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City can't afford harbour agency
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Yellowknifers watching the bustle of city hall are probably feeling a bit overwhelmed and wondering how recent actions relate to costs passed on to taxpayers.

No sooner did city council complete budget discussions in mid-December, including hitting residential property owners with a 2.83 per cent tax increase, than the general plan was on the agenda. Extensive talks resulted about a desire to include environmentally friendly initiatives in the future development of 35 large residential lots at Grace Lake.

The attention of residents was then drawn to new garbage bag pickup restrictions and a change in fees.

Then Yellowknifer reported on negotiations between the city and a private company, Corix Utilities, to move ahead with a district energy project, which is expected to provide heat to buildings in a vast section of downtown. This story was sparked by the city's desire to create a subsidiary to manage the district energy system as a utility, a move which would also help set the stage for landing federal funding should the geothermal part of the district energy prove viable.

Then came the city's release of the latest version of its draft harbour plan, a wide-sweeping 150-page document outlining an ambitious blueprint for changing and regulating the use of Yellowknife Bay, private and public waterfront property, the Woodyard, floatplanes, houseboats, the snow castle and Jolliffe Island.

The plan was prepared by private consultants and a 17-member harbour planning committee. It includes the city's short-term, medium-term and long-term vision. A preliminary estimate of key capital and administrative costs for a finalized harbour plan is pegged at more than $10 million but implementation, according to Mayor Gord Van Tighem, is dependent on finding funding.

We fully support the principle of strategic planning to allow for orderly growth and community enhancement. However, we have some concerns about the draft harbour plan.

First, residents only have until Feb. 9 to comment on a comprehensive and somewhat intimidating document, filled with colourful graphics, charts, comparisons and generalities which involve an assortment of government jurisdictions, historic users and property owners.

Second, and more importantly in our view, the city's preferred approach for harbour management calls for the immediate "establishment of a specialized municipal-led agency headed by a senior city bureaucrat with dedicated staff support and comprised of a team of other senior staff members cross-appointed as members of the agency."

That sounds like pretty big dollars to us, especially since the short-term goal is for the city's jurisdiction within the harbour to be established within one to five years.

The way we see it, establishing jurisdiction is just paperwork. And hiring a highly paid senior staff person to create an agency with a vague mandate will have little if any meaningful immediate impact on ordinary citizens.

Van Tighem said that there will be a more precise cost analysis done in the second and third stages of the harbour plan process.

In the meantime, residents and stakeholders should make their views known soon via the city website's public feedback forum, especially if you agree that hiring senior staff for this project at such an early juncture is putting the cart before the horse.


Pros and cons of high-tech toys
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, January 25, 2012

It was more than a little interesting to listen to Repulse Bay teacher Jeremy Chippett's views on video games and their ability to help students learn this past week.

But as positive and credible as many of his points may be, they only tell one side of the story.

I agree completely with Chippett's contention that video games can help people learn, especially when designed for that purpose and built from the ground up with a specific goal in mind.

I also believe video games can help develop eye-hand co-ordination, and help players learn how to formulate strategies, learn from mistakes and avoid repeating them, and plan one-step ahead and prepare for unseen difficulties.

Yet, for all their positives, video games are part of a rapidly-growing family of high-tech devices that have become so all-consuming as to be almost addictive.

Now, no doubt, there are already more than a few people sneering at that term.

But, the fact of the matter is, the vast majority of cellphones that do almost everything for you except go to the washroom, iPads, iPods and the Blackberry, are never far from their owner's reach.

There are few things more irritating than being in the middle of a conversation with someone when they pull out their device and start texting or scrolling merrily away.

Face it, at that point, you can tell them about your morning chasing a giant tuktu-eating siksik around the roof and they'll nod knowingly with that distracted grin on their face or, even worse, ask you how it all turned out.

Like pretty much everything in life, moderation plays a huge role in the use of this modern day magic.

But how do you moderate their use without following someone around almost 24 hours a day?

You don't, and that's the rub.

The biggest problem many folks have with the saturation of these devices into our society is their power to retard our ability to interact with one another in person.

