Monday, August 15, 2005
One thing few would dispute is if a strike happens, about 1,400 residents of Fort Simpson and Wrigley will suffer.
Fuel shortages and higher grocery prices top the list of concerns. As well, there will be the added hassle and expense of using a helicopter shuttle service across the Liard River, which costs roughly $200 depending on the size of load and number of passengers.
The service doesn't run year-round, but that doesn't make it any less essential for the people and businesses it serves.
In the event of a strike, Joseph Fontana, the federal minister of state responsible for labour, has the authority to declare the service essential and keep traffic moving.
Hiring replacement workers should be ruled out as an option and, instead, non-unionized GNWT and Rowe's Construction managers should be drafted to keep the vessel in service.
Negotiations will likely go a lot smoother if senior people have a chance to walk in the workers' boots while the strikers ponder life without a weekly paycheque.
As people drove to Rae to celebrate the new Tlicho government Aug. 4, roadblocks on the edge of the community stopped cars and searched them for liquor.
Is this a sign of the new tribal government at work? Yes and no. Such checkstops, based upon a legal alcohol ban issued by the territorial government, are not new. But the security people doing the searching under the authority of the Tlicho government is new.
The question raised by some is: Is it a legal search? Tlicho laws cannot contravene the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
This is a legitimate question. To ask it in no way undermines the legitimacy of the Tlicho government. Instead, such legal questions are part of the judicial process.
Every day in Canada citizens, usually working through lawyers, ask courts to rule if government and police were exercising proper authority in particular circumstances.
Perhaps the Tlicho government searches are not legal under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Are territorial liquor prohibitions legal under the Charter?
No one will know until the courts are asked to rule. And that's how laws are maintained and governments guided.
The Tlicho government has taken its first real step.
A $70 million boost in infrastructure money from the federal and territorial governments is nothing to scoff at, but unfortunately it will only make a small dent in the needs of Nunavut.
By putting aside the per capita system used in the south, the federal government took into account the increased costs associated with construction in the North.
It certainly put more money in the territory than was expected, but unfortunately it won't be enough.
A few mayors and senior administrative officers told Nunavut News/North there are so many needs, deciding how to spend the money would not be easy.
Arctic Bay Mayor Niore Iqalukjuak said: "I find it hard to try and prioritize the infrastructure needs of our community."
From water and sewage projects to houses, community halls, storage spaces, health care centres, roads and airport maintenance, the wish list goes on and on, and differs in every community.
About three years ago, Cape Dorset put in a new water pipeline that cost around $2 million.
In Iqaluit, about $7 million has already been put into a sewage plant that remains unfinished. Another $5 million is expected to be added for construction and expansion work.
A new health centre was just completed in Rankin Inlet, which cost $20 million to build and equip.
Repulse Bay and Resolute are sharing almost $4.8 million on fuel system upgrades this year.
To put the new money into perspective, in October 2003 the federal government gave the territory $55 million for water, sewage, housing and municipal infrastructure programs.
Of that money, $20 million went to only three communities: Cape Dorset for an improved sewage treatment centre, Kugluktuk for a sewage lagoon and associated drainage works and Rankin Inlet for a sewage treatment plant. Another $20 million was earmarked for 200 housing units.
The Cape Dorset SAO probably spoke for many when he said this new money "gives communities a glimmer of hope that there is a possibility of getting some infrastructure other than water and sewer funds."
Let's hope the glimmer turns into reality for most, if not all, the communities.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
First off, let me say as much fun as vacation was (and, believe me, it was), it is good to be back in the Kivalliq.
I would like to thank my fill-in editor, Brent Reaney, for doing an outstanding job in my absence.
On a number of fronts, my first two weeks back home featured, unfortunately, more dark news than good.
It is always difficult dealing with an accidental death in the community, and we all hurt inside when a child is seriously injured.
However, in both cases, there is an underlying message of the tragedies that can occur when proper safety measures aren't adhered to.
Earlier this year, the Kivalliq News ran a story on a fox with rabies and the precautions dog owners must take to help keep the virus out of our communities.
The precaution can be summed up nicely in one word - vaccinations.
This edition of the paper outlines - also for the second time this year - what to look for when it comes to the early warning signs of an infected animal.
One of the oldest sayings in the book - an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure - is still one of the truest.
Keeping an eye on an animal is also very important when you agree to pet sit for a friend or family member out on vacation.
Although you may be taking proper care of the animal, it may have come in contact with the virus before its owner left.
Public service announcements can be distributed in our communities every day, but, if the information they contain is not followed, they are not worth the paper they are printed on or the airwaves they travel across.
