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Knowledge is power
Yellowknifer - Friday, June 12, 2009

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The Northwest Territories Power Corporation has proven to be a burden on both the government and citizens.

Electricity bills have become too expensive for some NWT residents, while the government is in debt and saddled with the responsibility of running the corporation.

Premier Floyd Roland is very aware of the burden the utility places on the financially-strapped territorial government. As early as 2004, when he was finance minister, Roland indicated to Yellowknifer that the GNWT had inherited considerable debt from the corporation when it took over the operation from the federal government in 1988.

One of the government's potential solutions this year, in the wake of exceptionally high power rates and deepening debt in a time of a recession, is to consider merging the Power Corp with ATCO, a Calgary-based electric company. Unsurprisingly, this has raised objections from the Union of Northern Workers, who fear job losses, and a reaction from citizens who see this as a possible loss of control by Northerners over their own power rates.

These objections underline the need for the government to be frank and transparent about the merger proposal. The premier reiterated this year that the efficiency and reliability of electricity delivery must be improved, one way or another.

While residents must be mindful of union concerns, we must be wary of bluster.

For union regional vice-president Jean Francois DesLauriers, who led a protest march in Yellowknife on May 29, to proclaim the Power Corp "is a very efficient and a very good corporation," flies in the face of what people see when they look at their power bills.

We should keep an open mind about a power merger, but the more information the government provides us with, the easier it will be to form an educated opinion on the future of our energy needs.

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Too high a price for summer help
Yellowknifer - Friday, June 12, 2009

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Providing students with summer work experience is a valuable service. On the other hand, paying high school, college and university students up to $26 an hour is ludicrous.

Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro raised the issue in the legislative assembly earlier this month, arguing that the territorial government's compensation for students who work for them is too high. She suggested that lowering these wages could help create some financial wiggle room to introduce more student jobs. It's a good point. Just how exactly is the private sector supposed to compete with $26 an hour?

Students, especially ones needing to pay tuition because they no longer have access to scholarships through the government, shouldn't have to subsist on minimum wage. But let's not go overboard.

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The missing link
Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum - Thursday, June 11, 2009

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The announcement on June 9 of the expansion of the Nahanni National Park Reserve is a feather in the cap of a number of governments.

If the legislation to officially expand the park passes it will fulfill the commitment that the federal government made in 2007 to reach this goal. The federal government will undoubtedly also receive praise from organizations both within the country and from other parts of the world for protecting an additional vast piece of wilderness.

For the territorial government the expansion is also a choice prize. The territory can now boast of housing part of the country's largest national park, Wood Buffalo, as well as the third largest, Nahanni. This distinction will undoubtedly look great in tourism brochures and other material.

The Dehcho First Nations (DFN) should also be holding their own celebrations in light of the announcement. The expansion of the park to protect the greater Nahanni ecosystem has long been one of DFN's goals. The new boundary fits with the teaching of protecting the land.

Still, the announcement won't bring any changes to the average Deh Cho resident in the short term.

During his visit to Fort Simpson in August 2007 Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that the federal cabinet had approved an order in council to expand the boundaries of the park to cover approximately 28,000 square kilometres. All of the land was set aside with the explicit purpose of being included in the boundaries of the park.

The new announcement simply means that the boundary has been decided and work is underway to make it official through legislation.

Even when the legislation is passed and the boundary is set it will only mean something if the people of the Deh Cho can get behind it.

Without some encouragement and signs of tangible benefits, the park boundary could easily remain just a line on a map and not the point of pride that it should be.

The people of the Deh Cho need to have a sense of ownership in the park. Unless you live in Nahanni Butte, and sometimes even then, that's hard to do.

Although they share the closest proximity to the park it's the residents of the Deh Cho, not the rest of Canada, who would receive the most benefit from a campaign explaining why the expansion is a good thing.

Part of the expansion project should involve a conscious effort by the governments to help Deh Cho residents tap into any possible economic benefits the expanded park may bring such as increased numbers of tourists. A tangible link between residents and the park would go a long way towards building a sense of ownership.

The expansion of the park is undeniably a great achievement on many fronts.

There is work to be done, however, to ensure those living closest to the park can share in this pride.

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Less talk, more action
Editorial Comment
Andrew Rankin
Inuvik Drum - Thursday, June 11, 2009

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I've been living in Inuvik since January and I still get a twinge of guilt and frustration every time I throw out a plastic milk container, tin can or a mountain of scrap paper.

I've been programmed to sort and recycle but in Inuvik it's like I have to unlearn all of this and deal with the guilt.

In talking to many residents in town I get the sense a lot of people share my frustration and are shocked that so much paper especially is allowed to go to waste.

But there seems to be a lot more talk than action on what should be a fundamental service offered here. It is outrageous that our landfill is being filled with so much stuff that could easily be reused and recycled because the technology is out there to do it. I wonder why, if people feel so strongly that the town should start a recycling program, they don't attend council meetings to offer support for one or make their concerns heard.

It seems the only time people show up to council meetings is when they're being negatively affected by a town bylaw or to complain. But that is for another editorial.