And that's not to mention the significant side effect of so many of today's young adults, teenagers and adolescents wanting -- and expecting -- the same instant gratification in real life as they receive in their virtual universe.

Never in the history of humanity have so many wanted so much while doing so little to earn it.

That annoying little characteristic also comes to us courtesy of the technical age.

Another aspect of these little toys is the ability to create a false impression or ruin a person's reputation with one click of a button.

There's a politician with a table full of booze at the local watering hole, or, depending on the angle the photo was taken, there's a married man sneaking more than a little peek at the pretty waitress in the restaurant.

Just this past October an NHLer had to publicly explain his choice of costume at a, supposedly, private Halloween party when a guest brought in a cellphone and shared photos with a friend.

Hopefully, Chippett proves his theory correct and another check mark gets added to the positive side of the ledger with today's gadgets.

Then we can all gather at a local eatery to text each other the news while our ear buds play the sweetest notes a computer program can generate.


Voucher system should be territorial
NWT News/North - Monday, January 23, 2012

Self-discipline. It's a trait many people lack, especially when it comes to finances. But, what if that poor fiscal restraint harms a community and not just the individual?

That is exactly the situation Tuktoyaktuk was faced with up until last September. Leaders in the community noticed food bank usage -- meant for emergencies -- was on the rise as people were choosing to spend welfare money on bingo instead of necessities.

Ulukhaktok has seen the same trend since its voucher system for social assistance was replaced with cheques.

Tuktoyaktuk's hamlet council, in an effort to reduce the strain on emergency food supplies, requested the government change the way it distributes social assistance funding. Instead of cheques, the GNWT was asked to begin providing recipients with food vouchers for the Northern Store and Stanton's.

Initially, the change was met with resistance. Many said the shift reinforced negative stereotypes of aboriginal communities and believed the government had no place dictating how their money was spent.

However, the results speak volumes. Since the change, food bank use has more than halved and bingo sales have also dropped, proving many were making poor spending choices.

The new system will be in place until March when it will be re-evaluated. At that time, the GNWT will be faced with a difficult decision: when is limiting personal freedoms for the greater good justified?

Indeed, this might be one such time. Income assistance money is meant to help buy food, clothing and shelter, not to be wasted on gambling or other frivolities. This was also a clear case of double dipping, some social assistance recipients were obviously choosing to waste tax dollars and then capitalize on the food bank, which is also supported by donations from everyday taxpayers.

Social assistance is a vital resource in our communities with high unemployment, but we can't allow that money to be thrown away.

Restricting how it is spent will ensure people have the food and living expenses they need while leaving emergency supplies intact.


Beaufort Delta Health Authority bleeds money
NWT News/North - Monday, January 23, 2012

In 2010, a deputy minister of health was appointed as the public administrator of the Beaufort Delta Health Authority. At the time, the health board was dissolved with the goal of bringing spending under control after racking up more than $3 million in debt.

Fast forward to last week when the authority reported more than $8.5 million in accumulated debt. It would be easy to say the authority and the department failed and have let spending balloon out of control.

However, health spending, especially in the North, is difficult to control without lowering standards and the problems that caused over-spending in 2010 remain today.

One such issue is the hiring of locum or temporary doctors -- the last time a permanent doctor was signed to the region was in 2004. Overtime costs and staff relocation costs were also big contributors pointing to the need for more nurses or better nurse retention.

Although it won't completely solve the deficit problem -- about $2.9 million each year -- better staff retention and finding ways to get Northern-grown nurses into the Beaufort Delta would certainly help.

Last year the health department reported Aurora College's nursing program was on track to bring staff in Yellowknife to capacity and officials were trying to find ways to translate that success beyond the capital.

Perhaps it is time to expand the nursing program to the Inuvik campus with the hopes that nurses trained from communities in the Beaufort Delta and Sahtu will land jobs in those regions following graduation.


Hauling an industry from the sea
Nunavut News/North - Monday, January 23, 2012

The announcement that funding to train Nunavummiut for the fishing industry will continue for the next three years should be welcome to many in the territory. Now it's time to keep building the industry.

First of all, fishing harbours need to be in every coastal community that wants to get involved in the fishery. Too ambitious? Not when you consider there are about 248 harbours in Newfoundland. Nunavut has none, with just one in Pangnirtung to be built.

