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Bridge failure reflects poorly on NWT NWT News/North - Monday, May 24, 2010
Despite many questions about the need for a bridge, the project held significant potential for the territory. If it had been done properly, the bridge's construction could have demonstrated our ability to manage and complete a major infrastructure project in a public/private partnership. Building a bridge requires tremendous expertise in engineering, trades work, fiscal management and logistics. Showcasing those skills in our communities could have been a boon if and when the GNWT argues our need for the Mackenzie Valley Highway, a project that will dwarf the Deh Cho Bridge. Instead of promoting NWT business and industry, the GNWT put us on the national stage cast as Jacques Clouseau of bridge building. Work began before a final design was even in place, costs have climbed more than $20 million; the GNWT has been forced to take over the bridge's entire debt or lose investors; delays were caused by the loss of the main supplier; construction errors, etc. Unfortunately no one outside the NWT will know that the fault isn't with the investors, or the engineers, not even the project managers. No, the fault lies squarely on the shoulders of GNWT and the legacy of zero oversight created by Handley when he and his cabinet unilaterally pushed the project through. There might, however, be a light at the end of this collapsing tunnel. An audit is being planned to uncover what went wrong from the inception to semi-erection of the bridge. Hopefully, the audit will uncover the mistakes. One thing is certain: the GNWT misled the public on the risk to taxpayers inherent in its rushed and poorly conceived management plan. From start to middle, due diligence was not done to ensure the bridge project ran smoothly. Now all we can do is watch as the GNWT tries to salvage the operation and pray it doesn't cost any more than it already has. We predict a $200 million price tag by the time the first vehicle drives over the Mackenzie River.
Oil spill kits useless without the know-how Nunavut News/North - Monday, May 24, 2010 Back in 1989 the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on a reef near the Alaskan coastline, spilling 42 million litres of oil. The spill killed an estimate 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbour seals, 247 bald eagles and 22 orca whales. Years after the spill, chronic exposure to oil was still resulting in salmon eggs not hatching at rates higher than normal, and marine mammals and ducks still had high death rates due to eating oil-contaminated prey. Drilling for oil in the Beaufort Sea may begin in the next few years. Drilling for oil off the coast of Greenland in the Davis Strait is set to begin this summer. Ship traffic through the Northwest Passage is increasing, and so is the unpredictability of ice conditions. The steadily increasing risk of a spill in Arctic waters is far outpacing the preparations to deal with them. Oil spill clean-up kits have been shipped to communities but only Resolute is scheduled to receive training this summer on how to use them, and that's only because the military and coast guard happen to be conducting exercises in the area. The coast guard says new training materials are in development, but there's no estimate yet when they will be ready. In the meantime, these kits are essentially useless without instruction on their deployment. Inuit still rely heavily on the land and the sea for food. Nunavummiut need assurance from the federal and territorial governments that we will have the expertise along with the tools to combat an oil spill, if and when a slick soils our seas, and that the crisis response will be a lot quicker than these snail-pace preparations.
Doctors for all? Nunavut News/North - Monday, May 24, 2010 Recently the federal government announced an additional $7 million in funding to the University of Manitoba Northern and Remote Family Medicine Residency Program to create 15 new residency positions. One of those positions will be in Nunavut, presumably in the Kivalliq region. Sandy Macdonald, the Department of Health and Social Services' director of medical affairs, said the department's goal is to eventually have a full-time family doctor stationed in every community. Residency programs are good fishing spots from which to recruit new doctors. What new doctors lack in experience they often make up for by being versed in the newest guidelines and practices. Many new doctors, as well as older doctors seeking new challenges, look for opportunities where their skills cannot only help individuals but aid the well-being of a community - and often they look overseas. Communities in Nunavut are just as desperate for medical care, and even more isolated. Nunavut's current recruitment strategy is to encourage doctors to take a short-term position in the territory to see whether working here suits them. Family practice residents typically spend up to a year in their chosen posting - giving those posted to the North a more comprehensive idea of what's involved. The day where there is a doctor in every community is a long way off, since until we have an Akitsiraq-type program to train Nunavummiut as doctors, we'll have to keep relying on southern recruitment efforts. One extra residency post is just a drop in the bucket, but at least it's still another drop.
