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No vote not a done deal Yellowknifer - Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Despite assurances from many councillors, the Yes We Con lawn signs, and the propaganda machine from city hall, voters rejected the city's proposal Monday to borrow up to $49 million to fund a district energy plan to heat 39 buildings downtown.
Why, council may ask. It's because what voters wanted was leadership, solid research and ready answers. What they got instead were pom-pom waving cheerleaders trying to achieve green energy glory with a "trust us" attitude.
Indeed, when Yellowknifer asked Mayor Gord Van Tighem and council to identify the risks and benefits of the project - posted on our district energy web page at www.nnsl.com/ykdistrictenergy.html - only Couns. Amanda Mallon and David Wind spent much time identifying any risks. Meanwhile Couns. Mark Heyck, Shelagh Montgomery, Bob Brooks, argued the main risk would be if the city did not proceed with the project.
No matter how much proponents insisted the public was amply informed, there was an awful lot of blind faith behind this project.
Council could have stopped this vote from taking place. They should have recognized the dubiousness of the proposal they were asking residents to vote on, that by asking the city be allowed to borrow such an enormous amount of money while insisting on keeping potential partners a secret was perceived as arrogant by many residents. Imagine the difference it may have made if the private partners had been at the town hall table proclaiming their confidence and commitment.
Tying the referendum to the federal government's promise of $14.1 million to fund geothermal energy from Con Mine while the viability of that plan remains an uncertainty was also a mistake. The geothermal stage would only come, if at all, after the wood-pellet based district energy system is in place. That muddied the waters.
But council and city administration should not lose heart. One thing seems clear, most people like the idea, especially if it involves obtaining geothermal energy from Con Mine to heat the downtown core. Many also recognize that Yellowknife is vulnerable to fluctuating fuel prices that are bound to threaten the city's future prosperity should they rise with no alternative source of energy in sight.
Now that the city knows what residents expect before they are willing to fully support this project, it shouldn't be an overwhelming task to begin anew. Much of the groundwork has already been laid, and it should not be allowed to go to waste.
The city has made mistakes with this proposal but there is no denying it is a grand vision with great potential. Even if geothermal proves unworkable, a district heating system using a combination of wood pellets and oil still has potential.
If the business case is as solid as the city claims, there should be little problem finding a private firm to help make it a reality under terms that Yellowknifers can accept.
As for the federal government's carrot-on-a-stick, it's unimaginable that it would take the $14.1 million grant off the table for geothermal if there was a district heating system to plug it into - even if it comes a little further down the road.
Monday's no vote may be disheartening to some but by no means should it signal the death of the idea, just a change in plans.
Maybe it's only members of the Government of Nunavut who don't realize the vast majority of things run downhill.
And, just maybe, an ever-growing number of people in this exclusive group during the past 12 years have simply never been told it's a good idea to practice what you preach, if you want to be taken seriously.
It's reached the point where you accept one of these improbable explanations, or you start asking tough questions on just how shallow our leadership pool truly is in Nunavut.
Let's be brutally honest about this.
The behaviour of a staggering number of our politicians and territorial leaders since the creation of Nunavut has transcended embarrassing into the world of dark and disturbing.
What are we to take from the language directed at a female by our former premier, to the growing number of sexual and physical assault charges and convictions levied against a GN Speaker of the House, minister or MLA during the past 12 years?
Do the actions of these politicians reflect how the majority of Nunavut males view their female counterparts?
And what do we make of the seemingly endless headlines concerning another of our leaders in trouble with alcohol?
Throw in the leaders and politicians who left their positions under a shroud of financial scrutiny, and you have an ominous picture on Nunavut's canvas.
What message is this behaviour sending our impressionable youth?
How can parents, educators and front-line workers convince youth to abstain from alcohol and not commit violent acts, when so many of those entrusted with drafting the policies that will shape their future engage in the exact behaviour and lifestyle they're being told to avoid?
We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in this territory to bring people together to discuss and analyze issues to death.
