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NWT votes do matter Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, April 29, 2011 Despite the initial cynicism and disinterest among voters toward this latest federal election, Monday's vote promises to be a nail-biter here in the Northwest Territories. It's hard to recall a Western Arctic campaign where the leading candidates have had such high profiles in incumbent Dennis Bevington, former premier Joe Handley, and former health minister Sandy Lee. Past elections have been a wasteland for at least one of the major parties in this riding for decades. Eli Purchase is a relative unknown and a newcomer to politics but his Green Party is a veteran of Western Arctic campaigns. Bonnie Dawson, meanwhile, presents an unusual option for this territory's voters through the Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada, but it's a party few outside of its Toronto home base have ever heard of. The Western Arctic turnout was lower than 48 per cent last election - one of the worst showings in a country with a national average of 58 per cent, which itself was an all-time low. However, it seems likely that voter turnout will be higher this time considering the NDP and Jack Layton's surprising, recent surge in the polls, the insistence of "youth mobs" that they intend to vote this time, not to mention the yawning chasm that exists between the various positions taken by our candidates on everything from devolution to the debt wall. People often complain their vote doesn't matter; participants on the 'no' side in last month's geothermal referendum - where the turnout was an even lower 35 per cent - would beg to differ.
Cardboard trade-off Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, April 29, 2011
There are six recycling locations scattered around town where people can drop off recyclables. If you buy a new TV, disassembled furniture or an ice auger, you're left with a large, awkward box. For those who do not have a vehicle to get to a recycling drop-off site, it would be an awkward task to trudge around town lugging the cardboard in addition to cans, glass, plastics and newsprint. This sort of deterrent leads to people stuffing their garbage bags with recyclable materials. We would like to see less cardboard going into the landfill as it accounts for 37 per cent of all waste, according to the city's director of public works Dennis Kefalas. The city feels strongly enough about it to possibly start fining people for throwing their cardboard in the trash. That's not going to be welcomed by the aforementioned group of residents without vehicles, the ones who are already doing the environment a favour by not adding carbon emissions from a tailpipe. In 2006, the city surveyed the public on its interest in a curbside recycling program. At the time, 52 per cent of residents were in favour of paying a $6 for such a program. It's time to revisit the issue. Another survey should be done, with costs clearly laid out, and alternatives should be in place before residents are fined for throwing out cardboard.
Land complications Editorial Comment Herb Mathisen Deh Cho Drum - Thursday, April 28, 2011
On one hand the Village of Fort Simpson has to collect tax revenue in order to deliver services in the community. The village also has to be fair to ensure all residents pay. If it lets some people slide, the incentive lessens for everyone to pay taxes. One legislative deterrent at its disposal is to evict property owners and auction off lots if the residents make no effort to pay. On the other hand, the Dene have been here far longer than the village has. When some Dehcho members took over their lots, it was with an understanding that the lot was - or was destined to be - band land and not subject to taxation. As time wore on, policies changed, properties switched hands, people died and the taxes accumulated. So when a Dene elder is kicked off of a lot - or is facing an eviction order - on his or her traditional land, it is understandable some will harbour resentment towards the evicting institutions. Many Dene believe they have never ceded title to this land and Mayor Sean Whelly recognizes this, but said the village is legislatively constrained in the action it can take. "Some people don't vote in the territorial or federal elections because they don't think they are legitimate governments," he said. "(They believe) the village is just a creation of a territorial government, which is just a creation of a federal government. Aboriginal people were here long before the village was. That's a pretty hard stance to argue with. That's a philosophy." What are the solutions? Well, in the short-term, residents who do have tenure claims that they may be able to document should get as much help as they need from the various agencies involved. This includes the Liidlii Kue Dene First Nation, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, the Fort Simpson Metis Nation, the village and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Also, a study looking at the historical classifications of lots in the village should be performed to determine once and for all what is what. While this verification process is taking place, any accumulating taxes should be suspended. As to the larger issues dealing with legitimacy and extent of land tenure, this will likely be hashed out in future courtrooms and bargaining tables. However, communication and understanding among all parties can never be a bad thing. Roxanna is back and I'm shipping out, but I just wanted to thank everyone who chatted with me at the Northern or on the phone for making my time here so pleasant. It was nice to be back in a place where people still say hi to you on the street and ask you for your name. Mahsi. Top 10 reasons to vote Editorial Comment Samantha Stokell Inuvik Drum - Thursday, April 28, 2011
Maybe it's because they think their vote won't matter. Or maybe people think it doesn't matter who is in power, nothing ever changes. Maybe people find none of the candidates appealing, or maybe they don't have time.
In the 2008 election (a brief 30 months ago) 58.8 per cent of Canadians voted. Voter turnout has never been higher than 80 per cent in Canada and the average usually sits between 60 and 70 per cent. With that in mind, Inuvik Drum has created a top 10 list for why you should head to the polls, at the Midnight Sun Complex on May 2 between 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m, to vote. 10: You have the right to complain after your candidate loses, or even if your candidate wins. Your vote is your opinion and if you don't use your vote, you lose the chance to share your opinion. 9: Voting is a get-out-of-work-free card! Although it takes two minutes to mark the x on the ballot with your little golf pencil, you could probably stretch your break to half an hour and grab a coffee on the way. The weather forecast calls for sun and 2 C on Monday! Get out there. 8: Women and aboriginal people fought extremely hard to get the right to vote. Women in Canada won it between 1916 and 1918, for different provinces. The federal government granted aboriginal people the right to vote in 1960. Wouldn't it seem like a waste of energy if you didn't vote? 7: Maybe you know someone who does want to vote. And maybe that person wants to vote for a party that you don't like. By voting for another party, you can cancel that person's vote out. Your vote can take the offence and protect who you want to win. 6: You know those taxes you hate paying? The people who decide how that money is spent are the people you are electing. Find a candidate who spends money how you want. 5: When the election is over and the low voter turnout numbers come out, you won't have to feel guilty about not voting. 4: The federal government affects everything you do. It provides funding for hockey programs, schools, national parks, that Northern residency allowance that everyone enjoys, unemployment, small business loans ... the list goes on. 3: If enough people vote, maybe Canada won't have an election for another four years ... you know ... like how it's supposed to be? 2: Exercise your right in a democracy. Think of people around the world who are fighting right now for the right to choose their leader. You can feel proud for being part of the democratic process in Canada. 1: Election day is the one day when you are as important as anyone else. Everyone in Canada is equal.
Year-long paid vacations Yellowknifer - Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Sandy Lee, the former minister of Health and Social Services, is the first MLA to benefit from the new legislation - passed on the last day of the legislative assembly's February/March session - when she stepped down to run as the Conservative candidate in next week's federal election. It's important to note her transition allowance - which continues whether a former cabinet minister finds new employment or not - would have only been slightly less than the $94,000 in MLA's salary she stands to gain now had the rules not changed. Previously, cabinet ministers, as it remains with regular MLAs, were awarded a transition allowance of one month's pay for every year they had served in the legislative assembly. Lee would have been there 12 years and entitled to almost a full-year's salary had she stayed until September. But what's to prevent a cabinet minister leaving after only a few months or even just a few days on the job? Former ministers would automatically receive 12-months' pay, regardless of whether that person was voted out of cabinet by his or her colleagues or quit for no good reason at all. At least the legislative assembly saw fit not to extend that umbrella to cabinet ministers convicted of crimes and jailed or those ejected from the legislative assembly. Then again, there is nothing stopping that cabinet minister from quitting before the axe falls and getting the money. Disgraced former cabinet minister Henry Zoe was removed from cabinet in June 2004 and convicted of resisting arrest the following April, for which he was facing expulsion before resigning his seat. Under the current rules, he would be entitled to a full year of pay because he resigned within a year of serving on cabinet. That sort of scenario upsets people and leads to cynicism towards our government. Conflict of interest rules needed to be tightened. The spectacle of former premier Joe Handley taking on work with bridge builder ATCON Construction less than a year after inking a deal with the company to build the Deh Cho Bridge, or of former cabinet minister Brendan Bell accepting six-figure consulting contracts with Premier Floyd Roland shortly after leaving office, left a bad taste in the mouths of Northerners. Alas, now all GNWT jobs and contracts are off-limits for all MLAs, which in this territory where the government is by far the largest employer, means we're paying former politicians to sit idle, possibly for up to a year. There is no reason to give former cabinet ministers with minimum time served on the job a year-long paid vacation, nor barring them from all GNWT employment down to the lowliest of jobs. Surely there is a happy balance worth achieving, both on which government jobs present a conflict or on how much public service deserves such reward. The legislative assembly needs to take this one back to the drawing board.
Nutrition North adds some campaign sizzle as May 2 nears Darrell Greer Kivalliq News - Wednesday, April 27, 2011 With Canada ready to vote this coming Monday, the rhetoric picked up in Nunavut this past week when Liberal candidate Paul Okalik announced the Grits would immediately scrap Nutrition North and go back to the food mail program if elected. NDP Candidate Jack Hicks was quick to join Okalik with his condemnation of the new program. Both candidates say they've heard plenty of voter complaints on the campaign trail concerning Nutrition North, and both have put forward examples of some of the concerns they've heard. As to be expected, Tory incumbent Leona Aglukkaq was quick to defend the program, although one couldn't help but notice the lack of praise from constituents regarding Nutrition North in her press release. Instead, Aglukkaq stuck with the party line on the Tories' perceived benefits of Nutrition North, and lauded the fact there is an advisory board in place to address the concerns of Northerners on the program. Once again, the parties are talking apples and oranges (no pun intended) when it comes to Nutrition North. The issue has become a hot-button topic in this election, but only time will tell if it boils over enough for Nunavut voters to turn away from the Tories on May 2. Nunavut is on par with the rest of the nation in that analysts are seeing one of the highest levels of undecided voters in recent history as May 2 looms ever closer. In fact, our little one-seat territory is listed as a riding to watch on election day by the Election Almanac. Poll results have been all over the political map for weeks with the Conservatives national lead dipping a few points one day and rising the next. As I write this the latest national polls have the NDP on a roll, putting it almost in a dead heat with the Liberals and actually threatening the Bloc Quebecois in Quebec. Now that's a volatile election landscape if ever there was one. Whatever the outcome of the election, one thing is for certain here in our not-so-little corner of the country: if there's anyone happy with Nutrition North in its present form other than the Conservatives and Nunavut's major retailers, they aren't saying so in public. While people may be saving a scant five to seven per cent on some items in their local stores due to Nutrition North, they're paying more overall for their groceries and essentials because of the increased freight costs on the items they order from southern distributors (the few who didn't drop out of the new program) to offset what they buy locally. That extra cost negates any perceived advantage of being able to get fresher produce in some communities. Any way you slice it, getting food items and essentials to Nunavummiut at a halfway reasonable price seems to be one tough nut to crack.
Healing support NWT News/North - Monday, April 25, 2011
For many who were shipped to the government-run institutions across the nation, sharing these horrific stories is a cathartic process. Although speaking about past hurts is good for the soul, it can also re-open old wounds. The TRC's mission is a worthy one. Not only does it give aboriginal people the opportunity to lift the burden of pain they have kept secret for decades, it also provides insight to those of the non-aboriginal community who might not understand the suffering our First Nations and Metis peoples endured. It is key the federal government ensures communities are supported once the TRC's whirlwind visits breeze out of town. Giving people the opportunity to finally share their experiences - some who are doing so for the first time - is only an initial step. Counselling and support services will be vital to the healing process, and the federal government must commit to ensuring those resources are available as people begin to come to terms with the chaotic feelings their painful memories will unleash. Reinstating funding to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation (AHF) would be a good first step. Of the five programs in the NWT, the Healing Drum Society was the only one to temporarily survive the funding slash that ended $350-million worth of federal money allotted to the AHF. A second funding extension will see the Healing Drum Society's $3.6 million grant extended until 2013. According to Kawennakatste, the society's executive director, even before the loss in funding, the five NWT programs were only scratching the surface in terms of fulfilling the needs of the territory's residents. Two programs per region in the territory would be ideal, she added. Now, with the Healing Drum Society as the sole resource providing residential school survivor support, she said its capabilities are stretched thin. Kawennakatste said the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is providing a vital service and she has witnessed how it has helped many people begin speaking about their hurtful experiences and the resulting relief many of them feel. However, the TRC consultations have also increased the need for the Healing Drum Society and its mobile trauma unit, which provides a four-week counselling service that travels into NWT communities. Follow-up and ongoing support is vital to confront a problem that Kawennakatste described as cross-generational; residential school trauma is not limited to those who attended the institutions as it also filters down to children and grandchildren. In 2007, the federal government finally began making amends to residential school survivors with its $80 million compensation package; it followed that with a nationwide apology for the government's involvement in the federally-run institutions in 2008. Canada must continue its support of residential school survivors and their families well into the future. Funding ongoing counselling support across the NWT is a responsibility our nation must honour. Canada owes it to the people who were deeply hurt by these schools.
