Bell should help foot bill for 9-1-1 Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, January 8, 2016
Northwestel owner Bell Canada is shortly to go before the NWT Supreme Court where a judge will determine how much the company must pay in compensation for customer fees collected in the North for a non-existent 9-1-1 service.
It's been a drawn out affair for Bell and James and Sam Anderson who brought a class action lawsuit against the company back in 2007 for its pricing scheme.
Over several years the company charged more than 20,000 customers $0.75 per month for basic 9-1-1 emergency service which never has, and still is not, available in the North (except for a pool of Ice Wireless subscribers).
There isn't a tonne of money involved, at least as far as individual subscribers are concerned. It only works out to about nine bucks per year but the principle was and remains worth the fight.
Bell never should have been charging for a service it did not provide. That the company fought this simple premise tooth-and-nail through the courts is a black mark on the company's reputation.
It is time for Bell to face the music and admit the error of its corporate ways.
The Andersons' lawyer said his clients are willing to consider a settlement of the case that would see Bell set aside a chunk of money to help establish 9-1-1 service in the North.
This is a brilliant idea and would go a long way toward ridding the room of the stink left by Bell's reluctance to date to abide by the court decision and common sense.
If Bell were to sponsor in some way the development of 9-1-1 service in the North, the company would accomplish two things.
First, most Bell customers would probably be satisfied to hear their fees would in the end serve the development of the kind of emergency service taken for granted in most other parts of the country.
Second, Bell Canada would show itself to be a good corporate citizen in the NWT, even if a reluctant one.
Teaching the teachers about residential schools Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, January 8, 2016
Efforts to bring Northern teachers up to speed on the history of the residential schools are long overdue.
The Department of Education, Culture and Employment is making its Northern studies class mandatory for all NWT teachers. It promises to put teachers in the role of students so they may learn a critical element of the country's history.
Canada's schools have long contributed to the national ignorance.
A Canadian high school grad could have learned about the age of discovery, confederation and maybe a little pre-colonial contact for good measure without ever seeing or hearing the words "residential" and "schools" next to one another.
Students might learn about the Holocaust without knowing a cultural genocide had occurred at home.
It is a gaping hole in Canada's school curriculum, an aspect of our history almost completely ignored by educators. Overlooking it perpetuates the cultural consequences.
NWT students are introduced to the topic of residential schools in Grade 4 and pick it up again in Northern Studies 10. A teacher uninformed of the documented atrocities committed in residential schools can easily ignore or unintentionally minimize the subject and fail to recognize the reverberations in other aspects of their student's home and school lives.
Hopefully, this will start a trend that will spread throughout Canadian provincial education systems.
Look to certaintyDeh Cho Drum - Thursday, January 7, 2016
The new year has arrived and has brought with it the hope of certainty - something residents of the Deh Cho region have sought for many years.
The past 12 months saw upheaval in many communities as the territory went through band, municipal, federal and territorial elections. New faces joined old, and in some cases, replaced them altogether.
People with little to no political clout ousted others with years of experience as residents stood up to usher in a wave of new faces.
For Canada, that meant a Liberal majority - and, for the Northwest Territories, a Member of Parliament who is affiliated with the reigning party. As luck would have it, MP Michael McLeod hails from Fort Providence.
The then-candidate said he saw the importance of wrapping up land claims in the NWT, including Dehcho Process negotiations.
The Liberal win has the potential to change the negotiations completely. Additionally, with a new MLA in Nahendeh and political heavy hitter Michael Nadli back in the Deh Cho, there will be no shortage of local support for the Dehcho First Nations as it works to close up its decades-long land claim process.
Although the territory's premier remains unchanged, Bob McLeod has already begun singing a very different tune than that of the premier who took a hard-line approach to the Dehcho Process last spring.
His promise of a new deal and support for the Dehcho First Nations echoes the tone the Liberal government has set federally for its dealings with aboriginal people.
It seems to be just a matter of time, then, before certainty reaches the Deh Cho.
Instead of fighting tooth and nail for what they are owed, bands who are settling land claims can now look forward to a less adversarial process. The spirit of negotiation can return.
Municipally, the Deh Cho is in good hands as well, as mayors and councillors make plans to tackle the most important issues in their respective areas.
These leaders promise to bring an end to the tumultuous year communities in the Deh Cho have experienced. Tragedy struck Fort Liard and Fort Simpson, crime pervaded Fort Providence and overarching social issues remained relatively untended.