We have education authorities, a liquor review task force, alcohol awareness and education committees, wellness committees, elders' committees, youth committees, justice committees, drum-dance committees -- you name the committee and chances are good Nunavut has it.
In fact if there's one thing in Nunavut we're darn good at, it's discussing things.
It's when the talk is done and it's time for action to replace words that the runners fall off the qamutiik.
Maybe too many of our committees, commissions, task forces and whatever other fancy names we can think of to give them are aimed in the wrong direction.
And, maybe, when it comes to theories on good governance, too many of our leaders mistakenly view "do as I say, not as I do" as an acceptable approach.
When it comes right down to it, talk is cheap!
It's time for everyone elected to the GN to spend a lot less time talking and a whole lot more time leading by example.
Nobody's perfect, but, then again, the record of many of our politicians and territorial leaders since April 1, 1999, is far from that lofty standard.
We've reached the point where simply acceptable would be embraced with open arms.
At best, our premier and cabinet seem unable or unwilling to be upfront and honest with the public. At worst, our territorial leaders are misinformed to the point of incompetence.
Our previous government, led by Joe Handley, has been the Deh Cho Bridge's go-to scape goat. However, as dubious as the last-minute approval of the multi-million dollar structure was, Roland's government bears full responsibility for the project's gross mismanagement.
In 2008, Roland told the legislative assembly the previous government -- in which he served as finance minister -- committed the GNWT to the bridge project.
Yes, backing out of the bridge project would have opened the GNWT up to potential and costly law suits, but it didn't commit the GNWT to rushing ahead blindly, skipping steps and putting NWT taxpayers at risk.
Roland, on more than one occasion, assured the legislative assembly and the public the GNWT would assume the bridge's debt load only in the "worst case scenario." Thanks to our government's poor planning, that worst case scenario has become reality.
Our cabinet can't even be up front about who decided to proceed with construction without the finalized design. Members of cabinet have tried to cast the blame on Handley, but government bureaucrats say otherwise.
Handley's government may have signed the concession agreement but it was Roland's government who chose to move forward with construction without the final design in place. Auditor General Sheila Fraser called the move risky and costly. We call it reckless.
Originally pegged at $165 million, the cost for building the superstructure has ballooned to $185 million and Fraser predicts that price tag to exceed $200 million.
This isn't the only project the government has not been totally upfront about. The Taltson Hydroelectric expansion project -- with a current investment of $13 million -- has been a financial shell game.
Deze Power Corporation, the investment arm of GNWT's NT Energy, has been planning to finance an investment of $700-million based upon on the sale of power to the diamond mines in the NWT.
From the outset, the project's business model seemed pie-in-the-sky, banking on diamond mines, in the middle of their operating life, to switch from millions worth of generation infrastructure for an untested power line crossing hundreds of kilometres of isolated wilderness.
Back in November, Minister Michael Miltenberger hinted at the project's inevitable failure. It was then he told the media only one mine was interested in the project and it would take all three buying power at a predetermined rate to make it feasible.
Roland came out shortly after with a damage-control statement telling reporters that discussions are still ongoing with the mines.
Fast forward four months and Roland's message was "clearly, the plan to initially go strictly to the diamond mines is not going to work." We expect Miltenberger gave away the truth months earlier.
Our premier's inability to be upfront is starting to catch up with him and he can no longer keep his stories straight.
It's time to demand accountability and the regular MLAs need to champion the cause. They could start with nailing down why cabinet approved construction without a design finalized, against the advice of the Department of Transportation, and how much the mistake cost.
Last week in the legislative assembly, MLA Louis Tapardjuk asked the health minister to order an inquiry into the deaths of two babies that died with flu-like symptoms in Iglulik. He also stated Iglulik's hamlet council had sent a letter to the Department of Health and Social Services requesting a coroner's inquest be held.
Time and time again, MLAs have raised concerns from constituents about what they see as inadequate care from community health centres. Being sent home with Tylenol occurs so often and for such a wide range of ailments, patients wonder if nurses are being provided with the ability, or the permission, to offer any other treatment.
