Don't throw baby out with bathwaterYellowknifer - Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Getting a bad grade on a test is always a kick in the teeth. When it happens, a student has a choice. Criticize the test, the teacher and the system or to turn that pain into a learning experience and, with a little hard work, knock the next one out of the park.
According to the most recent results from the 2013 Alberta Achievement Test, only 37 to 49.8 per cent of NWT students are meeting grade level.
That's some tough medicine for students, parents, educators and policy makers but by the same token it's also good to know.
"This tells us we have to make significant changes in our education system," said Rita Mueller, assistant deputy minister with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, back in September.
But now that Alberta is looking at a new way to assess its students, Education Minister Jackson Lafferty wants to follow suit with a new learning assessment tool of our own -- one with a "Northern perspective."
Certainly, many Northerners tire of assessments formed by well-intended southerners. A few months ago, the territory got a failing grade from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business on its red tape report card. The grade was not supported and was in fact criticized by the executive director of the NWT Chamber of Commerce.
But our young people -- who must often go down south to get the education they need to pursue their career goals -- must still adhere to national standards so they may remain competitive with their southern classmates. A test that takes into account the Northern perspective must also take into account the competition our students will face down south.
Of course, the danger now is that GNWT foot-dragging will lead to no assessment being done at all.
Back in September, the department had plans to take steps to address poor results from the Alberta Achievement Test over the next 10 years.
A decade from now, how will we be able to figure out whether they were effective or not without some kind of test? How will we know how they will do in a southern classroom?
Students are owed every opportunity to flourish in post-secondary education and beyond. Part of that is making sure they are at the same academic level or -- why stop there? -- even better than their southern classmates. The only way to do that is with a test that tells us how they're doing.
Phone book shows city can't muzzle artistsYellowknifer - Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Past attempts by the city to micro-manage artists and performers has become a running joke, and the latest barb has showed up in a place where the city has little control.
Northwestel released its 2015 phone book last week with a not-so-subliminal political statement on its front cover. It features a painting of the Wildcat Cafe by Terry Pamplin, with a group of mice picketing outside the historic eatery, holding signs reading "Take back the Cat."
Pamplin said the inspiration came from the tempest in a teapot that erupted last year over T-shirts designed by fellow artist Nick MacIntosh depicting the Wildcat populated by mice enjoying meals. The city ordered MacIntosh to hand over the T-shirts, citing copyright infringement. A backlash ensued and the city quietly backed off and returned the shirts. The building belongs to everyone, Pamplin said, as the city used taxpayers' money to renovate it and the city is supposed to work for the common good.
Pamplin's tongue-in-cheek interpretation of the issue didn't go unnoticed by the Northern telecom giant, which chose the painting for its cover despite the controversy.
This isn't the only time the city has riled artists. Last summer, it released guidelines for buskers full of condescending rules, including a diktat that they play for free and even ordered how to dress. City administration has shown they think they can control how artists depict the city, yet they haven't ordered Northwestel to hand over its phone books.
Artists and their supporters will ultimately decide how they will represent the community, with or without approval. Rest assured, the city will be reminded of this by the multitude of phone books at city hall.
The sting of online disconnectEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, March 18, 2015
It's been a while since I took the plunge and joined the modern world of Facebook.
For the most part, I must admit, it's been a rewarding experience.
On the down side, there are more than a few posts that get my blood boiling.
I know the rest of a post is going to result in nothing more than me gnashing my teeth painfully into my lips and bouncing pillows against my apartment walls.
I will sit and stare at the screen, waging a 10-minute battle with myself not to respond to what I have read.
Thankfully, it's a battle I continue to win.
But, for the life of me, I don't understand why I can't simply look away, or keep scrolling, when I know, after the first few words, a post is going to upset me.
It's become one of life's great mysteries to me.
I honestly don't look when I'm in the south and have to drive past the scene of an accident.
That's one mental image — should I actually see something terrifying with my rubbernecking — I would never get out of my head.
I suppose it's my writer's curiosity in always wanting to know how people honestly feel about a topic that keeps me reading, and personal anger be damned!
Thankfully, a fair amount of it could be (not unfairly) labelled as superfluous ramblings.
There are, however, a few topics that get me every time.
