CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISING SPECIAL ISSUES SPORTS OBITUARIES NORTHERN JOBS TENDERS

NNSL Photo/Graphic

Subscriber pages
buttonspacer News Desk
buttonspacer Columnists
buttonspacer Editorial
buttonspacer Readers comment
buttonspacer Tenders

Demo pages
Here's a sample of what only subscribers see

Subscribe now
Subscribe to both hardcopy or internet editions of NNSL publications

Advertising
Our print and online advertising information, including contact detail.
Home page text size buttonsbigger textsmall textText size Email this articleE-mail this page


Diamond mine review a wake-up call
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, December 7, 2011

BHP Billiton says its total expenditure on goods and services related to operation of its Ekati Diamond Mine has exceeded $4.2 billion since operations began in 1998, with almost 80 per cent being spent in the North with aboriginal and Northern businesses. That's huge coin for the NWT.

NNSL Photo/Graphic

 

Yet, the world's leading diversified resource company is reviewing its diamond business at Ekati, about 310 km northeast of Yellowknife, and at Chidliak, its joint-venture diamond exploration project with Peregrine Diamonds located about 140 km from Iqaluit, where seven of 59 known kimberlites have shown economic potential.

The Melbourne, Australia-based company expects to complete its review of Canadian diamond assets by the end of January.

Reaction to last week's announcement has been mixed, with the Union of Northern Workers understandably worried about the future for its 350 members among the 1,400 employees at Ekati. The Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce and the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines, meanwhile, see the review as a normal business practice by a responsible owner.

There is also speculation that if BHP were to pull out of Ekati, another company would be quick to capitalize on the wealth contained in the more than 150 kimberlite pipes on the property, many which contain diamonds. As it stands, closure of the mine, which opened in 1998, is projected for 2018.

The overall picture is not doom and gloom, by any stretch of the imagination. Yet it is apparent that Ekati is really just a drop in the bucket for BHP, which posted before-tax profits of almost $32 billion US for the year-end 2010.

So what about the future for the NWT? Clearly, economic prospects for Yellowknife and the territory cannot depend entirely on existing diamond mining activity, no matter how large the players.

Last month's government announcement of $5.2 million for geoscience research and mapping will help.

However, planning for long-term sustainability is what is sorely needed. That responsibility ultimately falls to the GNWT, and specifically to Dave Ramsay, the Kam Lake MLA who was appointed minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment in October.

Surely he has some ideas for diversification and economic development that will pave the way to future prosperity. The time to plan for the future is now.


Emphasis should be on recycling, composting
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Yellowknife residents will soon be asked to drop their output of garbage or pay more for excess.

Weekly curbside garbage collection will be limited to two 77-litre bags or bins in the new year, down from the present three-bag limit.

A three-month grace period will give households time to adjust, after which $1 tags must be purchased for the third bag.

That leaves three months for affected residents to change their habits and lifestyles.

If council is ecologically earnest, we should see a renewed vigorous effort to educate residents about how to reduce household waste, where and how to recycle efficiently, and how to start and maintain a backyard compost box between January and April of the new year. The city can start by installing signage on the blue recycle bins at the dump, which presently offer no instruction to users. The public seems open to reducing, re-using, and recycling, which is why a majority of councillors felt comfortable moving this bylaw forward.

Now let's hope council does not pass up this opportunity to further promote waste reduction through education and promotion by simply relying on the negative reinforcement of $1 tags.


Dumping registry does have its risks
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Yesterday was the 22nd anniversary of the horrific slayings at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique, destined always to be remembered as the Montreal Massacre.

Dec. 6, 1989 was one of the darkest days in Canadian history when Gamil Rodrigue Liass Gharbi, who had changed his name to Marc Lepine, entered the Polytechnique with a Ruger semiautomatic rifle and began a violent rampage which ended in 14 women being shot dead, and another 10 women and four men being injured, before the assailant turned the gun on himself.

It was a hate crime of the highest order, with Lepine blaming feminists for ruining his life in the suicide note found in his jacket.

The note also expressed admiration for Denis Lortie, who killed three Quebec government employees when he attacked the Quebec National Assembly in 1984 for, supposedly, political reasons.

