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Whether through municipal bylaw or management and government policy, there are few public spaces left indoors where one is allowed to smoke. As of April 1, a revised city bylaw will ban smoking in all restaurants and dining rooms within city limits.
That pretty much leaves only bars and some private companies and corporate offices as the only places which allow smoking on the premises or in special designated areas.
Now the NWT and Nunavut Workers' Compensation Board wants to ban smoking in the workplace. The NWT would become just the second jurisdiction in Canada -- after British Columbia -- with such a ban.
This evidence against smoking is weighty. Physicians, governments, reformed smokers and a wide range of anti-smoking groups have drilled the public in recent years about the dangers of smoking.
Not only smokers, but those exposed to second-hand smoke are at risk from cancer and other heart and lung diseases. According to a territorial government discussion paper, working in a smoke-filled environment has the same long-term health effect as smoking 10 cigarettes a day. Food service workers have a 50 per cent higher rate of lung cancer than the general population.
Governments have done their part to reduce the number of smokers by raising the cost of cigarettes. A pack sells for $10.75 and the price keeps rising.
In the NWT, where 40 per cent of the adult population and 48 per cent of youths age 15-24 smoke, drastic measures are necessary.
The Department of Health and Social Services estimates smoking costs the NWT about $10 million each year. Employers pay dearly as well, in increased absenteeism and health insurance and lost productivity.
Our difficulties funding health services in the territory only strengthen the argument against smoking.
In B.C., hospitality establishments can have separate, ventilated smoking areas, but staff can refuse to work in them and those who will can only spend 20 per cent of their shift inside that room.
The City of New York is set to go non-smoking at work, and in bars and eateries at the end of the month. The ban is backed by the New York State Restaurant Association.
Simply put, we're at the crossroads. It's the end of an era but who's going to argue that's a bad thing at all?
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Rankin Inlet hamlet council's decision to go in-camera to discuss the mayor and SAO's talks with Premier Paul Okalik concerning the PPD's move to Baker Lake was a slap in the face to both local media and hamlet residents.
For the past two months council has been a media-mongering machine concerning the PPD, issuing press releases and actively seeking interviews to rant on the injustice of it all.
To council's credit, the move worked as the intense media scrutiny brought the two sides together and opened the lines of communication.
Rankin Mayor Lorne Kusugak openly acknowledges the fact the media coverage played a large role in opening dialogue between the hamlet and the Nunavut government.
So, why the decision to go in-camera when a piece of good news finally comes down the pipe for Rankin on the subject?
Kusugak's explanation was that he didn't want the actual numbers being discussed in public for fear of undoing the productive talks with the premier.
The good mayor vastly underestimated the local media if he truly believed he was the only one who could release the number of jobs discussed in their conversation.
In fact, this reporter went to the March 3 council meeting already knowing the premier had assured Kusugak that at least five current PPD positions would remain in Rankin Inlet. The odds on favourite for three of those positions is the three-person operations department, which has the most hands-on responsibilities of any of the 16 PPD jobs in Rankin.
Equally disappointing was Coun. Justin Merritt supporting the mayor's motion to go in-camera on the subject. Merritt, whose wife is employed with the Rankin PPD, has been on a letter-writing campaign to Northern media for the past six months criticizing the GN's decision to relocate the PPD to Baker.
Council knows best?
The Municipal Act gives council the right to go in-camera when it deems it in the public's best interest to do so.
We fail to see how not letting the community know it will be holding onto at least five of the current positions is in its best interest. Releasing the numbers puts the premier's assurances on the record, which can weigh heavily in the hamlet's favour should the day ever come when the GN decides to change its mind concerning the issue.
Kusugak's statement that the hamlet plans to "eventually" go to the media because the people have a right to know is as self-serving and paternalistic as it gets for a municipal council.
Properly put, the message sent is that council will decide when it's in the best interests for people to know about decisions affecting their community. It's more than a little ironic that council adopted the same secretive approach it was previously blasting the Nunavut government for employing in making the decision to relocate the PPD in the first place.
Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum
The proposed rate hike by Inuvik Gas should raise a lot of questions about the method used for benchmarking a gas price here.
The regulation (or lack thereof) of the price of gas in Inuvik needs a serious look by the Public Utilities Board.
Granted, the company must base its price on something, but it should also be limited to a reasonable profit.