Among respiratory diseases, influenza and RSV, a respiratory infection, are the biggest killers of Nunavummiut infants. In 2009, the Canadian Pediatric Society recommended all Inuit babies receive a series of shots during flu season to help their immune systems fight off RSV, but the cost of the series of five monthly shots would be about $7,000 per child.
When MLA Ron Elliott asked the health minister last week why this recommendation had not been followed, considering not only the health of the children but the cost of medevacs and hospitalizations that would be saved, Tagak Curley responded that recommendations change year by year and the government was going by the advice of its own medical staff.
Nunavut's flu prevention campaigns emphasize flu shots and good hand-washing techniques, advising those who are sick to stay at home.
But all the hand sanitizer in the world can't overcome the perfect storm of risk factors in Nunavut like inadequate nutrition, exposure to tobacco smoke, and overcrowded housing. Flu spreads through our communities like a wildfire through parched forests.
So far this season there have been reports of flu outbreaks in Iglulik, Sanikiluaq and Arviat.
With a population of around 750, Sanikiluaq logged 52 medevacs during its December-January flu outbreak. And in the midst of Sanikiluaq's flu crisis, its health centre was closed due to a fuel leak, forcing nurses to work in a makeshift location.
However, the community's senior administrative officer said he was kept in the dark during the outbreak and only learned the details months later when Hudson Bay MLA Allan Rumbolt pressed for answers in the legislative assembly.
This is reminiscent of the department's policy during the H1N1 pandemic of not identifying communities stricken by swine flu. Then, at least one SAO only learned the virus was spreading in his community when he got sick himself.
Questions arise as to whether Nunavummiut have access to the best health care possible, and whether information on community outbreaks is being communicated in a complete and timely fashion to the people who ought to know.
An inquest is the best way to get to the bottom of what, if anything, went wrong in the delivery of health care in Iglulik that may have contributed to the deaths of the two infants. And if the coroner finds problems with services provided by the Department of Health and Social Services, an inquiry should be ordered.
The public has a right to know. Either people's confidence in Nunavut's health care will gradually be restored, or they should be made aware of how the system is being improved.
The system is even murkier in the Northwest Territories where, as the NWT's top judge, Justice John Vertes, pointed out last week, most people filling our jail cells are young, uneducated and aboriginal.
Sure, courtrooms are "public" but most people hardly have any inkling of what goes on in them. Lawyers and judges are separated from citizens-at-large by an invisible line, and not just because the legalese boils over to confound those of us lesser versed in the law. It's the aloofness of this institution that creates this divide.
That's why it's a welcome occurrence for Vertes to take off his robe and mix it up, to engage the public and open a dialogue on the social and legal issues affecting our territory.
Vertes broke the judiciary's silence after Kam Lake MLA Dave Ramsay expressed outrage in the legislative assembly over some of the jail sentences handed down in court, particularly those given to offenders with long criminal records.
The most egregious example is that of Claude Harry, an Inuvik man sentenced earlier this year to five years in prison for beating Angus Kikoak to death after a night of heavy drinking.
The judge in the case, Rene Foisy, awarded Harry a two-for-one credit for the time he had spent in jail waiting to be sentenced, which meant he only had three years left to serve in his sentence despite having a lengthy criminal record that included 19 prior convictions for violent assaults.
Vertes is right to emphasize that there is much more to consider than the punishments handed out to offenders. The root of many crimes committed in the NWT is directly related to socio-economics, addiction, and a lack of opportunities -- and if governments don't do enough to address these issues, the criminal cycle is bound to continue unabated and unreformed.
As Vertes observes, this affects our community as a whole. Businesses are fleeing downtown rather than putting up with the steady onslaught of crime borne out of homelessness and addiction. The closure of Yellowknife's halfway house and Dettah Treatment Centre add to the difficulties our community faces.
But in his desire to point the finger at politicians and the parole board, Vertes avoids the introspection the public would like to see more often from the courts.