In Fort Simpson, the village is already well on its way to overcoming the woes of the last council, putting money aside for future needs and passing a reasonable budget. If the council's rhetoric on transparency is ever fully realized, Fort Simpson council will set an example for future councils to follow.
Fort Providence and Fort Liard also saw new mayors installed. Fort Providence's mayor-in-waiting has already released a list of issues he plans to address while Fort Liard's mayor plans to get the hamlet's house in order.
The Deh Cho region has experienced a year of change. The effects of those changes will hopefully be seen throughout 2016 and lead to positive solutions going forward.
New faces, new year, new hopeInuvik Drum - Thursday, January 7, 2016
Thankfully, 2015 is over.
While there were undoubtedly high points and victories, it was also a year of rising prices, budget cuts and continued economic uncertainty. Actually, calling the economy uncertain is disingenuous. It's bad and looking like it's going to get worse before it gets better.
While gas prices remain exorbitantly high in Inuvik itself, the outlook for the entire territory is murky, particularly in light of the most recent developments. De Beers pulling out of Snap Lake and the federal government announcing it will be cutting transfer payments by more than $30 million just a few weeks later felt like something of a one-two punch to the gut for many Northerners, particularly those working in resource extraction, government and those funded by government money - which is to say nearly everyone.
But still, 2015 was also a year of rampant change. While the municipal crew is a mix of new and familiar faces, the territorial legislature is awash with first-time MLAs, some of whom will also be first-time ministers, to say nothing of the dramatic red wave that swept across the country in the federal election, bringing Justin Trudeau and his equal-opportunity cabinet to power.
Wherever you stand on his policies, everyone can agree Trudeau is a very different leader than Stephen Harper.
While some candidates urged voters to re-elect them and stay the course, the current course isn't working as well as many people would like. Hopefully the fresh faces at all levels will be able to sway their more experienced counterparts toward new action and breathe new life into what voter-turnouts suggest is a lacklustre democracy.
There is, however, something to be said for those familiar faces keeping steady hands on the tiller. The North is nothing if not a boom-and-bust kind of place and for those who have seen prosperity come and go over the decades, this latest slump is hardly anything new.
Our new deputy premier and finance minister Robert C. McLeod said as much in his interview with Inuvik Drum prior to re-election. He said he has seen the military and oil money flow in and out of town and that he is confident Inuvik can weather the storm until the next big thing comes along.
While optimism should not be the province of journalists or - in their hearts - politicians, one can't help but agree with McLeod.
The only thing as certain as tanking revenues in a boom-and-bust economy is a subsequent surge toward fortune once again.
A glimmer in the skyYellowknifer - Wednesday, January 6, 2016
As usual, there was plenty of good news and bad news in Yellowknife in 2015. But honing in on the themes that exist underneath the endless news cycle, one can better get a glimpse not of what was but what will be as the clock starts to tick on the new year.
Economically, it would be understandable if Yellowknifers are sitting
a bit nervous; on Dec. 3, Kim Truter, CEO of diamond company De Beers Canada, touched down in Yellowknife to announce the closure of its Snap Lake Diamond Mine and the slashing of 434 jobs.
The company's other mine, Gahcho Kue a joint venture between
De Beers and Mountain Province Diamonds -- is still slated to open this year and on the surface, all is rosy.
But one has to wonder if the outlook is really as good as the company
purports the mine, after all, while vital to the city and territory's economy is but a line-item in a corporate budget at global headquarters.
Yellowknifers must brace, at least a bit, for that rosy outlook to be tainted. Just prior to the holidays, Yellowknifer $34.2 million of funding the NWT gets from the federal government is on the chopping block a move that caused a "disappointed and not very happy" Premier Bob McLeod to raise the issue with the federal finance minister whose department is now reviewing the change.
Although the figure represents just a 2.7-per cent drop from last year's transfer payment, every penny or million counts and that this is reflected in the actions of our leaders is comforting. But in this seemingly dire outlook, there is a glimmer of hope: it's green and floating across the sky.
One only has to take a short gander onto city streets to see it speckled with tourists many from China and Japan. The increase has been exponential in five years Chinese visitors skyrocketed from 100 in the first year to 7,000 in the fifth -- and these markets are only expected to grow.
Maybe it's time to gently lay down the 'diamond capital of Canada' catchphrase and call ourselves the 'aurora capital of the world.'
Although marketing of the aurora has primarily been driven by the private sector, there are new politicians on all three levels of government following the trifecta of elections this fall. If there's any time for new ideas and an overhaul of the status quo, it's now.
