Monday, September 5, 2005
As reported last week, there have been 33 cases of TB so far in 2005. The cost in human terms can not be fully measured. The financial tab can: about $600,000 if just half of those people had to be treated in hospital.
While today's number of TB cases isn't near the scourge that ravaged Nunavut about 50 years ago, it represents a major health and social challenge for the territorial and federal governments.
The disease can be cured by $300 worth of medication, but the germs that cause it can hide away in otherwise healthy individuals for years.
Compound that with overcrowded houses in most communities and poor diets, and it will take years, perhaps decades, to eradicate this disease.
It's not just TB that springs from poor living conditions.
The territory's terrible suicide problem is another symptom.
So is alcohol and drug abuse. So is crime.
Nunavut can't solve this problem alone.
The federal government must do more.
Yes, it will cost billions, but until there are enough homes and jobs, TB, suicide, and drug abuse will continue to afflict our people.
Congratulations to the hunters of Repulse Bay who wasted no time last week capturing a bowhead whale.
It was the fastest hunt since Inuit resumed harvesting bowhead in 1996 and is the largest whale caught to date.
To top it off, the harvest was humane and professional, a credit to Repulse Bay.
Wow - a 3,000 kilometre boat trip from Rankin Inlet to Arctic Bay is no small undertaking.
It took two weeks for Andy Eecherk, his son Randy and brother Leo to make the journey.
They said they'd never do it again, but we bet it was an adventure they'll never forget.
When the Nashville Predators begin training camp in mid-September, Jordin Tootoo will have Nunavut behind him as he tries to earn a spot on the team's NHL roster.
Jordin is a terrific young man, a role model for Northern youth and a great ambassador for Nunavut.
Go get 'em Jordin.
The word from Tuktoyaktuk is that Mother Nature is winning her fight.
More specifically, Beaufort Sea waves are pounding Tuktoyaktuk's patchwork seawall of rocks, undermining it so that rebuilding the hamlet's shield against floodwaters is a losing venture.
It has always been a losing venture. People in Tuk who have been observers of this battle - especially those directly involved in trying to throw up an effective rampart against the sea's watery battering ram - know how useless the seawall is.
"We're fighting a losing battle and we know that," Tuk deputy mayor Merven Gruben told News/North. "We've been playing dumb for too long."
Lots of money - $144,450 in 2003 alone - has been thrown at this problem, only to see it literally wash away. Since 1975, more than $1 million has been wasted on shoreline studies and reinforcement.
We've seen in New Orleans what happens when water overcomes low-lying shore lands like Tuktoyaktuk.
Let's start spending money on something that will work, not throwing it into the sea. Move Tuk to higher ground.
The last century has seen more change and upheaval for the Dene people than during any other period of history before.
What today's elders experienced during their youth was nothing like what young people deal with today.
Earlier this month, elders and youth gathered in Fort Good Hope with an aim to bridge the generation gap, and learn from each other's experiences.
"It was a real eye-opener," said elder Laura Lennie, one of more than 20 who attended from the Sahtu. Elders talked about life before cell-phones and video games. The youth, under the Arctic Indigenous Alliance banner, shared their concerns about the proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, among a host of other issues facing them in the years to come.
Too often, the stories we hear about young people in this territory involve drugs, drop-outs and violence. The youth alliance is determined to take theirs and generations to come down a more positive path, and elders are rallying behind them.
Our politicians can wax on all they want about the need to encourage healthy hearts and minds to grow in the NWT, but it appears the youth alliance have already given themselves a head start.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
So, there's a Danish and a Canadian warship on separate missions which could bring them close to each other near Hans Island - a small hunk of rock, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, with absolutely no value of its own.
On the surface, the fact two North American Treaty Organization allies have been throwing temper tantrums over this less-than-prime piece of real estate defies logic.
Oh sure, there's that sovereignty thing - we say we own it, so it's ours.
But that hardly seems reason enough for two otherwise peaceful nations to be gently rattling the handle of their respective sabres.
And that's because there is far more at stake here than a tiny piece of rock where only seals get their mail.
The recorded history of Hans Island goes back more than 130 years.
Canada claimed the island as its own during negotiations with Denmark on Northern maritime boundaries in 1973.
Denmark rebuffed the claim and no agreement has ever been reached between the two countries on the issue.
In fact, if new talks in September between the two countries can't resolve the dispute, it will be off to the International Court of Justice in the Hague for a ruling.
As I've mentioned before in this space, every conjecture concerning global warming is not all bad.
One development, generally regarded as positive (environmentalists already preparing for the oil spills aside), would see the transformation of the Northwest Passage into the world's biggest shipping lane.
There is no number to accurately depict the type of money we're talking about should this ever come to pass.
