Friday, October 13, 2006
In the 19 months since that terrible day, Mayor Gord Van Tighem and city councillors are guilty of doing nothing until the Workers Compensation Board's threatened fines if a dozen safety orders weren't met.
Mayor and council are also guilty of promoting Deputy Fire Chief Darcy Hernblad to the position of Fire Chief until a new Chief was hired, over six months.
Hernblad sent the men inside the shed and up on the roof when neither the main Home Building Centre building nor any person was in danger. That was the conclusion of the NWT Fire Marshal.
It was a bad decision made by a dedicated firefighter. As indicated by the WCB investigation, Hernblad lacked proper training.
Despite two dead men, Mayor and council are guilty of ignoring safety problems to focus on their legal liability.
That's why they fought the safety charges and managed to have a specific clause written in the agreement with the WCB absolving them of any legal liability.
Missing from that convenient agreement that led to Safety Act charges against the City and Hernblad being stayed was any admission anybody did anything wrong before or after the fire.
Mayor and council are guilty of ignoring the safety problems that set the stage for the deaths.
The regular firefighters knew accidents don't just happen. Witnessing their colleagues die, they understood they should not have gone up on the roof. They, too, are guilty of not speaking out after the fire, meekly following the same leadership that had killed Fyfe and Olson. Why?
Almost a year after the fire, before the WCB charges, a frustrated head of the firefighter's union, Craig Halifax, did speak out. He complained about unsafe fire protection equipment. Then fire chief Mick Beauchamp dismissed the firefighters' concerns and threatened to sue the union for sending the letter to the WCB.
In that instance, Mayor and council are guilty of backing administration at the expense of the rank and file firefighters and safety.
As Van Tighem's comments in today's Yellowknifer indicate, firefighters have no friends at City Hall, despite their previous silence - likely due to misguided loyalty or fear for their jobs.
The only hope now is that newly hired Fire Chief Reid Douglas understands the two-fold task at hand. First, he must restore the understandably low moral of the firefighters and set high training standards.
Second, he must educate and instill in City Hall a real respect for firefighting safety. The present mayor and council only respect legal threats.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
The rhetoric surrounding the supposed termination of the position of ambassador for circumpolar affairs earlier this month was the type of stuff that would have made Monty Python writers proud.
To hear foreign affairs spokesperson Dan Dugas say he had erred when announcing a senior bureaucrat would assume the position bordered on the surreal.
Reaction to the original announcement from the circumpolar world was swift and predictable.
The ambassador's position is an important one and should be reinstated by the federal government.
If one takes Dugas at his latest word that appears to be what's going to happen, although I haven't checked for further comments during the past 10 minutes.
One little side note seems to have fallen through the cracks in all of this, lost amongst the verbal subterfuge we've been subjected to on the topic during the past nine days.
Canada's Inuit Circumpolar Council president Duane Smith made it clear that he views the ambassador-for-circumpolar-affairs position as an important one.
He wouldn't look forward to going through a senior bureaucrat in order to reach the right ears in Ottawa.
In his zeal to have the position reinstated, Smith made a passing reference to the fact there were concerns about the job performance of former Nunavut minister Jack Anawak as ambassador.
Anawak's held the position since 2004.
Add in the fact we never heard a peep from Anawak when he was told more than a month ago he was going to lose his job, and things just don't add up.
Even though the ambassador's position was created by the Liberals, this could be a job-performance issue and not another attempt by the Tories to distance themselves from all things Liberal in origin.
Those who remember the battles with Premier Paul Okalik during his final year as a member of the Government of Nunavut (GN), would have to admit Anawak is being uncharacteristically gentle in his responses to losing his job.
This is a man who ended up as a minister without portfolio in the GN because he refused to keep his differences of opinion from the public.
Yet, in this case, he has offered little more than a personal endorsement of the position's importance.
The other shoe should drop this week, now that Nunavut Liberal MP Nancy Karetak-Lindell has asked Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay for an explanation.
It's hard to believe the feds would not realize the importance of the position with the challenges facing the circumpolar world today.
Yet, it's also doubtful the Tories would worry about embarrassing a staunch Liberal supporter such as Anawak.
