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Betting on better way
Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, October 3, 2014

With non-profits often being the glue that holds society together, Lynn Brooks' Safe Place for Women, formerly known as Betty House, is a positive example of government supporting a non-profit in meeting a basic need - something that would otherwise be left up to the private sector.

Life management doesn't come easily to everyone - circumstance, experiences and genetics all play a role in who people become and what situations they find themselves in. As a society that takes care of its most vulnerable citizens, safety nets need to be in place.

Sometimes that safety net is as simple as income security, which supplements the cost of rent, but sometimes it goes a little further and helps establish people as functioning members of society.

Lynn's Place, for which the GNWT paid nearly half of the $4.3 million cost to build, bridges both elements by providing clientele a place to live - at market value - as well as tools aimed at improving their long-term well-being.

Lynn's Place is an 18-unit home available to women, and their children, after they leave an emergency shelter. The furnished rooms include a common kitchen area in which educational programming will be provided, including cooking, goal-setting and budgeting, aiding tenants - who may have fallen into difficult life circumstances - in establishing themselves within society. Although clients can stay as long as they like, Lyda Fuller, executive director of Yellowknife YWCA, which operates the home, says she expects tenancy to be about three years.

With rent at $1,580 and $1,760 for a two- and three-bedroom unit respectively, Fuller notes it may be difficult for those considered "working poor," who aren't able to claim income security, to make ends meet. But the budgeting education, along with flexible payment plans and connections to other non-profits to help with food, is part of the Lynn's Place package - an education that will ideally stay with clients long after they leave the facility.

Lynn's Place is an example of the non-profit sector doing what the private sector is unwilling or unable to do. Just this May, the city's largest landlord - Northern Property REIT - announced it would no longer be accepting tenants on income security.

It's good that government funding, through income security, is supporting non-profits actively working to help pull people out of vicious cycles, rather than supporting the private sector that's just looking to get paid.

While the GNWT pays income security directly to the landlord, there was concern from Northern Property that once a tenant went off the service, they may be unable to pay up.

The relationship between YWCA and the GNWT, which is bound by Lynn's Place, means more direct lines of communication between the service provider and the funding provider, and the available on-site services mean when a client is ready to go off income support, they are equipped with life skills that give them the best shot at maximizing their potential and being successful.


Simple signage can solve cyclists on sidewalks problem
Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, October 3, 2014

Confusion over where cyclists can ride on city streets can be easily avoided with proper education and signage.

Angelo Urbancig told Yellowknifer he's seen many incidents of cyclists driving dangerously on sidewalks, almost hitting pedestrians and not looking before entering intersections. He said he got into an altercation with a cyclist after a near-miss with an elderly woman. His concern is someone will be seriously hurt eventually.

Riding on sidewalks is a common problem in many communities. Many cyclists do it because they feel safer on sidewalks rather than on the road with motor vehicles. Enforcement varies between communities. Where in some places it's tolerated for the safety of the cyclists. Apparently, that includes Yellowknife, although it's illegal, according to the NWT Motor Vehicle Act.

Dennis Marchiori, director of public safety, said the city is trying to deal with the problem "proactively" by having municipal enforcement officers talk to children about rules of the road. They should also be talking to adults about the rules when they see them riding on sidewalks.

More obviously needs to be done. Urbancig's suggestion of having painted road signs reminding cyclists about the rules of the road, as signs are definitely needed and should be clearly posted for everyone to see. There are already signs for other parking and traffic rules and posting signs for cyclists is commonplace in other communities.

Many of these problems can be solved with some education and ensuring cyclists' safety so they don't feel they have to get on the sidewalk. The coming bike lanes should help ease tensions and keep traffic flowing smoothly.


From fish nets to aquaponics
Deh Cho Drum - Thursday, October 2, 2014

Fish and strawberries growing in the winter in Fort Simpson - welcome to the brave new world of sustainable food.

At first glance Shelley Empey and Mark Gillanders' plans for their new greenhouse in Wild Rose Acres in Fort Simpson might sound unconventional and more than a little unworkable, especially for people who have never heard of aquaponics.