I have developed great disdain for the wannabes, apologists and paternal types among us, who see racism in almost everything, have convinced themselves white people really have no culture (no matter where they're from) and believe there are but two opinions on everything: their's and the wrong one.
And don't get me started on the perfect life of getting up, eating a healthy breakfast, working 8.5 hours, going to the gym for 1.5 hours, having 1.75 hours family time and eight hours sleep per day for as long as you're alive.
These days it seems you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.
It baffles me how so many Kivalliqmiut living in the south could have become so disconnected from life here.
I mean, OK, a good percentage of them are well to do, financially, and that accounts for some of it, but not all.
I don't know how many people truly take food from the dump here in Rankin, but I do know how many here struggle to be able to put healthy food on the table day in and day out.
Some struggle a lot more than others and not all of the struggling are unemployed, or spend all their money on drugs, alcohol or gambling.
Food is darn expensive here. It's reality.
To insinuate on Facebook that everyone who's going hungry from time to time is a degenerate or, at the very least, a bad parent, is truly despicable.
So, too, are the jokes about those in the south who are trying to help by sending food to various hamlets.
You know, we're all happy for those financially secure and living in the south — even those who may have just got lucky — but it wouldn't hurt for some to add a little compassion and humility to their five-star daily diet.
Life can be a struggle for many good people and those willing to lend a helping hand are no laughing matter.
Not even on Facebook.
A much needed discussionNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, March 16, 2015
There is no magic bullet that will solve the deep-rooted socio-economic causes that have claimed the lives of more than 1,200 indigenous women in Canada over the past 30 years.
Many have pushed for an inquiry, but others have countered such a measure would be expensive and would only result in piles of even more expensive recommendations with no guarantee of follow through. Others, such as Toronto illustrator Evan Munday, simply want Prime Minister Stephen Harper to acknowledge there is a problem.
After Harper admitted during his annual sit-down with CBC’s Peter Mansbridge last December that the issue "isn’t really that high on (his) radar, to be honest," Munday started sending him illustrations of these women daily via Twitter. He explained the project was intended to "adjust his radar."
Grassroots calls for action like these have culminated in a recent national roundtable discussion in Ottawa, led by Premier Bob McLeod. No concrete plans for action came out of the day-long, closed-door meeting, but that doesn’t mean nothing happened.
Just the fact that two federal cabinet ministers, all 13 premiers, indigenous leaders and families of victims met in one room to talk about missing and murdered indigenous women is unprecedented.
Throughout the day more than 100 family members who have lost loved ones, such as Yellowknife’s Kathy Meyer, shared their stories with these leaders.
Meyer lost her daughter, Angela five years ago. While home on a weekend pass from Stanton Territorial Hospital’s psychiatric unit, she stepped out onto the porch for a cigarette and hasn’t been seen since. She was battling schizophrenia.
Last August in Whitehorse, Harper bared his ignorance toward the issue in dazzling display by saying the fact that indigenous women are three times more likely to go missing or be murdered is not a sociological phenomenon. Instead, he said it’s an issue for the police to solve.
So maybe aiming so high as to expect the federal government to lead an inquiry into a problem it doesn’t even come close to understanding is a fool’s game. Instead, perhaps we need to have conversations such as the roundtable in Ottawa, where bureaucrats listened to families describe how mental illness, addictions, unemployment and the legacy of the residential school system lead to vulnerabilities in indigenous communities.
As McLeod so aptly said to the Toronto Star after the roundtable, "those of us who are aboriginal, that have attended residential schools, that have lived in smaller communities, isolated communities, where you see the effects of poverty, poor housing … and very low educational opportunities and very little opportunities for jobs, I think you certainly get a different perspective."
Whether it’s through an inquiry, a series of roundtables or people using the all-powerful tool of social media to force our leaders’ attention, a good first step is to open the federal government’s ears to these differing perspectives.
Corrections in critical conditionNunavut/News North - Monday, March 16, 2015
There is added incentive for Nunavummiut to be of good behaviour, keep the peace and, beyond all other considerations, avoid being arrested for a crime so serious that a court official orders the accused be held in custody awaiting trial.
If the time spent in custody is remand in Iqaluit, that means time in the Baffin Correctional Centre, which has not only a long history of deplorable conditions but now has a healthy dose of official criticism from the auditor general. It is so bad, in fact, that a person awaiting a court appearance would be justified to fear for their life.