Maybe it is impossible to offer a comprehensive recycling program here like the one in Whitehorse, but does that mean there should be no service offered at all? Yes, I realize the costs associated with transporting recyclables out of here would be high. Can't we start small and work up?

Fred Rutherford, aka the fruit man, manages to make a bit of cash from taking cardboard from local businesses and selling it to a depot during his regular journeys to B.C. There are several fleets of transport trucks in town that could do the same, so why can't more of that be done? Maybe drivers can be offered an extra incentive to do more of it. Maybe other recyclables can be thrown in, too.

Maybe Inuvik could be the regional recycling depot for the Delta and then there might be enough volume to support a viable recycling program Maybe part of a solution lies with the municipal government working with the territorial government on a solution to the problem, instead of the latter keeping hands off because waste management is supposedly a municipal problem.

In fairness, the GNWT is spending $300,000 on a three-year program aimed at helping individuals and groups get paper and cardboard reuse programs off the ground. That's a start but more is needed.

Maybe it's just wishful thinking but they're ideas that should be thrown out there for more consideration. If, for example, there are opportunities to keep petroleum-based plastics out of our landfills, or simply to cut down on our waste, I think we have an obligation to ourselves and the environment to act. Because it's the right thing to do.

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Quiet streets
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, June 10, 2009

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Raven Mad Daze, once a major event, has become the hot potato neither the city nor the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce wants to handle.

It's a pitiful statement for our city, which has otherwise put heavy emphasis on instilling civic pride, whether it be through downtown revitalization efforts or a campaign to halt litter.

It's sad that for the third year in a row there won't be a Raven Mad Daze downtown, and sadder still there won't be one while Yellowknife celebrates its 75th anniversary.

It's not like the event died from a lack of interest. In 2006, as in past years, downtown was absolutely crawling with people who came to browse the vendors and midnight sales, check out the games, the shaving cream and Silly String, and watch people shave their heads for cancer.

No, the death knell had nothing to do with declining appeal. It's end is directly linked to apathy at city hall and the chamber of commerce.

The chamber says it can't organize Raven Mad Daze because of its small staff, which is odd considering the chamber has been contracting out the actual work for years.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem says it's not the city's problem, seemingly forgetting all the lip service he's paid to Caribou Carnival whenever it faced trouble.

He implies the problem may have to do with sour grapes between downtown businesses and those further out in the suburbs, but that doesn't stop a whole host of communities elsewhere from hosting their street parties downtown. After all, where else would you hold a summer street party?

The problem with Raven Mad Daze is that it was always dependent upon a sole contractor to get the ball rolling. When that person burns out, the chamber of commerce is left scrambling to find someone else to pick up the ball, as we've seen lately with former organizer Lisa Tesar, and in the past, Sue Glowach, who ran Raven Mad for a nominal salary on behalf of the business chamber for six years in the 1990s.

There are a number of different options to save Raven Mad. We can do what Glowach suggested 10 years ago, that groups such as the Rotary Club, the city, chamber of commerce, and Northern Frontier Visitors Centre join forces to organize the event - thus providing strength in numbers to keep up the momentum.

Or, a group of concerned citizens and businesses can form a board society much like Caribou Carnival. Perhaps the two events can be rolled into one and run by the same board.

The city will have to be involved to ensure there's enough special grants money available for Raven Mad's future.

In any event, it's in the city and its citizens' interest to ensure longstanding community events survive. They are part of what makes a city an attractive place in which to live.

To see them whither on the vine, particularly in the midst of a recession as we are in now, only heightens the perception of a community in decline.

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Alien tongues and cheekiness
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, June 10, 2009

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If there's a government more timid than Nunavut's anywhere in Canada, I don't ever want to live there.

I had high hopes when Nunavummiut elected a new premier and Eva Aariak began talking about the importance of our government being more forthcoming with we mere mortals.

I smiled broadly as she talked about openness, accountability and transparency with the new government.

Oh how easily I allowed myself to forget these were the same words former premier Paul Okalik used to toss about anytime his popularity or approval rate needed a quick boost.

But talk is cheap and so is the use of these terms, it seems, anytime they're being used by someone at or near the top of our government.

Since Aariak took the reins of our government, your humble scribe has asked for permission to interview front-line government workers a grand total of six times, and all six times permission was denied.

Questions about tuktu? Not for you. A few queries on a bear? Au contraire, mon frere.

Questions on money? Don't be funny. Contracts for housing? On that we won't be espousing.

You get the picture.

I've long passed the point of wondering if my requests will be granted.

As I conveyed to a public relations minion this past month, I'd be shocked if the answer was otherwise.

These days, I find myself wondering why this government is so afraid of letting its front-line workers answer questions.

Does it have so little faith in their abilities?

Is it worried they might say something totally embarrassing?

Maybe it's worried some of the answers might show the ability to think for oneself or (gasp) be a tad outside the prefab box?

It's not that I don't like to dance, because I enjoy cutting a rug as much as the next person.

But sooner or later one would think the same old song and dance would end, but not with this government.

