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F for customer service
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, June 17, 2009

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Customer service goes a long way, and someone should explain that to Northland Utilities.

After several Yellowknife customers saw their power bills skyrocket without explanation late last year, the utility company proved unable, or unwilling, to review the bills.

From there, the NWT Public Utilities Board, to its credit, took a vigorous watchdog role in reviewing the cases. The board responded by ordering that Northland amend bills and refund customers. The regulator didn't stop there - it also ordered Northland to follow 18 directives to correct the problem.

Rather than pursue a solution, the utility company has taken a combative stance, arguing the board is in error. Rebates to customers have been put on hold, and Northland has calculated it would have to collect an extra $334,607.33 from customers to comply with board's orders. This would include expenses for an extra full-time position (a reported $108,000 expense), a part-time position, cosmetic changes to bills, and adding a power calculator to its website.

The time to solve this problem is now. Northland should sit down with the utilities board and find a solution for the good of all residents who rely on them for their electricity.

These costs are simply due to a refusal by Northland to accept any responsibility for explaining extraordinarily high-usage. Instead they've adopted the stance the customer is always wrong. Charging Yellowknifers for costs unrelated to distributing electricity is unacceptable.

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Safety doesn't take a back seat
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

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Three Yellowknife women are resuming a service this city has been lacking for a few years now - a car seat safety program.

The Yellowknife Fire Department, with funding from Health and Social Services, used to provide such a program.

Parents and parents-to-be who took the course were better prepared to look after the safety of their children, and people had the option to brush up on their safety knowledge by attending.

But in 2006, this program was axed, leaving parents to find alternative sources of information. It is important city dwellers have access to a public venue for learning about safety, especially because installing child car seats properly is quite complicated.

So Tina Drew, Clarissa Spence and Jessie Teed of the Centre for Northern Families took it upon themselves to bring back this important service. The women will run clinics on the subject in June and July, all the while making time for drop-in guests.

For understanding the importance of this program and for taking initiative to make sure it's available, these women deserve our thanks. By spreading this knowledge, they are helping to make our city a safer place.

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Bugged by smoke and irony
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, June 17, 2009

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Nunavut chief medical officer Dr. Isaac Sobol couldn't resist resorting to the old stand-by crutch of tobacco use in the North when giving his reasons why the swine flu virus was spreading so rapidly in Nunavut this past week.

And, of course, after being complimented by Dr. Sobol on how well it's been getting out information for the Health department, the CBC dutifully aired his comments on the next day's broadcast.

Few officials have mentioned smoking in connection to H1N1, and those who have stated people who smoke may (which by the very term also means may not) experience more severe symptoms with the bug.

They've mentioned the usual - eat healthy, exercise regularly, wash often and refrain from smoking - healthy lifestyle choices which help the immune system.

I have found no one in my research who has said the virus is being spread by smokers.

I am a smoker, but in no way advocate tobacco use.

And, I'm so used to smokers being blamed for so many of the world's ills that I take it all stride these days.

Having said that, there are times when governments go on about the effects of second-hand smoke that I wish people would read reports by the likes of Dr. Michael Siegel, Dr. Melvin First, Dr. Gary Becker (Nobel Prize winner), Dr. Elizabeth Whelan and the EnstromKabat Study before forming their opinions.

The Enstrom-Kabat Study was the largest ever done, covering 100,000 people over 38 years and published in the British Medical Journal in 2003.

Ironically, the spread of disease is seen by some to be on the rise since smoking was banned on aircraft, and that could be the least of your worries if you're a frequent flyer.

There are new concerns about contaminated air on aircraft since high levels of a dangerous toxin were found on board several planes by undercover investigators.

A total of 31 swab samples were secretly taken in cabins of popular airlines, and analyzed at the University of British Columbia under the supervision of leading toxicologist Christian van Netten.

Of those, 28 were found to contain high levels of tricresyl phosphate, an antiwear additive found in jet oil which can lead to drowsiness, headaches and respiratory problems among other scary things.

It's referred to as aerotoxic syndrome and it could be affecting up to 200,000 passengers a year.

While a number of new planes have HEPA filter systems, most do not and circulate air via an internal system.

Fresh air is delivered to the engines, mixed with circulated air, and then streamed to the cabin.

When smoking was allowed, airlines changed air filters more often, reducing the chance of exposure to bacteria.

After the ban, airlines dropped the amount of fresh air being streamed into the cabin because, you guessed it, they save money on fuel by limiting the amount of fresh air being supplied and by changing the filters less frequently.

Food for thought which, hopefully, doesn't bug Dr. Sobol too much.

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Students need support
NWT News/North - Monday, June 15, 2009

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The GNWT's new Aboriginal Student Achievement program is a commendable idea, targeting an issue that has long been in need of solutions.

