The shackles of bureaucracyNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, February 16, 2015
Soon after arriving by ambulance to Stanton Territorial Hospital on Nov. 4, 2009, Allisdair Leishman wandered into the hospital's kitchen, found a knife and stabbed himself in the chest.
To this day he remains in long-term care at the hospital, brain damaged, unable to speak and physically disabled.
How he was able to stray from the care of hospital staff, make it to the kitchen, get his hands on a knife and injure himself all remain a mystery his mother, Margaret Leishman, who has spent the past six years imploring the Department of Health and Social Services (HSS) to provide some answers.
Leishman understandably wants to know the details of the chain of events that led to her son to injure himself while under the care of the health authority.
She also wants to know why the recommendations from the report were never acted upon and why hospital security to this day can't physically intervene in violent confrontations.
While these requests seem simple to fulfill, Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy assures Leishman - and the rest of us - it's not so simple. In fact, he says, he requires a hefty bureaucratic arsenal to tackle the problem.
Abernethy talks about a working group that will develop a framework to deal with security issues at Stanton. Or maybe it's that he's building a framework to form a working group. Somewhere in there, he's thrown in a dash of 'strategic plan.'
To this day, none of the department's strategic plans, frameworks or working groups have equated to action.
In fact, this array of bureaucratic arsenal Abernethy touts actually seems more like the hefty weight of shackles that keep the minister from enacting change.
Abernethy is a minister, the boss. He has the power to at the very least require Stanton to hire security guards that do the one fundamental thing they are, by definition, mandated to do - provide security.
And when he's unshackled himself from his department's robust supply of policies and procedures, he could also ease a mother's pain and share the information he has on what happened to her son.
Good initiative doesn't go far enoughNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, February 16, 2015
Last week John Colford, manager of traditional economics, agriculture and fisheries for the territorial government touted fish as the "worst kept secret of Great Slave Lake."
On the contrary, fish has to be the lake's best kept secret as the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment is rolling out a new program to let the market know there's good fish in that water and it's available for purchase.
To let the world know, ITI is slapping an NWT logo on local fish packaging so consumers know they are "getting the freshest product."
According to a September 2014 Yellowknifer story, branding isn't the problem. A Yellowknife chef, who asked not to be named, bemoaned at the time the fact he sells Kazhakstani zander in lieu of Great Slave pickerel because, he said, local fishers aren't catching a reliable supply of pickerel.
According Colford at the time, the problem isn't that fishers aren't catching enough pickerel, it's that there aren't enough fishers on the lake.
According to Colford's numbers, just over a third of the available Class A and class B fishing vessel certificates were spoken for in 2013.
A good brand will arguably push product, fatten fishers' wallets and maybe even convince a few more would-be commercial anglers to get a piece of the piscine action.
But what is the GNWT doing to help fishers expand their operations so they can compete with Kazhakstani behemoths who can undercut local fishermen, sometimes by half?
Stickers and the official NWT whitefish cookbook the government plans to publish with recipes it received last weekend in return for free fresh fish last week are wonderful things.
But any expectation local fishers will be able to turn their likely negligible rise in profits to expand to the point the local market needs is just as silly as claiming Great Slave Lake's fish is, in any way, a secret.
Hockey commentator reflects racism and ignorance Nunavut/News North - Monday, February 16, 2015
Despite being labelled "savages and barbarians," Inuit families have been eating healthy seal meat for thousands of years.
Inuit families will still be eating seal meat when the word "cherry" once again makes people think not of bitter bigotry, but of the tiny, sweet little fruit that it is.
The North stands to lose aboriginal voice Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, February 13, 2015
The North lost an important aboriginal voice when the Native Communications Society was forced to cut live CKLB programming last summer. Since then, much media focus has been on the mechanics of CKLB's funding through Heritage Canada as if the fault lay with how CKLB's funds were managed. This approach loses sight of what is at stake.
As the "voice of Denendeh," no one has suggested CKLB, a not-for-profit, failed in that respect. With approximately half the Northwest Territory's population being aboriginal, their mandate is an important one: to "revitalize, strengthen and preserve ... Aboriginal cultures through radio, television... and new mediums as developed."
The radio station had programming in Deh Cho Dene, Sahtu Dene, Chipewyan, Tlicho, Gwich'in and English, while broadcasting in more than 30 communities in the NWT and northern Alberta. In the absence of CKLB, there is no one to step in to fill that role, not even CBC North.
The CBC carries aboriginal programming but it is not an aboriginal broadcaster. The difference between the two should not be glossed over. An aboriginal-led broadcaster should exist in the North that can identify and give voice to aboriginal matters in the unique tone, cadence and style of aboriginals themselves and the communities they live in.
Can CKLB fill this role on the just over $600,000 in annual funding (2012/13) doled out year-to-year without any assurance of long-term stability? Can CKLB fill this role on funding that comes with restrictions that preclude its being spent on paying down previous operating loans, required capital improvements, or even basic equipment and property maintenance? We doubt it.
The CBC, which at least in part has a similar mandate to CKLB in terms of providing regional aboriginal language and content broadcasting, operates on federal funding of approximately $1.1 billion.
