Friday, May 6, 2005
Now 24, this young man from Lutsel K'e - a sometimes trapper and truck driver - faces the multiple challenges of fetal alcohol syndrome disorder
Despite whatever compassion we may feel for his troubled life, Casaway stood before Justice Virginia Schuler, April 19, guilty of sexual assault. She ordered that his name be added to Canada's five-month-old sex offender registry.
Casaway's lawyer argued that the registry is unfair, that it singled him out and set him up to breach conditions of his release because the effects of FASD make it difficult for him to follow rules.
| Sex crime in the NWT
- SOURCE: Statistics Canada |
The judge rejected the arguments and now Casaway will have to report to police annually and inform them each time he changes address. The registry is an investigative tool, information in it is tightly controlled. Even police are trying to figure out how and when they can tap into it.
Like it or not, Casaway has lost the trust of the public, and to earn it back he has to meet certain conditions.
The registry cannot do that; only Casaway himself can make that choice.
We hope he gets the help he needs to deal with his problems while he is in jail. We hope that Casaway can learn to control his urges once he's back in society. Unfortunately, we can't always rely on good intentions. Human nature gets in the way.
The registry has limited ability to monitor sex offenders. It cannot prevent crime; the public is still at risk.
It's time to advance the debate toward protection of the public from sex offenders. Right now, the system can only punish, incarcerate and release.
A 2004 study suggests between 10 and 15 per cent of sex criminals re-offend within five years. That's a big gamble.
Experience has taught us that we can't rely on all sex offenders to live up to conditions written on paper. Nor can we always rely on the people paid to ensure they do.
It's time to put technology to work protecting vulnerable members of society. Electronic tools are very sophisticated: Car breathalysers can prevent a drunk driving their car, ankle bracelets track people's movements in house arrests. The public would be well served by technological tools that allow offenders to live normal lives on parole, probation or during treatment while at the same time reducing the risk of re-offending.
If someone wanders into forbidden territory, authorities can ask why before a little girl gets hauled into the bushes and savagely assaulted.
Until that happens, the little girls and women caught unawares are the ones put at risk, unfairly.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Full marks must be given to Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Jose Kusugak for not getting dragged into any of the silliness that surfaced after the unveiling of the "Inukshuk" logo that will fly over the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.
While Okalik and Kusugak spoke with pride over the choice, mild controversy arose from former Nunavut commissioner Peter Irniq's complaints that an Inukshuk shouldn't have arms, legs and a smiling mouth.
Irniq informed the world there is a huge difference between an Inunguat (imitation of a man or person) and an Inukshuk.
The former commissioner also stated that the Olympic Committee should have consulted Nunavut elders before announcing the design.
Let's make one thing clear here right from the start.
Peter Irniq has long proven himself to be a class act and was a commissioner all of Nunavut should be proud of.
However, while we've long admired Irniq's knowledge of, and dedication to, almost everything traditional, this time around he's way off the mark.
The five-coloured Inukshuk logo has been named Ilanaaq (friendship) and is meant to symbolize friendship, hospitality and teamwork - three of the most positive and prevalent Inuit traits or characteristics.
Inuit should be bursting with pride to have their symbol and cultural characteristics linked to one of the world's most prestigious gatherings.
Unfortunately, Irniq's remarks are not all that far removed from those who claimed to be insulted by Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves and their infamous chop chant.
In fact, it draws an uneasy parallel to those voices of a decade ago who insinuated everyone involved with the Edmonton Eskimos were racist because of the Canadian football team's moniker or nickname.
There are far more pressing issues for our territory to be concerned with than the Inukshuk caricature that has become the Olympic logo.
If anything, we should be milking the choice, in a positive light, for all it's worth.
Even with their cartoonish little changes, the Olympic Committee selecting an Inukshuk for the 2010 logo is a momentous occasion for Inuit.
The spirit of the message it conveys and the cultural recognition it will spread across the globe are not to be taken lightly, let alone frowned upon.
In these tumultuous times of political unrest, armed aggression and rights suppression around the world, the Olympic Committee is holding up a symbol - forever associated with Inuit - as a shining beacon of everything good the Games are supposed to represent, and that society all too often forgets.
And, as far as we're concerned, Inuit around the world should be smiling just as proudly as Ilanaaq!
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
The big oil companies should know better than to wag their finger at aboriginal leadership for their perceived impediment to further progress in the seemingly never-ending pipeline process.