The NWT has always had a disproportionately low number of aboriginal graduates, but it must be recognized those numbers have been improving since 2002.

However, we still have a long way to go. One of the biggest barriers to student achievement is attendance. Obviously, if one is not attending class the chances of success are low.

Some principals dispute the idea that attendance problems are isolated to aboriginal students. However, statistically, smaller communities struggle more with truancy at the elementary level, according to the Department of Education, and a majority of students in the smaller communities are aboriginal. Also, aboriginal communities - because of the legacy of residential schools -- have a turbulent history with education, which has created an atmosphere of mistrust.

With both factors in mind, it makes sense to design a program that targets aboriginal students.

Other jurisdictions in the country have already adopted similar programs, hoping to increase the number of aboriginal graduates as well as the number that move on to post-secondary education.

From a social and cultural perspective, schools will rarely entice students to class if parents are not onside. While many veteran teachers have come to understand that students taking time away from class for hunting and trapping is also part of an education, teachers new to the NWT must be sure to learn that through orientation. That orientation should include lessons from those who endured the residential school experience, those who can explain how traumatic and disruptive the experience was.

Lois Philipp, principal of Deh Gah School in Fort Providence, makes an excellent point in that parenting skills were severely hindered or lost through the residential school experience.

She suggests that students need role models such as aboriginal teachers to guide them in their success.

The Aboriginal Student Achievement program will hopefully be a key step in achieving that goal.

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Diocese set a good example
NWT News/North - Monday, June 15, 2009

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Bishop Murray Chatlain of the Mackenzie-Fort Smith Diocese showed Northerners what the Vatican would not. Chatlain humbly apologized for the horrors inflicted upon residential school students and accepted church responsibility for the events that resulted in sexual and physical abuse, and what many described as an attempt at cultural genocide.

Chatlain's speech to the Dene First Nation's Assembly in Inuvik in May included the words sorry, and an admission of church participation in residential schools abuses. He described the church's actions as "colonial arrogance."

We commend the bishop for going above and beyond the level of the Pope, whose apology last month fell short of apologizing and merely expressed solidarity with aboriginal people who still suffer the after affects of residential schooling.

The time for dancing around responsibility is over. We must get to the hard work of healing past pains and one of the best paths to healing is through these simple but meaningful words: "I'm sorry."

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Boycott should be unnecessary
Nunavut News/North - Monday, June 15, 2009

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For Nunavummiut, the present Truth and Reconciliation Commission for victims of the residential schools is as painfully close to the truth as it is lacking in the potential for conciliation.

By not appointing an Inuk as one of the three commissioners, Inuit have been left standing at the door again, waiting to be called at the whim of others in the South, this time to explain their pain. This disrespect is an old, regrettable truth that allowed for the immoral residential school policy to be executed in the first place. How can there be true reconciliation under these circumstances?

After setting up the commission once and having it fall apart last year, the government had a perfect chance to install an Inuk commissioner. Prominent Inuit leaders such as Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Mary Simon, former Nunavut Commissioner Peter Irniq, and former MP and MLA Jack Anawak raised the issue quietly.

From a practical point of view, who would suggest there are no Inuit qualified for such responsibility? After all, Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq is our federal minister of health. From a political point of view, who could say the voters of Nunavut have not supported the present government by voting Aglukkaq in? From a moral point of view, who would judge the suffering of Inuit parents, their children who are now adults, the troubles that infected the children of today, as being unworthy of consideration equal to First Nations people in the South.

So there is no reason to deny Inuit proper representation on the commission, an Inuk who can help them confide their very personal stories of hurt, abandonment, oppression and abuse.

The fact only two Inuit applied for the commissioner positions confirms those few who knew of the application process did not feel welcome and many more did not even know they could apply. How many will respond to the commission's invitation to testify?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper by words and actions appears to grasp the psychological, cultural and social havoc resulting from the residential school experience. It appears his Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada does not.

Chuck Strahl was asked a number of times about Inuit presence on the commission during the selection process. Each time he gave the type of political statement that signalled all too clearly a decision to keep Inuit out is acceptable.

Strahl has done his party and his leader Prime Minister Harper a huge disservice in Nunavut.

The call for a boycott is unfortunate and we hope Prime Minister Harper steps in and makes sure the Inuit victims have one of their own at the main table. It was not the intention of the courts to keep Inuit out. All that is required is the Prime Minister's authority and will.

Leaders such as Irniq and Anawak who prefer discussion and a non-confrontational approach, have learned the hard way sometimes you have to take a stand and demand what is right be done. Nunavut would never have happened had Inuit leaders not fought for their rights.

They deserve the full support of Government of Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak, Nunavut Tunngavik President Paul Kaludjak and Health Minister Leona Aglukak.

Any Truth and Reconciliation Commission that does not earn the full support of Inuit will and should fail.

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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.