To paraphrase some of the highlights from Michael Ferguson's damning report, the place is a firetrap. There have been three fires in the past and, to make things worse, there are no regular fire drills or evacuation exercises because of a shortage of staff. In the event of another fire, who knows if all the inmates would be able to escape.
If an inmate does not die in a fire, there is a good chance they could be assaulted by another inmate or staff member, as demonstrated by the auditor general, who said there were 185 incidents of assault in 2012-13.
Also to be considered are the dangers posed by contraband, which is regularly smuggled into the jail and includes drugs and weapons. There are eight incidents of contraband discovered monthly and likely many more that aren't discovered.
What is the greatest crime is that all these deficiencies and many more are known by the Department of Justice and have been known for a long time, without significant action taken at the Baffin Correctional Centre to remedy the situation so that inmates and staff are not at risk. The territorial government has an obligation to not only keep inmates safe and secure, but also offer programs toward rehabilitation with an eye to reintegrating inmates back into society. It must be noted that a majority of inmates are serving sentences of less than two years, or are on remand awaiting trial. Those with longer sentences are transferred to federal facilities in the south.
That the auditor general's report is damning is no surprise. The Department of Justice has known for two decades that corrections facilities are critical. A consultant in 2002 charged hundreds of thousands of dollars to recommend the facility be replaced. A former justice minister, after an arson-set fire in 2011, reminded legislators about his 2009 request for $300,000 to improve conditions at BCC. He was told that spending on education and health was more important.
There has been $850,000 earmarked for renovations at BCC, to start when inmates are moved to the recently opened Makigiarvik minimum-security facility next door.
Outside observers suggest construction of a new full-sized facility is needed.
Justice Minister Paul Okalik said last week he will table a response to the report in the legislative assembly.
Urgent action is required before tragedy happens to someone being held in the custody of the territorial government.
Public safety is co-operation Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, March 13, 2015
Police are notoriously tight-lipped when it comes to ongoing criminal investigations.
The reasons are often valid. Too much public information may alert potential suspects and compromise evidence for future use in court.
What must be made public is information that might keep people safe. That didn't happen in the case of Bobby Zoe, a repeat sex offender charged last month for two break and enter and sexual assaults; one on Feb. 1 and another on Feb. 15.
He was convicted for a home invasion in October 2013 after being let out of jail early following his conviction for a vicious sexual assault on a stranger walking alone downtown in January 2011.
The police didn't issue a news release until after the Feb. 15 incident even though the Feb. 1 attack involved a similar break-in and sexual assault where the occupant was at home.
As it turns out, police didn't even know Zoe was back on the streets. This doesn't absolve RCMP of its failure to alert the public following the Feb. 1 incident but does point to a lack of communication between corrections officials and police.
Both organizations have since pledged better co-operation in the future. A draft policy is now in place that would ensure whenever a high-risk inmate is about to be let out of jail, the information will be shared with the police within 15 days of the person's release. A summary of police reports from each day will also be forwarded to managing officers with the RCMP to help ensure any information that would help keep people safe is identified and released early enough to be useful to them.
This is welcome news although it's extremely unfortunate it took two reported sexual assaults and the ensuing public outcry for the police and Department of Justice to act. The public's right to know ought to trump the right to privacy for dangerous offenders with a history of sexual predation.
These latest incidents highlight why co-operation between police and corrections officials is not just a matter of mere professional courtesy. They have a duty to the public to co-operate.
Sport For Life Centre an absolute necessity Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, March 13, 2015
The words spoken by Mario DesForges, head coach of the NWT Judo Association, following Brent Betsina's silver medal at the Canada Winter Games were rather pointed: "Give me the resources and I can do more."
He couldn't have been more right.
The resources for our athletes need to be there when the time comes to head to big competitions, such as the Canada Games. One of those resources is the proposed NWT Sport For Life Centre, which Sport North president Maureen Miller spoke about during the Games in Prince George, B.C.
Such a centre is paramount if we want our athletes to succeed at the highest level. The Canada Games is the biggest competition out there for us; the next step up from that is either the Olympics or the professional ranks.