Sandy Lee's losing battle Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, May 21, 2010
According to the minister, extending the program would provide benefits to 1,700 to 2,300 non-aboriginal residents, many of them children, who are currently not covered by third-party insurance to pay for items such as prescriptions, eyeglasses, and dental care. Currently, only seniors over 60, persons with certain chronic illnesses or their caregivers, and those residents on income support are eligible for supplementary health benefits. Lee argues many residents currently without coverage are the "working poor" who pay for prescriptions out-of-pocket - if and when they can. Her department would like those who can afford it, including seniors who currently get extended health benefits for free, to pay a portion. That way, she argues, everyone gets coverage and the government, which pays about $6.1 million a year for the benefits, can afford to deliver them. For her troubles, Lee has been accused of wanting to put a "tax on the sick and elderly," and deepening divisions between non-aboriginals and aboriginal residents whose extended health coverage is paid for by the federal government. Questioning the government's morals on this issue, as Kam Lake MLA Dave Ramsay did last week, is questionable in itself. The intent is to aid those who cannot afford some health basics. That's an honourable objective. But as we've said before, Lee is her own worst enemy, and for the second time in two years, she has allowed the opposition to her proposed changes to frame the debate. Where are her rebuttals to the multiple letters and guests columns in our paper condemning the changes? Why does she insist on allowing her departmental bureaucrats to make the arguments for her? A politician should know she's in trouble when there's a picture of Jan Stirling - the NWT's Governor General's Award-winning nurse - in the newspaper picketing against her proposed health care changes. Then again, that would explain why Lee keeps stalling, as she did Wednesday when she extended the implementation date to Nov. 1. We still believe this issue would be best settled during the territorial election next year, but if given a choice between co-payments and some other form of taxation to cover expanded supplementary health benefits we, and many others, would choose the latter. How about a small payroll tax increase? The list of revenue options unveiled by the territorial government in 2008 proposes $20 million can be made if the payroll tax was increased by just one per cent to three per cent total. One thing is for sure, Lee and her department are losing the public image war, and it's unlikely they will ever be able to convince anybody that co-payments are the way to go. Certainly, some seniors can afford to pay 20 per cent, but even if they're well-heeled it's not in the territory's interest to risk driving them out by shaking them down to pay for their heart medication.
Power users can't refuse this gift Editorial Comment Roxanna Thompson Deh Cho Drum - Thursday, May 20, 2010
It's hard not to be excited about the money savings that will start in October. To begin with in the winter months of September to March the Territorial Power Subsidy Program will subsidize all residential customers for the first 1,000 kilowatt hours to the Yellowknife rate of approximately 26 cents per kW-h. This is an increase from the previous 700 kW-h. The current subsidy is enough to cover 55 per cent of residents in the Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC) Thermal Zone during the winter. An additional 25 per cent of residents, however, use between 700 to 1,000 kW-h. Those additional hours will now be subsidized. A final 15 per cent use more than 1,000. Residents in the Deh Cho communities of Fort Simpson, Wrigley, Jean Marie River, Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte will now only pay 49 cents per kW-h when they go over the subsidy limit in the winter. For the other five months the new subsidy limit will be 600 kW-h. Forty-nine cents is a pittance compared to the 166.40 cents per kW-h that's currently paid in Nahanni Butte, the 148.70 in Jean Marie River, and even the 73.45 in Fort Simpson. Residents in the zone should rejoice. Businesses have also hit a break. In the communities of the NTCP Thermal Zone, they will only pay 42 cents per kW-h. In Nahanni Butte the commercial rate is currently 214.65. That's a decrease of 80.4 per cent - the largest in the territory. It seems with the changes to the electricity rates, the territorial government has finally done something concrete that reduces the cost of living and cost of business in the territory. The rates might not be as low as some people had hoped, but they are certainly a step in the right direction. All these reductions, however, seem almost too good to be true. A lot of people won't be convinced that there isn't some hidden clause or catch until the first electricity bills are delivered at the end of October. The doubters are right in some ways. Businesses will be paying less for electricity, but it remains to be seen if those savings will be passed on to customers. There's also the question of what the rates will be for Northland Utilities' thermal customers. The territorial government is still in discussions with the company - which are expected to last until the fall, at least. Finally, many will be watching to see if the low electricity rate dream ends in two years when NTPC will be able to submit a new general rate application. Yes, with the announced changes the territorial government has seemingly done a lot to help residents and businesses, but the real proof will only come with time.
Hope in the face of suffering Editorial Comment Andrew Rankin Inuvik Drum - Thursday, May 20, 2010 We know Eskimo Inn won't be opening up any time soon. It's expected Dowland Contracting will now be using the space to house and feed its employees who are involved in construction projects in town. That's a positive or a negative depending on how you want to look at it. It was probably a wise business move by hotel management given the sky-high overhead costs they're likely dealing with. Yes, there a few lucrative construction projects happening in town but how long will they last and what are we left with afterwards -- several government-owned buildings, none of which will provide the kind of revenue the town needs, especially considering how many here have overextended themselves financially in the hopes that the pipeline will arrive sooner rather than later. It's anybody's guess when and if approval might come. The federal government doesn't appear to be too interested in pouring significant money into the project, which is needed if it's to go ahead. It's also sad to see that a member of the local business community, Caribou Cafe, will be without a home at the end of the month. The restaurant with the best food in town will have to set up shop somewhere else now that the Eskimo is closing. Who knows when that will happen. And who knows what will happen to the Eskimo Inn once the contract between Dowland and the Mackenzie Group expires. But then there's some good news. Two businesswomen, Debbie Karl and Moe Grant, have decided to resurrect the town's coffee shop that was closed last November. It's refreshing to see how much energy and passion they're putting into the project, which they hope to have completed and open for business during the first week of June. They've given the old Cafe Gallery a complete facelift and have purchased all-new equipment to go inside. They're determined to make it work. No doubt they'll get plenty of support from residents. I like that they want it to be a kind of entertainment venue where residents can showcase their talent. There's a lot to showcase. Personally I've missed having a coffee shop in town and I know when it was here I took it for granted. Like Karl and Grant, I think a coffeehouse is essential to any community. Luckily we have a few entrepreneurial types who are willing to do what it takes to make it happen.