Although the majority of Nunavummiut have never supported the long-gun registry, the Montreal Massacre's anniversary comes along at a time when many Canadians are divided over the passing of Bill C-19, legislation to abolish the registry and destroy the records of millions of registered hunting rifles and shotguns.

In the North, we see these guns as tools. They're a way to provide families with food and clothing. And, they're a means of protection against animals with the killing power to suddenly move above us on the food chain when we venture out onto the land.

Indeed, an argument can also be made for protection purposes in these days of climate warming that a person doesn't, necessarily, have to venture out on the land anymore to encounter nanuq or other types of predators.

Many in the country's western provinces share the North's dislike of the long-gun registry for many of the same reasons.

But, the number of gun deaths, especially against women, has lowered significantly since gun registration came into being in 1995, ironically enough, also in the month of December.

As with almost every major issue facing Canadians as a whole these days, it's far from being black and white and there are no easy answers.

And, also as with most issues of today, the vast majority of people only concern themselves with how something will affect them.

We all know the criminal element of our society will always be able to obtain firearms, gun registries or no gun registries.

That, in itself, is a hollow argument for abolishing the registry, and just as silly as those who subscribe to the notion that guns don't kill people, people kill people.

Those who don't want the registry abolished would argue a tool against gun violence has been removed from police, more guns will go into circulation that will be a lot harder to trace, and many who sell firearms will become a lot less reliable in ensuring a buyer has a proper licence before selling them a weapon.

Make no mistake about it, no matter what names or designations we give them, they are weapons -- deadly weapons that can snuff out a life in a mere second.

Is the cost and inconvenience of complying with a registry really worth the risk of putting more guns on our streets?

If long guns truly aren't a crime problem, it's hard to fathom why anyone dies from them, even here in the North.


The word on fracking
NWT News/North - Monday, December 5, 2011

Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, is a natural gas extraction technique stirring up controversy in the NWT.

News that fracking has been used in the territory near the British Columbia border and a variation of fracking has already occurred in the nearby Cameron Hills has prompted the Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation in Kakisa to begin a multi-year water study near sites where fracking has occurred. Chief Lloyd Chicot said the results of the study will help determine what dangers the natural gas extraction technique poses to the environment.

The Dene Nation also passed a resolution at its October assembly in Fort Smith calling for more research to be done into fracking and its effects on groundwater.

Aside from using a lot of water in the process, fracking also involves a variety of chemicals and it is that cocktail of substances - some, such as diesel, that have been identified as cancer-causing -- which has many opponents to the extraction technique concerned.

With the potential of British Columbia's Horn River Shale Gas Basin to extend farther into the NWT, fracking could push its way into the territory in the future.

It is time for the GNWT to step in to determine what chemicals - as they can vary from operator to operator -- may be used in the territory when fracking wells. That information, along with a detailed explanation of how the process works, should then be passed on to the communities and First Nations groups so they can make informed decisions on whether to support or oppose fracking on their land.

We should also keep a close eye on the quality of our ground water to ensure this vital resource is protected.

First Nation groups and communities must be fully consulted when drilling companies make applications to employ hydraulic fracturing. There's too much at stake to fly blindly.


Candidates must earn your vote
NWT News/North - Monday, December 5, 2011

Ten municipal elections are set for various NWT communities next week.

On Dec. 12, residents in Aklavik, Fort McPherson, Paulatuk, Tuktoyaktuk, Tulita, Ulukhaktok, Fort Providence, Fort Liard, Fort Resolution and Enterprise will cast a ballot to select their leaders for the next term. Some of the communities will have the opportunity to vote for the next council while others will also choose a mayor.

It is encouraging that 73 people have stepped forward to run for the 41 seats available. Such interest in municipal politics points to a willingness to work for the betterment of the community and the NWT as a whole. We encourage everyone eligible to cast a ballot next week. Be sure to quiz the candidates on what they plan to bring to the table.


Alarm bells ring in health department
Nunavut News/North - Monday, December 5, 2011

When a veteran politician resigns because he says cabinet is making bad decisions for the future of the territory, alarm bells start to ring.

Tagak Curley recently decided to give up the Department of Health and Social Services portfolio - along with his other ministerial posts - because he says cabinet may split health and social services into two departments.

