Community liaisons could speed up emergency helpNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, February 15, 2016
The morning 23-year-old Charlotte Lafferty was left bloody, beaten and dead outside the elder's centre in Fort Good Hope has shed light on a problem with the territory's emergency response protocols.
Elder Barthy Kotchile doesn't speak English very well but he was the first to report Lafferty's injuries to the RCMP.
Because there was nobody at the Fort Good Hope detachment at the time, his call was redirected to Yellowknife.
It is clear from listening to a recording of the emergency call, which was submitted during the trial as evidence, Kotchile and the emergency dispatcher did not understand each other.
In the recording, Kotchile is clearly distressed, switching between Slavey and English, exclaiming about a woman being beaten "outside the duplex."
This wasn't enough information for the dispatcher to get an officer on scene, and in this situation where every second counted, RCMP was not able to respond quick enough to save Lafferty's life.
How can emergency response times be sped up? They could if every community had its own emergency dispatch liaison, who could field calls in English and his or her community's predominant language, and relay that information to the local RCMP 24/7.
Beyond speaking to callers in the language they are most comfortable, this person would know the community.
They would know what a caller might mean when he or she says something is happening outside "the duplex," for example.
The territorial government has a wealth of resources in the members of its smaller communities.
If the government would open up to recruiting people into liaison roles like this, it would make emergency, police and health services that much more effective.
An essential member of the communityNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, February 15, 2016
Today in the NWT it can be difficult for elders, who grew up speaking their indigenous language, to do things like go to a doctor, report a crime to a police officer or fill out a tax form.
This is the situation in many of the territory's communities, where elders today speak little English, if any at all, making seemingly simple tasks taxing, confusing, stressful experiences.
This is why people like Lianne Mantla, a Tlicho-speaking Behchoko resident who works as a nurse in her own community, are so valuable.
As Mantla says herself in the Feb. 8 News/North article ("The language of wellness"), she has worried about the information that gets lost in translation when a patient describes his or her health issues through a translator or worse, broken English without the help of a translator, so she left Behchoko to study nursing at Aurora College, finished her degree in Alberta and returned home to pursue her career.
She wasn't sure she would be accepted in Behchoko because she felt residents might be reticent to share details about their private health issues with somebody they grew up with in this tiny community. As it turns out, she was not only accepted but has been celebrated.
She was recently awarded a Tlicho Government Health and Government Award and Inuit Health Branch Award of Excellence in Nursing award from Health Canada.
The territory needs more people like Mantla, people who are willing to leave their community and bring back an career skill coupled with traditional and cultural knowledge.
Nunavut deserves special treatment for federal funding Nunavut/News North - Monday, February 15, 2016
There are more than a few things that are special about Nunavut.
At more than two million square kilometres (787,000 square miles), it is the largest single land mass under one jurisdiction in Canada.
It is Canada's northernmost territory, reaching far above the Arctic Circle.
It is the newest established part of Canada since coming into existence under its own government on April 1, 1999.
Nunavut is also special for the high percentage of its population being of the same ethnic origin, Inuit.
There are many things that make Nunavut unique, unlike any other part of Canada in so many ways.
But it is its status as the least populous area of Canada that really puts the icing on the argument that Nunavut needs to be treated in a special way.
Case in point is the federal government's Building Canada fund. That is the pot of money Ottawa has set aside for big infrastructure projects, like bridges and roads.
The $14-billion, 10-year program that started in 2014 provides money on the condition that a lower level of government shares in the cost. Quite often, Ottawa will provide 75 per cent of the cost while, in the case of Nunavut, the territory pays for the remaining 25 per cent. That is fair to both levels of government.
Another guideline used to award financing for capital projects from the Building Canada fund is not fair. In fact, we agree with a report by the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board, which is calling for changes to the way infrastructure money is spread across the country.
The practice of awarding funds based on population is shortchanging Nunavut. With approximately 30,000 residents, a per capita funding formula would award the entire territory of Nunavut the same amount of money as one small neighbourhood in a major Canadian city, simply a drop in the bucket.
Since the federal Liberal government has come to power, there has been talk that there was only about $10 billion left in the fund. Alberta just got a big chunk of that money toward infrastructure so that province, which is struggling with low oil prices, can put its unemployed oilpatch workers on infrastructure jobs.
The National Aboriginal Economic Development Board is recommending Ottawa set up a new fund specifically for Northern infrastructure. We couldn't agree more.
Nunavut deserves special treatment by virtue of its special features, which not only make it unique but also more costly and more challenging than other parts of Canada.
With no roads to southern Canada and its dependence on air transportation for goods and services, there is no question that Nunavut can justify its need for special treatment.
A $1 billion problem Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, February 12, 2016
The territorial government and the Union of Northern Workers must work together now to ensure the people of the NWT are served well in these difficult economic times.
The territory is fast approaching $1 billion in debt. Thanks in part to the loss of $34.2 million in federal grant money, the GNWT anticipates it will reach that milestone by the 2019-20 fiscal year.
Lest that milestone become an economic hurdle that forces the GNWT's future hands into making drastic and painful cost reductions, the territory must find efficiencies and savings now to reverse or at least slow our economic decline.