Harbours are viewed as a necessity in Newfoundland and the federal government needs to view harbours in Nunavut in the same manner if Nunavut's fishing industry is to flourish.

In terms of the size of the fishery, there's a lot of room to grow.

Turbot is the biggest commercial fish haul Nunavut has, but it's still not getting all of what rightfully should go to the territory.

The waters off the northeastern coast of Nunavut have been identified as 0A zone. Nunavut is entitled to 100 per cent of that fish quota.

The waters off the southeastern coast have been identified as 0B zone, of which Nunavut is entitled to 41 per cent of the quota. The 0B quota has been on the rise, but it needs to at least double.

Overall, at this point, Nunavut can only have 67 per cent of the turbot fished off its shores. That's not good enough.

Nunavut fished all of its turbot quotas last year. It's earned more room for growth.

Even worse, though, is the shrimp quota. In Nunavut's offshore shrimp fishery zones, the territory is allotted only 31.3 per cent of the quota.

Nunavut's slice of its own pie is grossly disproportionate to how much other jurisdictions get from their waters.

Harbours and quota are two keys to getting this industry on its feet and the best opportunity to diversify Nunavut's economy and lessen dependence upon mining, presently Nunavut's most lucrative venture.

Investing in Nunavut's fishery will bring Nunavummiut employment and much-needed revenue to the Government of Nunavut so it has its own resources to deal with expensive challenges, such as housing and health care.


Geothermal must wait for district energy system
Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, January 20, 2012

News that the city has formed a subsidiary to operate its long touted district energy project is evidence the city may be once again putting the cart before the horse.

In announcing the subsidiary last month, Mayor Gord Van Tighem said its creation was necessary in order to prove to the federal government it was serious about going ahead with project. The city hopes to collect $14.1 million from the feds to put toward the geothermal portion, which won't get built - providing it works - until a number of other very expensive steps are completed first.

Last year, this money apparently hinged on the city getting voter approval so the city could borrow up to $49 million, which would have been poured into district energy if a private partner couldn't be found to cover the costs.

The $49 million would pay for the lion's share of the project, essentially a central boiler fuelled by diesel, wood pellets or whatever mainstream energy source worked, from which heated pipes would extend to 39 downtown buildings that would no longer require their own sources of heat.

This part seems logical enough, and doable providing a private partner believes there is a solid business case and is willing to put up the money and expertise to build it. The city has a tentative agreement with B.C.-based Corix Utilities which could be finalized as early as next month, Corix told Yellowknifer. This is welcome news.

Meanwhile, geothermal from the defunct Con Mine remains entirely hypothetical.

The city keeps insisting Con geothermal is feasible but to date no actual evidence has been offered to show it will work. Much faith by the city administration has been placed on recommendations made by Mory Ghomshei, a mining engineering professor from the University of British Columbia, who in 1986 found the temperature of rocks underground at Con Mine to reach 38 C. The mine's temperature - now filling with water - hasn't been verified since. An attempt to measure temperatures failed in 2009 when a city-hired probe got snagged underground and was lost.

A phase II report on district energy in 2009 questioned whether it would be more feasible to pursue district heating fuelled by wood pellets rather than geothermal. Yellowknifer asked the city for a copy of the report in the lead-up to the referendum vote last year but couldn't get one.

When voters rejected the city's borrowing request on March 14, 2011, they did it because they sensed the city didn't have its ducks in a row. They had a hard time swallowing the city's explanation for the necessity of the vote, which went something like this: The city needed the authority to borrow a lot of money so it could collect a smaller pot of free money to pay for an unproven portion of the project that wouldn't get built until after some unknown private partner tore up our streets to lay pipes for a district heating system that would only benefit downtown.

Geothermal may very well be a viable option; a district energy system for downtown - paid for by downtown property owners - seems to make more sense. But residents should be wary of how much the city commits while details of its yet unsigned contract with Corix remains a big unknown.

Let's see the contract for the district energy system first, how the city intends to manage what will amount to a municipal utility, and then we can start talking about what is and what isn't possible with geothermal.


