Monday, February 6, 2006
Harper promised:
- Three new armed icebreakers capable of carrying troops stationed in Iqaluit, 500 regular force personnel for crews and support;
- A new military/civilian deep-water docking facility in Iqaluit;
- A new Arctic sensor system for underwater surveillance, technologies such as listening posts to monitor foreign submarines and ships;
- A new Arctic army training centre in Cambridge Bay, staffed by an estimated 100 regular force personnel;
- New fixed-wing search-and-rescue aircraft in Yellowknife.
- Recruiting up to 500 additional Canadian Rangers and increasing their level of training and equipment; and
- An army emergency response capability for the Arctic through the new airborne battalion at CFB Trenton.
Big changes are coming.
The Liberals thought Canada lacked the military muscle to nail down our Northern borders with the rest of the world. So they did nothing beyond beefing up long distance surveillance.
There have been some recent organizational changes in the Canadian Armed Forces that make the North a sector of defence but none of this adds up to establishing Canadian sovereignty.
It's important to remember, while the Arctic is not a part of the United States it is a part of North America.
It's also a fact American money builds billion-dollar pipelines and will undoubtedly have a role to play in future Northern resource development.
Aside from bragging rights, Canada and America want the same thing in the Northwest Passage and the Arctic islands - thriving commercial shipping, military security, and environmental protection.
There are oil and gas resources that could come under dispute and many other countries want to take advantage of an open Northwest Passage to avoid the long route to the Pacific through the Panama Canal
All of which means if Canada doesn't get serious about Arctic sovereignty soon, the Americans will, and who could blame them?
Last summer, two Canadian Naval Reserve ships steamed North, cruising the shores of Labrador, Nunavik and Nunavut. These are small patrol ships. A larger Canadian frigate cruised up the Baffin Island coast.
This was the largest Canadian naval presence in Arctic waters in a couple of decades. On these ships are real navy men and women who take service to their country seriously. They instinctively know, and say clearly, the North and its people are a part of Canada worth defending.
They created a carnival at every port of call. That's because the Canadian Armed Forces have ambassadors in many Northern communities - Arctic Rangers. These are men and women who don't question their Arctic sovereignty, only how best to help keep it.
Canadians can only blush at the inadequacy of the Canadian Navy in the Arctic. The Arctic winter can drive any ship in the Canadian Navy out of Arctic waters. Even Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers are shut out of Hudson Bay and the Arctic Ocean for six months of the year.
At the heart of sovereignty is investment. Canada has fallen behind in that investment and lost a grip on its sovereignty as a result.
Harper says he is going to turn that around. Canadians and Northerners must hold him to his word.
It takes two to fight. Think about that when you consider the case of two former Pangnirtung RCMP officers who forced their way into Darryl Qaqasiq's home on Feb. 3, 2003.
In the ensuing altercation, he was choked unconscious and arrested on charges that were subsequently tossed out.
Constables Shawn Devine and Richard White didn't have a search warrant when they went to Qaqasiq's house to investigate a report of a death threat against his former girlfriend.
Qaqasiq, who had been drinking, swore at the officers, refused to let them in and tried to close the door.
The constables illegally entered the residence and the fight was on.
While most people would offer no resistance to two armed, highly trained police, Qaqasiq did the wrong thing: he fought back, punching White, not just once, but twice.
Qaqasiq wasn't even read his rights after the officers dragged him through the snow in -50C weather without his shoes, shirt or a coat. The officers said they rushed away because they feared for their lives when the combative man called out to family members to shoot the police.
Curiously, a police investigation discovered no wrongdoing by the officers. However, the RCMP Complaints Commission agreed with the family that White and Devine acted improperly.
Even so, neither will receive disciplinary action, even though it's clear they entered the home without legal cause, used a choke hold that is banned because people have died because of its use.
The RCMP will apologize and the family will press on with a $4.5 million lawsuit.
Several issues are clear out of this case:
- Police officers must respect the law and people's rights, which didn't happen in this instance;
- People must respect the police and not fight back when they know they are innocent. If officers have broken the law, people should complain through the proper channels;
- The RCMP should not investigate itself, because complaints will not receive an impartial hearing. This case is proof police can't investigate themselves because the officers' wrongdoing was overlooked by RCMP and only acknowledged after the ruling by the complaints commission.
In the end, both the police and Qaqasiq share blame.
This altercation would not have occurred had the officers not forced their way into the house without reasonable and probable grounds. They should have gone to get a search warrant, then returned with legal authority to enter the home.
Qaqasiq should have co-operated with police. So often people blame others for problems of their own making. Had he simply answered the officers' questions, none of this would have happened.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Only time will tell if the Rankin Inlet Minor Hockey Association (RIMHA) files an official complaint over its assertion that about $10,000 is missing from commissions it should have received from ticket sales at the lottery booth in the Northern store.
One thing is for sure, it should.
With the costs of running an efficient hockey program continuing to rise, and government coffers growing increasingly smaller for funding sports in our region, $10,000 is a lot of money.
But the problem runs deeper than that.
The amount of money gone unaccounted for from various committees and organizations in Rankin during the past few years has passed the alarming stage.
It's time for residents to speak up and demand those who handle money in the community be held accountable for where it goes.
In fact, it's rather ironic one of the issues raised at a public meeting in Rankin this past month was the question of where the hamlet spends the money it receives from bingo games.
Of course, the impetus for the query seemed to be bigger prizes during the Christmas Games and Hamlet Days celebrations.
Still, for the public to question the hamlet's integrity in allocating funds it raises, while turning a blind eye to the tens of thousands of dollars going missing from other organizations, defies description.
In the case of the RIMHA situation, every young player, parent, coach and volunteer who keep hockey going deserve an answer.
