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Language starts in the home NWT News/North - Monday, November 12, 2012
Although some Northern communities, such as those in the Tlicho region, have done better keeping their traditional language in daily life - through school programs, within self-government and at home, others have not been as fortunate.
Our territory recognizes 11 official languages - English, French, Dogrib (Tlicho), Chipewyan, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, Innuinaqtun, North and South Slavey, Inuvialuktun, and Cree.
The strength of each language varies but their importance to culture and identity are the same. Unfortunately, when it comes to support, not all languages are created equal in the eyes of the government, reflected in the level of services offered and the most recent language report issued by the GNWT.
At present, if aboriginal language speakers in the NWT wish to access government material online, in a vast majority of cases they would be unable to do so. Health and Social Services is the only department with online services available in all 11 official languages. The remaining department sites are either accessible only in English or also available in French.
Although French is Canada's second official language, it ranks fourth in the NWT behind English, Tlicho and South Slavey in terms of the number of speakers.
French speakers have challenged the GNWT in court on more than one occasion to increase services available in French, such as the official transcripts of the legislative assembly.
The GNWT has also recently agreed to a new plan to help enhance bilingual French services in the NWT.
If the GNWT plans to continue listing 11 official languages, it should commit to providing equal support to each of them. In its last budget, the GNWT spent $150,000 to improve services in French, yet not a dime in similar spending to improve support to the other nine non-English official languages.
A formula should be worked out by the department to fund languages on a per-capita basis, and more web services - specifically the departments of Justice, Education, Culture and Employment, Transportation, Municipal and Community Affairs and the legislative assembly, should be available in all 11 languages.
That seed money would help create programs to ensure language is passed down to the younger generation.
The Tlicho government has taken preservation of its language into its own hands, offering language immersion programs in its schools and making government information available in the Tlicho language. It's a strategy that has helped maintain its strength with approximately 90 per cent of the population 15 years or older able to converse in Tlicho.
More importantly, it has guaranteed younger Tlicho citizens are learning the language, which is essential to keeping it alive.
That is the most dangerous separation between the state of the Tlicho language and other aboriginal languages across the territory.
Those under the age of 25 who report the ability to speak Tlicho account for 31 per cent of that language's speakers. The next closest is Inuktitut with 23 per cent. Cree comes last with seven per cent.
That means older speakers make up the bulk of most traditional language speakers, which puts languages in danger of dying with its eldest speakers.
While government support is important, communities must also demonstrate a willingness and desire to keep their traditional languages strong. This starts in the home.
People can help by taking the time to pass on traditional language skills to children and speak it at home.
Not only will that exercise build language skills, it will also help foster cultural pride and rebuild aboriginal identity.
The scaling back of the Arctic Winter Games has left people looking for another way, and an option put on the table by the MLA for Rankin Inlet South might be the best route the Games could take.
Lorne Kusugak wants to split the games that can be played in the summer from those that are played in winter, and to have both summer and winter games in staggered years. This would require organizational changes, possibly another committee, and more money in total, but its benefits are clear.
With two events, each would cost less and would have more room to grow. The summer games would require less infrastructure because most, if not all, of the sports it could host - basketball, volleyball, some Dene games - could be played either outside or in school gymnasiums, and the athletes' village could be comprised of tents outside.
Splitting the event in two would make each event easier to organize and easier for Northern communities to host.
Each would need its own fundraising campaign, and more corporate sponsors might be necessary to make the higher total cost feasible, but many Northern companies are good corporate citizens and willing to sign on board with strong events such as the Games. Finding the money might not be hard. Even if it is, it would be worth the effort to avoid the alternative - less athletic opportunities for Northern youth.
Trimming sports from the Games does a disservice to youth. Athletics are fundamentally important, especially in Nunavut. Sports keep youth healthy, inspire confidence, foster friendships, create opportunities for youth to see other parts of the world, the benefits are innumerable.
Kusugak deserves a thumbs up for his creative alternative to downsizing the games, and here's hoping the Arctic Winter Games International Committee and Northern governments take notice.
As Nunavut grows, demand for liquor will grow, and despite the multitude of problems it causes the territory, we're never going to be rid of it. The best thing to do is regulate it as much as possible.
The Government of Nunavut is looking at a report recommending they create a Crown corporation to buy, sell and distribute alcohol through GN-owned retail beer and wine stores throughout the territory. Import permits would be gone, communities would have the final say in whether they get a store, and the profits would go into harm-reduction initiatives. As well, how much a person buys at the liquor store would be regulated.
This would surely take the steam out of bootlegging, as illegal profiteers who have been capitalizing on the slow liquor-ordering system would now have to contend with retail outlets selling at reasonable prices.
Images of "Gaza Strip" and "Range Street" flood the collective consciousness of the citizenry. They have come to avoid treading on certain downtown streets while bearing witness to the great flood of businesses fleeing the city's centre.