The company stands to make a clear profit from the 45 per cent mark-up, even though their costs have not gone up.
Currently, Inuvik Gas is paying $8.15 for the product that they want to re-sell to us for $17.50. If that's a fair profit, I think we're all in the wrong business.
Of course the joint venture which owns both the upstream and downstream companies can raise the upstream price this summer to make it look more legit, but it still reeks of a monopoly gouging their customers.
The PUB has to set the price of product here based on a fair profit margin as they do with the NWT Power Corporation and Northland Utilities.
I'd like to think the companies involved had some altruistic ideals when this project was first conceived, but I guess I'm way too naive.
The cost of living and doing business in Inuvik just went up again.
The increase in utilities will hike the price of everything on our store shelves and any service provided here, so Inuvik Gas and their shareholders can rake in a ridiculous profit from George Bush's war.
I spoke to someone last week who will be paying more for utilities now than he pays on his mortgage. He won't be staying and I'm sure he's not alone.
Not only will this price gouge drive people out of town, it will prevent people from coming here.
The teachers, doctors and nurses were trying to draw here, along with other professionals and their businesses just got another reason to stay away from Inuvik.
Two-time losers
I've sat through hours and hours of court cases and one might think I'd get desensitized to tearful testimony, but I never have.
I've heard hundreds of stories about what happens after a few drinks and what court witnessed from Monday's witnesses and victims was no different than most, except for the fact that both abusers were repeat offenders. While we'd like to think rehabilitation works, jail time never deterred these men the first time. Doctors and psychologists will prescribe chronic alcoholics Antabuse -- a drug that induces vomiting and violent stomach cramps if the user drinks alcohol.
I think with recidivist offenders such as the court saw here Monday, judges should have the power to order that medication under terms of probation.
Yeah, yeah, I hear the arguments for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but what about the rights and freedoms of the victims of these drunken attacks?
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
A familiar refrain in the Deh Cho is that there aren't enough job opportunities.
It's something commonly heard in Fort Providence. Not surprisingly, the adult education class offered there by Aurora College is always full and usually there's a lengthy waiting list.
In Fort Simpson the complaint of too few jobs is repeated now and again. Yet registration for adult education at Aurora College has been inconsistent over the past few years.
Fort Liard offers a different set of circumstances. It's the one community with more than enough jobs to go around. Consequently, there isn't a great deal of demand for Aurora College's adult basic education program.
So what's the problem? Isn't full employment, or as close as one community will likely ever get, the ultimate aim?
Well, sort of.
Let's first acknowledge that some people are completely satisfied being labourers. There isn't anything dishonourable about the job, and the wages are decent. The only problem is that the jobs are often seasonal. Although that's not a real problem for those who earn enough to collect employment insurance and are happy doing so.
For the others, particularly those in their late teens or early 20s, they settle into a labourer position because it's all they see in front of them. Their potential remains untapped. Some of them possess the aptitude to become highly paid tradespersons, as technicians or as part of management, not to mention teachers, nurses, biologists, finance officers or any other profession. In order to make that a reality they must forsake the readily available labour wages. They must commit to a year or two of upgrading their education and then apply themselves to a college, university or an apprenticeship for another few years. It's a substantial sacrifice but it's one that pays off in the long run.
The question is one of motivation. As a side note, Joanne Deneron mentioned that in Fort Liard, before the advent of oil and gas, Aurora College used to be all the rage. However, the criticism at that time was that too many students were spending too many years in the program, essentially biding their time until a job became available. That kept others from getting into the adult education program.
It's sort of a catch-22.
Go with the flow
Although Deh Cho First Nations leaders apparently do not feel the approach or the timing is right for hydro projects, let's hope they do not dismiss outright any potential such projects might have. If large-scale hydro projects carry too great a risk of flooding sacred areas, then small-scale, hydro-driven turbines may present a viable alternative. However, there remains a question of whether small-scale projects would be cost effective. Surely if there's a will, there's a way. Even without big cost savings, hydro would be a welcome relief from the carbon-emitting, diesel-powered plants that currently provide energy to Deh Cho communities.
In the March 14 Yellowknifer news brief "Stand up, seniors" the new Yellowknife Seniors' Society treasurer is Steve Mullins, not Arlene Yaceyko as printed. Yaceyko is a director for the organization.
The Yellowknifer apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused.