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Big catches in the NWT Yellowknifer - Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Both communities certainly have good fishing. Lutsel K'e is more remote and has bigger trout, but Ragnar Wesstrom at Trout Rock Lodge would surely point to his world renowned trophy pike fishing just a 10-minute flight outside town as proof of Yellowknife's superiority. In any event, Lutsel K'e's early lead in the contest is holding steady. In fact, at press time the Akaitcho Dene community was well ahead with 854 votes to Yellowknife's 156. In fact, Deline – previously in third place -- has overtaken Yellowknife with 232 votes. The people of Lutsel K'e are surely out to win, and good for them. They deserve the recognition. But let's be clear, the Northwest Territories in general is a fishing mecca. Hopefully this contest brings the North a little more attention and lot more tourists looking to hook a big one, here, Lutsel K'e or anywhere else in the NWT.
No class or tuxedos from these mean-spirited penguins Darrell Greer Kivalliq News - Wednesday, May 4, 2011 I saw nothing but red after reading the feature on Nunavut published in a national newspaper this past month. I couldn't decide which was worse; the picture of Nunavut it painted, the lack of response to it by our leaders, or how utterly hopeless it made us appear to the rest of Canada. How can I be so oblivious to the evil and incompetence the article told me I'm surrounded by? It compared Nunavut to Mexico and South Africa, where racism and violence are rampant and drug lords and tribal warlords have more power than law enforcement. Cops talked about the "great experience" of kicking down more doors a year in Nunavut than most officers do in their entire careers. Our children, it insinuated, are as likely to be sexually abused as cared for, and 70 per cent of our preschool-aged kids go hungry almost every day of their lives. Our Inuit government was labelled as little more than a variety of apartheid, and a mayor was quoted as saying we were not ready for Nunavut while referring to our territory as a chilly banana republic. The article scoffed at Nunavut's education system, pointing to a 75 per cent dropout rate and insinuating we cheat our kids out of a real education. It claimed Nunavut education is driven by an unofficial policy of social promotion, giving kids passing grades even if they don't deserve it. In Nunavut, the article stated, graduates can possess Grade 12 diplomas and be functionally illiterate. The article ridiculed Nunavut education to the point of combining it with a youthful population to create a crush of ignorance and incompetence that could hamstring the territory for decades. On the positive side, it said Nunavut is at least livable if you're lucky enough to be among the small middle-class; the Coral's men's group does some good work, even if not recognized scientifically; and Repulse Bay is a tranquil community. Yet, no damnation of the article by our leaders. Inuit and non-Inuit Nunavummiut who travel for work couldn't escape it. The topic was broached at business and board meetings across the south, usually in condescending expressions of pity and dismissiveness for what they perceive to be Canada's biggest aboriginal reserve, while, here at home, silence. Does that silence equate to agreement on the part of our leaders? Do they remain silent so as not to clue the rest of us in on how hopeless Nunavut truly is, while they go about feathering their own nests? If you were a doctor, nurse, teacher or social worker living in the south, would you have any interest in Nunavut after reading that story? Yes, we have our share of problems in Nunavut, but there's a lot of good too. Maybe it's time our leaders stop pandering to the southern appetite for iglus and seal flippers, and educate them on the countless hours put in by so many to improve the quality of life in Nunavut. The national article was a mean-spirited piece which cast Nunavut in the worst light possible. But, while small consolation, at least we have the knowledge it was produced by a group of people who think penguins also call Nunavut home. And they mock our education system!