City shortsighted on housing Yellowknifer - Wednesday, May 19, 2010
The Giant Mine town site, shut down ten years ago, includes 22 houses - most of which were still considered salvageable three years ago.
The area includes a dock and boat launch that could make it ideal for a harbour front community. For now, the townsite is the refuge of vandals even while waterfront property in Yellowknife is nearly unobtainable.
The city continues to sit on this land since acquiring it in 2000 in lieu of taxes owed by former mine owner Royal Oak, and is refusing to reopen the area for settlement.
Of course, there are arsenic concerns but that didn't stop residents of Con Place and Rycon trailer park on the other side of town from fighting for their properties when they were facing the boot following the closure of Con Mine in 2003.
This part of the city, like the Giant town site, was not up to "residential standards" either but a will and way was found to prevent these otherwise pleasant neighbourhoods from being permanently mothballed because of some bureaucratic notions of safety and health.
A recent study commissioned by the federal government found that if the Giant town site were occupied today, the daily intake of arsenic would be 0.0009 mg per kg - just slightly higher than the national average. How much effort would it really take to close this gap and re-open it to development?
At the same time, city hall has established a Harbour Planning Committee, one of whose goals is to regulate houseboats in Yellowknife Bay.
In a town short on homes and apartments, houseboat sprawl hardly seems to be an issue.
A harbourfront committee might be needed as the city's population grows - but the city is not growing. Contrary to encouraging housing development, city hall is tripping it up with too many restrictions. Pulling Tin Can Hill, another potentially excellent source of waterfront property, from development is another case in point.
New avenues must be opened up for housing, and existing ones such as the Giant Mine town site must not sit idle.
There should have been outrage expressed by many in the territory over the Government of Nunavut's (GN) dismissal of former Nunavut fire marshal Tony Noakes this past week.
The GN decided Noakes was unsuitable for his position due to his worry over unsafe conditions at the Baffin Correctional Centre (BCC), which included filing a complaint with the RCMP mere days before his dismissal.
It was even reported an unnamed guard at the BCC viewed the facility as a death trap caused by chronic neglect.
Of course, the guard wouldn't allow his name to be released for fear of meeting the same fate as Noakes. And that's exactly why more people – government employees or not – are scared to speak up.
The GN is the biggest decision maker in the territory, the biggest employer and the biggest bully.
In fact, bullying people into submission is the one thing this government has become incredibly proficient at during the past decade.
It's used these same deplorable tactics to silence those who would point out problems in Housing, Finance, Health, Education and Renewable Resources.
In fact, it's even put the clamper on government employees who were elected to hamlet councils and then had the audacity to suggest changes to the way the GN delivered certain programs or products.
Let's be honest about this. A nice paycheque, great benefits and a generous pension are very powerful selling points when an entity wants a person to dummy up.
We all understand the stress involved when one's job could be threatened, but make no mistake about it.
When you choose to remain silent over issues that affect the quality of life for people, dummying up is exactly what you're doing.
What's even more alarming about Noakes's dismissal is how blatant the government is becoming with its bullying tactics.
It seems some of those in charge have reached the point of feeling untouchable in this territory. They, apparently, no longer even feel the need to disguise the distasteful way they conduct some of their business, even when human lives could be at risk, which appears to be the case at the correctional centre.
It seems non-party politics has become a nice way of saying governance with absolute power, no accountability, and precious little care or time for the concerns of the people.
It's time for this government to wake up and start addressing legitimate concerns raised by its workers, and stop using such fear-mongering tactics to demand subserviency.
There are places in this world – where few reading this want to live – where an editorial such as this would be met with grave repercussions delivered by men dressed in menacing military-styled attire. And, right now, I have no doubt there may be some in our capital licking their lips over that concept.
The GN refused to answer questions on the Noakes affair because it didn't want to, and no one could make it answer.
Thousands of bullied kids hear the same words on their playgrounds every day.
Corrections A business brief in last week's News/North regarding the department of Education Culture and Employment's Small Community Employment Support Program should have had an NWT placeline. The program is available only in the NWT.
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