The idea of raising fish in tanks and using the nutrients from their water to fertilize plants that are growing hydroponically takes a little getting used to. The additional idea of doing it in a climate like the village's where the system will have to be heated and protected for more than half the year requires an even greater leap of faith.

But anyone who has ever stared at the produce section at a grocery store in the Deh Cho and either gaped at the prices, bemoaned the lack of selection or questioned the state of the vegetables and fruit as either being nowhere near ripe or past its prime, can understand the basis of the couple's desire to grow more of their food locally.

Today, the concept of eating locally and growing or producing as much of your own food as possible is known as food sustainability or food security. Not too long ago in the region, that was simply how the Deh Cho people survived.

All food came from the land or the water whether it was moose, caribou, fish, ducks, berries or other edible plants. If it couldn't be snared, hunted, netted or gathered it wasn't part of the diet.

Things, of course, have changed substantially; people can now buy all sorts of food in stores and as a result their expectations and the variety of the foods they crave has expanded dramatically.

The concept, however, is the same. Food that is grown or harvested locally is generally the most nutritious and the cheapest.

The traditional ties to reliance on food from the land can be most readily seen at this time of the year when whole Deh Cho communities empty out as everyone seeks to get a moose or two to fill their freezers for the fall. The land is still an important food source, but people have grown used to more.

The aquaponics system at Forest Gate Greenhouse is an experiment in locally producing items that have become part of our diet - like peppers, tomatoes and herbs - on a year-round basis. The system will provide a lot of answers about the logistics and costs of producing food this way in the Deh Cho.

Having a local diet is still an attainable and desirable goal, but new and seemingly unconventional methods have to be tried to match our modern tastes.


New TV program good for language
Inuvik Drum - Thursday, October 2, 2014

The news that the Inuvialuit Communications Society (ICS) is taking to TV to promote the survival of the Inuvialuktun language is a major step in the fight to preserve traditional language skills.

The program will be aimed at children up to about six years of age, and those early years are the most crucial when it comes to comfortably learning a language to achieve real fluency.

Since Inuvialuktun and English, the most commonly spoken language here, are about as different as can be, exposure at a young age is the best way to get a grounding in it before language habits become more entrenched.

There's also no arguing the irresistible appeal of television, which has become an ubiquitous medium. In this case, an argument can be made that it's better to use television for something good rather than to fight it.

Tony Devlin, the executive director of the communications society, noted how pervasive the influence of television can be. He said his children have a reasonable knowledge of Spanish now after many hours of watching TV characters such as Dora the Explorer. That illustrates just how effective television can be as a learning tool.

The number of people turning out to audition for roles as voice actors in the television show and their enthusiasm was also remarkable.

By the end of the day, more than 30 people had been processed through the auditions, which took about 10 minutes each.

Some said they were there just for the chance to be on screen. Others had noted the significance of the show in retaining one of the region's heritage languages and the cultural spinoffs of that retention.

There's no argument, really, that English is on its way to becoming the likely candidate as the universal language across the globe.

That doesn't mean that there isn't room to keep a firm grasp on other heritage languages, although it does make the process more challenging.

Those challenges will undoubtedly require some imagination and innovation. In the case of the communications society, you could truthfully say with a wink and your tongue firmly planted in your cheek that it's showing some "inside the box" thinking with the television programming.

It's a good move, and one that will help provide a foundation for more to come.


Bylaw by force
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, October 1, 2014

A 66-year-old man's takedown by municipal enforcement officers, a video of which went viral after being put on Facebook, has tongues wagging around the city and for good reason.

The video illustrates what many people find problematic: the use of force by bylaw officers to make an arrest.

It's not clear from the video who punched who first. The driver, Gary Jaeb, admits he struck the officer, but claims it was in self-defence. The video shows Jaeb struggling with a yet unnamed bylaw officer while still seated in the driver's seat before a second bylaw officer arrives to help his colleague pull the man out of his truck and to the ground.

Hopefully, the bylaw dash-cams and audio lapel clips worn by officers were turned on and recording, unlike during the 2012 Santa Claus parade when a woman with her grandchildren claimed a bylaw officer became physically abusive after she got stuck in traffic. In any event, whether Jaeb is guilty of assaulting an officer or the victim of an assault himself is up to the courts to decide and there is still a long way to go before that day comes.

