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Features
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Monday, July 30, 2007 Building better communities
Although we commented in a previous editorial that the negotiating process was flawed and resulted in too much infighting between groups in each community, we are happy to see that groups in 31 communities were eventually able to come to agreements that will benefit their people. However, communities such as Hay River and Fort Resolution will be forced to abide by ministerial rule after missing the third and final deadline extension of June 30 to submit a proposal. Despite seeming to have come to a consensus, Hay River's town council agreement with the West Point First Nation and Metis Council collapsed after a leadership dispute within WPFN meant the signature on the agreement was not that of the recognized chief of the band. Fort Resolution's Deninoo Community Council, Deninu Ku'e First Nation and the Metis council were able to agree on a share of the funding, $411,000 to go towards a youth centre. However, the three groups could not come to an agreement on the $791,000 balance. The problem speaks to a need to better manage how decisions are made in any future endeavour like this. It seems ridiculous that a group representing fewer than 100 people could so easily affect the needs of nearly 4,000. Ordinarily, the government distributes the funds on a per capita basis. While the Community Capacity Building Fund was a one-time grant from the federal government, it's not inconceivable that a program like this could come up again in the future. In establishing the terms of reference, each group could get weighted votes, depending on the number of people each represents. But maybe the government's logic was that by giving everyone an equal say, small organizations wouldn't be trampled by larger communities. In this instance, the government got lucky and most groups were able to agree. It is unfortunate that Fort Resolution and Hay River could not come to an agreement. Allowing the decision to fall into the hands of the minister means they all lose. A compromise where community members make a decision with the best interests of all citizens would have been preferable. Better to lose a little and still make a decision on what's best for your people than to allow the bureaucrats in Yellowknife to decide. That being said, we are confident Municipal and Community Affairs Minister Michael McLeod will use all the information available to come to a fair and equitable decision. He should meet with the members of each community and hear what they have to say about the proposals and what they would like to see before making a final decision.
Restraint chair a liability
When the RCMP detachment in Kimmirut was condemned in December due to a sewage problem, the police were in a serious quandary. Because there was no alternative, the two RCMP officers stationed there were forced to keep prisoners in the back of their truck until those in custody could either be flown to Iqaluit or released to family members. It wasn't until late January that a portable classroom in the community was renovated to accommodate the police. The temporary building didn't have jail cells, however, as it couldn't be outfitted with them to meet standards and regulations. So the police were in need of another option. They opted to bring in a restraint chair to detain the most unruly of prisoners. That highly unusual move was intended to fill the gap until September, when the new detachment is expected to open. The idea of strapping a prisoner into a chair is troubling. The vice-president of one of the companies that builds such chairs said she had never heard of the product being used as a replacement for a cell. But there seems to be little choice. Insp. Frank Foran acknowledged that it's not the 21st century way of doing business, and asked what the public would have the RCMP do otherwise, pull its two RCMP officers out of the community? That obviously wouldn't benefit Kimmirut. What would help is doing the opposite: bolstering the detachment's staff in this time of need. A prisoner in the chair requiring constant supervision by one of the two officers poses a real threat to the other officer and the community. As Cpl. Richard Basha of the Kimmirut RCMP detachment explained, when a call for assistance comes into the detachment and a prisoner is occupying the restraint chair, only one officer can respond. He must then perform an assessment of the situation before deciding if backup is needed. The delay that this causes could endanger the lone police officer and the person(s) in distress. This is unacceptable. And having two or more aggressive or violent prisoners would pose a serious problem. While the RCMP cannot magically create a new detachment, and while they've essentially been forced to resort to an emergency restraint chair, they do have an option of redistributing their resources. They could turn to national headquarters in Ottawa for assistance. Kimmirut is in need of a third police officer during this interim period. That much should have been afforded.
Community opportunity Editorial Comment Roxanna Thompson Deh Cho Drum Thursday, July 26, 2007 There's something about skateboarding that lends itself to a less than wholesome image in comparison to sports such as soccer or basketball. This could be the result of skateboarders on television being portrayed as belonging to a counter-culture group or maybe just because of the clothes they wear. In Fort Simpson the image likely has something to do with the fact that youth who skateboard don't have a dedicated area where they can practise and share moves. Skateboarders can generally be found being creative with concrete fixtures around the community. The skateboarders have to be given points for creativity. Some of the elements that they construct on the tennis court from time to time require ingenuity. Their determination also needs to be credited. In the past some have stated they they're often criticized or yelled at for practising in public places or rolling into the streets, yet they keep on doing it. One impractical but decisive solution to the matter would be to ban skateboards. The truth is, however, that not all youth are interested in basketball and soccer and some basketball and soccer players also skateboard. The community needs to address the needs of this segment of youth because ignoring them isn't practical. In the midst of this hour of need has come a seemingly miraculous proposal. An initiative called Let Them Be Kids is willing to support Fort Simpson with the goal of building a skatepark. If the community is truly behind the project, then the organization is willing to do whatever it takes to help make it happen. This could be the very opportunity that the village has been waiting for. Talks about skateboard parks are nothing new. The idea has been brought up a number of times and no progress ever seems to be made. The most recent push was attached to the Community Capacity Building Fund. The tri-council decided that some of the money would be put towards a skatepark along with a new pool and a concrete pad in the arena. The responsibility for the plans was left in part to a group of community members and while things seemed to progress for a while, the matter faded away. While many