Northland a winning hand for cityYellowknifer - Wednesday, December 9, 2015
The city has turned the corner on the years-long Northland Trailer Park sewage saga and congratulations are in order if the latest figures hold up.
The story of the Northland sewage system is fairly messy. Its infrastructure expired two decades ago. Work started on replacing the system three years ago.
In 2010, residents were stuck in limbo. The crumbling sewer lines underneath their trailers threatened to condemn the whole neighbourhood. The trailers were left virtually unsellable after the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation stopped providing mortgage insurance for the purchase of Northland homes in 2008, leaving a massive disincentive for buyers who would have been forced to provide as much as 25 per cent for a down payment.
For a while, it was unclear who would foot the $15.9-million bill for the repairs, Northland residents or Yellowknife taxpayers.
Once owned by a private company that failed to invest in proper infrastructure maintenance, the trailer park was established as a condominium in 1989 and thus individual homeowners became responsible for the costs of the repairs. In 2010, it was estimated residents would be required to pay $550 a month on top of their mortgages for 15 years, according to the Yellowknife Condominium Corporation No. 8, the board that administers Northland.
That price was too high - they couldn't get financing - so in 2012 the city stepped in.
If the up to $358 a month levy the city negotiated with residents to pay for the repairs seemed too good to be true, then the city's odd stance of refusing to reveal an accounting of costs most of the year added to the suspicion.
The city failed to snuff out rumours of cost overruns heading into this year's municipal election, which risked putting city governance back on the table as a campaign issue.
It was therefore pleasantly surprising to learn that not only is the project on budget but Northland residents will only be required to pay a levy of $296.87 a month after the city secured a lower interest rate than expected for the loan.
The city also made $300,789.17 off of investments from the money it borrowed for the repairs. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation now says it intends to lift its ban on granting mortgage insurance to Northland homeowners.
Great news all around despite being handled rather strangely by Mayor Mark Heyck and company, who continually sidestepped requests for updates as far back as May of this year.
Whatever the reason the city may have had, it might have been worth keeping residents in the loop to avoid criticism and to reassure taxpayers everything possible is being done to cut costs.
Having said that, the city should be commended for a job well done.
'A' for taking students' futures seriouslyYellowknifer - Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Yellowknife Catholic Schools is taking a pre-emptive strike to get their students ready for post-secondary education.
The latest advanced placement test scores from St. Patrick High School students paint a dismal and familiar picture. Students in their final year are behind their Alberta counterparts in many areas, with French being the exception. These tests are written by students wishing to go to college or university in another province and most of those will be going to institutions in Alberta, if for no other reason than to study closer to home.
We've heard many examples over the years of how students are a grade behind the national average, leaving them ill-prepared for the realities of studying for a degree or diploma they will need to get their careers started.
St. Pat's and Yellowknife Catholic Schools are taking the right action by weighing options to improve test scores, even though only a handful of students write it each year and one student alone could skew results, compared to thousands in Alberta.
The district is receiving help from southern education bodies with a new data analysis system that will help teachers at St. Pat's determine where students are struggling and pinpoint problems.
More funding, of course, is also a step in the right direction, as board chairperson Simon Taylor asked principal Todd Stewart at the board's Nov. 16 board meeting.
Any and all options should be considered to give our students the skills and confidence to go on to higher education without the worry the years they spent in school were
not enough.
Corps collapse a shameful scenarioEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, December 9, 2015
It was bound to happen.
With so many people refusing to chip in and do their share by volunteering a bit of time to local programming, it was only a matter of time until another youth-orientated program fell by the wayside.
And this one is a whopper.
It is difficult for me to even imagine this community without the 3019 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps Rankin Inlet.
If it wasn't such a horrible feeling to know these kids are on the brink of losing a wonderful program that has benefited hundreds upon hundreds of youths in this community for almost three decades, I'd have to laugh at the irony of the situation.
If I had $10 for every time during the past 17 years I've heard someone talk about how vitally important it is to have more positive programming for our region's kids, I'd have one very large sack of $10 bills.