The first priority should be to recover the funding wiped off the balance sheet thanks to numerical jiggery-pokery by the federal government. The Liberal Party, having freshly swept the electoral North, must be held to account for this.
What has our MP Michael McLeod done for us on this account so far?
A second priority, but equal in importance, is for the GNWT and its workers union to recognize that fiscal restraint is in order to protect services and programs for the people they represent.
Do whatever possible to avoid cuts to important arts and cultural programs. Do not ignore or scrimp on the education or health care needs of the young or elderly.
Any new benefits the GNWT extends to its already very well-compensated employees, whether through union pressure or not, will be seen in a very negative light if they are followed by cuts to the services Northerners need and value.
Freeze hiring if need be. Reward employee-found cost-savings with extra vacation time, for example, to promote a work culture of efficiency not complacency.
Maybe the GNWT could consider staying-put in the buildings it owns now and put off building any more.
There may be savings found in privatizing services that currently run at a cost to the government.
There is no reason to look at our looming $1 billion debt hole as an unavoidable inevitability.
Pioneers saw big bucks in Northern lights Accessibility audit could open doors - Friday, February 12, 2016
Ensuring all residents in the city have access to the services they pay for in property taxes and user fees seems like no brainer but this may not be the case for some people with disabilities.
In considering an accessibility audit, city administration has acknowledged that people who require the use of canes, walkers and wheelchairs may not be able to get around the city as easily as other people
This is a good move.
The NWT Disabilities Council released a survey last year showing one third of 300 respondents with disabilities saying they had difficulty with physical barriers throughout the territory.
It's reasonable to presume people with disabilities are most aware of the accessibility issues in the city. They deal with them every day.
Yellowknifer reporter Meagan Leonard had a look around town for herself and found many downtown businesses are not fully accessible. Centre Square Mall, for instance, has no wheelchair-accessible ramp between the upper and lower levels. This means people unable to navigate stairs - this would include parents with baby strollers - must exit the building to access another level of the mall.
Clearly there is a problem. Now it's time to find a solution.
A carefully considered accessibility audit has the potential to do just that, if it is guided and informed by people with disabilities. The phrase "nothing about us, without us" has been adopted by disabilities activists and would be an ideal rule of thumb to follow here.
Those who push this policy need not be motivated by altruism. If properly accommodated, people with disabilities will be more motivated to stay in the NWT, meaning the $28,351 in per capita federal funding the territorial government receives for each resident will remain. Furthermore, everyone ages, and some who find buildings perfectly accessible today may find themselves grateful for structural accommodations a few decades down the road.
Keep rent lowDeh Cho Drum - Thursday, February 11, 2016
Councillors present at the village's committee of the whole meeting showed wisdom in their decision to keep rent at current levels for the Open Doors Society and Open Sky Creative Society on Feb. 8.
The decision is not binding until it passes through regular council. However, it promises to bring some measure of relief to patrons and organizers of the two societies.
As nonprofit organizations, they provide a wealth of programming at low or no cost to Fort Simpson. For Open Sky, that reach extends to the entire Deh Cho and even elsewhere in the Northwest Territories.
With the programming of these nonprofits now relatively safe, one issue for certain has emerged from the discussions to increase rent: the Fort Simpson recreation centre is in dire need of upkeep.
Between paying large bills for both heat and power, it appears the building's other maintenance needs have been neglected.
When lease agreements for Open Doors and Open Sky initially came up, village council and administration were faced with the tough decision of finding a way to bring in some much-needed maintenance money or continue to watch as the building deteriorates.
They chose action.
There is no shame in the fact they have now forestalled that action due to the effect it would have on Open Doors and Open Sky.
Rather, to the contrary, that decision shows forward-thinking to be expected from municipal leaders.
It also shows how valuable such organizations are to the village - and that the village understands and respects that value.
Those at the committee meeting on Feb. 8 witnessed something many municipalities strive for: a considerate committee who could see beyond their own needs.
Additionally, the meeting showed the fortitude of Fort Simpson's volunteers.
Rather than trying to draw blood from a stone, societies were able to successfully argue their cases and show the village why rent increases would be bad.
The result was a reasonable solution for everyone.
In closing the book on a rent increase, the village must now pursue alternative means of funding for maintenance of the recreation centre - means they likely would have had to pursue in the first place, given how little the rent from Open Doors and Open Sky would cover.
That could mean cuts to their budget elsewhere, or it could mean seeking out grants and funds from other organizations.
Luckily, the village seems to have some options open when it comes to recreation dollars. The same cannot be said for nonprofit societies when it comes to their budgets.
Bylaw debate scratches surfaceInuvik Drum - Thursday, February 11, 2016
If last week's public meeting about the liquor bylaw proved anything, it is that Inuvik's problems with alcohol run just as deep as everyone thought.
Not only were the vast majority of attendees vehemently against a change that would see bars allowed to open on Sundays and Good Friday, some even suggested that legislated closures should be extended more than they are now. When asked if that were possible, Mayor Jim McDonald said it was certainly something he and council could look into.
Obviously this is bigger than the Sunday question.
