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Slow and hesitant loses the race
NWT News/North - Monday, June 29, 2009

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Americans have hit the accelerator on the development of a multi-billion dollar pipeline which has the potential to deliver 4.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to the south - quadruple the volume the proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline can bring to market.

It's making some Northerners jittery, and for good reason.

There has been heated debate about the effect the Alaska pipeline would have on the Mackenzie Valley project.

Fueling the concern are reports that the American government is prepared to back the project with up to $40 billion in loan guarantees and the security of a regulatory process shorter than the bureaucratic swamp the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline faces.

Exxon Mobil Corp. recently announced it will work with TransCanada Corp. in hopes of building the Alaskan project. That means there's competition within Alaska to build a pipeline as oil giants BP and ConocoPhillips are also vying to build a line through the northernmost U.S. state.

All said, the Alaskan project is expected to begin production by 2018. That is compared to the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline's predicted start-up date of 2014 or 2016 -- depending on which analyst you chose - up to 12 years after talks began.

If the $16-billion Mackenzie Valley project is stalled by any further delays, a possibility exists the Alaskan project could catch up and begin production first. The scenario seems so plausible Exxon is now backing projects in both areas - it is the parent company of Imperial Oil, so it has one foot in Alaska, the other foot in the NWT.

Some analysts believe the volume of the Alaskan natural gas supply is enough to quench the southern need for natural gas, making a Mackenzie pipeline unnecessary; others say the nearly insatiable appetite for gas can only be met with the combined volumes of both pipelines.

If the latter is true, the NWT's stake in pipeline development is secured. However, even if both lines are needed it can be surmised that if Alaska goes first the NWT will see longer delays and likely won't begin construction until 2018 or later. It is hard to believe there is a sufficient supply of skilled labour and materials to work on both projects in unison.

The Canadian government has made clear it is not about to offer loan guarantees as the U.S. is doing. However, it should offer tax breaks, which it can make up for through increasing royalties once the pipeline companies pay off the bulk of their debt.

Dennis Bevington, MP for the NWT, should be demanding this sort of response. He should also be pressing the government for real action on streamlining the NWT's regulatory regime. While proper checks and balances must remain and Northerners' voices must not be drowned out, dramatic improvement is needed on the layers of red tape that exist.

The Joint Review Panel, which was formed in August 2004, is due to release its decision on the Mackenzie pipeline in December, after several very lengthy delays. From there the piles of paperwork will migrate to the National Energy Board.

All the while the race is on and the NWT can no longer afford to play the part of tortoise. The Alaskan Arctic hare is not going to take a nap while we work through the quagmire of our regulatory process.

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'What's an inuksuk?'
Nunavut News/North - Monday, June 29, 2009

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Baker Lake MLA Moses Aupaluktuq's observation to the legislative assembly that PETA's misuse of the 2010 Olympic logo showed "a gross misunderstanding of the seal hunt" is right on the mark.

When Nunavut News/North initially contacted People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for comment on its version of the 2010 Olympic inuksuk, the PETA member who took our took our call was baffled.

"What's an inuksuk?" she asked.

PETA had taken the Vancouver Winter Olympic inuksuk logo, armed it with a hakapik and depicted it clubbing a seal over and over in an animation on its 2010 Olympic shame website, but knew nothing of Inuit, their lives or their culture.

Blinded by ignorance, this media-savvy animal rights Goliath with a $32 million annual budget stomps a ragged path across the lives and livelihoods of people far-removed from its Hollywood supporters.

Many people hate PETA.

Feminists and people fighting eating disorders decry its use of naked or scantily-clad female spokespersons, who occasionally urge people to become skinny like them by going vegetarian.

The group has angered human rights groups by comparing animal slaughter with the holocaust and other acts of genocide.

Other animal-loving organizations despise PETA for killing thousands of "rescued" animals instead of spending the money to care for them until they're adopted.

And many vegetarians and vegans hate PETA, blaming the organization and its bizarre campaigns for making the public think all vegetarians are crazy.