The list is almost endless: from anti-suicide messages to healthy communities, community wellness, crime prevention, mental health and leadership initiatives just to name a few -- the path to healthy lifestyles for our children is almost always connected to more positive, productive youth programming.
And, the point is also almost always hammered home that not every child in the Kivalliq is into hockey and soccer.
Well, here you have it.
Cadets is one of our most time-proven programs that helps our youth develop skills, shape their personality, improve their self-confidence, take on leadership roles, make friends, develop social abilities, improve their physical and mental health, provide the opportunity to compete and travel and, most importantly, instil a true sense of belonging within them.
And more often than not, the cadet program is the primary extracurricular activity for a good number of these youth.
And now, through absolutely no fault of their own, they stand mere weeks away from having all that taken away from them.
If nobody in this community can find it within themselves during the next several weeks to step up and solidify this once strong corps, can you really blame any of these young people for being bitter and developing an attitude?
They have played by the rules, given it their all, and used the cadet program to better themselves both as individuals and team players.
And now, if nothing changes, their community is about to let them down in a big way!
And, to top it all off, Rankin's 3019 has even led the way in attracting corps elders to bring a strong traditional component to the program.
Corps Commander Dorothy Tootoo was bang on to point out that the small group of people in our community who give so much to sports and other extracurricular activities simply have no time left to give.
It is time for new blood to pitch-in and do their share.
And, Tootoo was also 100 per cent correct is lamenting the fact it's sad to see these youth have to lose their cadet corps for the community to receive a wake-up call.
Should the 3019 RCACC Rankin Inlet indeed have to cease operations this coming year, there is only one emotion our community should feel and that is shame!
Time for MLAs to grow upNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, December 7, 2015
How much is the legislative assembly like high school?
Hopefully, the only real similarity is the four-year terms they serve with their colleagues. But MLAs actually have another special privilege that seems to exist under the assumption that if it didn't they would act like teenagers. This is the secrecy of the process by which MLAs pick the premier, Speaker and cabinet.
While the process has opened up a bit over the years -- it's no longer the papal enclave legislative assembly clerk Tim Mercer jokingly described for News/North in the Nov. 30 story "Pros and cons of secret ballot" -- the public still does not know who individual MLAs will elect to these positions.
The reason? Making the vote public could "open the door to intimidation," according to Mercer.
In fact, Mercer goes on to describe high school-esque cliques of "minister classes," if the votes were to be made public. What could happen, he warns, is one MLA selected for cabinet who got seven votes could turn to another minister and say, "I got more votes than you" as an argument for being a more "legitimate" member of cabinet.
There is also the idea that MLAs won't be able to handle the pressure of choosing the person they feel is fittest for the job. MLAs, warn Mercer, might be intimidated into voting a certain way by their peers.
Yes, these are actual adults we are talking about and not schoolyard scruffians in short pants.
Rather than acting like adults who favour an open, accountable system, MLAs, over time, have kept alive a tradition of selecting cabinet by secret ballot on the assumption those elected to run the territory will intimidate and lord their votes over their peers.
The thing is, it doesn't have to be this way. If the new group of MLAs decide to make their votes public later this month when they choose their premier, Speaker and cabinet, they can.
By doing so, they can make themselves fully accountable to their constituents by publicly naming those they feel will best take on these responsibilities and at the same time, consciously make the choice not to degrade themselves - or let themselves be degraded - to the level of schoolyard bullying.
They say sunshine is the best disinfectant.
This is an appropriate saying, because as many teenagers turn into full-fledged adults, concerns about peer pressure tend to fade, replaced by other, more grown-up concerns - which literally include finding the best disinfectant.
Inuit artists show they have a voiceNunavut/News North - Monday, December 7, 2015
Inuit art and culture has cache in southern Canada.
Although Montreal filmmaker Dominic Gagnon tells southern media he has never visited Northern Canada, he seems to have attempted to cash in on it.
The controversy surrounding Gagnon's 2015 film Of the North - a 74-minute collection of amateur online videos, set in part to music recorded by Inuit artists used without their consent - has brought the filmmaker more publicity than his art ever has.