Big issues for elected MP NWT News/North - Monday, May 2, 2011
The political atmosphere in the NWT might be at its most volatile at present with hot-button topics spanning families, business and territorial governance. Nutrition North Canada is causing rumblings territory-wide as the promises of cheaper and more accessible healthful foods have yet to be realized. It's time for our member of Parliament, regardless of party alignment, to stand up for Northerners on this issue. A savings of five per cent at the till is not helping Northerners eat better; it is not helping to curb health issues such as diabetes and obesity; nor is it saving families from the struggle of choosing between food and rent. Our MP must approach this issue with the mindset that until milk in Paulatuk is within a dollar or two of the cost in Yellowknife, the program is a failure. Community health is also a major issue. Of the 44 doctors working in the NWT only four are stationed outside of Yellowknife. Although some communities have nurse practitioners and other health professionals to help fill the gap, we are falling short of providing quality health care to our communities. Fighting for more health care funding specifically to attract more doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners to the North should be a top concern. We need to boost the number of Northern trained health professionals and develop ways to improve recruitment and retention. With more than 7,000 Northerners between the ages of 15 and 24 in 2010, according to the NWT Bureau of Statistics, employment will be a major concern in the future. Although our unemployment rate is better than the national average, job opportunities outside of Yellowknife and the diamond mines are limited and creating jobs should be a top priority. Convincing Ottawa to invest in the completion of the Mackenzie Valley Highway and the road link from Tuktoyaktuk to the Dempster Highway will pour billions into the NWT economy and provide training and work. A road link will also create hundreds of spinoff jobs in the way of trucking, maintenance, tourism and commercial business. Federal funding to support the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline will have a similar impact and ensure employment for hundreds of Northerners and thousands of southerners during construction. Opportunity will also draw people North and with them more money and services. Access to greater resource revenue through a devolution agreement with Ottawa will occupy a significant portion of the next term. Negotiating a deal that will ensure less reliance on federal funding and more control over resource development and revenue will be key. Bringing aboriginal governments on board with the proposed deal will be vital. Ultimately, a devolution deal must gain the support of all levels of government in the NWT, including the Deh Cho, whose priority is protecting areas of land like Edehzhie, both surface and sub-surface. We urge our next MP to support the priorities of Northerners without playing partisan politics.
Keep a close eye on the money Nunavut News/North - Monday, May 2, 2011 In 2007, Nunavut News/North called the Nunavut Business Credit Corporation "a disgrace." That year auditor general Sheila Fraser issued a report on the credit corp's 2005-2006 fiscal year which found "a serious breakdown of basic financial controls." Fraser issued a rare denial of opinion on the credit corporation's finances for 2005-2006, and again in 2006-2007 because the organization's bookkeeping was too shoddy to provide the information she needed to do an audit. The credit corporation, considered a lender of last resort for businesses that had been rejected elsewhere, was responsible for $18 million worth of loans during the 2005-2006 fiscal year. Fraser found situations where NBCC staff had, at times, released loans to borrowers before they had received approval. Another $15,000 was granted to the same client twice, due to improper documentation. Previous audits from 2001, 2004 and 2005 had also indicated irregularities. It was a black eye on the government's financial management capability and it cast a wide net of suspicion around the corporation's activities. "Everyone was a suspect," said Rankin Inlet North MLA Tagak Curley in 2008. At the time, Fraser put some of the blame on human resources problems - important management positions such as comptroller going unfilled and other hires lacking expertise or not being screened properly, such as the case of an acting CEO who was hired while he was facing charges of fraud against his previous employer. Loans were frozen, the chair, vice-chair and another member of the organization's board of directors resigned, the GN's Standing Committee on Government Operations and Accountability looked into the matter, the cabinet minister in charge was found in violation of the Integrity Act and resigned, and the RCMP launched its own investigation. How much messier could it get? Four years later, a regimen of restructuring, retraining and rewriting the agency's manuals have seemingly paid off. Earlier this month, Fraser gave her OK to the corporation's 2009-2010 books, which will be available to the public at the spring sitting of the legislative assembly. The organization is now fully staffed and has a full-time CEO. There are still outstanding loan payments to be collected, which the corporation's new CEO hopes will someday be resolved. We won't know exactly how far in the hole the corporation still is until its financial statements are made public during the spring session of the legislative assembly. If there's a lesson to be learned from the NBCC fiasco, it's that ignoring a problem - which was the case between 2001 and 2007 - not only doesn't make it go away, it allows it to grow much, much worse. Now the same scrutiny that corrected the functioning of the business credit corporation needs to be applied to the Nunavut Housing Corporation and its hundreds of millions in cost overruns, which are putting a strain on every other government department.
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.
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