This, coming so soon after the premier's comments that the federal government will have the ultimate say in whether or not the project goes through the territory, will not help move the negotiations along.
A call for mediation from the Aboriginal Pipeline Group chair is the most sensible suggestion heard so far.
One has to wonder how things deteriorated to this point.
The Memorandum of Understanding between proponents and aboriginal leadership was signed three years ago but negotiations between the two began only a few months ago.
An even more important question is, how long will the oil companies continue to pour time and resources into a project that, with each passing day, seems to be moving further and further away from becoming reality.
Though the government is an easy target when it comes to the blame game, in this case, the ultimate responsibility for the situation with the pipeline must fall squarely on Ottawa. The federal government has a less-than-stellar track record of dealing with aboriginal land claims only as the need to develop "untouched" tracts of land have presented themselves.
Now, with the Deh Cho sitting as the only aboriginal entity on the pipeline's right of way without a settled land claim, it's the federal government's responsibility to make a deal.
Social responsibility should be on the government's plate, as well. It goes without saying that increased economic activity will have an adverse effect on communities.
Dealing with those effects is what tax dollars - personal and corporate - are for.
Corporations should not be on the hook to pay those costs.
However, with our man Mr. Dithers still in the Prime Minister's office, nobody should hold their breath for any groundbreaking measures or contingencies from Ottawa.
The way Paul Martin has handled every other challenge since clawing his way into a minority government last summer leaves us little hope that he will do what needs to be done - not only for the Deh Cho but for everyone in the territory.
If the country does go to the polls this summer and the Conservatives are elected, devolution, an improved resource revenue-sharing agreement and a deal for the Deh Cho will no doubt land squarely on the backburner.
The big question mark is Conservative leader Stephen Harper's opinions about Northern development and land claims.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
If village council were the reality-television show Survivor, then Dennis Nelner was booted off the island on Monday night.
OK, technically Nelner wasn't eliminated from the tribe. Council voted in favour of stripping him of his title as deputy mayor, not to snuff out his torch.
Nelner literally didn't take it sitting down. Following the vote, he immediately got out of his chair and casually exited the room, not to return again that night.
Mayor Ray Michaud named the outspoken Nelner deputy mayor at the November 3, 2003 village council meeting, the first meeting of the current council's term. A secret ballot vote was held among the councillors to decide who should hold the distinction. It resulted in a 3-3 tie between Nelner and former mayor Norm Prevost. Michaud voted in Nelner's favour because Nelner was the councillor with the most votes in the municipal election.
That he had the most ballots cast in his name at the polls and among his peers at village council proves that he started out with plenty of support.
Things gradually began to shift over the past year and a half. Nelner became a pariah on council. In drawing upon the Survivor analogy once again, he failed to build any alliances.
He has spoken with fervour about the need for a general plan, to ensure that development occurs in an orderly fashion. He has been an advocate of engaging the private sector, attracting business to Fort Simpson. That way the village wouldn't be so reliant on funding from the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs - as has been the case for years.
Nelner has pushed for a technical and trades centre to be built in Fort Simpson. He has spoken of his vision of a Liard River bridge and airport expansion.
These all sound like constructive positions. So what caused all the friction?
It was Nelner's approach. He took a stance on the Northern store gas bar issue that raised the spectre of conflict of interest. He was deputy mayor, but he also was manager of TJ's grocery, a competing gasoline distributor.
He didn't let that stop him from creating a petition. He didn't let that stop him from accosting the bylaw officer in public.
On another matter, Nelner went to bat for the village's garbage contractor, Xah Ndah Resources. He felt the company was denied tipping fees by the mayor and senior administrative officer. Nelner put the emphasis on the fact that Xah Ndah Resources is an aboriginal business. That is what led to questions of prejudice and racism.
On these and other issues, he adamantly refused to take no for an answer.
At Monday's council meeting, he was surrounded by councillors who were opposed to him. There were people in the audience who were on the opposite side of issues he has raised. There was correspondence indicating concerns about his conduct.
If he had any supporters left - 100 signatures on a petition notwithstanding - they were not heard and nowhere to be seen.
Re: Drug use linked to mental illness, suicide (Inuvik Drum, April 14, 2005). Ranjith Perera is a licensed doctor in his home country of Sri Lanka. In Canada, he is a licensed mental health and addictions counsellor.
The Drum regrets any confusion the reference to Perera's qualifications may have caused.