The film features clips of people who appear intoxicated and other footage some viewers have described as demeaning, including nudity, interspersed with images of Nunavut's industry and landscape.
A group of Inuit artists have described the film as a parade of racist stereotypes. Festival organizers defended their decision to show Of the North, claiming it offered "a critical discourse on colonialism."
Colonialism - an unequal relationship in which a dominant power from another region exploits and steals from an indigenous population - was indeed at play here.
No outreach was done to involve the Inuit community, which numbered 900 in Montreal as of the 2011 census, and the filmmaker has said he did not consult with any Inuit in the making of his film.
"We should have provided a better forum for conversation about this work to ensure an inclusive and respectful space for everyone to express their point of view on the film," the festival organizers stated in a news release issued late last month after the controversy raged online and echoed through the Northern and national press.
Inuit artists have made Gagnon's video collage into a public debate, defending their home, their people, their culture and their intellectual property admirably.
Juno-winning recording artist Tanya Tagaq condemned Gagnon's film as disgusting and offensive on social media and in interviews, threatening legal action.
Rather than stand behind his work like any great artist would, Gagnon deferred to the Cambridge Bay throatsinger's criticism by agreeing to erase her music from Of the North's soundtrack.
"I'm thrilled to report that my music is being removed from that lowbrow film and will never appear in it again," Tagaq tweeted on Nov. 26.
Southern news reports suggest another film festival pulled the film from its program over concerns the filmmaker used recordings without permission.
Distributor Videographe has suspended promotion and circulation of the film and Gagnon removes the work by Tagaq and one other artist.
The filmmaker has told southern media that he plans to remove all clips that pose a copyright problem, replacing the footage with blackness and silence even if it means transforming it into 74-minutes of image-less silence.
Ironic, given the fact that the reaction of Inuit critics to Of the North have proven themselves to be anything but invisible and far from silent.
Changing of the MLA guard Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, December 4, 2015
With Daryl Dolynny's final bid to remain MLA dashed at Monday's recount, it seems appropriate to reflect on what Yellowknife lost and what it stands to gain after voters chose change in last week's territorial election.
Dolynny had a rocky start entering the legislative assembly four years ago but eventually became one of its most ablest speakers. His health-care knowledge will be sorely missed as the GNWT embarks on one of the biggest capital projects in NWT history - the $350-million-plus rebuild of Stanton Territorial Hospital.
The defeat of David Ramsay in Kam Lake removes a champion for resource development at a time when the North needs one most, with the NWT economy floundering and diamond mines contemplating a long and painful exit.
Yellowknife Centre's Robert Hawkins, questionable election shenanigans aside, was the most aggressive prosecutor of the GNWT's tendency toward waste and secrecy during the last term of the legislative assembly.
These are roles, well-suited or otherwise, Yellowknife's new MLAs will have to assume as they get set to be sworn in on Tuesday.
The general consensus is that the city is putting forward a more progressive, environmentally-attuned slate of MLAs since the last election with Julie Green taking over at Yellowknife Centre and Kevin O'Reilly at Frame Lake.
This may be true but the reality of the NWT as a resource-based economy dependent on mining for wealth and jobs is as inescapable as the inconvenient truth that solar panels and windmills are nowhere near capable of replacing diesel to satisfy the territory's energy needs.
A carbon tax could be a good idea if it goes directly toward helping Northerners upgrade their home heating needs with more environmentally-sustainable fuel sources, such as wood pellets boiler but it will be just another burden on top of an endless pile of cost burdens if shovelled into the maw of the NWT Power Corporation.
We hope for a pragmatic approach as MLAs prepare to take their seats at the table.
One area in need of definite improvement is the city's relationship with MLAs. Meetings with Yellowknife MLAs and city council must be scheduled regularly, transparent and on the record if citizens are to have any measure of how effectively our politicians are working with each other and for us at the territorial level.
There have been too many instances of items being foisted on the city: The $30-million obligation to build a new water treatment plant, an unfair demand that our elected city school boards to pay for other communities' junior kindergarten, the repeated failure to fund a 911 emergency number for the city.