So Inuit are in good company when they shake their heads in disgust and wonder what they did to deserve this unprovoked - and apparently inadvertent - insult.

Yes, seals are cute, but so are little lambs and bunnies. And arguably, so are those are all animals Americans and Europeans eat regularly and which often live and die in much worse circumstances than a seal hunted and eaten by Inuit. But to make that PETA's major media focus would be to attack its funding base. Better to attack a culture far away it knows nothing about, then move on quickly to another victim.

Iqaluit resident Sue Idlout, has become fed up enough with PETA's tactics to start her own e-mail campaign urging Inuit to speak out.

Granted, her campaign won't be as crazy as PETA's attempt to bring the Canadian economy to its knees by boycotting maple syrup, but we hope there are more people out there who will be swayed by a voice of reason rather than a voice of ignorant fanaticism.

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Taxi licence freeze won't help
Yellowknifer - Friday, June 26, 2009

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Yet again, city council is being prodded into a debate over taxi numbers that shouldn't have been their business to decide in the first place.

We don't tell airlines how many planes they can put in the air, just as we don't regulate how many flower shops there can be in the city.

Capitalism might seem like a dirty word these days, but since we do conduct business in a free market society it doesn't make sense that a municipal government is at the controls when decisions are made about how many taxis are operating on our city streets.

City council seemed to have picked up on this point earlier this year when, despite a chorus of complaints from cab drivers, it rejected a call to freeze the number of licences the city issues.

That has yet to be written in stone. Council has continually delayed a vote on amending the city's livery bylaw, which would put deregulation of the number of licences into effect.

Now cabbies are threatening to go on strike, which in the heat of summer, is akin to threatening to hold your breath until you turn blue.

No doubt, with 140 cars on the road, there are too many cabbies in this city for each to make a decent living. Whitehorse, with 4,000 more people living in it, only has about 50 taxis.

A simple freeze to the existing number of licences likely wouldn't help much. In fact, drastic cuts would probably be needed in order for the remaining cabbies to thrive. It's better for competition to influence those decisions rather than a bureaucracy that is slow to react to the ebb and flow of demand.

Cab drivers are feeling the pinch, but alas, that's business. And in case not everyone has noticed, as of late business hasn't been all that great for a lot of people.

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Entrepreneur opens NWT to the world
Yellowknifer - Friday, June 26, 2009

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For a business to thrive and grow in Yellowknife, particularly in a time of recession, is no small feat. Entrepreneur Don Morin has done just that with Aurora Village, having expanded his clientele by more than five times over the past five years.

Yellowknife needs more entrepreneurs who are committed, as Morin is, to pinpointing unique attractions the territory offers, not just to other Canadians, but to international visitors as well.

In working to attract tourists to Aurora Village, with its northern lights tours and recently-launched Great Slave Lake cruises, Aurora Village opens the door to the NWT better than any embassy or trade mission can, much in the way innovator Bill Tait and Raven Tours did in the 1980s and '90s.

The city and the GNWT must help clear the way for entrepreneurs like Morin by helping to rebuild the aurora-viewing market, do more to support the tourism industry and showing the world the best of what the NWT has to offer.

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Equalizing the sexes
Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum - Thursday, June 25, 2009

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The Introduction to Heavy Equipment Operation Course held in Trout Lake recently was a resounding success and a model for future initiatives.

The course the first time such a trades program was offered to an all-female class.

Few, if any, jobs in this field in the Deh Cho are filled by women.

But that may change with the conclusion of the two-week course in Trout Lake. The 10 women from the community who completed the course were undeniably proud of their accomplishments.

They proved how much they learned with a driving display during a pre-graduation heavy equipment parade.

Nine of the 10 women started the course with no previous experience and now they are all comfortable operating a range of equipment.

The course was empowering.

Mavis Wasp-Colin said. She decided to take the course so she wouldn't have to find a man every time she needed a water delivery or snow removed from her driveway. The course proved women of the community can take care of these jobs by themselves, Wasp-Colin said.

