Premier Joe Handley, Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew, and Assembly of First Nations vice-chief Bill Erasmus told the room full of assembled reporters they were tickled pink Prime Minister Paul Martin had committed $700 million towards aboriginal health care.
But when it came time to answer questions, the best these political heavyweights could come up with was that the amount would be broken down into three smaller, yet still impressive sums.
Aboriginal health care in this country, particularly in the North, should be of special concern, and the federal government must make serious attempts to address it.
But throwing a bunch of money around without explaining where it will all go does little to instill confidence government is taking the right approach.
In this age of Adscam and the $1 billion gun control boondoggle, we can only hope Ottawa has changed its way of doing business, by investing tax dollars into people and not the government and its army of consultants.
And next time politicians want to praise the benefits of some spending program, come armed with specifics.
Twenty years ago, after a country-wide fundraising effort, Yellowknife finally had its Northern Arts and Cultural Centre.
Since then, NACC has become a valuable part of the community, providing Yellowknifers the only place to go for stage performances in town.
NACC has consistently showcased quality performers from the south and promoted home-grown talent as well and done so without substantial government help.
President of NACC's board, Ken Woodley, said it best when asking the City of Yellowknife for more funding for NACC in January.
"As a recreational centre, NACC has been a very good bang for our buck," he said.
That's an understatement for a centre running on an annual budget of $70,000 from the city and $30,000 from the NWT government.
Compare that with the Yukon Arts Centre.
As of September 2002, YAC began receiving $499,000 a year for five years from its government.
It's a wonder Yellowknife has an arts centre at all.
Editorial Comment
Lisa Scott
Kivalliq News
When the image of a remote hamlet with a population of more than 2,000 comes to mind, the words sleepy and safe seem to fit.
That's why a recent RCMP report on crime in Rankin Inlet caught me off guard.
It was just a regular update on criminal activity in the hamlet presented to council by Sgt. Grant St. Germaine at a regular meeting, but the numbers were startling.
Eight assaults, eight break and enters and six instances of impaired driving were reported in August.
Those were just some of the 165 "activities" that kept the Rankin detachment busy. I hadn't considered the RCMP to be a visible force in the community, hence my surprise at the hectic crime schedule in town.
On the bright side, though, when the activity reports between August 2003 and 2004 are compared, criminal activity is down in Rankin. Way down in fact.
St. Germaine lauded the addition of Const. Sean O'Brien to the detachment in May of this year as a threat to drug activity in town.
"Major drug enforcement initiatives will take place over the next three to five months," he said earlier in the year.
In August alone, three cases involved drugs, compared to none for the previous August. O'Brien was the cause, said St. Germaine. The prophecy has come true.
Crime may be present in Rankin and the region, but I'm feeling more reassured that the RCMP are alert and ready.
These rainy days
The month of September can't end without a comment on the incredibly rainy weather.
If the Tea Talk Lady's stats are right, 15 rainy days were counted even before the month was over. A couple of those were storms that I wouldn't have believed.
From what others are saying, the late summer and early fall wet weather is abnormal for the region.
Rankin Inlet received 50mm of rain during one late September storm, more than an average month's worth of precipitation for the community. According to Environment Canada, 42.3mm is the average rainfall for September.
Baker Lake got 34mm at the same time, and regions across the territory faced gale-force winds along with the storm.
With this much unexpected rain abounding, Kivalliq residents must be wondering what the winter holds in store for them.
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
After Quebec came away with a special deal from the First Minister's conference with Prime Minister Paul Martin, which revolved around leaving a legacy of improved health care for "generations to come," one has to question the meaning of "distinct society" as it relates to providing health care.
In the deal, Quebec is exempted from accountability measures imposed on other provinces for improving, among other things, patient waiting times.
Though the fine print leaves a lot of flexibility for all provinces and territories, so says the PM, the nasty odour of "distinct society" clauses once again permeates.
If one really wants to get into a discussion about distinct societies, the Northwest Territories is a great place to begin. While Quebec touts language as a cornerstone of its distinctiveness, the NWT has 11 official languages of its own. That's pretty distinct.
I wonder if the health service of a vitamin shot in the behind administered in Quebec is any more distinct than one given in Colville Lake.
