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Fight videos put violence on centre stage
NWT News/North - Monday, June 10, 2013

Videos of Behchoko's grad weekend posted to Facebook this past month are not what one would expect. Instead of images of young grads celebrating or walking the aisle in caps and gowns, the videos circulating are shockingly violent.

The videos show multiple youths engaged in a brawl, sometimes two or three ganging up on one person. Punching, elbowing, and even chairs wielded as weapons make the videos disturbing and hard to watch.

The RCMP responded to four assault complaints within a 25-hour period that weekend.

Behchoko is not the only community that deals with youth violence. Communities all over the country, big or small, contend with physical bullying. But putting the proof online is not only shocking, it also tarnishes the image of the community.

Is it good that these negative messages can be spread far and wide so easily these days? While the content in the Behchoko videos is very violent, it is better that the violence is uncovered and sees the light of day versus simmering in secret. The issue being online for anyone to view offers a wake-up call to parents and the community.

The actions of the youth in the videos shouldn't label an entire community.

There's a lot more footage that can be applauded and allows Behchoko to shine. A search on YouTube shows a medley of videos ranging from handgames and weddings to snowmobiling and drum dancing.

There is also plenty more information out there that illustrates the positive contributions of Behchoko's young people and other NWT youth to the territory. Flipping through the pages of News/North, youth successes abound: from Fort Smith high school students being honoured for pictures they took in a photography challenge, to Inuvik's young girls curling team accepting Team of the Year award at the Sport North Awards dinner recently and the young Behchoko athlete on today's front page competing at the NWT Track and Field Championships.

It's unfortunate that these particular youth were so violent, and that the incident occurred.

But we hope the community takes action in response to these violent videos in a positive way, by talking to the youth and offering support.


Growing pains lead to gains
NWT News/North - Monday, June 10, 2013

The Community Counselling Services in Hay River has undergone growing pains in the past nine months, but has come out stronger and ready to help more residents in their times of need.

This past fall, the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority moved counselling services in line with the territory's recommendation - requiring counsellors to have at least a master's degree in the field.

At first, this change put a sour taste in residents' mouths. The four staff members whose jobs were affected left, and community members cried out that the transition time to recruit the qualified people for the positions would be detrimental in their treatment process.

No doubt the months when the positions were vacant were difficult, but with patience comes reward and the community is reaping the positive results of the change in staffing model.

The authority has harnessed a strong team of six health-care workers - including three mental health and addictions counsellors with at least master's degrees - four of which are from the North and two of them hail from hay River.

The number of people on the waiting list for addictions or mental health counselling have also plummeted from 100 in February to zero as of April due to the counsellors being hired in March. Some who spoke out in distress when the change in counselling standards took place, such as Georgina Fabian who uses the counselling services, are now satisfied with the results of the transition. Fabian said the additional experience held by the counsellors is noticeable and valued.

One of the largest issues in the territory is the struggle with mental health and addictions. Any steps to improve assessment, crisis intervention, treatment and followup for NWT residents is welcome and other regions that are making such a transition in the future can look to this as an example with positive results.


Captain on deck
Nunavut News/North - Monday, June 10, 2013

While mining has the potential to bring Nunavut billions of dollars worth of jobs and infrastructure, the territory is also looking to the sea for quicker gains and more sustainable prosperity. Commercial fishing in the territory has experienced enormous growth over the past six years.

Six years ago, there were no commercial fishing vessels owned by Nunavut entities. Today, there are five vessels wholly-owned or partially-controlled by Nunavut interests under the umbrellas of Baffin Fisheries coalition, Arctic Fisheries Alliance, Qikiqtaaluk Corporation and Pangnirtung Fisheries Ltd.

Nunavut Fisheries Training Consortium's recent purchase of a bridge simulator system - at a cost of $170,000 - to help train Nunavummiut to work on the bridge of large vessels, is an investment that should be applauded.

Not only will the system improve the chances of Nunavut residents to work on fishing boats it will also help improve their wages which will in turn attract more interest to the industry.

Between turbot, Arctic char and shrimp stocks the fishing sector is now worth in the range of $100 million.

The bulk of those dollars came from turbot which raked in $70 million last year after a harvest of 9,500 metric tonnes. With a total allowable catch of 13,500 metric tonnes there is plenty of room for growth.

Harvest levels for shrimp also fell well short of the quota with 3,000 metric tonnes caught compared to the quota of 10,000 metric tonnes.