He can talk about the "many factors" that go into a judge's decision all he wants but people still won't understand why a killer - even a drunken one - is jailed for only four years. Or how a Crown prosecutor can proceed with only a summary charge, involving a lighter sentence, for assault causing bodily harm - as was the case recently with a Yellowknife offender named George Koe, even though he sought a longer sentence in Alberta, where there are better rehabilitation programs. The judge declined the man's request in that case.
Caroline Wawzonek, chair of the criminal law section of the NWT branch of the Canadian Bar Association, wrote in a letter to the editor in Monday's News/North stating judges can't respond to criticism for fear their statements would appear politically motivated.
We can understand the sensitive nature of their jobs but it's a cop-out to suggest the courts are above the fray. Ramsay's statements in the legislative assembly have clearly left the judiciary rattled, and for good reason.
If it was Vertes' aim to generate greater public support by his commentary of late, we suggest he climb down from his high bench a little more often.
The department is using an organization from Vancouver to lead a series of workshops in three communities, including Fort Simpson, teaching how to make a video from scratch beginning with idea conceptualization and ending with final editing.
The initiative ties to the department's mandate because all of the videos that will be produced during the workshops will be about drug and alcohol awareness.
What happened to the days of the slogan "just say no" and talks in schools by public health nurses on the evils of drinking and doing drugs?
The answer is that the department and other concerned groups and individuals are battling against some stark statistics. The recently released NWT Addictions Report, which contains the results of the 2009 addictions survey, paints a dark picture of drug and alcohol use in the territory.
On average NWT residents report having their first drink at the age of 16, three years before they can legally drink. Although the percentage of people between the ages of 15 and 24 who drink decreased to 75 per cent in 2009 from 87 per cent in 1996, the drinking is not just casual.
Among current drinkers in 2009, 64 per cent in that age group reported consuming five or more drinks in a single occasion and one in four drank heavily at least once a week.
All that drinking is having an effect. In 2009, 23 per cent of current drinkers aged 15 and over reported at least one type of harm from their drinking including harmful effects on friendships and social life, physical health and home-life or marriage.
Education about drugs and alcohol has to start at an early age, and anything that could have a positive effect should be tried.
As one of the workshop facilitators pointed out, youths love digital media and enjoy making videos and posting them on sites such as YouTube for people to see. If youths can learn video production skills while absorbing a message about making positive choices, it's a win-win situation.
At first glance running a video-making workshop to send out a preventative message about drug and alcohol abuse looks excessive. These initiatives, however, have to meet youth on their own grounds and capture their interest in any way possible if a positive change in the statistics is to be achieved.
This is not something unknown, as I have heard many of you in town say the same thing - this community is generous and helpful.
So, listening to superintendent Roy Cole speak the other night about attendance and how much education is lost to a child that misses even as little as 20 to 40 minutes a day - one full year by the time they finish Grade 9 - the question was: how can we help?
The care in this community is obviously there, so how do we motivate children to go to school and care about it?
Cole is faced with these questions and takes them to heart. He puts the hours in to meet with principals, teachers and parents, discussing how to get kids to absorb a quality education. His plan is addressing the root: the parents, the caregivers and the families.
I agree with his tactic. It is up to us as the adults in these children's lives to be firm and give no other option but to show up and get educated.
To be fair, and not labelled a hypocrite by those who knew me in high school, I was never that academic. I got bored easily and I couldn't spell if I was dangling over a pool full of sinister sharks and it was the only thing that could save me. (You can laugh that I'm now a writer - I do.)
But the programs offered in the Inuvik schools range through all sorts of trades and languages and crafts. All we have to do is get kids interested and get them there.
It's not for the certification. I only have a diploma that I got eight years after high school, but as Mr. Cole said: "We can only teach them when they're there."
Whatever you can get them interested in in school is almost always better than what they'll get up to not going. We were all teenagers once, we should know.
As such a giving and caring community we should be able to focus some non-monetary energy towards the kids we know.
That type of giving could be priceless.
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