Killed by a 'tragic fabric of errors' Nunavut News/North - Monday, April 25, 2011 Technically, Elisapee Michael died from a head injury she sustained from falling down the stairs of an Iqaluit hotel in August 2009. But what may have killed her was the series of events between her fall and her arrival at Ottawa Hospital two days later. At an inquest into her death from April 4-14, her family's lawyer stated her death was the result of a "tragic fabric of errors." After she was taken to Qikiqtani General Hospital following her fall Aug. 9, the doctor who initially examined her said a head injury could not be ruled out without a CT scan, equipment which the hospital didn't have. The X-ray technician was off that night, and the doctor was reluctant to call in the technician. So the doctor diagnosed her as intoxicated. According to a nurse, Michael was yelling, swearing and had to be restrained. She was speaking mostly in Inuktitut and no one was available to translate. So hospital staff called the RCMP to take her away. It was unclear whether the police were given any information or instructions by the hospital, and there was no evidence the guards at the RCMP cells had received training on assessing prisoners' responsiveness. When Michael was checked on in her cell the next day, she was unresponsive in a pool of vomit. An ambulance then took her back to the hospital. It was finally determined that evening that Michael had a severe head injury and needed to be medevaced - but a medevac flight wasn't available until the next morning. The inquest ruled her death an accident, but the question remains whether the outcome would have been different if she had reached the neurosurgery unit in Ottawa a day earlier. This "tragic fabric of errors" could be considered an isolated incident if it didn't come less than a month after a similar inquest in the NWT. In Yellowknife in 2006, RCMP found Raymond Eagle lying in the road with a visible head injury. He was taken to Stanton hospital, where was medically cleared and released to RCMP cells to sober up. Later he began vomiting and was taken back to the emergency room and medevaced to Edmonton. After undergoing surgery for bleeding in his brain, he remained in a coma for three-and-a-half years until he died in 2010. Some severe head injuries can be hard to detect. Trying to diagnose someone who is incoherent and unco-operative is not an easy job. The fact that symptoms of intoxication can mirror signs of a severe head injury complicates matters further. However, in both cases there were clues pointing to a possible head injury, but because both patients were or appeared drunk, both were turned over to the RCMP. Both had relatives in the city, yet neither of their families were contacted until they were admitted to hospital the second time. Somewhere there was a breakdown in standards of care. Being drunk and aboriginal shouldn't be a barrier to receiving proper medical treatment. The inquest jury apologized to Michael's family, stating society failed to provide her with the care, dignity and respect she deserved. We agree. Ill people don't belong in a jail cell. If a patient is being disruptive, doctors and nurses have options available to them, including restraints and/or sedation, as well as contacting family members. Despite the jury's recommendation, it's very unlikely Qikiqtani General will have the money to buy a CT scanner or hire the personnel to operate it - the one diagnostic tool that could have alerted doctors to send Michael to Ottawa in time to save her life. Its inability to keep a basic X-ray department operating after hours testifies to that. What the hospital can do is keep patients with suspected head injuries under observation, even when they're drunk or disruptive. The RCMP has pledged its support for a safe holding area at the hospital and has offered to provide guards. Medevacs need to be available 24/7, and guards at RCMP cells must be trained properly to recognize signs of serious illness. We look forward to the Department of Health and Social Services' response to the inquest's recommendations, because there's no doubt changes have to be made to prevent similar deaths in the future.
Corrections Wrong information appeared in an article in Wednesday's Yellowknifer. The closing hours for polling stations are staggered across the country, with polls closing in the NWT at 7:30 p.m. ("Election night gatherings," April 27). Also, while former Range Lake MLA Sandy Lee is immediately entitled to a transition allowance based on nearly 12 years as an MLA, she is not collecting her allowance under recently amended provisions of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act ("Year-long paid vacations," Yellowknifer, April 27). Yellowknifer apologizes for any confusion these errors may have caused.
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