jane Groenewegen, who led the charge against Morin.
Miltenberger retaliates with his own conflict of interest charge against Groenewegen. That's dismissed, so he tries again.
Here, the plot takes an ugly turn, when Groenewegen, John Bayly and Lynda Sorensen secretly tape a telephone conversation between Groenewegen and conflict of interest commissioner Carol Roberts.
When the world finds out, damage control reaches DEFCON 5 and rather than resign, Groenewegen relinquishes her cabinet post to Miltenberger and Sorensen and Bayly are fired with a secret golden handshake.
Those concerned breath a sigh of relief until the auditor general reports that the handshake is improper and once again, our government's credibility has flown out the window.
Compare what happened here, with any workplace situation. If Kakfwi was a CEO at any corporation, shareholders would call for his head.
Not only should Kakfwi be canned, the whole system should be canned. The flaw in consensus government is that there is no official opposition to act as watchdog. Other than sporadic bursts of discontent fired from individual members, there is no organized review of the government's actions.
With each member scrambling to fulfill their mandate, portfolios and work on committees, there is no time for eternal vigilance.
I don't believe that Kakfwi, Groenewegen or Miltenberger are evil people. Quite the opposite. I think each has brought some great leadership and initiatives to their jobs.
There was a certain amount of arrogance and a large amount of stupidy that led these people to where they are today, but it was the system that allowed it to get this far.
This form of government fosters mis-management and breeds corruption, because it has no restraint or accountabilty.
Once again, the consensus government has failed the electorate and once again, our government is left looking like a banana republic.
How can Ottawa take us seriously when our representatives go down there crying poor, when they see this kind of action?
If we can afford to dole out $800,000 in severence pay to negligent ex-employees, we certainly can afford an alcohol treatment program.
The real irony here is that right now Donny Morin is enjoying a hearty belly laugh at how the system that ousted him came back to oust the ones who ousted him.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
The Kaa Dule United Corporation has beaten the Deh Cho Economic Corporation to the punch.
Incorporated within a few short weeks, the Kaa Dule United Corporation is chasing down pipeline-related contracts that will benefit the region. That's falls right in line with what the Deh Cho Economic Corporation has been mandated to do, but the economic corporation apparently wasn't quite ready to jump in yet.
For years, calls for economic development in the region have fallen on deaf ears. However, the momentum in favour of some level of industrial activity has grown within individual First Nations over the past while.
Deh Cho First Nations Grand Chief Michael Nadli has held firm in his position that an Interim Resource Development Agreement must come first. It will provide the region with lasting returns through royalties and ensuring equitable impact benefits agreements. The drawback? The timeline for signing such an agreement remains elusive.
However, Nadli consented to the formation of a Deh Cho Economic Corporation, which will oversee regional projects as directed by board members from all Deh Cho communities. Organization and agreement on a regional economic corporation has taken some time as delegates from 13 organizations (10 First Nations and three Metis Locals) are responsible for sorting out all the details. Yet there has been some real progress over the past few months, including the acquisition of $206,000 in start-up funding from the federal and territorial governments.
Despite the steady progress, the economic corporation didn't quite have its ducks in a row when engineering firm ColtKBR put out a request for qualifications for preliminary pipeline contract candidates.
So representatives from four Deh Cho political bodies swung into action and, with guidance from a consultant or two, formed the Kaa Dule United Corporation. They made their submissions to ColtKBR just under the (extended) wire.
Now we have a situation that is surely to be hashed out at this week's fall leadership assembly in Fort Providence. It doesn't have to be a knock-down, drag-out fight, but it could turn into one. It's primarily a question of whether the Kaa Dule United Corporation will merge with or fall under the Deh Cho Economic Corporation. If not, political leaders will have to decide how the two entities will co-exist.
Michael Nadli's long-standing desire to see unity among the region's communities is commendable, as is his long-term vision of enduring benefits for the region.
What is puzzling is his remarks regarding this winter's preliminary pipeline work. Why would he down-play a share of $4 million-$6 million? Bidding on such contracts will not compromise the Deh Cho First Nations position on a pipeline or resource development.
Why should such contracts, which are going to be tendered whether there's any interest expressed from the Deh Cho or not, continue to go strictly to Southern companies?
Obviously some local organizations are tired of waiting for answers.