In Trout Lake, one of the more traditional communities in the Deh Cho, the outcomes from the course might cause a shake-up of the established gender roles, said Rick Phaneuf, the general manager of the Sambaa K'e Development Corporation.

The men, who normally take the heavy equipment jobs, will now have competition, said Phaneuf.

Trout Lake has proven there is a demand for courses like this one and benefits to offering women-only sessions. Phaneuf said when the development corporation offered a similar course two years ago to anyone who was interested only men signed up. The women said they were intimidated.

With the women-only course everything changed. The attendance rate during the course was 100 per cent except for cases where a participant had a legitimate reason to be excused.

Across the Deh Cho, a variety of organizations regularly offer training courses for areas traditionally seen as men's domains such as heavy equipment. Unsurprisingly, men normally fill the spaces in the courses.

In the Deh Cho, there's a continual dialogue about the need to prepare residents for future opportunities in areas such as oil and gas, mining and other industries. Women, of course, need to be given equal opportunity to train for these jobs. The course in Trout Lake has conclusively shown female only courses will help make this possible.

The Status of Women Council of the NWT, the Sambaa K'e Development Corporation and the School of Community Government all deserve credit for making this course possible and for providing an example for the rest of the Deh Cho.

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Getting the shaft
Editorial Comment
Andrew Rankin
Inuvik Drum - Thursday, June 25, 2009

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Living in Inuvik, I go through phases where I lose track of the outside world and just accept certain things, good and bad, about living in a remote location.

For example, I had resigned myself to the fact that everything, including groceries, costs an arm and a leg. We live in the North and it comes with the territory. (Though, in truth, I've never been OK with paying $10 for a two-litre carton of milk.)

Which brings me to my awakening during my first trip out of here last week since arriving in Inuvik last January. Me and a couple of buddies made the journey to Whitehorse and Dawson City via the Dempster Highway. It was a great getaway and the landscape was stunning.

But what surprised me was that the fellas stocked the truck up with coolers so they could load up on meat and other groceries while in Whitehorse. Actually, that was one of the main reasons they wanted to go there in the first place.

I later found out that between the two of them they ended up spending about $2,500 on everything from ground beef to toilet paper, to deodorant, to toothbrushes. Initially I thought what they were doing was bizarre and not worth the time and effort involved, especially when it came to the annoying task of keeping the coolers iced. That was until I looked closer and realized that they bought everything at half of Inuvik's prices.

To my surprise, the price of groceries wasn't much different in Dawson as compared to Whitehorse, despite the 530-km distance between the towns. From what I could see, the quality of the produce was top-notch as well.

So that got me to wondering why prices for everything skyrocket as soon as the merchandise reaches Inuvik, which is another 750 km away. I also wondered why a lot of the produce that finally reaches here is suspect at best.

One odd note - the price in Inuvik of my favourite wine is the same price as it is in my hometown of Halifax, where groceries are a fraction of the cost compared to here.

It's understandable that prices will increase when the Dempster is closed and things have to be flown in. But how can $10 for a two-litre carton of milk be justified year-round?

It appears a few players in the industry are profiting and seem to be given free rein to pull prices from the clouds given the fact that we're so isolated and have no choice but to pay the prices.

While many are calling on the government for a milk subsidy program and the like to make healthy foods more affordable, it might be more important for some arms-length government body to be established to ensure the ones setting the prices are forced to justify them and customers aren't being shafted.

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Families deserve better
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, June 24, 2009

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MLAs have finally called for a review of the Child and Family Services Act, and they're right to do so.

Last week Glen Abernethy, MLA for Great Slave, said a comprehensive review of the act is necessary. He said there are some cases in which children can be taken away permanently and unnecessarily if a social worker has a bias against a parent.

For this reason, not only is a review needed immediately, but an ombudsman needs to be put in place to take parents' complaints.

An independent third party who would be able to fairly investigate complaints against child and family services is needed, even if social workers make the right call in the majority of cases.

An individual who is qualified but not part of Health and Social Services is better suited to fairly decide if parents are being treated unfairly or have had their children taken away unnecessarily.