The issue dominated this fall's municipal election, with one council candidate going so far as to propose that inmates released from North Slave Correctional Centre be deported back to their home communities. And, just four days after being elected mayor, Mark Heyck pitched the idea of the city hiring its own RCMP force to patrol downtown.
Last month's police report to the outgoing city council by Yellowknife detachment commander Colin White has put a spanner in the spokes, so to speak, toward the view held - at least by some - of a criminal city.
We don't have complete statistics for Yellowknife from the police. The RCMP stopped providing regular bimonthly police reports to Yellowknifer going on more than a year now, but White did put some meat on the table last month.
According to his report, there were 1,441 assaults in Yellowknife last year - about 120 per month - while only 801 assaults - 89 per month - have occurred this year so far.
White cautioned that the RCMP do not view the statistics as proof the city is getting safer, but reminded council that it only takes a couple of high profile cases, such as the reported sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl last September, to feed the perception that Yellowknife is a dangerous place.
In reality, it's not violent crime that concerns the average Yellowknifer, so much as nuisance crime - public intoxication, aggressive panhandling, and littering. It is incidences of these that have made parts of downtown Yellowknife so intolerable.
Heyck is right in his basic premise. According to the RCMP, communities down south, such as Red Deer, Alta., fund some extra groups of police officers separately from the number allotted them by the province.
Few people would argue current RCMP patrols downtown are adequate. That's why our recently elected city council needs to continue the discussion held during the election. That discussion also needs to include the territorial government and the RCMP.
It would be an enormous expense for Yellowknife taxpayers if the city hired its own police force. The existing RCMP detachment with 42 officers responsible for policing Yellowknife are funded by the territorial government.
If this isn't enough officers, then the city and the territorial government need to look at that.
Council should remind the GNWT that many of the people committing crimes in the city have migrated here from one of the territory's outlying communities, and thus bear the lion's share of responsibility in ensuring there is an adequate number of properly funded police in the city.
Council could sweeten the pot by offering up the recently purchased properties on 50 Street as a future site for an addictions treatment centre.
As for the RCMP, it would be nice if it resumed its crime reports to Yellowknifer to better inform readers of the policing situation in this city.
The nine members of the new Fort Simpson village council were sworn in with pomp and ceremony on Nov. 5. Approximately 50 people attended the ceremony that even included refreshments afterward. The event will likely mark the most recognition and thanks the mayor and members of the council will get during their three-year term.
Serving on a village or hamlet council is usually a thankless job. How often do people think about thanking the members of their local council when things are going well around their community? Probably far less than the times residents track down the nearest council member they can find when things are going wrong.
Being on council also isn't a very glamorous job. Councillors have to deal with the smaller details that keep a community functioning. As some like to say, there's a lot of talk about dogs, ditches and dumps.
Village and hamlet councils, however, are far more important than most people realize. Along with band councils, they are one of the closest forms of elected government to the people. The councils have a direct say in the running of the services that affect the daily lives of residents. They have a hand in everything from ensuring a supply of clean water to having snow cleared from municipal streets.
Councillors also have to have a wide range of knowledge. They deal with everything from personnel issues to local bylaws to budgets. It's not an easy task.
That's why it's essential that a strong team of individuals is elected to the councils and that they be supported throughout their term by local residents.
On election day voters choose the candidates they think will do the best job on the council. It's not enough, however, to make a mark on a ballot paper and then hope for the best for the next two or three years.
To get the most out of their elected councils, residents have to keep tabs on what they are doing, offer words of praise when things are going well and, more importantly, offer suggestions about issues that need to be addressed and how things could be done better.
Fort Simpson now has its council in place for the next three years but both Fort Liard and Fort Providence will be heading to the polls in December. The residents of each community should keep in mind the importance their councils have.
Jesse James is not well-liked around here because of his misrepresentation of the region and behaviour during his December 2008 visit during the filming of Jesse James is a Dead Man.
The episode, called the Arctic Bike Journey, was aired in 2009 and in it James rode the unfinished ice road from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk to deliver medicine.
Inuvik Drum reported at the time that some residents were angered by the portrayal, specifically the episode voice-over which stated there was no airport in Tuktoyaktuk and that residents struggle to survive every winter.
However, love them or hate them, reality TV shows can at least boost the visibility of a region.
Mikey McBryan, from Buffalo Airways, was in Inuvik last week with Erin Cebula, a hostess on Entertainment Tonight Canada.
Although only in Inuvik for 24 hours, they were able to witness a sample of what the region has to offer, even when the snow is falling.
While the two Entertainment Tonight segments focused on the new season of Ice Pilots NWT, the second day, which aired Wednesday, showcased some of the outdoor activities in Inuvik.
From snowmobiling and dog sledding to indoor demonstrations of Northern games, there was no rest for the two TV personalities.
It's not the first time Inuvik has been featured on TV this year. CBC's Cross Country Fun Hunt featured Inuvik, with teen celebrity Jordan Francis visiting the greenhouse, youth centre, visitor centre and Midnight Sun Complex.
The documentary Our Longest Drive followed three men and the cremains of a fourth who travelled over 8,500 km to play golf above the Arctic Circle. The series is currently airing on the Golf Channel.