Reality Deh Cho
Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum - Thursday, January 19, 2011

I wasn't one of them, but, according to CBC, 1.05 million Canadians tuned in to watch the premiere of Arctic Air.

The new TV show, set in Yellowknife, is about an airline and the family that runs it. Apparently, people in a number of quarters are expecting the show to do great things for tourism in the NWT.

The theory being, of course, viewers will watch the show, get caught up in its version of the North or just in the landscape they see and then plan their next vacation so they can see it in real life. Yellowknife, however, is bound to get the bulk of this increased tourism because the fictional airline is based there.

This got me thinking.

Shows about the North seem to be popular these days. In addition to Arctic Air, there are a number of reality shows that take place in locations North of 60. An example is featured in this week's edition of Deh Cho Drum.

One of Fort Simpson's very own residents has seen minor fame for his part in the first two episodes of season two of Licence to Drill. The show follows the fortunes and misfortunes of two companies drilling for oil and gas wells, including one working near Tulita.

Also based in the North, although not in the territory, is Mounted in Alaska, following the challenges at Knight's Taxidermy in Anchorage, and Gold Rush Alaska where three crews race to find as much gold as possible during a short mining season.

It seems the TV-watching public – and there are a lot of them – can't get enough of shows based in the North and if such shows are actually going to result in boosted tourism numbers, the Deh Cho needs to jump onto this bandwagon. It seems all you need to get a reality TV show these days is to do something a little bit different and to have a lot of colourful characters around. The Deh Cho has plenty of both.

To get things rolling, I've come up with a few show ideas.

Following the popularity of Ice Road Truckers and IRT Deadliest Roads, I propose a show based on driving in the Deh Cho. If the Liard Highway stays true to form, this spring there should be lots of opportunities to catch footage of people battling muddy conditions.

If that show doesn't pan out, how about Man versus Insects? Crews could film residents of Nahanni Butte as they battle against mosquitoes and then switch to Fort Providence for the struggle against sandflies.

No takers?

It's already been done, but as a last resort the Deh Cho does have a number of airline companies that I'm sure could regale viewers with their adventures.

Yellowknife has Arctic Air, and to get some of the potential tourist benefits the Deh Cho needs to strike fast. All aspiring television producers, writers and reality show stars need to step forward and produce a hit for the region.


In the heart of the storm
Editorial Comment
Samantha Stokell
Inuvik Drum - Thursday, January 19, 2011

Inuvik was a ghost town Tuesday. The streets were deserted aside from a cab or two manoeuvring their way to continue offering transportation to those who needed it. The high winds were breaking records, flinging shingles off roofs, and keeping people at home -- safe indoors, if they could help it.

It is through surreal days like blizzards, when the world is turned on its side and shaken up a bit and the strict schedules of everyday life are altered, that the community comes together in interesting ways.

As snowplows pass by snow-frosted windows, one realizes that some people's jobs are to face the storm head-on and help the community shift back to normalcy.

Even on Monday, when the storm was just getting its bearings, there were sightings of the community rallying to assist others in need.

There were a handful of vehicles stuck on paths transformed into drifts of snow or driveways unplowed of barriers. In no time at all, passersby in trucks with tow ropes appeared on the scene to give a helping hand, taking time out of their day without reservation.

On otherwise drama-free days, people might pass each other without a word, going about their day with blinders on. Yet as bundled-up creatures stumble through a squall of snow and ice, they pass each other with a muffled chuckle under their scarves and a smile in the eyes, which are the only part of their bodies that are naked to the harsh elements.

When the weather outside is threatening, those living through it seem to band together: offering rides, picking up some ingredients at the grocery store for a neighbour, or simply taking a day to spend time with family and friends.

People flock to the Internet or the phone lines, keeping in touch with the community – giving advice when needed: "That street isn't plowed, you'll get stuck," or "I hear the corner store is open, if you need anything."

Big winter storms bring with them an array of challenges: from getting home safe, to finding someone to watch the children, to attempting to get to the store to put something together for dinner.

Mother Nature’s turn for the worse might be a pain, but it's these days of abnormal living that allow people to realize a warm place to call home, a helping hand and a brief smile are all anyone really needs.

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