INUVIK
A visit by a committee of territorial MLAs to Inuvik ended in controversy April 12.
Children First Society board member Fraser Pearce, left, helped lead NWT MLAs on a tour of the organization's new centre April 11. Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley, centre, and Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Alfred Moses took part. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo
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The MLAs were in Inuvik as part of the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning (SCOPP) agenda. While here, they toured several sites around Inuvik, including the new Children's First Centre April 11.
On April 12 and 13, Nahendeh MLA Kevin Menicoche missed chairing the committee meetings, which he later said was due to "excessive drinking." An MLA who was in Inuvik, who would only speak on the condition of anonymity, said Mackenzie Delta MLA Frederick Blake Jr. missed the Friday session as well, due to drinking.
Committee deputy chair Daryl Dolynny, a Yellowknife MLA, said Blake apologized to the committee and said he would seek treatment for substance abuse in a closed-door meeting on April 18 Yellowknife.
Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Alfred Moses declined to offer a comment on this situation April 17, saying that a news release would be issued within a day.
Menicoche has offered a public apology and promised to seek rehabilitation for his alcohol-abuse problems while Blake has so far been silent on the issue.
On April 11, Moses was decidedly more upbeat about the session during an interview at the Children First Centre. Moses was excited for the chance to show off the town to his fellow MLAs.
"It's not very often that all 11 members can go to a community, so we're very fortunate to have everybody here in Inuvik," he said. "It put a few more dollars into the economy, and we also get to share our successes and our challenges, what's gone well in our community. It's great."
The plan for the three-day session was for the committee to mix meetings with tours around Inuvik, with the Mackenzie Hotel as a base.
"It's great to have the regular members of the SCOPP committee here in Inuvik for three days," Moses said. "We're going over some business plans and some strategic planning for the upcoming year. And while they're here it's a great opportunity to do some tours with them of some of the infrastructure that has been built and is being built right now."
Those tours included the Inuvik satellite station, East Three, and the Children's First Centre.
"Everyone seemed very impressed and very excited with the satellite facility and Inuvik's energy-efficient home," Moses said. "A lot of the members were also excited to finally have a tour of the school."
Children First Society chair Melinda Gillis was on hand for the tour of the centre with Fraser Pearce, a board member. They fielded many questions from the group, as did Moses.
The centre is another example of a project where the GNWT kicked in funding for an Inuvik project, he noted.
Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen quizzed Moses on the background statistics for childcare in Inuvik. She asked whether there was a greater need for such services in Inuvik, then, say, around her riding.
Moses told her he wasn't sure of the answer to that because he'd have to look at the statistics for the Hay River area, but said there was definitely a need for childcare services here in town.
– with files from Laura Busch