Nunavummiut see the potential in the fishing sector and their growing involvement in the industry is evidence of that. Last year, between 100 and 120 crew members returned to work in offshore operations on Nunavut-controlled vessels, according to the GN.

Ship captains such as Pangnirtung's Peter Kilabuk, who is featured in Nuanvut News/North this week, is also capitalizing on the opportunity. Owner of the first private fishing vessel, he has invested in growing his business with the purchase of a larger ship to help him increase his harvest.

The GN is also showing a commitment to improving opportunities in the industry for Inuit.

Personnel training has improved, particularly since the Nunavut Fisheries Training Consortium was launched in 2005. The organization provides training for Inuit beneficiaries for various roles in the fishing industry. Training offered has evolved from entry-level skills, to advanced training that creates the opportunity for more Inuit employment.

Pangnirtung's multi-million-dollar small harbour craft project - worth more than $40-million -- will also help significantly boost fishing off of Baffin Island. It will offer improved infrastructure for ships fishing the water and additional employment.

Although the capacity of the fishing industry isn't limitless, it has a long way to go before its full potential is met. Additional investment in the industry is money well spent and perhaps one of the best industries in the territory to maximize sustainable Inuit employment.

As a renewable resource, fishing, if managed correctly, can provide jobs well into the future. It's also a two-fold win for Inuit, who not only get the benefits of employment but also work in an industry that can help maintain their connection to the land and sea.


People want cabins
Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, June 7, 2013

Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley has a problem with the little loophole Yellowknifers have found within the federal government's recreational lease policy that allows them to build cabins.

While new cabin leases from the territorial government are locked up tighter than Fort Knox, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development has been quietly handing out "hunting and fishing" cabin leases - 33 of them in the Yellowknife area since 2008.

The leases allow successful applicants to build cabins two storeys in height with a not-at-all ungenerous maximum footprint of 100 square metres. The leases are renewable every five years to a maximum of 30 years.

Bromley, no stranger to overheated rhetoric (see "crimes against humanity" outburst in 2011 while referring to GNWT inaction on climate change), called the federal government's lease handout "a highly-suspect, game-changing lease rampage."

Yellowknifer agrees with the MLA that Walsh Lake - where some of these leases were allocated - is a laughable location for a "hunting and fishing cabin." With the number of existing cabins already built, the federal government might as well give out hunting and fishing leases at Frame Lake next door to the legislative assembly. But if anyone thinks Walsh and Banting lakes have too many cabins on them then they haven't spent much time in Ontario's Muskoka district or Kananaskis in Alberta. In the great scheme of things, Walsh and Banting lakes are still relatively undeveloped. It's cabin country and it's where cabins belong.

At least some order of government recognizes the need to open more land for cottage development. While the GNWT's Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) slumbers through yet another density study on cabin leases around Yellowknife, residents have been taking matters into their own hands.

The department claims it's actively pursuing squatters but one doesn't need to snowmobile far off the Ingraham Trail or boat into the North Arm for very long to get some inkling of what's actually going on as MACA's moratorium on new cabin leases enters its fourth year. Take a look at the picture of the houseboat accompanying this editorial. It's on David Lake, a short hike from the Vee Lake Road. It wasn't there last year, just as there wasn't a burgeoning houseboat community at the Giant Mine boat launch a few years ago. No one seems able to stop this relentless encroachment of unregulated development into our wilderness areas and on our shores.

It is concerning the federal government did not communicate with its territorial counterparts on the leasing issue, particularly on the eve of a devolution agreement on lands and resources. But it's the territorial government's own inaction that has led us down this road.

The price paid for this moratorium on cabins is more squatters hauling lumber into the bush.


NorthWords encourages writers
Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, June 7, 2013

Northern literary culture has a growing number of well-developed characters and a plot that leaves Yellowknife residents wanting more after each new chapter.

Last week, NorthWords NWT turned the page on its eighth annual NorthWords Writers Festival, a well-attended three-day event that bound established authors together with emerging writers and literary enthusiasts. Prominent protagonists included B.C.-based novelist Douglas Coupland, Fort Smith storytellers Reneltta Arluk and Richard Van Camp, and Yellowknife's own Cathy Jewison and Jamie Bastedo, to name but a few.

The festival has come a long way since readers and writers first gathered for open mic nights at Javaroma and the Wildcat Cafe in 2006. This year the festival reached out to Fort Smith, drawing what was a capital-city event closer to a territory-wide phenomenon.

The organization behind the festival has also matured in eight years, stretching its mandate beyond planning a single annual event. The group presents numerous writers workshops, readings, contests and guest speakers throughout the year.