We can talk about setting personal bests, building skills, trying our best and making new friends all we want but those ideals have been drilled into athletes' heads for far too long. There comes a time where winning has to be a priority and that's where the Sport For Life Centre comes in.
Centralizing it in a large community would be ideal and Yellowknife would be the natural place to have it. Yellowknife has most of what an athlete needs in order to succeed. Sure, it isn't Inuvik or Norman Wells or Fort Simpson but it isn't a southern locale, where most of our elite athletes end up going if they want to be successful. Northern athletes would train and live in the NWT.
With the Canada Winter Games potentially coming to Yellowknife in 2023, the time to start thinking about this was yesterday because there would be nothing more embarrassing than hosting the Games and not having at least one NWT athlete on the podium.
Dehcho Process needs mediatorDeh Cho Drum - Thursday, March 12, 2015
It's unfortunate that stalled talks among Dehcho First Nations and the GNWT have resulted in sparring in the media and potentially in a courtroom.
After about 15 years of negotiations Grand Chief Herb Norwegian is standing firm with a position on the amount of land DFN should get through the Dehcho Process.
He rightfully wants the best possible deal for the people he represents.
However, it's an amount of land the government doesn't want to meet.
Premier Bob McLeod has said the GNWT has put its best possible offer on the table.
Though a GNWT spokesman has said the government wants to continue negotiations, a letter from the premier says they should agree talks have failed if DFN won't take the latest offer.
McLeod, replying to a question in the legislative assembly, said there's still hope for negotiations.
While that may be the case in Yellowknife, that hope seems to be fading with the grand chief as his statements increasingly point to a breakdown in relations.
Norwegian had gone to Yellowknife last month with other DFN leaders to try to move past the dispute and keep talks going.
The short meeting with the premier didn't get the sides back to the table.
Norwegian argues that outside help is needed to bring the two sides to an agreement.
We agree.
The framework agreement the two sides signed in 2001 that laid out the path toward self-governance allows for a mediator should the sides reach an impasse.
With several thousand kilometres separating the parties, it's time a mediator be brought to the table to help resolve the logjam in Dehcho land claim negotiations.
Settling the Dehcho and bringing self-government to the region is in the best interests of both sides, as the government has acknowledged.
The two sides shouldn't have to bring this into a courtroom to come to a resolution.
Hopefully the legal threats are just a tactic to get both sides back to the table with or without a mediator.
There has been a lot of work put in by people on both sides so far. Adding a legal challenge to the mix will just draw out the process even more.
That's why we support the grand chief's request for mediation.
Many helping hands in aftermath of floodInuvik Drum - Thursday, March 12, 2015
If not for some excellent community support and awareness, the flooding situation at the Children First Centre could have been so much worse on March 1.
During the windstorm that ripped through town that morning with temperatures hovering near -30 C before the windchill was factored in, the centre was doused with water up to two inches deep in some sections of the building, according to Patricia Davison, the executive director of the centre.
The damage was caused by a single malfunctioning sprinkler head that was somehow triggered during the storm, although it's not yet clear if the two events were related.
Insurance adjusters were on hand beginning March 4 to determine the cause and to put a dollar value on the damage, which is extensive to the kitchen and west wing.
Insurance in invaluable after a problem like this, but as most people know, it also takes time to kick the process into gear. In the meantime, the centre is leaning on community connections to keep going.
The first hint of the flooding was spotted by a passerby who spotted water gushing from the building and ice forming underneath, and alerted town staff at the rec centre.
A call was promptly placed to the town public works department.
When Davison arrived on the scene a short time later, she hadn't yet been notified of the situation. Nevertheless, the water to the building had been shut off by then, and initial damage assessments were being done.
Davison said she was very thankful for that assistance and the community awareness that led to minimizing the damage to the building, which is quite extensive.
That's particularly crucial, since the Children First Centre is a crucial part of child care in Inuvik.
When it opened approximately 18 months ago, all of the other formal childcare facilities closed down to consolidate childcare in one spot.
While there are other daycare operations in town, there is no single space capable of accommodating the children and families the Children First Centre serves.
It didn't take long for the community to start to come together, with the Inuvik Youth Centre offering its space to host some of the Children First Centre's programming, and community members pitching in with donations and offers to help.
That's the spirit so often shown by Inuvik residents, and is likely never more welcome than right now.