It's bad enough to ignore advice that puts adults in peril, but not doing all you can to prevent your animal from becoming infected with rabies puts the children of our community at the greatest risk.
One little girl has all ready paid a horrific price for an infected animal being on the loose, let's not have another child pay the same, or higher, price in the future.
There is also a saying that illustrates why so many accidents happen in the home, and why so many traffic accidents happen close to home.
That saying is: familiarity breeds contempt.
We all tend to become careless in familiar surroundings or while doing what we perceive to be menial or common tasks.
A seatbelt can do as much to save your life while going to the Northern store as it can while driving around Winnipeg.
Yet, in the Peg we buckle up, while at home we travel to and fro without one, or with our helmets sitting on a shelf where they can't do anything to protect us.
The same can be said for life-jackets, whether you're in one fathom of water or 100.
The bottom line is, taking those few extra moments to be safe can often prevent serious injury or worse to yourself and those around you.
Let's all make the effort to keep our community a safe place to be.
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
Last Thursday morning, a woman shopping at the News Stand asked one of the clerks working there why the store was still open.
When he said he didn't understand the nature of her question, she blurted out that the Hell's Angels were fast approaching and they had a reputation for destruction.
As rumours of society's modern-day version of the Vikings - 70 odd thundering up the highway on their iron horses to collect unpaid drug debts - grew more outrageous as they sped through the grapevine, I must admit they even sucked me in.
"One of us has to go down the highway to check this out," I told my colleague, who calmly continued typing while insisting the entire story was a pack of nonsense.
But with tales of scrambled helicopters engaged in an aerial search, one could almost sense that the collective ear of Inuvik was pinned to the ground in anticipation of the unmistakable rumbling of motorcycles belching exhaust and noise into the Delta calm.
Word even spread down south, setting in motion a slew of reporters itching for sensational headlines about a battle between bikers and townsfolk.
Regardless of who might be to blame for allegedly establishing a business relationship with such a criminal organization, our collective obsession with television and its over-the-top dramatization of biker gangs and other criminal elements definitely played a role in fuelling recent events.
Visit any community in North America - be it aboriginal, southern-suburbia or uptown cosmopolitan - and you are bound to see kids emulating their favourite rap artists by adorning themselves in the current urban fashion of oversized sports jerseys, baggy pants and turned-sideways ball caps.
I suppose if there's a moral to the story - besides the fact that drug use can make one paranoid - it would be to give that idiot-box a rest once in a while.
Better do it now, though, before the entire cable/satellite-washed world walks the same, talks the same and lives in fear of the same mythological-beasts, in this case a hoard of hairy hellraisers bent on the destruction of a town near you.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
First off, the Petitot Gathering was enjoyable.
There are a few summer festivals in the Deh Cho area every year and each has its own feel, its own flavour. The common bond is that people come together and have a good time. No emphasis on politics, no fierce competition, no focus on making money.
That's a nice change of pace.
At the Petitot Gathering - set just off the highway along the Petitot River, 40-odd kilometres from Fort Liard, the nearest community - it was remarkable how human ingenuity permitted conveniences to remain.
Refrigerated trucks brought loads of quality food (chicken, ribs, turkey, salads, fresh fruit, and on and on) to the rather remote location.
A huge generator hummed away, allowing workers in a camp kitchen to turn those raw ingredients into some tasty meals (it should be noted that some traditionalists cooked dry meat and dry fish while others enjoyed stew cooked in a pot over a fire).
That same generator powered a sound system so the emcee and musical guests could entertain the crowd.
Sometimes it's hard not to take these things for granted - so often we have the will and the means to get what we need where we want it, when we want it. It's quite extraordinary. Next up on the festival circuit is the Wrigley Spiritual Gathering. See you there.
Some community leaders are practically in shock because the territorial government announced this week that it is granting "capacity building" money with few strings attached. Remaining a little cynical, they keep waiting for the catch.
The funds come from the first instalment of Northern Strategy money from the federal government. Municipal, First Nations and Metis leaders made it quite clear months ago that the cash should be disbursed to the communities so they can meet their own priorities. It seems the territorial government has paid heed. Is it really too good to be true?
The official word from Environment Canada is that Fort Simpson experienced slightly warmer than average temperatures in July and received less than average rainfall. I'm sure they have their figures right, but it sure seems like it's been an awfully cool and damp summer.
Apparently my recollection of Fort Simpson summers was skewed by last year when we had some very dry months and lengthy stretches of sweating it out.
So far in summer 2005, it seems like there's unstable weather every other day. Throughout the month of July one could look at the horizon and often see thunder clouds approaching.
And there's apparently not much summer remaining. We're still in the early stages of August but yellow leaves are already visible and gaggles of geese have packed their bags and have begun heading south.