Last year, NorthWords NWT launched Coming Home: Stories from the Northwest Territories, an anthology featuring original work by 17 promising NWT writers. Stories by several Yellowknife writers were included.

Through hard work and keen forward vision, past and present NorthWords boards have penned a new identity for Northern writers. Rather than lone voices in the wilderness, literally, Northern writers recognize they are now part of a unique literary community.

Gone are the days when southerners were left to tell Northerners' stories from afar. A new generation of writers, nurtured if not co-authored by NorthWords, has a voice and is ready to be heard.


Bringing success home
Editorial Comment by Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum - Thursday, June 6, 2013

Spring is a time for graduations.

As the school year comes to a close, students at a variety of different levels don gowns and mortar boards. Students in preschool programs prepare for kindergarten, kindergarten students prepare for Grade 1, in some schools Grade 6 students prepare for junior high, and high school students prepare for post-secondary education or the work force.

Graduations, no matter what level they are, are always joyous affairs. Parents, family members and friends beam from the audience and students quietly beam back from the front of the room. There are speeches given praising the graduates' achievements and presents are often offered.

Graduations, particularly at the high school level, however, also bring with them a tinge of sadness.

Classmates who have been together for years, perhaps since kindergarten, are about to go their separate ways. Some may rarely see each other again.

In the Deh Cho, high school graduation also usually means a separation from family for those students who want to continue their studies. Some students only have to go as far as Fort Smith or Yellowknife for Aurora College, but many choose to attend colleges and universities in other provinces.

While many students are focused on graduating from high school and moving on to bigger centres, what happens next is of equal importance. Chief Stan Sanguez of Jean Marie River said it well when he addressed the graduating class at Thomas Simpson School. Sanguez congratulated the graduates on their achievements, urged them to follow their dreams, but also asked them to return to the Deh Cho after they have finished additional schooling.

"Bring your ambitions and your hearts back to us," Sanguez said.

The future of the region depends heavily on youth achieving success whether in the trades or in degree programs, and then returning to the Deh Cho. Of course people from other regions in Canada or the world can come and work and contribute to the region, but they will never quite have the same connection or the same amount invested in the success of the region.

As Sanguez said, the Deh Cho needs lawyers, doctors, nurses, people to address devolution and so many other skilled workers and professionals. It is good for youth to get out and see the wider world, but it is with their return that everyone in the Deh Cho will benefit.


The call of the wild
Editorial Comment by T. Shawn Giilck
Inuvik Drum - Thursday, June 6, 2013

Summertime is when my thoughts turn to daydreams of paddling, hiking and camping.

That's what led me recently to seek some information on various outdoor activities around the region from the Department of Industry, Trade and Investment.

I sought out Judith Venaas, who is spokesperson for pretty much anything to do with town parks, eager to find some maps and lists of hiking trails.

Not entirely to my surprise, I discovered the kind of information I was after isn't readily available.

In the few months I've been here, I've come to recognize that walking and hiking isn't much of a priority. My walking habits have evidently been noticed around town, because many people I stop to chat will say, "I hear you walk a lot."

If I wasn't already known as "The Drum Guy," I think I might have a T-shirt made up with the logo "The Walking Dude."

I think people find my favourite form of getting around even more puzzling because they know I have access to a vehicle that remains parked most of the time.

I was a bit surprised to find out there wasn't a map showing the trails at Jak Park, or at the Gwich'in Territorial Park. I was particularly interested in that one because of a reference to limestone cliffs being a major natural feature at the park.

Coming from Niagara Escarpment region of southern Ontario, all you have to do is mention limestone and cliffs in the same sentence and you'll get my attention.

Likewise, I was a little startled to find out there isn't any kind of a list of snowmobile trails in the region.

I love studying maps, both traditional paper ones and online versions, and I've been able to see a veritable spider's web of snowmobile trails and logging roads snaking through the area, all tempting me to explore them.

As a longtime solo hiker though, I'm rather cautious about hitting new trails without at least a reasonable understanding of where I'm going.

I won't say that I've been totally lost, but there have definitely been occasions where I wasn't entirely sure of where I was.

Being a newcomer to this area, I'm doubly wary about venturing too far into the bush.

That's why I heartily endorse Venaas's idea that putting together a master database and maps of trails would be an excellent project.

I think there's some major potential to attract hikers to this area, which would add an extra dimension to the tourism market.

I wonder if anyone in the GNWT is listening?


Parks are not farms
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, June 5, 2013

There is little doubt that there is a lot of excitement and energy surrounding Yellowknife's burgeoning farmers market scene.

