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Strange politics NWT News/North - Monday, November 30, 2009 In his best impersonation of a neo-conservative, the Liberal senator stood up at a chamber of commerce luncheon in Yellowknife a few weeks ago and revealed a pro-business, anti-social-program manifesto.
Sibbeston recommended that money used for social programming and government social work positions be cut and funneled into business development.
Perhaps our senator has been spending so much time in Ottawa he has forgotten the realities of the North.
The statistics for drug and alcohol use are staggering. In 2006 the NWT addictions survey revealed that 55 per cent of territorial residents had experienced harm caused by another person's drinking.
The RCMP consistently reports that many of its calls, especially those to do with domestic assault, involve drugs and alcohol.
Yet, our senator believes that social workers and others working to combat those issues "don't produce a great deal."
Sibbeston idealistically thinks if the NWT invests more in jobs and training, addicts will simply sober up, get clean and become hardworking, productive members of society.
He quotes Osoyoos Chief Clarence Louie saying, "Sometimes the best social program is a job," to support his remarks. However, he conveniently omitted that Louie, who has been credited for turning the Osoyoos First Nation into an economic powerhouse and improving the living conditions of his people, also once said that "a healthy person wants to work."
In fact, Louie, who Sibbeston cites as an inspiration, has expressed his full support of social funding as long as that programming is funded adequately and built by his own people.
In an article on the website of New Relationship Trust - a First Nations' advocacy group -- Louie's perspective is presented as follows: "He encourages an economic development focus with the ultimate goal of funding social programs such as healing and culture through business profits."
Louis is quoted saying, "Everything is underfunded ... (and) everything is a priority."
If Sibbeston was serious about improving social conditions through employment, he would fight to create a population that is ready to work.
Job training, education, programs to combat addictions and other counselling services are vital to developing an employable population and ensuring it remains working. Instrumental in that process are the 160 social workers in the NWT.
Aboriginal groups in the NWT have shown they disagree with Sibbeston's position. Mackenzie Valley Pipeline negotiations have included a demand for funding to help reduce resulting social impacts. In response, the federal government committed $500 million for just that. Aboriginal groups and communities along the proposed pipeline route welcomed the news, but some argued that more than $500 million was needed.
We'd all dearly love to transform everyone with an addiction or anger management problem into a successful entrepreneur by putting them in a suit and giving them a business licence, but, realistically, that's just not going to happen. Those people need professional help to address their deep-rooted problems.
Sibbeston shouldn't be faulted for pushing for a stronger base for NWT business, but he was out of bounds in calling for that money to come out of much needed social programming.
There's always a deal to be had.
The global recession has made a dent in Nunavut's seal skin sales - fashion designers don't spend big bucks when they're losing lots of money - but it was the European Union's ban on commercial seal imports that dealt a serious blow to the sealing industry in the territory.
The 27 European countries that supported the decision argued that the Canadian seal hunt is cruel. Although the door to trade was theoretically left open a crack for Nunavummiut hunters who kill the animals for traditional purposes, it's widely understood that shutting out the commercial hunt is going to harm Inuit harvesters.
That evidence has been mounting already, even over the past few years when the European Union was merely contemplating a seal ban. Out of 11,000 skins available, not one Nunavut seal pelt was sold through the Fur Harvester's Auction in North Bay, Ont., earlier this year.
Last year only 500 seal skins were sold at an average price of $55. Compare that to 2004, when the auction resulted in 7,800 seal pelts sold at $67.02 on average.
There are nearly 1,200 sealers in Nunavut, so the steep sales decline was bound to have an effect.
Sensing the pinch that households relying on sales were bound to feel from the crash, the Government of Nunavut stepped in and snapped up thousands of seal skins from territorial hunters. That left the GN sitting on a stockpile of nearly 12,000 pelts. Nearly 4,000 have already been sold to businesses and individuals within Nunavut over the past year and a half which makes the territorial market an important one.
This can only be viewed as a temporary solution. The longer-term goal should be to entice overseas customers like China and Russia to pick up the slack in sales. This is promising.
China hasn't been immune to the global economic collapse since the third quarter of 2008, but it's largely viewed as the world's future financial powerhouse.
While China had already been one of the largest consumers of seal pelts prior to the European Union's dismissal of the commercial hunt, there is room to make further inroads in the Chinese market.
Yet the GN should also be looking to countries like Japan, Korea and Norway, rather than depending solely on the rebounding Chinese and Russian marketplaces.
It's going to take some crafty marketing and smooth sales work, but Nunavut's seal industry can become profitable again.
We must presume that not even the hardest-hearted members of the public service would wish the sort of week the Caisses endured earlier this month.