The department spends $296 million per year - about a quarter of the GN budget and the largest chunk of the pie given to one government branch.

It is also arguably the most relevant department to the lives of Nunavummiut, literally.

Curley has been the Rankin Inlet North MLA since 2004 (twice acclaimed) and, before Nunavut became its own territory, he was an MLA in the NWT government for Keewatin South from 1979 to 1983. After that riding was dissolved, he took the new Aivilik riding from 1983 to 1987. He's a founding member of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and served as its first president.

When such a prominent and established politician leaves his senior position because he thinks the territory's leadership is going down the wrong path with a huge and vital portfolio, Nunavummiut deserve to know exactly what is going on. Curley said so much work has been done to build the department that it would be a mistake to divide it.

The Department of Health and Social Services declined to comment on the proposed split - what it would mean for the territory and why the decision has been made - and Premier Eva Aariak has not yet taken the initiative to address the criticism levelled by Curley.

Decisions made regarding the Department of Health and Social Services portfolio directly affect all residents of the territory.

Some issues within that department are so linked that splitting them might result in more red tape between the delivery of services that need to be co-ordinated and streamlined as much as possible.

Addictions - including overdoses, treatment and recovery, mental issues, incidents of drinking during pregnancy, foster care for kids from addictions-plagued homes - overlap both health and social services. So concerns are valid that there would be more hoops to jump through if these were two departments under two sets of leadership.

Nunavummiut deserve to be a part of the decision-making on this split, and therefore deserve to know more about the implications and reasoning for such a move.

The onus is on GN leadership to justify and explain why a split may be necessary.


Time to wash dirty laundry
Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, December 2, 2011

The thick fog is starting to lift over the North's regulatory landscape with disputes about delays going very public.

To get an idea of how badly things can go off the rails, we need not look further than a proposed diamond exploration project around Drybones Bay, approximately 45 kilometres southeast of Yellowknife.

The odyssey began when Consolidated Goldwin Ventures Resources (now Encore Renaissance Resources) applied to the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Review Board in January 2003.

In February 2004, the board began its environmental assessment on the small project.

In November 2007, after a long and heavy exchange of paperwork submitted by 10 different parties and some public hearings, the exploration project was approved by the review board under certain conditions and sent to the minister in Ottawa for final approval.

In April 2010, INAC Minister Chuck Strahl told the board the approval requires "further consideration" and offered suggestions of what to consider. By then the review board members were largely new and a decision was made to hold more public hearings.

On November 16, 2011 the review board sent a letter and documents to the new minister John Duncan containing the substance of the "further considerations" intended to mitigate the project's potential environmental damage which amounts to approving the project a second time.

But that's not the end of it of course. Minister Duncan has the final say and the last time it took over two and a half years for the minister's office to say "maybe."

That story appeared in last week's Wednesday Yellowknifer. Hot on its heels in Friday's Yellowknifer, the front page headline "Blame game over mining delays" detailed the complaints Avalon Rare Metals has with its Nechalacho project going through the review board's process.

The board responded with complaints of its own about the problems with Avalon's paperwork and an unexpected logjam of projects coming into the system, namely Fortune Minerals' NICO project and Tyhee Gold Corp's gold project.

Avalon president Don Bubar, who doesn't question the need for environmental protection, has been increasingly vocal about the uncertainty of the review board process, which he views to be driven by the personalities of the staff.

The absence of firm time-lines seems to be one problem.

The lack of time-lines not only disguises the problems the board faces with underfunding and under-staffing, it also waters down staff accountability, undermines the board's integrity and creates uncertainty. Uncertainty is death to developers attempting to calm skittish investors with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line.

Companies must be held accountable to the time-lines as well, and should be sent to the back of the line if they fail to deliver. Keeping applications active for up to 10 years hurts both the companies involved and the review process.

The good news is that rather than vague industry complaints about the Northern regulatory regimes and silence from the review board, people on both sides are speaking out. More of this needs to be done. We know resource development in the NWT is trailing our neighbours just as we know our future depends upon it. The questions governments must ask are: Is responsible development being helped or hindered by the process we have now? Is the federal government helping or hurting us?

Industry and bureaucracy are traditionally reluctant to air dirty laundry in public but the fact is we -- the NWT - are wearing our dirty laundry inside out for all to see.