Accurate depictions or not, showcasing Inuvik and the surrounding areas can do wonders for tourism, especially when people find out there are actually airports and places to stay.
The ET Canada segment is different from the fun hunt and the golf series because it showcases the town in winter. When everything is covered in snow there's still a lot to do and tourists shouldn't be scared off by low temperatures.
For people trying to decided where to spend some of their vacation money, a few brief minutes on TV can make all the difference.
The sharp drop in mineral exploration spending in the NWT in 2009 that followed the global collapse of commodity prices appears to be rebounding, with an almost 30 per cent increase in spending last year. Natural Resources Canada anticipates a further rise, up to $124 million, by the end of this year.
Governments should encourage this momentum to grow.
Mining means jobs, not only those attached to the industry itself, but also throughout the transportation, hospitality and various service sectors.
The diamond industry alone accounts for a quarter of the territory's GDP.
Government efforts to improve the investment climate in the territory will help determine the scale of the apparent comeback in mineral exploration.
Meanwhile, the forum continues to grow, with more than 800 delegates expected to participate in this week's event. About half of the participants will be visiting from out of town.
All residents should do what they can to help welcome the visitors and make it known that the benefit of mining investment is appreciated and understood in the capital.
High school students and others looking forward to undertaking studies at a post-secondary education institution would be correct to be sorely disappointed with a lack of action by MLAs during last week's session of the legislative assembly.
Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins brought the issue to the forefront when he slammed Education Minister Jackson Lafferty and other cabinet ministers for not setting aside one cent to create a stand-alone Yellowknife campus of Aurora College.
Hawkins said that, despite the issue being raised more than 30 times over the last five years, the territorial government has not only not set aside funds but it has not set wheels in motion to plan for a stand-alone campus in Yellowknife.
We recognize there are financial considerations related to creating a stand-alone campus and that there are real limits to the $75 million the GNWT has for capital infrastructure projects. However, it is unacceptable that the notion of a stand-alone Yellowknife campus is not getting any attention whatsoever.
It is all well and good that there is a new three-year rental agreement with Northern United Place so that the Yellowknife campus can continue serving more than 200 full-time students and deliver its successful four-year bachelor of science in nursing program, among its other offerings. However, there is room for expansion of its programs, especially in the areas of Northern studies, research projects and other disciplines that are currently only offered at universities in the south.
Continuing to use the shared space at Northern United Place should be seen as a temporary situation and efforts should be made in earnest to create a space for the hundreds of high-school graduates who would prefer to continue their studies in the North. Because we all know, once students go south to study, not all of them come back to contribute to the economic prosperity of the capital city.
It was interesting to hear social promotion being raised during the annual general meeting of Nunavut's District Education Authorities (DEA) this past month.
The DEAs want the practice stopped.
Much of the talk centred on student preparedness for post-secondary education or the workforce, as well as the "southern equivalency" of Grade 12 Nunavut graduates.
The Government of Nunavut took issue with the terminology, stating it supports continuous progress, not social promotion.
OK, but the problem with that is continuous progress focuses on elementary students. It's an alternative program that attempts to blend innovative new approaches with the best of traditional elementary school practices.
It's built on the cornerstones of continuity over a fiveyear period, multi-aged classrooms and families (two or three teachers and a group of students who stay together during the elementary years), a cooperative educational approach, and processoriented instruction -- some of which applies to current Nunavut elementary instruction, but most of which does not.
But, I digress.
There's been a long ongoing argument over the effectiveness of both social promotion and grade retention (failing students for a year). Retention edges out social promotion in most informed circles, but both are rarely endorsed.
Studies show grade retention provides next to no academic or social advantage.
Similarly, stacks of research also fail to show any evidence that social promotion offers any benefit to students.
Since we're not going to see a reduction in the size of Nunavut classrooms anytime soon, a number of our teachers probably realize the key to raising educational standards is more interaction and extended one-on-one contact with students, but have no idea how to provide that without moving their beds into the classroom.
American studies on countries excelling with their educational programs such as Japan, Sweden, Norway and Denmark -- where retention has become virtually extinct -- noted how teachers stay with the same students for a number of years and teach them multiple subjects.
The approach (known as looping) results in close relationships between teacher and students that result in overall school success.
Studies also show it's far better for educational systems to be proactive than reactive in dealing with underachieving students.
The best tool in that approach is a quality early childhood education program, which produces consistent positive effects on student achievement and grade retention.
The concept of social promotion does little more than retard a student's academic growth and provides nothing in terms of social benefits.
A Canadian study by high school teacher Michael Zwaagstra and University of Manitoba education professor Rodney Clifton concluded social promotion leads to weaker academic standards and unskilled Grade 12 graduates.
Advocates tend to focus too much on students who have academic difficulties, yet all but ignore those who just don't apply themselves. Social promotion sends the message to these kids that just showing up every day will earn them a diploma.
And that's absolutely the wrong message to send!
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