This was a major announcement in the circumpolar world, and one that needs to be explained - honestly and fully!
If Anawak could no longer be counted on to perform his duties, the Tories should step up and say that.
If, however, this was simply another cost-cutting measure at the expense of the North, they should own up to that, as well.
It's ironic the term ambassador is at the centre of an issue so thoroughly lacking in proper etiquette and honour.
Editorial Comment
Dez Loreen
Inuvik Drum
Be heard in the community, no matter what it takes
We live in a fortunate time and age. In modern society, anyone with an opinion can stand tall on a soap box and preach their ideas.
If you have a problem with the way things are, remember you can always make a difference. I don't necessarily mean by voting in a municipal election either.
Recently, a meeting was held at Samuel Hearne school to start up a youth newspaper/magazine. A large number of interested students attended the meeting last week and planned another for this week.
I have no doubt that the community will see positive results from the new school paper.
Back in my days at Samuel Hearne, I would have loved to had a vessel to spread my ideas in the community.
Imagine a way for your children or friends to finally express themselves through their writing or art - a new way of sharing information within the school.
School spirit is another aspect of the project that would also be affected in a positive way.
While the students are getting their first taste of journalism, a group of adults met last week to discuss matters concerning youth vandalism.
The meeting was attended by local leaders and members of committees who wished to share their thoughts about possible solutions for vandalism.
RCMP made presentations to the group and outlined problems facing the community.
The RCMP officers said there are a few young adults who work closely with youth in committing some of the graffiti and break-ins.
Many people said that parents should be more accountable for their children and know where they are at all times.
Social problems like youth acting out with violence and vandalism are not just the responsibility of the parent. The task of straightening out young people is a community effort.
Role models and educators are needed to herd the youth into the valley of righteousness and away from temptation.
As long as everyone in the community is ready to accept the good and bad of raising youth in a proper environment, the future of Inuvik could be a bright one.
I hope you all used this past weekend to re-affirm your connection to your family and friends.
The snow has fallen once again, which means that Halloween is only just around the corner. Let's all make sure it is as safe as possible.
Editorial Comment
Jessica Gray
Deh Cho Drum
I would like to start by commending all of those who attended the National Energy Board hearings held Oct. 4 and 5 here in Fort Simpson.
But more importantly, I'd like to say bravo to those brave enough to speak their minds at the evening session after the dinner made by Thomas Simpson high school students.
You don't have to be a politician or a well-known member of the community to participate in a process like this.
Some of the most powerful words spoken that night came not from pretense but from the heart.
If the Mackenzie Gas Project is approved, it will have an enormous impact on our communities.
All you need do is listen closely in a coffee shop or even around a campfire in the bush to hear what people have to say about the proposed pipeline's potential effects on the communities.
And those affected have every right to question the necessity and scope of the project, as well as ask who benefits.
I think I was most affected by the words from Eric Menicoche that night.
Before he spoke, Menicoche said he wasn't representing anyone, only himself, and that he was there because he had missed an opportunity to speak out so long ago.
"One regret I had from the past," he said, "is I never really spoke at the last hearings about the Mackenzie Gas Project." He was talking about the Berger Inquiry.
Imagine, regretting a decision to speak your mind for more than 25 years.
Perhaps one opinion, comment, worry, or statement might not make a huge difference in the end.
But what if there were many who refused to speak?
What if your voice could encourage not only those around you to speak, but set the example for youth in the communities and make use of an opportunity when it presents itself.
It took great courage for those people to speak in front of members of their communities and representatives from various companies and organizations.
They're all here to talk about something that has undoubtedly put the Northwest Territories on the world map, but it's not just them it will affect.
Speaking in front of an audience when you might be the dissenting voice can be even more difficult for many, as some residents made clear when telling the board many didn't feel they have been consulted enough or in the right way.
But it's those people who need to speak, because the voice of one is amplified tenfold when others add their voices too. And if you don't decide to speak now and if you refuse to participate, you might just lose the chance.
And when it comes to life, there are few second chances.
- Jessica Gray will be covering for Roxanna Thompson until the end of October.