Much of the negative public perception can be traced to the Mackenzie pipeline review panel that dragged on for 10 years, ignoring all reasonable time-lines and public criticism.

Both the federal and territorial governments have to act to ensure the permitting process we now have is working properly and, perhaps more importantly, send the message that the NWT intends to be more resource development friendly.


Powerful tales
Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum - Thursday, December 1, 2011

For residential school survivors, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Nov. 23 hearing was a chance to share the experiences they had at residential schools. The 16 people who made public statements described a variety of reasons why they chose to speak to the commission.

Some said speaking was part of their own healing journey, while others wanted the Canadian government to know what happened at the schools. Others wanted to speak on behalf of the former students who never had the chance to share their stories.

The importance of the commission to the survivors cannot be underestimated, but the commission also has other equally important purposes.

As Commissioner Marie Wilson said in her opening remarks, the commission and the hearings provide an incredible opportunity to educate people and the country about things they are ignorant about.

The residential school system started before 1860 and was in place for more than a century. Wilson said she is amazed that although the schools were a core fact of Canada's history for all of those years, few Canadians know about it and little if anything is taught about it in schools.

The people who attend the hearings, particularly those who didn't go to residential school, are there to provide support but also to bear witness to what the speakers have to say, said Wilson.

Apart from the survivor's statements, the act of bearing witness was one of the most powerful parts of the hearing in Fort Simpson. Although the Bompas Elementary School gymnasium was almost full during the hearings, the large space was amazingly quiet.

Everyone seemed to be hanging on every word the speakers shared and there were some parts of the hearing that were difficult to listen to.

It's hard not to react to first-hand accounts of children facing all manners of abuse, both physical and sexual. It's hard to imagine that a system with such wide-spread abuse was allowed to exist.

The people who attended the hearing in Fort Simpson heard stories they will likely never forget; that remembrance is one of the key aspects of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Canadians owe it to residential school survivors to learn more about this aspect of Canadian history.

By learning about residential schools, Canadians can help ensure a system similar to it never exists again in this country or elsewhere.

This information can also foster a greater level of understanding between aboriginals and non-aboriginals.

The survivors who had the courage to speak at the Fort Simpson hearing should be thanked for sharing their experiences and helping to hopefully change Canada for the better.


How to get a treatment centre in Inuvik
Editorial Comment
Samantha Stokell
Inuvik Drum - Thursday, December 1, 2011

After listening to many people talking about drug, alcohol and gambling addictions in Inuvik, we know it's a problem.

We've talked about it and organizations are working on preventing it, but what can be done for the adults who already have addictions that are affecting their lives? Writing them off is not the answer, but that kind of seems like the reaction from the government.

The focus of the new legislative assembly will be maintaining and repairing infrastructure. Federal money has slowed down, so instead of building new things the government will now focus on repairing them. Cool.

Yet again we ask "What about the people?" The cops and counsellors are running themselves ragged trying to follow up on the harms of drugs and alcohol in Inuvik and it's likely not everyone who wants to change their lifestyle is getting the help they need.

How can we get an addictions treatment centre in Inuvik? It's not only for the people here, but for the communities as well. The GNWT states it's a matter of facility management – building first, then other things such as programs and staffing can be considered.

Thanks to all those new buildings, Inuvik has a lot of empty office space sitting around town – why not turn one of those buildings into an addictions treatment centre? At least for alcohol, the most common addiction community counsellors treat.

People need help. Why can't we give it to them? Some days it seems like there's not really any reason. Wellness camps can help and so do out-of-town and out-of-territory treatment centres, but, honestly, people need to go home and be healthy there. They need the counselling and help in their hometown so that when they're struggling, help is immediately available.

Imagine for a minute you've realized drinking has taken over your life. You don't like blacking out, spending all your money or abusing whoever is around you. Now what? Where do you turn for help? What if there's a long line at the counsellors? Back to the bottle for you?

It's not fair that people who want to change can't do so. The change has to come from within the person, yes, but shouldn't someone be there to help them?

The GNWT should see it has a serious problem throughout its communities. It has to get down and dirty and deal with this epidemic on the ground level with the people.

Treatment centres are needed.

E-mailWe welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.