It's got a repeat button that just never quits.

I do take some of the blame for this predicament.

After all, if you don't want to answer probing questions, the Kivalliq News is probably not the newspaper you want calling you.

And listening to someone regurgitate bare-boned information from press releases is not our idea of fun.

I also find myself wondering what media interaction many Nunavut government types have had in the past, seeing as so many of them claim to have been misquoted or had their remarks taken out of context in interviews of yesteryear.

It's hard to believe they all had interviews with Frank Magazine or the National Enquirer.

But, maybe a tongue-in-cheek approach (like this one?) is just what the doctor ordered to get some well-paid government experts to risk professional life and limb by answering a few questions.

Could a story on the efficiency of interstellar food-mail programs be just the ticket?

After all, it couldn't be any more alien to this government than the concept of the public's right to know, could it?

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MLAs' bank-breaking idea
NWT News/North - Monday, June 8, 2009

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Kevin Menicoche's approach to language services in the territory is at best impractical and at worst irresponsible.

Creating a system with the capacity to deliver government, court and legislative assembly services in each of the NWT's official languages is not realistic.

Not only would the cost be prohibitive but the move wouldn't result in stronger languages, merely greater recognition of further declining tongues.

Considering that 99.2 per cent of the population in the NWT reported speaking either French or English - according to the 2006 federal census -- having 11 languages represented on government documents and in government institutions is unnecessary.

It is difficult to advocate for more aboriginal language services when the 2006 census further indicates fewer than 10 per cent of people in the NWT speak an aboriginal language at home.

A more logical approach would be to first strengthen the languages to a point where enough people are using them to justify the service. It makes no sense to have interpreters sitting twiddling their thumbs or documents laying about that no one will -- or even can -- read.

What the NWT needs is stronger languages. School and community-based programs are a good start. Parents and grandparents using their traditional language at home is also vital.

Language is integral to a strong cultural identity.

In turn, a strong cultural identity is an essential contributor to self-worth.

Between 1989 and 2004, aboriginal languages were on a continuous decline, according to the NWT bureau of Statistics survey. In the Sahtu, those able to carry on a conversation in an aboriginal language dropped from 85.6 per cent to 58.4 per cent during that period. In the Deh Cho the decline has been less drastic, 78.6 per cent to 61.7 per cent.

Most other regions report that less than 35 per cent of the population speaks an aboriginal language well enough to carry on a conversation.

There is no doubt there is a need to strengthen aboriginal languages, but setting up government services for languages that have declined to nearly beginner levels would essentially be futile.

Perhaps lessons can be learned from the one region bucking the trend: in the Tlicho region, statistics show an almost stable population of aboriginal language speakers since 1989. In 2004, 94.6 per cent of people in the Tlicho spoke an aboriginal language, compared in 96.1 per cent in 1984.

Surely Tlicho speakers have some insight they can provide the rest of us. The GNWT should seek some answers there before breaking the bank.

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Sealing a place in our hearts
Nunavut News/North - Monday, June 8, 2009

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As a small and remote territory we've grown used to being made fun of, insulted or just ignored by the rest of the country.

Then Canada's ceremonial head of state came North and gave Nunavut a warm embrace.

Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean came to our territory, in the words of her official blog, in "a spirit of sharing and solidarity."

By all reports, she engaged Nunavummiut in a way few Ottawa-based government officials have ever done.

Who is this woman who lifted spirits everywhere she went last month?

She was born in 1957 in Haiti, an impoverished Caribbean country prone to political turmoil, with one of the lowest literacy rates in the western hemisphere.

Her family moved to Canada when she was 11. She studied hard, earning scholarships and eventually working her way to a master's degree and fluency in five languages. She became a nationally-recognized journalist and in 2005 was appointed Governor General.

Jean has said her mission as Governor General is to "give a voice to people who are voiceless, people who are not heard from enough, people who are excluded." It's a job she takes seriously and doing it well requires treating everyone with equal attention and graciousness - something at which she apparently excels.

Students especially warmed to Jean. She is living proof that your destiny is not determined by the circumstances into which you are born, but by your attitude and how hard you are willing to work.

Jean has said her mother placed a high value on education, telling her children, "Education is the key to freedom," and Jean relayed that message as often as she could during her visit through Nunavut.

She wrote on her website that Nunavut's greatest untapped resource is its people and human development, through education, should be a priority.

Oh, and she ate some seal.

That small gesture, and the way she defended it despite the firestorm of criticism it spawned, also endeared her to Nunavummiut.

If one of those youth who met Jean becomes a future governor general, we hope they make her their role model, because she was the epitome of a gracious guest.

She's welcome back for a cup of tea and some seal meat anytime.

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Corrections

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An error appeared in the photo feature in Wednesday's Yellowknifer ("Career day in Dettah, June 10). Don Antoine is not a Yellowknives Dene band member. Also, Brent Hinchey was mistakenly identified as Adrian Devries in the article, "Squash season out with a bang." Yellowknifer apologizes for any embarrassment or confusion caused by these errors.