The elderly couple drove into town on a near-empty gas tank, with all their belongings, presuming there would be keys waiting for them to their new apartment supplied by the Yellowknife Housing Authority.
The Caisses, who for 16 years lived in a shack off Highway 3, were expecting Income Security with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, to cover their damage deposit. The couple, both of whom are physically disabled, live off of Timothee's Canada Pension Plan disability payments - amounting to less than $800 a month. But there was a mix up at Income Security, and the housing authority wasn't assured the damage deposit was covered. The housing agency consequently refused to let the couple move into their publicly-subsidized apartment.
Out of gas and out of money, the couple hunkered down in their Jeep. They spent the night there in subzero temperatures, and then another night because there was no one they could find to speak to on Nov. 11 - a statutory holiday.
Helen went to stay with family in Behchoko on Nov. 12 while Timothee endured one more night out in the cold. He was finally able to sort everything out on Nov. 13, a Friday, and move into the apartment. By then, both Timothee and Helen were sick.
Jim White, chief executive officer of the housing authority, said rules are rules in an attempt to excuse his agency's treatment of the couple. They couldn't guarantee they would have the money, so they weren't let in.
Its understandable that the agency is wary of people trying to scam the system, but next time, particularly if it's winter and they're dealing with clients who are elderly and sick, maybe they should ask them if they have a place to go before throwing them into the street.
Fort Simpson was the first of 26 communities in the territory that will be visited.
The purpose of the community meetings is to gather local knowledge about factors contributing to the caribou decline and what information to consider when a recovery strategy is written.
However, the real question is, who should be responsible for protecting boreal caribou in the Deh Cho? I
Who better to look after the future of a species like boreal caribou than the people who have a vested interest in its survival? The people who travel on the land for traditional activities like harvesting have decades of stored first hand experience and teachings that allows them to tell if things are changing for a species.
The people who have a history with the land and have successfully utilized a species for untold generations, like members of the first nations in the Deh Cho, naturally feel they should be the ones setting conservation guidelines for boreal caribou.
It rankles when another group, who may have never set foot on the land, lays out guidelines for how things ought to and will proceed.
In the Deh Cho a conversation about protecting boreal caribou can quickly turn into a conversation about settling land negotiations and implementing the Dehcho Land Use Plan.
The Dehcho First Nations and Acho Dene Koe First Nation are both negotiating with the federal and territorial governments. Neither group has a settled land claim and both are negotiating self-government powers.
Who will have control of and responsibility for the land and the animals that live on it is an important part of these discussions.
The Dehcho Land Use Plan also looms large on the discussion table. If the plan was implemented development could be restricted in certain areas. Decisions on possible development projects could be made keeping the best interest of boreal caribou in mind.
The argument goes that given the necessary tools and power the Dehcho First Nations and Acho Dene Koe First Nation are more than capable of managing boreal caribou with little to no outside influence.
Everyone can agree that boreal caribou need to be protected but until deeper, more political issues, in the Deh Cho are settled a conversation about what's best for boreal caribou will always be about a lot more than ungulates that like lichen.
What I understood going in was that Allen was born and raised here, he's a pretty accomplished artist and people here, from what I gather, think a lot of him.
Frankly, I was mesmerized by the film. I don't think I was the only one who felt that way, judging by what I saw and heard that evening. I even saw a few tears shed.
It was a unique and impressively original glimpse into a community institution that is essentially a lifeline for its residents.
I'm not an expert on filmmaking but I have some experience with the difficulty of piecing together meaningful stories whether for radio or print. There were a lot of aspects of the film to marvel at. Refreshingly, there was nothing contrived about it. What comes immediately to mind are the characters introduced in the film, all ordinary citizens volunteering in one way or another at the station but each seemed to have humour and spirit in spades. Even more surprising was that they were unphazed by having a camera documenting their lives. It was as if they were all veteran actors. The imagery was stunning, notably the slow moving ice flowing down the river or the scene where an elderly couple are quietly going about their business at a camp on the land while the radio airs CBQM in the background.
The style with which Allen went about combining the images and scenes together in such a taut, near rapid fire way surely had to be an enormous challenge. Never mind the fact he shot 60 hours of film.
After the showing, Allen said he thought most people were drawn to the movie because it offers a community that viewers can almost feel a part of, especially at a time when many feel disconnected to their own. That statement resonated with me. I didn't grown up in Fort McPherson, but there were a lot of characters who I could identify with in the film.
Coincidentally, the next night, I arrived at the old-time dance at Ingamo Hall ready to take some photos for the Drum. I listened to the fiddle music and watched the dancers. Then I found myself reminded of the square dances back home in Cape Breton. I wanted to dance, so I did because it felt natural. Whether I looked natural is another story. I did feel a sense of commonality while I was there.