What should be up for discussion right now is city policy on the arresting powers of its officers. Specifically, should unarmed bylaw officers be physically engaging combative drivers and other members of the public?

The general sentiment thus far suggests people are not comfortable with this, and would prefer physical confrontations be left in the hands of RCMP officers, who undergo extensive training in hand-to-hand combat.

Municipal enforcement is not an easy job, especially when it requires officers to deal with people who are not always happy to receive a ticket.

It's not reasonable to expect bylaw officers to avoid physical confrontations 100 per cent of the time. Still, it would've seemed prudent in Jaeb's case, who was already blocked in his parking stall by the bylaw officer's vehicle when the altercation ensued. He wasn't going anywhere. The bylaw officer could've easily let the RCMP handle the situation, who arrived only a couple minutes later.

It's unclear what sort of combat training city bylaw officers receive, if any, which leaves one to wonder what sort of liabilities the city risks when its officers get into physical confrontations. What if a bylaw officer is injured in a fight or injures a member of the public?

Unfortunately, the city's response to these questions since the Jaeb incident has been utter silence. It is therefore up to city council to hold administration's feet to the fire and get the answers. A departmental review has been in the works for a long time.

The use of physical force is one area that requires special attention if the city aims to restore public confidence in its municipal enforcement division.


Surviving generation guilt
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, October 1, 2014


I've lived my life determined never to be a racist, or a "victim" of reverse discrimination.

And, for the most part, I feel pretty good about my efforts.

That's saying a lot in a world where people are beheading others on video, and murdering thousands because of the deity or prophet they choose to believe in.

Unless you have no access to a TV, radio, computer, book, magazine or newspaper, you can't get through a day without being told you're different because of the colour of your skin.

That's how it is in the age of generation guilt. Being from a working class family on the East Coast, I scratched my head when I heard the term white privilege, both before and long after I looked into its meaning. I couldn't get my head around exactly how being able to turn on the TV and see white faces staring back helped me in any tangible way.

Some form of subconscious security blanket? Nor could I understand why I should feel guilty because the people I knew weren't in prison balancing the number of white and non-white inmates.

It just wasn't on our list of things to do -- honest! The fact the past four generations of my family haven't "risen above" the working class is immaterial. We're still privileged because nobody chased us out of our neighbourhood. How about when our way of life collapsed with the fishery and we were scattered across Canada, separated from our families and Atlantic culture, and often working for a tad above minimum wage on some assembly line?

Still privileged, because the guy who made us work 48 hours a week in deplorable conditions was the same shade as us. Oh. Well, that's different then. I had already lived half my life (to date) when Peggy McIntosh penned White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, in 1988.

Since then, in certain circles, I've been beaten over the head with it every time I dare question its validity. To me McIntosh's work has always represented class privilege, and that's a whole different ball game. But it became a harbinger of a long line of manufactured and indefensible cultural definitions for generation guilt, Friedrich Nietzsche and an individual's freedom to shape his own character be damned.

This approach, as defined by white privilege, is to state I believe all non-white peoples of the world think exactly the same way. As ludicrous as that sounds to me, or as offensive as I find it, if I refute thinking that way I'm told I'm in denial or ill-informed (translation: too dumb to understand I really do think that way). Apparently I've been demanding, whether conscious of my efforts or not, to be treated as a member of the socially privileged all my life, and I've had constant access to power and resources.

My worker-bee status of the past 40 years has been just an attempt to mask my guilt over those privileges. And all this time I thought I was earning a living.

Who knew?

As mixed-up of a white person as generation guilt would have me believe I am, since I've survived this far, I'll just carry on trying to be me. Besides, I've had just about all the privilege I can take.


RCMP response times in GNWT's hands
Northwest Territories/News North - Monday, September 29, 2014

Earlier this month, the Native Women's Association of the NWT raised the alarm on unacceptably long wait times for police to respond to incidents in small communities.

Apparently, under the current system emergency calls are dispatched through Yellowknife, resulting in confusion at the best of times and, at worst, callers or dispatchers hanging up on one another when that confusion turns into frustration.