The first one was held last night at Somba K'e Civic Plaza, and although crops of locally-produced beans and carrots are bound to be sparse this early into our Northern summer, there will surely be some good stuff filling the merchants' stalls as the season progresses.

The excitement, however, appears to have overburdened the good judgement of city administration, which last week recommended city council offer up 720-square metres of public park space in Frame Lake South's Parker Park so a group of hobby farmers could have space to grow herbs and vegetables, which they could then sell to the public.

The proposal included a greatly reduced lease fee of $100 a year for five years - it would be $3,920 a year without the rebate - and a declining property tax abatement over the same period of 20 per cent each year, with the first year's taxation amount of $1,030 a gift. The city also proposed installing additional water lines going to the park at a cost of $7,000.

The idea didn't sit well with at least one city councillor. Niels Konge quite rightly wondered about the wisdom of offering businesses - even co-op businesses - "subsidized land." It's one thing to set aside land for non-profit community garden plots for people without garden space at their homes - as the city is in the process of doing with two additional parcels of land at Moyle Drive and Trails End - but it's quite another to hive off public park space in the heart of suburbia and lease it out for a song - even if the people involved are not likely to get rich from it any time soon.

The sight of unhappy neighbours - most of whom expressed support for this new gardening enterprise, just not next to them - was enough to scare off the rest of city council.

Mayor Mark Heyck vowed the city would help the Yellowknife Commons Collective Ltd., as the group is called, find a new location. In this endeavour, Yellowknifer supports him. But we suggest avoiding the residential areas that are bound to breed conflict.

There is a whole swath of vacant land along the Engle Business District corridor the city has been thus far unable to sell. It would seem much more palatable to offer the garden collective land at a reduced rate there than trying to convince neighbours of the public good such a venture would create within public green space.

A commercial garden in the Engle Business District might actually attract other businesses to set up shop there. Talk about a win-win situation: a greener city and more tax dollar greens in city coffers.


Peewee decision good, but that's where it should end
Editorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, June 5, 2013

It's amazing to think, at this time of the year, so many folks across the Kivalliq would e-mail or phone me to discuss or ask questions about a hockey-related issue.

Yet, in they came after Hockey Canada announced the ban of bodychecking at the peewee level this past month.

To anyone else wondering if that actually means there can be no hitting at the peewee level in the Kivalliq, especially at the Powerful Peewees event in Rankin Inlet, that's exactly what it means!

The only way you could hold a peewee tourney now with bodychecking would be to go the outlaw route, with no sanction permit issued from Hockey Canada.

And, believe me, you don't want to do that.

The funny thing is, up until about the past five or six years, I would have also been upset by the ban on bodychecking at the peewee level.

But, I have come to change my mind on that for two reasons and now agree, emphatically, with Hockey Canada's decision.

First, as a Level 4 official and Branch Referee-In-Chief for Hockey North, I've really come to notice a big size difference between a lot of kids at the peewee level.

Skilled at the art of bodychecking or not, it's near impossible for a kid giving up six inches and 70 pounds to another player to be able to absorb even a clean hit without being hurt.

Add in the number of players - albeit a small number - at that age who get "hitting fever" and are trying to hurt the players they check, and it's a recipe for disaster.

The second reason is the number of atom players who've been on the ice during peewee tourneys the past few years in Rankin (yes coaches and organizers, we zebras do notice when you do that).

I've often been plagued with guilt during a tournament that allows bodychecking with peewees and atoms both on the ice, and thank the hockey gods no atom player was seriously injured during games I officiated against my better judgment.

I'm glad to be done with the whole situation.

My only reason for pause on the decision comes from the numerous comments left on hockey website chat boards or at the bottom of numerous news stories on the ban.

Many remarks were left by people in the medical profession along the lines of checking isn't safe at any level, it's a start and there's still a ways to go.

The thought of banning bodychecking at every level up to junior is, in my opinion as a guy who's been around hockey for half a century, a ridiculous notion.

It will eliminate the late bloomers from elite play, and further alienate young athletes who are attracted to the physical side of hockey.

I'm still waiting to see this, supposed, huge spike in the number of kids playing minor hockey as a result of lowering the physical aspect of the game and starting streams of no-contact play.

The number of peewee-aged kids who stated on the record the decision "sucks," should be a big red flag for those who think also eliminating it in bantam and midget will get more kids playing this new hybrid version of what used to be hockey.

But, for now, the decision to ban bodychecking from peewee is a good one.

For the sake of the game, let's hope that's where it ends.

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