Monday, November 14, 2005
Two groups in Nunavut, one led by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the other represented by a lawyer in Alberta, are at odds over how to get the federal government to include Inuit in a residential school compensation package.
The lawyer, Steven Cooper who grew up in Coral Harbour but now lives in Alberta, is representing 350-400 former students. NTI is asking former students to let it know who they are so it can make sure they get compensation. NTI even filed a lawsuit on their behalf. Cooper says Inuit students will be compensated whether or not NTI is involved.
That leaves the students being pulled in different ways and hurtful words flying back and forth.
This dispute is only going to hurt those who should benefit from the compensation.
What are former students supposed to think? The disagreement will only confuse the matter more.
These two factions need to work together to ensure former students are not subjected to more conflict and that a fair resolution is arrived at in a speedy fashion.
Introduction of a territories-wide bottle deposit system is long overdue.
Now that the system is in place, the government appears committed to making it work, even though 22 NWT communities don't have depots where people can redeem their bottles for a refund.
This extra financial burden isn't easy, but the environment department is doing what it can to get people their money back.
According to Emery Paquin, director of environmental protection, the government will help anyone interested in running depots get into business by offering $5,000 worth of equipment for a $1 lease.
That's a good step to helping someone get into the bottle deposit business in smaller communities.
But Environment Minister Michael Miltenberger must stick to the promise he made in the legislative assembly that environment officers in each community without a depot take responsibility for collecting and storing bottles and paying out refunds.
This is essential because few of us can afford to pay out the extra cash and then hold onto the bottles for who knows how long.
Consumers can help lessen the impact, too, by changing their purchasing habits.
Instead of buying juice or pop in one-serving containers, buy one- or two-litre bottles or boxes and pour out servings in reusable containers.
That way you're only paying one deposit and you have less to store while waiting for the monthly visit from the government.
Most importantly, the government must do everything it can to make the program work. That must include reaching out to possible depot operators in each community and stepping in where no-one comes forward.
The environment is too important.
In 2007, the Canada Winter Games will be held in Whitehorse, so it is understandable that Nunavut and the NWT want to get on board with the Yukon to help promote this historic event.
Nunavut has agreed to contribute $3 million to promote the Games and tourism North of 60 but this commitment raises more questions than answers.
Has anyone looked into this beyond getting caught up in the excitement of jumping on the bandwagon? Who really benefits? How much of that investment will come back to Nunavut, whether through tourism, business opportunities or assistance to our athletes?
As Whitehorse city councillor Doug Graham pointed out, his city is hosting the 2007 Canada Winter Games, not Nunavut or the NWT.
While it's great for the Northern territories to work together, $3 million is a lot of money to spend promoting an event so far away.
Especially since there's a real need for more money for health care, education, infrastructure and so much else here at home.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Not all that long ago, Prime Minister Paul Martin promised his Liberal party would be ready, willing and able to call an election as soon as Justice John Gomery tabled his report on the sponsorship scandal.
While Gomery tabled the report this past Tuesday, Martin's not running anybody over on his way to the podium.
We gave Martin his due on the way he handled the first attempt to oust his minority government.
The prime minister proved himself to be a worthy tactician by convincing NDP leader Jack Layton to support his minority government.
The political landscape hasn't changed much during the time it took Gomery to finish his inquiry.
Layton is still using his promise of support to gain favours, this time targeting federal Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh to block health-care privatization in Canada.
Conservative leader Stephen Harper is still howling for Martin's political head, as Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe yawns in the back, waiting for social-thinking-Layton and the Prairie bad boy to get on the same page.
Martin is still holding two substantial cards.
First, he knows none of the parties really want to be seen by Canadian voters as the one primarily responsible for calling a federal election at Christmas.
Second, the Gomery report wasn't all that damning of Martin in his role as finance minister at the time of the scandal and the longer he holds off an election, the further it slips from the voters' minds.
If Harper has any chance of striking while the scandal iron is hot, he must get the NDP on his side, once and for all, during the next week.
The next opportunity the Tories have at toppling the Liberal government is Nov. 15 - Conservative Opposition Day.
A successful non-confidence bid at that time and we all stop at our local polling stations on the way home from the Northern store or Co-op with our Christmas goodies.
Arguably, the leader with the most to gain in this situation is Duceppe.
Like most of his Bloc predecessors, Duceppe has visions of being king of his own little country some day.
However, unlike other former Bloc leaders, he realizes that time is not now.
What Duceppe would like to see is an election called early in the new year so he can take advantage of voter outrage in Quebec to further solidify his grasp on La Belle Province and take another shot at becoming the head of the official Opposition party.
And, of course, he will all the while be trying to put the pieces in place to call another referendum before the next federal election.
Oddsmakers wouldn't be giving you much of a spread on this one, but we'll still take history over Liberal optimism.
Minority governments have a sad record in Canada and this one hasn't shaped up any differently.