The new city council has a big decision on the horizon on whether to bid on the 2023 Canada Winter Games a project that was the source of much contention last year despite Mayor Mark Heyck being its numberone cheerleader.
The city committed to deciding on whether it would bid on the project by the end of the year but the decision has been pushed to this month. It's looking unlikely the Games will go ahead with the economy the way it is but the public hasn't seen the recommendation from the Canada Winter Games working group, which has been looking at a possible bid from all angles.
The city showed it could spend responsibly last year when work on
the Northland Trailer Park showed it was on budget on the $15.8 million project.
On social issues, there's still much work to be done. The city conducted a count of homeless people this year and came up with 150 in what could be a lowball estimate as the count was conducted by attracting the homeless with a barbecue.
This was part of the city's Housing First model in which the city, with funding from the federal government, intends to give people who
need them homes.
Dealing with the city's homeless is a complex issue that will likely never be solved entirely, although the establishment of transitional housing in the city is a positive step in the right direction.
One thing is clear: the cost strain on the territorial government for putting the homeless and downtrodden up in hospitals and jails is too high.
But often front-line shelter workers are paid the least. If the territorial government wants to cut costs it needs to financially support front-line workers so they have the skills and tools to help the homeless do better in life, with the ultimate goal of transcending what is now just a safety net.
A lot can be accomplished in a year it's important to have a vision and move forward accordingly.
WEDNESDAY KIVALLIQ NEWS -->
Past, present and future memoriesEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, January 6, 2016
As you take a peek back at some of the events that have happened in our region during the past 12 months, may I take the quick opportunity to wish you and yours happiness, prosperity and good health throughout the new year.
Wow! I am now into my 18th year as editor of Kivalliq News.
Much has changed since my flight landed on its third attempt through the wind and snow on Dec. 9, 1998.
I briefly questioned my sanity as I sat in the airport terminal and tried to comfort my daughter, Lindsey, who was shaken by our landing amid a crowd of unfamiliar faces.
Even the person I was replacing forgot about our arrival and was late meeting us.
It was a lonely feeling.
The following day, I nearly froze my rear-end off walking around the community.
The first friend I made in Rankin Inlet was Joachim Ayaruak, who stopped to ask if the coat and boots I had on were the best I owned.
He told me what I was wearing would never do in Rankin, especially a winter jacket with no fur on the hood, welcomed me, shook my hand and headed on his way.
A few days later my phone rang and the voice of the same Joachim Ayaruak, who headed oldtimers hockey at the time, said, "You never told me you were a goalie."
Joachim remains a good friend of mine today, as does his wife, Joyce.
I never had a vehicle for my first six years, or so, in Rankin, and I can honestly say I don't miss lugging my camera bag around the community with 90-click winds trying to keep me from my appointed rounds one little bit.
I can't remember the exact day I received word from Yellowknife we were going digital with our photography, but what a glorious day it was.
I hadn't "souped" film since college when I arrived in Rankin and, each and every week, I was a nervous wreck until I went into my little darkroom and saw my negatives did, in fact, have little pictures on them.
Well except for the time I was spooling negatives and realized I could see my hands, but that's a story for another day.
Fast forward to today, and Rankin Inlet has become the place where I've lived the longest in my life, and the town I've considered my home for a good many years now.
Yes, it's true. It was hockey that first hooked me and kindled my love affair with the Kivalliq.
I love it to this day and consider Kivalliq hockey fans, especially in Rankin, among the best in Canada.
I will never, until the day I depart this life, forget leaving the ref's room, walking down the hall (in those days the ref's room was in the arena worker's office), opening the door to the ice surface, and seeing a sold-out crowd for a peewee playoff game at 11 a.m. on a Sunday morning.
It was truly one of the most inspiring moments of my life.
Since then, I have accumulated countless hockey memories in the arenas of Rankin, Arviat, Naujaat and Whale Cove (at one time the Johnny Kook Memorial was the toughest senior men's event of the year) in particular.
I feel privileged to have been at the helm of this publication for so long, and look forward to another year of telling the stories of those who call the Kivalliq home.
And, who knows, maybe there will be another memory or two still in store for this old zebra!
New year, old problemsNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, January 4, 2016
Heading into the new year in the Northwest Territories the glass is half full but it would be foolish not to acknowledge it's also half empty.
NWTers are turning over a new leaf under new leadership with fresh faces in the legislative assembly and a federal Liberal government that seems keen to heal relations with indigenous governments across Canada and open a national inquiry on missing and murdered indigenous women.