The result of the lengthy delays in getting an officer to the scene of a crime has resulted in preventable deaths in the territory, said Patricia Modeste, a board member for the association from Deline, during an annual general meeting in Yellowknife on Sept. 5.

Perhaps the most glaring example of the harm this round-about dispatching system has caused is the death of Fort Good Hope resident Charlotte Lafferty, 17, who was beaten to death in front of the community's elders' complex in the early morning hours of March 22. A 17-year-old male, whose identity has been withheld because he is a minor, is charged with first-degree murder in her death.

It has since come to light that residents of the elders' home watched helplessly as Lafferty was killed. Their calls went through to Yellowknife, causing confusion. Eventually, police arrived at 7 a.m., and found her dead.

RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Barry Ledoux raised a few eyebrows with his reaction to the Native Women's Association's complaints, saying to one media source that officers need to do things like wash their face and eat breakfast before heading out on a call.

In his defence, dealing with police response times is more a GNWT matter than it is the RCMP's.

Policing in the NWT is a busy and stressful job, and maintaining some semblance of a work-life balance is needed to prevent burnout. It is up to the territorial government which negotiates the contract for police services in the territory to ensure this balance can be met while also meeting the needs of NWT residents.

In this regard, there clearly is a problem.

An English-speaking Yellowknife dispatcher is simply not good enough.

At the very least, the GNWT should cough up some extra cash to have an auxiliary dispatcher in every community where police officers. Having someone in the community who people can contact, and who can communicate the urgency of a situation to police, will go a long way to prevent an officer from thinking he has time for a snack while a woman is being beaten to death.

That person could be a social worker, or a trusted community member, but there is no reason why a 1111 number cannot be activated in all 33 communities.

Let's not wait for RCMP headquarters in Yellowknife to sort this out. We need reasonable police response times, and we need them now.

It's time to call on the GNWT, particularly Justice Minister David Ramsay, to do their jobs and ensure the safety and security of all residents - not just those in Yellowknife.


Communities take reins
Nunavut/News North - Monday, September 29, 2014

A couple of shining victories for municipalities were realized in Nunavut earlier this month when Iqaluit's dump fire was finally extinguished and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at Kugluktuk's ulu-shaped heritage centre, which was born of the former mayor's dream.

Aside from the positivity of the achievements themselves, these victories illustrate that Nunavut municipalities can accomplish great things with some vision and directed action.

In the case of what became the infamous dump fire, sometimes called "dumpcano," humming and hawing about who would pay for the effort to put out the flames, and whether or not to even put it out, meant work to extinguish the buried fire didn't start for 100 days.

Both the federal and territorial governments told the city to pay for it itself, which is when the City of Iqaluit slipped into the driver's seat. It budgeted $2.6 million out of its reserves and had the fire out within 17 days. And, as we reported last week, the cost seems to be much less than what was budgeted, with early estimates coming in at $1.13 million and the projected cost to be under $2 million, far less than a July estimate of $4 million.

The city should be commended for taking this on and, despite the delays for consultation with experts, ultimately accomplishing what it set out to do in a short time and evidently under budget.

It just goes to show municipalities are capable, with or without territorial and federal support.

Although Kugluktuk's ulu-shaped heritage centre did receive part of its $2 million in funding from the territory, as well as from Ottawa through CanNor, it began as a vision of the community's former mayor just three years ago.

Then-mayor Ernie Bernhardt came into the office one day with a drawing on "a little piece of paper," and said he would like the community to have a tourist centre for Kugluktuk in the shape of an ulu, senior administrative officer Don LeBlanc said.

Although it takes much more than a vision to make something happen, a vision is the impetus for any great thing.

LeBlanc, who recognized this was indeed a vision to be realized, should be commended for following through on the plan. The building can now serve as a central hub for tourists as well as a unique venue to host group meetings. Already, LeBlanc said, the hamlet has scheduled two group bookings next month.

Both these instances illustrate how Nunavut communities can take the reins, and in doing so, accomplish great things.

When the federal or territorial governments choose not to deal with something, like in the case of the dump fire, it falls onto the shoulders of the municipality. When a municipality gets an idea for a large undertaking, such as the ulu-centre, it's up to the municipality to begin the process.

And in both cases, Nunavut communities have excelled.

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