Social work is a difficult job and it's fair to say most social workers are trying to keep parents and children together. There are, however, also situations in which parents are not given fair treatment and have no way to get justice other than through the courts. The courts, of course, pose a lengthy process and the children are, sometimes unjustly, kept separated from a parent for a lengthy period of time. Getting a top-notch lawyer is not within the financial means of many parents. They are therefore put at a disadvantage.

Taking children away from their mom and dad is a critical decision, one that parents should be able to appeal quickly. There has to be a level of oversight between the bureaucracy and the courts.

This is an ideal opportunity for MLAs to create a role for an ombudsman.

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Welcome back to Yellowknife
Wednesday, June 24, 2009

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If you've noticed a spring in Yellowknife's step in recent days it should hardly come as a surprise.

It's not just the better weather, although after a less than balmy start to spring the suddenly green leaves and sunnier weather is an added bonus. No, if the city feels a little pluckier of late much can be attributed to the influx of visitors and returnees to celebrate Yellowknife's 75th anniversary.

That hundreds of past Yellowknifers and their families were willing to make the trip for the two-week party - many coming from far-flung corners of Canada and elsewhere - shows how fondly people remember their time here, even if for some it was for just a little while.

Yellowknifers feel they share a particular common bond for a variety of reasons: Having lived through long, cold winters, the summer's endless sunshine, the mosquitoes, and the isolation from the rest of the country.

Whether in Vancouver or Montreal, when two Yellowknifers meet for the first time and discover they share this bond, they can't help but feel excited about it.

For all those involved in organizing this year's homecoming, our hats are off to you. For all those returning, it's good to see you back.

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Whale-sized hypocrisy
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, June 24, 2009

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Many folks were, understandably, quite upset by a story and photos of a bloody mess making the rounds this past week out of Denmark's Dantesque, in the Faroe Islands.

Less than a month after a number of Europeans voiced their displeasure over the Inuit way of life concerning seals, along comes the story of this age-old ritual. The annual gore-fest is a communal activity to store food for the winter, not a celebration of youth entering adulthood as some activists would have you believe. At least no more so than the pride felt by Northerners when their sons or daughters get their first wolf, bear, etc.

It involves packs of Faroese turning the water red with blood in the slaughter of pilot whales, which are a member of the dolphin family.

The circulated photos show them hacking away at the mammals with almost all manner of bladed instrument and sharp, pointed hooks.

And these are the same people who call Canadians barbaric?

There is no doubt the vast majority of Nunavummiut who saw the images this past week were seething over Europe's hypocrisy.

As much as we would rather not mention the East Coast and seal hunting in Nunavut in the same column, this whale slaughter puts the East Coast seal hunt to shame with its barbarism.

So much stupid venom was spread over the fairly innocuous images that came out of Rankin of our Governor General trying a piece of seal meat, we shudder to think what would have happened if local behaviour was anywhere near the same universe as these disgusting images from Dantesque.

Where are all the animal-rights condemnations now? How about a few images of a Faroese icon driving a hook in a whale's head for the next Olympics?

It would appear some areas of Europe have a distinct attitude of don't do as we do, do as we say!

The Faroese say the area involved needs the healthy country food, almost the entire carcass is used with little waste, and the hunt has very little impact on the whale's overall numbers.

Sound familiar?

We are not alone with our way of life in Nunavut.

The problem is we prefer to live and let live, while others prefer to dictate how we should all live our lives!

Well, valued readers, it's that time of year again.

I'm on vacation as you're reading this, relaxing my summer away by chasing after my two grandsons.

And, this year, my wife and I have the added bonus of meeting our first granddaughter for the very first time. How cool is that?

I leave the Kivalliq News in the capable hands of Kassina Ryder in my absence, who comes over from Nunavut News/North in Iqaluit.

A number of Rankin residents may know Kassina all ready, as she lived a number of years in our fair community.

In an effort to quell the rumour that seems to surface every year at this time, I am returning and will be back at my desk on Aug. 3.

I love Rankin and the Kivalliq News, so you're not getting rid of me quite yet. See you soon.