But these new governments will be haunted by the same ghosts.
The NWT economy, which relies on resource extraction, is entering the new year on a precipice. De Beers' Snap Lake diamond mine closed in early December, North American Tungsten declared bankruptcy and closed its Cantung mine earlier in the fall, the territorial government approved up to $4.5 million to pick up a tungsten-rich property because nobody else wanted it, Canadian Zinc shut down its Prairie Creek project in September and Dominion Diamond experienced what was described in media as a "shareholder revolt," which resulted in two board members stepping down. Only time will tell whether this leadership shuffle will result in any changes in the company's Diavik or Ekati diamond mines.
The oil and gas sectors remained relatively inert last year. ConocoPhillips did not return to do any exploratory drilling in the Sahtu and Imperial Oil delayed plans to drill in the Beaufort Sea.
Meanwhile, the National Energy Board released a study last May that speculated the Sahtu could be sitting on as many as 200 billion barrels of oil.
In aviation, one of the territory's stalwart companies, Buffalo Airways, was grounded in early December by Transport Canada. The federal department cited serious safety concerns and there is no timeline for when - or if - the airline will get off the ground again in 2016.
In power generation, the territorial government added $30 million in September to 2014's $20 million subsidy to the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. This is to keep the cost of power at the same rate as the power corp. increasingly relies on diesel generation in the face of low water levels.
The new government will have to decide whether it will be able to afford to continue these subsidies this year.
The public also does not yet know how much money in resource revenues the government stands to lose with Snap Lake, Cantung and Prairie Creek closing their doors but whatever the total is, it could be coupled with an estimated loss of $34 million per year in federal transfer payments, more bad economic news that came down the pipe just before Christmas. The territorial government has slotted expenditures of approximately $1.6 billion over the coming year.
The economy and power generation were big problems as 2014 came to a close and one year later, these problems persist. Nobody knows if or when resource prices will rebound.
Rather than play the waiting game, those in power must think about diversifying the economy. While the government itself will certainly continue to be a major contributor to the NWT economy, the mining sector's contributions will need to be supplemented. Tourism is a good place to start but won't fill the role entirely.
It will be up to the territorial government to hold the Liberals accountable for the campaign promises they have made to invest in Northern infrastructure.
To borrow words from News/North's colourful columnist Cece McCauley, the territory's leaders are going to need to usher in the new year with their thinking caps on.
Federal funding crucial for territory to succeedNunavut/News North - Monday, January 4, 2016
The prospect of tackling significant challenges with hope and optimism is what is greeting territorial leaders of Nunavut as 2016 begins, providing the money exists.
In an interview with Nunavut News/North, Premier Peter Tuptana spoke about the top items on his to-do list for the coming year, observing a need for change in the way education is delivered and a desire for the multimillion-dollar Iqaluit airport construction project to be completed on budget and on time.
The conversation touched on many issues of importance to Nunavummiut - housing, employment, job training, suicide prevention and devolution.
One thing Taptuna was not prepared for was a surprise from the federal government. A technical change in the way the territorial formula financing amount is calculated is resulting in a $34-million decrease in funding sent to Nunavut by Ottawa. The federal government plans to grant $1.462 billion in 2016-17 to the territory.
Finance Minister Keith Peterson is hopeful the discrepancy in the vital source of revenue, caused by a difference in how Statistics Canada measures data, can be resolved and the funding can be brought back to the expected level.
The issue of funding from the federal government is crucial to the territory's success in so many ways.
Promises made by the Liberal government will only become reality if the territory has its share of money to contribute.
The previous government's Building Canada fund provides 75 per cent of the funding for infrastructure projects like a small craft harbour for Pond Inlet and a deep-sea port for Iqaluit. Nunavut has to come up with the other 25 per cent for the project to proceed. That means the territory has to find $22.1 million to match Ottawa's $63.7 million for the Iqaluit port project and $10 million for the $40-million Pond Inlet project.
That said, there is reason for optimism in the coming year and beyond.
Nunavut MP Hunter Tootoo is a cabinet minister with a significant portfolio, the respect of his peers and a desire to deliver on the many needs identified during the 2015 election campaign.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on side with a recognition of the many challenges residents of the North face. His government has already pledged an increase of funding for Nutrition North of $10 million per year for four years.
Key to Nunavut's ability to address many of its pressing problems is financial capacity. We are hopeful the federal government recognizes the multiple needs and assists the territorial government with the money required to make a real difference.