And, the Northern store deserves to know whether this money went missing or not.
The store deserves a great deal of credit for looking after the lottery booth during the past nine years.
Yes, there's no doubt having the booth there brings extra business to the store, but the Northern will survive quite nicely without the booth, thank you very much.
What is at stake, is the store's credibility and reputation.
It's fine for both Northern and Sport North Lotteries to say the onus is on the RIMHA to file an official complaint or, as far as they're concerned, there is no missing money.
But, let's be honest, even though competition in our hamlet is limited, shouldn't the store - viewed as the community's leading retailer - want to know if, indeed, money intended for young hockey players did go missing?
In fact, you would think Northern would take a lead role in solving the issue to lift the cloud of uncertainty in the public's mind.
There are many times retailers ask for our trust in believing they offer the best value they can, considering the cost of transportation involved.
This would seem like a golden opportunity for the store to earn a little of that trust by working in co-operation with the RIMHA to resolve this issue. If not, we can only hope the local minor hockey executive has the wherewithal to file that official complaint.
If not, it may be time for those who are continually asked to support both the store and the hockey program to raise an official complaint of their own.
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
From the hours and hours of oral statements and questioning heard in Inuvik at the National Energy Board hearings this past week, one word in particular jumped out: footprint.
The term "footprint" refers to traces of human activity on the landscape, including everything from industrial development to that Christmas tree you chopped down for the holidays.
And to think that if humans could survive alone on one coniferous tree per year, what a wonderful world it would be. So clean and fresh.
Unfortunately, this is not the case and among many other things humans need to survive, fossil fuels remains top of the heap.
Attempting to see through the fog that descended on town Friday and lingered until late Saturday afternoon - caused by greenhouse gasses spewed into the air from oil heaters, idling automobiles and the town's power plant - made 30 minutes of NEB hearing exchanges between Environment Canada and Imperial about a three-hectare airstrip seem ridiculous.
As people continue to consume, garbage dumps expand and fossil fuels are necessary to keep things going.
It's a very simplistic way to examine what could be called a global footprint, however the point is that because of modern living - ie the need for electricity, quick transportation and other such futuristic trappings - our lives cannot help but leave a significant mark on the planet.
Next time you savour the taste of a fresh juicy tomato in the dead of winter, think about all of the fuel that was necessary to bring that orchard-grown or hot-house delight to your dinner table in Inuvik. The person who picked it perhaps rode in a tractor to the tomato vines at one end of the farm, maybe even drove him or herself to and from work.
Once the tomato was picked, it was loaded on to another truck to go to a wholesaler, who maybe sold a bunch to Inuvik's beloved Fruitman who trucked it several-thousand kilometres north, or maybe it arrived in a Northmart-bound truck.
And if the tomatoes ended up at Northmart, take into consideration the power needed to keep the lights and heat going so customers can see what they are buying without freezing. If the tomatoes came in plastic packaging, score another for big oil and their versatile petroleum products.
Sure it's easy to criticize oil companies for damaging and polluting the environment, but few if any have stopped buying their product because of it.
It's a fact that a gas pipeline through the valley will leave a significant footprint. However, the benefit of relying on cleaner burning natural gas for the region's power needs instead of diesel could be a positive outcome - for the environment and people's pocketbooks.
Having concerns about how increased development will impact the environment and making these concerns known is part of being a responsible citizen.
Taking a look at one's own footprint and ways to minimize it by idling the car less or turning out the lights when nobody's in the room is that responsible citizen actually making an impact.
Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum
There were some very difficult lessons to be learnt this week in Fort Simpson.
The first was the discovery of how fast a community can be torn apart. Starting on Tuesday, Jan. 24, the fabric of the community could be seen growing more frayed and threadbare daily.
It was an emotionally draining week for many people. Tables at the village council were well stocked with Kleenex boxes that received a lot of use. Reports suggest that negotiation meetings between the volunteer fire fighters and representatives from village council were equally emotional. Opinions that had been bottled up needed to find release.
A second lesson came in the form of realizing how far people will go to stick to a course of action they believe is right.
Surely all the main players involved in the situation made decisions based on exactly what they thought was proper. Others may have disagreed with them, but they remained true to their chosen path.
Admirable qualities were revealed by many people as they choose to work long hours and lose sleep while trying to find a solution to the disagreement.
This week also provided a wake-up call for many people about the importance of volunteers. Regardless of what service they provide, volunteers are an integral, but often under appreciated, part of the community.
Some volunteers toil behind the scenes while others remain invisible despite the fact that their actions are there for anyone to see.
If anything comes out of this dispute, it will be that volunteers cannot be taken for granted and should be thanked far more often.
It always seems that it's not until something is missing that people realize how important it was. The people of Fort Simpson were fortunate to have a strong volunteer firefighter department up to this point. Many communities in the North are not as lucky.
At this time, pointing fingers is useless. It might feel good to place blame, but it's not a constructive tactic for the situation the village has found itself in.
It's time to start picking up the pieces. At the end of the day what Fort Simpson is left with is a municipal administrator appointed by MACA and ongoing talks to reach some solution that will ensure a working volunteer fire department.
Viewing this as a clean slate is the only way that Fort Simpson can carry forward instead of becoming mired in events that have transpired.
It's a chance to learn from history. Whatever lessons can be gleaned should be carried forward and used to help resolve future problems.
The village is facing some tough times ahead. MACA has declared that the village's first priority is to hold elections.
Strong resolve will be needed to make decisions about the shape the future should take and how to rebuild.
In last week's article "Dene games go east" Arctic Bay was incorrectly identified as Nunavut's most northern community. That honour is held by Grise Fiord.