The CBC does not provide a breakdown in terms of regional budgets but that works out to about $29 in funding per Canadian. You can bet once employee benefits and the cost of operating in the North is figured in, that figure is closer to $40. At $600,000, CKLB has $14.50 in funding per NWT resident. That CKLB's management was unable to continue operating under these circumstances is not only to be expected but is a testament to the organization's tenacity in fulfilling its mandate for as long as it has.
Our only aboriginal broadcaster of 30 years needs real support. It begins with putting long-term stable funding in place equal to the organization's purpose.
Few morsels for region in budgetDeh Cho Drum - Thursday, February 12, 2015
When Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger stood to deliver his budget speech in the legislative assembly last week, there wasn't much for residents of the Deh Cho region.
Locally, there's more money allocated for long-term care in the village.
We appreciate seeing the GNWT has budgeted to spend $300,000 on the hot water heater replacement program, something this paper called for just before the budget was released.
It was piloted over the past two years here and in the Sahtu.
Hopefully, this means more homeowners in this region can replace electric heaters.
Fort Liard was also mentioned as one of three communities that could be included in a liquefied natural gas feasibility study.
The largely maintenance budget adds some spending to social programs and shuffles money around for other projects but doesn't stake out any bold legacy programs.
That's likely related to the rather gloomy outlook the minister outlined for the finances.
Miltenberger repeated themes in his budget speech he spoke about during a pre-budget tour of the territory.
The GNWT is getting close to a fiscal cliff, and it needs to be careful.
Revenues are expected to flat line. More people need to move to the territory to bolster the amount the GNWT gets in transfers from the federal government.
While the territory is still pushing to increase its population by 2,000 over the coming years, there's no significant money allotted for that purpose.
Perhaps the oddest part of the budget was what didn't see any new spending.
After spending more than $53 million last year fighting forest fires when about $7.5 million was budgeted, this year the GNWT cut funding by more than $100,000.
Miltenberger has said in interviews with other publications that isn't adequate but won't stop the government from spending what is needed this fire season.
With the minister himself and Department of Environment and Natural Resources officials telling people attending recent community meetings to expect another bad forest fire season, the logic of the spending cut is fuzzy.
Hopefully, it wasn't an attempt to avoid needing to increase revenue - read: tax hike - ahead of an election year.
Late high school grad inspiresInuvik Drum - Thursday, February 12, 2015
When Crystal Fraser speaks about her post-doctorate research, her confidence and articulation about five years of research easily inspires.
The University of Alberta PhD candidate is a prime example of perseverance and determination to do something important with her life. A young Gwich'in woman who dropped out of school in Grade 10 after moving to Edmonton from Inuvik, Fraser's path to her current research on education and residential schools in the Inuvik region seemed like a dream then.
She worked in bars and restaurants while living on her own, trying to get by. In 2003 she decided enough was enough and physically went to high school in Yellowknife to get her diploma. She wanted more in life than just a job and money. She wanted to make a difference in the lives of her people.
Fraser is close with her family. Her great-grandmother and grandmother were important figures in her life, strong women who helped shape her into the person she is today. Touched by residential schooling - the elder women in her life, mother included, all attended the Catholic church-run schools in the region at points in their lives - Fraser wants to empower others to have a better understanding of what the residential school experience was actually like.
She's faced criticism for her work, with other scholars saying the issue has been over-researched, or that it isn't important, not only because she's aboriginal, but because she's a woman.
In the 21st century, Fraser has been faced with challenges and pushed forward with the work she believes is important. The Canadian history narrative largely ignores the sad and tragic circumstances and resulting impacts of residential schools on aboriginal peoples in Canada. The history is shaped in large part by Canadian and British government documents, in other words, shaped by colonialism and non-aboriginal people.
She wants to change this. Fraser believes she has a responsibility to the some 60 people from the region she interviewed to tell their stories, to change the public perception of residential schooling and to better equip the aboriginal population in the region to find ways to move forward.
A better working knowledge of what actually happened will allow for people to better heal and move forward.
While her research is important, so is Fraser. Aboriginal success in post-secondary education is few and far between. The 35-year-old Fraser is an example of the success that can be found with determination and drive. Young women, in the territory and across Canada's aboriginal population, can look up to Fraser as an example of the success that can be achieved.
Anything is possible, if you really want it.
Fraser's research will make a difference in her community. And so will she, as the woman she's become.
Road to rescueYellowknifer - Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Premier Bob McLeod's proposal to extend the Ingraham Trail toward the diamond riches on the territory's frontier is the long-overdue lifeline needed to ensure the NWT's main economic engine stays running.
In the late 1950s, former prime minister John Diefenbaker had a vision for a permanent "Road to Resources" heading east to Fort Reliance, and then linking to the south to circumnavigate Great Slave Lake.
He understood then the importance of mining and exploration as the means to develop the North. His dream died when he was voted out of office in 1963 and the Ingraham Trail stopped short at 70 kilometres.
The North is famous for its ice roads but there is one problem, they melt. Climate change will mean only more milder winters to come and shorter winter road seasons.