Nevertheless, put this region's distinctiveness in the context of delivering health care and the entire North could be classified, if nothing else, as distinctly challenging when attempting to meet its residents' medical needs.
If the federal government can't bring itself to recognize aboriginal peoples as "distinct societies," as it accords Quebecers, at least it has offered $700 million in additional health care funding for aboriginal people to be spent over the next five years. This is over and above the nearly $1 billion per year the feds already provide for in this arena.
While the "shameful conditions" regarding the health status of First Nations people wasn't enough to get the feds to recognize any distinctiveness there, at least it activated a time-honoured Liberal tradition of throwing money at a problem to mitigate any embarrassment.
Following the Western Premiers Conference in Inuvik, Assembly of First Nations NWT Regional Chief Bill Erasmus told the Drum that more money was not necessarily the solution, rather more control over money already available.
Hopefully, the $200 million earmarked for improving co-ordination between the feds, provinces, territories and First Nations health jurisdictions will be used wisely.
Destroyed tent a wake-up call
When an Inuvik man brought me to the burned out ground where his tent used to be last week, the thought that someone could have been cruel enough to destroy a homeless man's shelter was sickening.
What have things come to when the weak are targeted in blatant acts of violence?
This kind of behaviour should not be tolerated and when the perpetrator(s) is (are) found, I think -- just for a moment -- that it's too bad we live in an age of kid-glove punishments, as breaking rocks for five years in a labour camp would be too good for those responsible.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
It's hard to imagine a more suitable individual for the role of Governor General than Adrienne Clarkson.
It seems that everyone who meets her has nothing but complimentary things to say about Her Excellency. She's radiant, gracious and she comes across as genuine. Even as she was obviously weary after a full day of travel and hobnobbing in Yellowknife and Fort Providence -- it's surely not good etiquette to point out the bags under her eyes -- she maintained a warm grin and pleasant demeanour well into the evening.
Perhaps you're thinking you too could fulfil the obligations of the Governor General in return for the generous salary and umpteen-million dollar budget that comes with the position. Maybe so, but the gig is not entirely glamorous. It's a rigorous schedule that she maintains. Not only that, there's a minimum of privacy that comes with the territory. Everywhere Clarkson and her husband, His Excellency John Ralston Saul, go, there's a rather large entourage that shadows them.
There's also a bevy of police officers present to offer protection. Then there's the media -- even in Fort Providence there were several of us constantly flashing the camera and sticking microphones in her face at every turn.
With all that attention, the Governor General can't simply slip out for a beverage and catch the latest sports scores. Neither could she very well decide she'd seen enough of an afternoon's festivities and retire to her motel room for a nap without disappointing the heck out of everybody.
It's demanding, but she seems to sincerely enjoy it. Furthermore, coming North as frequently as she does is a choice, not a requirement, so she must truly love it here.
However, she pops in, stays briefly and goes. It's been swell, but there likely won't be a return visit anytime soon.
That's why Fort Providence has it right
The community had Family Day planned for Tuesday of this week. The family is the core unit of everyone's life, or it ought to be. It should be celebrated more often. Hopefully there was a good turnout for Tuesday's activities.
At the same time, we can't forget about our neighbours who give of themselves on a regular basis: police officers, volunteer firefighters -- volunteers of all kinds for that matter, teachers, those who reinforce the aboriginal culture, medical staff and so on. These types of people make our communities better places in which to live.
Although they don't often get a lot of credit, public servants also deserve a tip of the cap, such as those who were given long-term service awards last week.
These folks keep the cogs turning in a relatively large bureaucracy for a small territory. It's true that some of them are busier than others. But many of them take flak for enforcing unpopular policies, things that are beyond their control. They must also do the best they can despite budget cuts.
Anyone who can remain loyal to an employer for 20 or 25 years is clearly an asset.
Rape charges against two Lutsel K'e men, Stanley Paul Desjarlais and Henry Lockhart, were stayed Sept. 17. Incorrect information was reported in NWT News/North Sept. 20.
We apologize for any confusion or embarrassment this may have caused.
In the Sept. 20 edition of Nunavut News/North, the wrong age was given for Pat Anablak. Anablak is in fact 51.
Nunavut News/North regrets any confusion or embarrassment caused by our error.