I think the magic of the film is its ability to not only show how people yearn to be part of something greater than themselves, but sometimes in such a setting it brings out the best in them. If many of us focused on what we have in common rather than what we don't, the world would likely be a better place.
I'd like to think that was, at least, one of Allen's themes.
The new hires are part of a plan to develop an underground mine at the site, located 300 km northeast of Yellowknife.
To Yellowknife's benefit, Diavik announced it wants its employees to be living in the North. At least 40 new jobs at the site will be entry-level, with priority given to aboriginal and Northern workers. Many others will come from the south.
From Yellowknife the employees will be transported to the mine to work their shifts, rather than flown in from Edmonton at the company's expense.
Diavik's commitment to hire and train Northern workers is an important step, as is encouraging them to live here through the flight arrangement. It shows the company is responding to calls from our elected officials that workers must live here, and bolster the development of the NWT. The territory is more than just a repository of natural resources for the south.
The city and the territory's future hinges on residents who call this place home, buy local goods, use local services and pay local taxes.
Other mining and resource companies should recognize they too have a stake in the development of the North, and follow Diavik's example.
The city's zoning bylaws continue to discourage home builders, as Niels Konge of Konge Construction reminded city council earlier this month.
The builder said stipulations on grading and height requirements have increased costs of his projects in Niven Lake. He also made it clear that other specifications on materials, size, location and appearance can add tens of thousands of dollars to projects.
Recurring complaints from developers show that city hall's bylaws do not adequately take the city's unique landscape into account. Overblown bylaws complicate matters – they discourage building, and put up barriers to construction of affordable housing.
The city must consider the problems specific landscapes pose to developers, and the best way to do this is to take Konge and other developers up on their invitation to visit sites to see how bylaws can be better adapted to apply.
At a city council meeting on Nov. 16, city councillor Bob Brooks acknowledged that restrictions on Phase 7 of the Niven Lake subdivision are making the area unattractive for development – a point reinforced by the slow sales of lots.
Jeffery Humble, the city's director of planning and lands, suggested that city administration meet with contractors to devise changes that make sense.
These are needed steps. City councillors and administrators cannot be too far removed from the realities of those who build the homes, and those who want to buy them.
While we all hope things work out for the best, all is not well in the world of high finance in Nunavut.
While some wage the good fight to keep program funding flowing into our territory, others are playing the role of financial fortune tellers at a time when such an approach is deeply disturbing.
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) recently announced a projected deficit of $4.4 million this year.
While we applaud NTI president Paul Kaludjak's determination to cut spending and not "significantly" reduce programs and services to Inuit beneficiaries, we hope he has a rather large knife because he's probably going to need it.
Nunavut Trust, NTI's chief source of funding, took a beating on the world markets during the recent downturn in the global economy.
In fact, Nunavut Trust funds have lost $150 million worth of their value since 2008.
Add the fact NTI still has an outstanding $4-million loan to Nunavut Trust, and the big picture is far from rosy.
We were nothing short of flabbergasted to learn of Kaludjak's contention that NTI, presumably by Nunavut Trust, were "assured" the millions lost in market value can be recovered as the market rebounds.
A brave prediction, indeed!
Much of the economic recovery we've seen has been the direct result of government stimulus spending.
Even the gains realized in the housing markets have come mostly from tax incentives which may, or may not, be renewed.
Job loss has, at least, levelled off after months and months of tens of thousands of North American workers receiving their pink slips, but nowhere are we seeing a dramatic rise in hiring in the all-important private sector.
The feds are rattling their financial sabre over cutting many programs that have benefited not only Inuit, but aboriginal people across the country.
And, behind it all, lurks a potentially devastating threat created by our aging population.
More than nine million Canadians will be aged 65 or over by the year 2031.
Closer to home, it's estimated more than 40 per cent of the federal civil service will retire between 2010-2011.
When you add in the fact Canadians are having fewer babies than ever before, and most people are living considerably longer these days, you quickly realize it won't be long before the federal government has to make some tough decisions in order to care for an aging population.
What this, in all probability, is going to mean for Nunavut is that many federally-funded programs are going to disappear.
We're just seeing the tip of that particular iceberg right now.
Yes, many people will work longer and Freedom 55 is nothing but an illusion, but there will be very difficult times ahead for Canada.
It may not be insurmountable, but it's certainly going to hurt.
One thing we do know for sure: this is not the time to be making assurances for recouping hundreds of millions of dollars unless one has the blueprint to H.G. Wells's Time Machine – and that puppy's been missing since 1895!
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