Martin's only hope in escaping an election over the next four months is to continue buying Layton's support and hoping the NDP leader doesn't read enough support on the horizon to start believing his party could pick up substantial gains in an early election.
If Martin keeps Layton on his side, Harper can sling prairie mud until the cows come home, but those votin' doggies still won't get out of the barn.
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
I had to chuckle last week at a news headline that declared Samuel Hearne secondary school's replacement had been put on "the fast track" by the GNWT.
The story went on to say construction could start in two or three years. Wow! If that's the fast track, I'd hate to be on the slow track.
But everyone knows that ho-hum-medium-pace-government-doing-what-government-does best-track.
The one marked by paperwork and consultations and reviews and community input, followed by more consultations and wonderful reports. It's the one that most recently brought us this ill-conceived recycling program, which started with an idea and those oh-so-loveable consultations back in 2000/2001.
Nearly five years later, the majority of NWT communities are still without recycling depots, only beverage containers are included in the program (not paper, tin cans, cardboard and other stuff still bound for a landfill near you).
Only when the environment minister was pressured did the government reverse its "save up your cans for when you come to a depot-community" stance. Now the Environment and Natural Resources ministry will pick up the tab for deposit refunds in all the communities that don't have bottle depots.
At current count, this is 27 of the territories' 33 communities. Sounds like it would've been easier for the GNWT to run the depots themselves instead of going the Request For Proposal route to provide a service that is essentially a no-money maker.
However, this recent ENR-picks-up-the-tab about face is definitely great news for pop drinkers in Holman who, I suppose, would have had to wait until the dead of winter and pack their aluminum cans to Inuvik by dog-sled.
This recycling debacle a prime example of government tripping over its fine cape of bureaucratic process. The real embarrassment, however, is that the territory is just jumping on the recycling bandwagon now, nearly 10 years after every other place in North America got on board.
Sure, David Suzuki can stroll into this region, relive the Berger Inquiry and get a pat on the back from everyone but what about the tin cans?
Oh, they're down at the landfill being buried.
Talk about the environmental impact of our burgeoning Northern landfills. Not as sexy as a pipeline, I guess.
Maybe the best route for the GNWT is to scrap the recycling program altogether, let the tin cans and cardboard build up in the landfills another thirty-odd years or so, by which time the natural gas in the Mackenzie pipeline will be nearly exhausted. Then we can sell the Territories to the Japanese, who seem to like visiting here so darn much, as was indicated by the troupe of GNWT officials and dignitaries recently sent overseas on the taxpayer's dime to promote us at Expo 2005. Sound crazy?
Well, I once met a Dutch couple while travelling abroad who thought that this was the best way to go for the Netherlands, their home-country.
"When the polar ice caps melt, we're going to be underwater anyways," they said.
Barring that scenario, cross your fingers that in 30 years time the NWT isn't sinking in a sea of its own unrecycled garbage.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
The ultimate in 'reality TV' should be watching a daily newscast.
The news ought to be packaged and delivered in a manner consistent with what Dragnet's Sgt. Joe Friday always demanded:"Just the facts, Mam."
This opinion piece isn't going to make judgments about whether media are biased or not (that's another argument for another day). No, this is a commentary on the nature of the national and international news we see, hear and read each day: patently negative.
Over the past few months, we have been constantly informed of natural disasters, especially hurricanes and earthquakes, and the devastation they have left behind.
We have learned of even more casualties and death in Iraq. Now there are violent clashes in Paris.
Here's some other things I have gleaned from the news lately:
The avian flu is bound to kill a whole slew of us.
Political scandals just don't go away.
Terrorists could be lurking anywhere.
It seems you're just as likely to encounter gun play in Toronto as a Blue Jays game.
We're polluting the Earth all to heck, using up most of the resources and wreaking havoc on wildlife.
We're a society that's getting fatter and less fit. The Internet is a marvellous tool, but it's rife with fraud.
Oh yeah, and the rising price of gasoline is bound to set off crises. When a barrel of oil hits $60 or more, there are stories about how some people will struggle to afford home-heating fuel this winter.
There is speculation that the skyrocketing cost of oil will trigger inflation, which will lead to hikes in interest rates, which will cause the ruination of the economy (granted not many take it that far, but there has been the occasional allusion to dire economic consequences).
Such reports definitely tend to taper off when gas prices drop again.
It's funny, I was talking to a relative on the phone recently and we remarked on how much cheaper long-distance rates are these days. When was the last time you saw a news item on how people are saving money through their long-distance plans?
Sure, there are occasional reports heralding medical breakthroughs, but there are as many or more stories on medications that have been found to be dangerous or surgeries gone wrong.
Despite it all, we can't bury our heads in the sand. We must remain informed. But we canOt let all the negativity get us down.
In many respects, the world has never known a greater age. We have the convenience of many amazing technologies and there are countless people and organizations out there who should be celebrated.
There is plenty to be grateful for, just don't count on the newscast to remind you of it.