people, namely the skateboarders and their supporters, seem to want a park there appears to be a need for a driving force. As MACA recreation co-ordinator Shane Thompson put it, this offer could be the push to get the project over the hump. It's not every day that an organization comes forward that wants to split the cost of the project while also offering all the technical support needed. But even with the support the project requires the community to come together to work towards a goal. Village residents need to decide if they're committed towards a skateboard park. If they are, the community needs to say so. Now is not the time for hesitation. The opportunity to build a skateboard park is there and the community should grab it or risk regretting it later. Community policing Editorial Comment Dez Loreen Inuvik News Thursday, July 26, 2007 So there I was, driving down the main road, riding shotgun in a police cruiser. I don't have a gun and I wasn't on the job. I'm just a reporter looking for the facts and maybe some peace of mind. I was sitting beside one of our fine constables as he explained how bicycles are stolen, then recovered, but not always returned to the owner. While this matter is important to the well being of our community, I couldn't help but wonder what is being done about crack? We may have shut down a few pot dealers and bootleggers with recent arrests, but where are the crack busts? I know it seems like clockwork that I get on the case of crackheads in town, but they still exist. We need to eliminate this plague from our streets. Even the constable I talked to said he wishes the police could focus on some of the more insidious activity in town, not just ensuring helmet safety. The RCMP recently ended a long undercover investigation into street dealers. So far they have released information on three of the people involved in illegal-doings in town. On a side note, Project Gargoyle was probably one of the coolest names for an operation in the Territories since Gunship. I want to be in the room next time they name one of those ops. "Name it Operation Falcon's Egg," I'd say. Anyway, sure there are more people out there doing illegal activities. Hell, I just saw a guy jay-walk. Wait, is that illegal here? I see a few police officers on the street at night and during bar close, but where are the walking patrols? People are openly doing drugs and drinking on the streets because they know that the worst they will get is a slap on the wrist. We're a growing community with real problems. Every day another large batch of people come into the community and we don't know what their agenda is. I don't even have kids and I'm reluctant to do so. I mean, one day I'll have a family here in Inuvik and I want them to grow up right. That means I want to educate them about the goods and bads in the world. I was sitting in the office last week when my co-worker came in with some mini-pamphlets warning kids about crystal meth. I remember growing up here and reading my first marijuana pamphlet. Needless to say, I found some of the facts to be a bit misleading. Now we have generations of people who abuse drugs and alcohol. I blame it on the education system and how we bring this to our kids. If they watch movies about how funny pot is and how cool smoking up is, how can we chastise it? Just be real, tell the truth and help the police stop crack dealers in town. Just make them leave. I have a message for the person who wants to be the new Staff Sergeant of the Inuvik RCMP: Get crack out of our town and you'll be bigger than Conway Twitty in these parts. Wednesday, July 25, 2007 We don't need language cops
Editorial Comment Darrell Greer Kivalliq News Wednesday, July 18, 2007 It was no shock to hear Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) president Paul Kaludjak express his dissatisfaction with the proposed language bills which have received first and second reading in the Nunavut legislature. There's not much NTI seems to agree with these days, except its own projects and initiatives. Kaludjak said NTI supports Bill 6 (proposed official languages act) and Bill 7 (proposed Inuit languages protection act) in general, but he's concerned they're not tough enough, especially Bill 7. It seems NTI envisions the Nunavut language commissioner's office becoming the equivalent of Quebec's old language cops, who met mostly with disdain from the general populace even during the height of the separatist movement. NTI would also like the commissioner to have full deputy-minister powers and be appointed and/or removed by a committee that would include NTI participation. While we fully support both bill proposals and believe as much as possible must be done to protect Inuit language, we must all work to ensure the initiatives stay within the realms of possibility. And that's where NTI falls ridiculously short of the mark with its incessant ramblings about Inuktitut having to be available almost immediately in every conceivable way in Nunavut. Having signs up in Inuktitut in every store and government office is a rather simple task, as long as the private sector is willing to foot its share of the bill. But when it comes to having Inuktitut available in every stream at this stage, NTI is asking the impossible. It's a simple matter of numbers. Our government has never operated near capacity, even with the number of southerners it employs. We had about 50 teacher vacancies in the Kivalliq alone at the close of this past school semester, and we all know the state of our number of Inuktitut-speaking doctors, nurses, lawyers and other like professionals. Positive steps are being made thanks to the efforts of Nunavut Arctic College's teacher and business-management programs, RCMP recruiting, the Municipal Training Organization and the attention being given to encouraging our high school students to continue on with post-secondary education. But the transformation isn't going to happen overnight due to one inescapable fact -- numbers. Almost 60 per cent of Nunavut's 31,000 residents are under the age of 25, with about 10,500 being 14 or younger. We simply don't have the bodies, qualified or not, to be delivering Inuktitut in every avenue at this time. In fact, headhunting is still rampant for qualified Inuktitut-speaking employees. I could give a dozen names off the top of my head of people who were trained by a particular department (usually government) and then lured away by either the private sector or an Inuit organization. Nunavut needs Bill 6 and 7. It doesn't need Language Commissioner Johnny Kusugak being forced to hire a bunch of language cops to cause resentment across the territory. If NTI believes the weekly pickle special being posted in Inuktitut at the local Northern store is the key to preserving the language, fine. We know the key lies in proper planning, training, education, co-operation, willingness and, just as importantly, time and patience.
Corrections Some inaccurate and misleading information appeared in the July 23 edition of News/North. Anne Benoit from Aklavik died in June 2007 at the age of 93. Aklavik's Anne Gardlund's name was also misspelled, and the obituary ("A strong woman," p.12) misidentified Aklavik's Moose Kerr school. News/North apologizes for any embarrassment or inconvenience caused by these errors.
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