That needs to stop if Yellowknife-rs are to be rewarded for changing the MLA guard.
Cantung buy needs second look from new MLAsDeh Cho Drum - Thursday, December 3, 2015
With Cantung Mine closed down save for a handful of maintenance staff, the sale of the mine and NATCL's Mactung property were fairly routine.
In fact, the entire creditor process the company is in the midst of has gone as expected - with the exception of one little surprise.
On Nov. 19, just days before the territorial election was set to end, the GNWT announced it had purchased leasehold interests for Mactung for $4.9 million and that Cantung Mine was now the responsibility of the federal government.
The nice thing about big-ticket items is that, usually, there is a legislative assembly around to question them.
MLAs ask the tough questions required in order to ensure large purchases are in the best interests of the GNWT and its residents.
The government's acquisition of Mactung came as a surprise, and not necessarily a pleasant one.
First of all, there is the question of whether a cabinet that is in the midst of an election should have the power to sign off on spending of this magnitude, at a time when the Northwest Territories' budget belt has already been tightened a few notches.
Currently, they do have that power. Moving forward, MLAs may want to take a second look at that.
There is also the question of who is now responsible for what, in relation to Cantung. A letter from the federal government to the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board states the mine is still the property of the GNWT, although it is the responsibility of the federal government.
Likewise, the government has said that shelling out the money for Mactung should help to ensure Cantung passes over to federal responsibility.
Discussion over the mine's upcoming water licence renewal has consistently referred to the threat of leaving the mine on the backs of Mackenzie Valley taxpayers -- that is, the people of the GNWT.
Both NATCL and the federal government have told the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board that denying a new water licence would not be in the interests of residents and could even result in NATCL pulling its token crew of staff from the site.
In fact, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada went so far as to tell the board a renewed licence would "increase the likelihood that the site will not become a burden on the taxpayers of the Mackenzie Valley and Canada."
Therefore, if the board decides not to renew the mine's licence, taxpayers can expect to shoulder the burden of the mine.
Residents deserve to be assured they won't be paying out the nose at a future date to cover required remediation and other costs at the abandoned Cantung mine site.
Additionally, in purchasing Mactung, the territorial government has failed to assure NWT residents of the merits of that spending.
The government may indeed have done what it did with the best interests of the NWT people at heart. However, from here it looks like one last big purchase to sate the big-spending appetites of territorial officials.
Warming centre opens its doorsInuvik Drum - Thursday, December 3, 2015
No one deserves to die in a snowbank.
This is the foundational principle on which Inuvik's Emergency Warming Station has been built, and truly, it is needed. Every year there are stories about people dying from exposure somewhere in the territory; now those at risk will have a place to go, at least in Inuvik.
The centre is, however, just one piece of the overall puzzle that includes the homeless shelter, community counselling, and a multitude of other organizations -- not least of whom are the RCMP whose drunk tank often serves as a makeshift emergency warming station when all else fails. It's not about having one organization swoop in and solve all the problems. Everyone knows that is never a long-term solution. Instead, it's about having a spectrum of resources better equipped to handle the panoply of issues faced by those struggling in the community. The centre will fill a gap in services for the winter months when that gap most needs to be filled.
As excellent and commendable as that is, there is room for more. The centre's proponents have spoken about the difficulty of shutting down and having to re-open every year and the challenging logistics of getting the shelter up and running every fall. In an ideal world, there would be a way to stay open in the summer with a modified mandate to run some programs and in general provide services for people trying to break the cycle of addiction.
Such a plan would see the breaking of another cycle as well, one that sees hopes rise every winter when the centre opens and then fall to nothing when it has to close again. It would be lovely if many mental-health issues and crippling addictions could be addressed and cured in a single season but that is rarely possible in real life.
If the new territorial government is serious about the health of the people it serves -- all the people -- it will fund groups like the centre so they can stay open all year and provide a solid base on which people can build their recoveries. As expensive as that may be, healthy people living healthier lives cost the system less in the long run.
For now, the warming centre's Nov. 30 opening is in response to an emergency. In the future, it shouldn't have to take an emergency.