If the territorial government wants to attract more mineral exploration and extend the lifespan of the NWT's diamond mines - which single-handedly sustained the territory's private economy following the collapse of the gold mining industry in the 1990s - it should waste no time getting started.
Time and money have already been wasted building the $202-million Deh Cho Bridge - certainly a convenience but hardly an economic saviour.
A 150-kilometre all-weather road extension beyond Tibbitt Lake is estimated to cost $300 million, according to Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger - an expensive price tag for sure but not when one considers the disaster that came in 2006 when the winter road melted early forcing the mines to fly in their supplies to the tune of $100 million. A repeat of that would likely spell an early demise for the mines.
Interest from the mining community is already growing. Dominion Diamonds CEO Robert Gannicott said the diamond mines spend around $22 million every year to maintain the winter road and Miltenberger said the mines may be willing to help pay to construct the extension if it substantially cuts the amount of money spent on winter roads.
There is no denying that mining is still driving the territory's economy. A permanent highway would provide some assurances that the driver will stay behind the wheel.
Communication key between school boardsYellowknifer - Wednesday, February 11, 2015
It's an ideal time for the public and Catholic school boards to be getting along.
After years of Yellowknife Education District No. 1 and Yellowknife Catholic Schools (YCS) barely being on speaking terms, the two school districts have found common ground in a fight against junior kindergarten, agreeing the controversial funding model of the program was detrimental to both boards.
This blossomed into mutual respect and perhaps a realization that there is power in unity.
Such a revelation is key because the Catholics' St. Joseph School is nearly busting its seams at about 90 per cent capacity, which has kick-started the territorial government into looking at options - meaning eyes now turn to under-utilized Yk1 schools.
Rita Mueller, an assistant deputy minister with the education department, told Yellowknifer last week that the two districts sharing schools is a viable option.
William McDonald School, Yk1's most under-utilized facility, sits at about 38 per cent capacity, making it a likely candidate.
And there is precedent for sharing these exact schools. Following a 2006 fire at St. Joe's, students shared space at William McDonald while waiting for the post-fire renos to take place.
Yk1 chair John Stephenson said last week the board is "quite open to sharing our space."
YCS' Simon Taylor said parents were generally supportive of the temporary move, although somewhat objected to the longer drive across town.
Whether or not sharing schools is the best option, forging an open, communicative relationship is the foundation of success.
The environment of suspicion and silence that has permeated the boards' relationship in the past is totally non-constructive. This renewed atmosphere means any solution reached will be rooted in trust.
Major sport events beneficial, but not easy to host
Editorial Comment by Darell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, February 11, 2015
It was a breath of fresh air this past week to listen to local merchants speak to the economic benefits bestowed upon a community ambitious enough to host a major sporting event or special gathering during the year.
Now, there's no denying the smaller communities are at a huge disadvantage with larger hamlets when it comes to attracting these events.
Small communities lack the infrastructure of the larger towns, and must rely on the goodwill of local folks to billet most of those who come to take part in the event.
And, unless an outside agency or government department is picking up the tab, flights to communities such as Repulse Bay and Coral Harbour are often more expensive than those to central locations such as Rankin Inlet.
It is, by no stretch of the imagination, easy, but it can be done.
But it takes long hours of hard work and dedication to pull it off.
Baker Lake will soon be getting its chance to hold a major event, when it plays host to the Nunavut midget territorial hockey championship this coming month.
The Government of Nunavut places an emphasis — sometimes too much so if the truth be told — on smaller communities getting to host major sporting events.
Sometimes certain sports will work in a community, while others won't.
Arviat hosted a territorial hockey championship a few seasons back and the event has yet to return.
Cost, weather, ice conditions and a super-strong Iqaluit team that year may have conspired to keep the event from returning to Arviat, which is just about as crazy a hockey community as Rankin Inlet.
Here's hoping things go much better for the good folks in Baker Lake.
I've had the chance to attend a few major hockey events in Baker Lake in the past and, to be brutally honest, things didn't always go so well.
The fan support was mediocre, and the lines were certainly blurred when it came to who young fans can cheer for during a tournament in their community.
The Baker Lake Youth Athletics Association is a wonderful outfit in my books, one that continues to do a tremendous amount of good for the youth of the community.
However the infamous negative-cheering incident may have been guilty of taking things a little too far.
Yes, athletes of the same association should support each other during competition, especially in their own hometown.
That being said, the entire Kivalliq region is a close-knit community and no youngster should ever be made to feel guilty over cheering for a family member or close friend from another hamlet.
I hope to attend this year's territorial, as well, from March 20 to 22, and I'll be hoping for Baker Lake to do well in hosting the event.
Travel costs aside, Rankin really does host enough sporting events, Arviat has its Jon Lindell Memorial firmly entrenched as a premiere event, and Repulse Bay (Naujaat) is slowly getting its Arctic Circle Cup to the same point.
It would be nice to see Baker join the fold and become the annual host of a territorial tourney.
Here's hoping they can successfully pull it off and reap the benefits that come with such a prestigious event.