And, because of its location sitting in the middle of the Kennedy Channel, he who owns Hans Island could very well end up with control of the passage through Nares Strait.
Of course, our neighbours to the South and the good folks in Russia will also have something to say in this matter, which, ultimately, could benefit us big time.
National Defence ministers don't sail around planting flags on Arctic islands unless they're serious.
So, let's take for granted Canada is successful in its claim on Hans Island and other strategic Arctic locations.
If so, such real estate will have to be monitored and protected.
And, even in this day of advanced technology, there's still no substitute for a slightly chilled body in a uniform.
The Canadian Forces cannot increase its presence in the Arctic by sitting in Halifax watching computer screens.
Long-term, this could lead to substantial economic gain for those of us who just happen to live here year-round.
Who knows? If nobody does anything stupid, Hans Island might be the best thing to happen to the North since Jordin Tootoo!
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
It's easy to be cynical about politicians.
Come election time they make promises that voters expect them to fulfil.
But glory is fleeting and after the cheers, well-wishes and pats on the back fade into the memories of the victors, those elected are first on the firing line when government doesn't seem to work as promised.
The notion that politicians don't care or that they forget about their constituents after they are elected is a common refrain. Which brings us to the pre-budget consultations being held in nine communities by the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight.
The idea is a great one but whether or not concerns expressed at those meetings will materialize into concrete solutions is another matter entirely.
One has to wonder if the GNWT has taken a page out of the Mackenzie Gas Project's processes, which has embraced the notion of public input as a cornerstone of moving the development forward. If this is the case, then chalk one up for a positive social impact. Communities around the North are screaming for more resources to meet their education, housing and many other social needs.
As far as Inuvik is concerned, the politicians have come, listened to concerns particular to our community and taken notes. The big question is, will some, if any, of these issues be tackled in the coming budget?
Time will tell. In the meantime, take solace in the fact that government has at least leant its collective ear to your concerns. However, best to keep that red carpet in the closet for now.
After the first End of the Road Music Festival, one comment heard from several youth in the community was that there was nothing geared for teens. So in planning this year's event, the festival committee went to great lengths to organize a teen concert and even brought a hip-hop act and DJ from Edmonton for the occasion.
And what did the committee, the event sponsor and the town get in return for their efforts?
A bill for wanton destruction caused by a few ungrateful youth. Granted, it's always a few who ruin it for the rest. Thanks to those few who chose to be destructive, the youth concert was pre-empted and many kids - who didn't deserve such treatment - were left outside the rec centre wondering how they were going to spend the rest of the evening.
When this kind of thing happens, phrases like getting youth to "take ownership" and "building capacity" amongst the youth start to get a bit tired.
Perhaps next year, if the youth want a festival event of their own they should step up to the plate and organize it themselves. That way, the town's youth really will have taken ownership. If this happens, then maybe it will influence others to appreciate what their peers have accomplished (building capacity) and respect it for what it is, rather than just another free event served up on a silver platter.
Editorial Comment
Andrew Raven
Deh Cho Drum
With the price of oil climbing towards $70 per barrel like a chubby teen scaling the rope in gym class - herky-jerky but undoubtedly upward bound - Canadians are left wondering: How high will it go?
Unfortunately for most drivers, the answer is: higher than you think. Dwindling oil reserves and turmoil in the Middle East - the braying phys-ed teachers of the petroleum industry - are not going away and neither are sky-high prices at the pumps.
Canadians waiting for relief from the crushing array of federal, provincial and territorial gas taxes better not hold their breath either.
Last week, federal finance minister Ralph Goodale gave perhaps the flattest political "no" ever when the issue was raised.
But amid the complaining, the lobbying and fist-waving one important factor has been overlooked: high gas prices are really blessings in disguise.
Green-niks have argued for decades that cheap fossil fuels have created societies - especially in North America - that are overly dependent on cars, which have the nasty little habit of spewing noxious chemicals into the air.
Low prices encourage people to consume and consume some more until they're driving little Jimmy to his soccer game in a Hummer.
And with the public appetite for monstrously huge, gas-guzzling SUVs, manufacturers have little incentive to change their lineups.
Economists argue that once gas prices reach a certain point, consumers will flock towards greener cars and public transit.
And while the Deh Cho will probably never see trains and Smart cars, the region will benefit from the reduction of greenhouse gases.
We will bask in the glow - as opposed to choke on the smog - of our southern neighbours.
The hope is, this society-wide change-over will happen before most of the planet is covered by oceans and the climate in Mackenzie Valley becomes Floridian.
But there is reason for optimism. In Europe, where gas prices are three times higher than North America, the shift towards eco-friendly cars and well developed public transit systems is already gaining steam.
Perhaps the best thing about the limited amount of fossil fuels is just that - they are limited.
Hopefully that is some small consolation for the next time you spend $140 filling the truck.