Everyone who spoke out against the proposed change had personal stories to tell, painful stories of childhood abandonment, abuse and rejection of alcohol themselves.
Many, some subtly and some less so, advocated for prohibition on some level.
It's no secret that prohibition doesn't work, but it's equally clear that whatever we're doing now isn't working either.
That being said, blaming alcohol for the breakdown of family ties and faith is also something of a red herring. Alcohol abuse is a symptom of greater problems, not the problem in and of itself.
Harkening back to a time when Sundays were spent with family, going to church, and people only drank to have fun is wilful illusion at best.
At the end of the day, people who want to drink -- who need to drink -- are going to find ways to do it. Bootleggers are always an option, as are various common household items for the truly desperate. Once again, the drink is not the problem. The problem is what causes the deep wounds within the people doing the drinking.
It's easy to look to other jurisdictions where bars are open 364 days a year and ask why Inuvik should be different. But the reality is that Inuvik -- the North -- is different. There are a multitude of experiences and issues here that other places just don't have, or witness to a far lesser extent. For those reasons, the North needs its own remedies.
There have been initiatives and good people doing good work to help those turning to the bottle, but we need more.
Cutting down the hours bars can serve liquor, or simply keeping them where they are now, is an attractive but ultimately inadequate solution.
Sixty people isn't the highest turnout a public meeting has ever drawn, but we would argue the emotion those 60 people brought to the Feb. 3 public meeting rivals the most well-attended meeting.
Services key in Housing FirstYellowknifer - Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Simply giving a homeless person a home may have an immediate visual effect on the downtown streets but it only transplants the issue.
Give a homeless person a home where they're connected with resources to face their addictions, their mental-health issues and impediments to joining the workforce, and they stand upon a foundation of possibility.
Those who are determined can use the stability of a home and the accessibility of services to vastly improve their lives. As the city stands at the doorstep of a program that connects the homeless with homes and services, it's critical the latter aspect is stressed.
The city, via the Community Advisory Board on Homelessness, has secured $1.08 million in funding over the next three years for Housing First. The first person is expected to be housed sometime this summer and will be joined by up to 19 others over the next few years.
But exactly how the program will look is yet unclear. City councillor Linda Bussey - a strong advocate of Housing First from its early stages - underlined the importance of support services. These could include on-site addictions counselling, job placement and social services programming, and a building supervisor.
"We need clinical services, we need tenant relations services, we need tons of service," she told Yellowknifer last week.
Bussey said a staff of about three or four will be hired to provide the services. Cameron Keller, with Kaleidoscope Consult, suggested to city council last week that Housing First units be scattered around the city but spreading these units out could impede the necessary access to services which could be the difference between a successful and unsuccessful program. It would also make the program more susceptible to not-in-my-backyard-syndrome that will inevitably arise on multiple fronts if units for homeless are placed among home owners and full-rent paying tenants.
A central, downtown, multi-unit location for the program will have a better chance of thriving.
Along with continual access to support services on site, such a facility has a real chance of becoming more than political platitudes cast toward a seemingly endless and hopeless problem.
Hats off to paying it forwardYellowknifer - Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Taking care of our neighbours is a Northern tradition.
The Fraser Institute, a Vancouver-based think tank, has repeatedly rated the NWT as one of the least charitable jurisdictions in Canada but that distinction simply doesn't ring true.
Enter the co-ordinated efforts of Coyote's Steakhouse and Lounge, Buffalo Airways and Northbest Foods who together are delivering fresh fruit to Kugluktuk where the cost of groceries far outpaces the national average.
The inspiration, says Coyote's owner Ed But, came from his own period of hard times when his restaurant's water pipes froze and burst in 2014. The incident cost him $50,000 after he was forced to shut down and repair the damage. He says customers saw his plight and came down in droves after he re-opened, resulting in a banner year business-wise.
Now, to borrow a term, he is paying it forward with help from two other companies. Buffalo is transporting the food at a discounted rate and But's food supplier, Northbest Distributors, is forgiving half the cost of the fruit. The plan, said But, is to eventually expand the deliveries to other communities so students can enjoy a nutritious meal and stay healthy, which has direct influence on their ability to learn.
The high cost of food is something that affects all of the North but it is especially acute in the High Arctic. As governments struggle to find ways to provide meaningful help, whether it be inadequate programs such as Food Mail or Nutrition North, these companies are stepping in where government is often too slow to react.
This is another stellar case of Northerners using their ingenuity, connections and a desire to make life a little easier for our neighbours so we can all benefit in the long run.
New facility would truly put safety first in RankinEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Rankin Inlet senior administrative officer Justin Merritt may not be the most popular man in the community right now, but the move to enforce capacity numbers at the local arena and community hall is the right one - sort of.
It's hard to argue with someone who puts safety first, as Merritt did in taking his concerns to hamlet council on the dangers of having too many people in the community hall and/or the arena.
When it comes to people's safety, it's better to be safe than sorry.
Merritt also showed for the umpteenth time over the years, he's fearless when it comes to making tough decisions while holding public office or an administrative position within his community.
All good things.
The downside, of course, is that we're talking about the absolute hub of the community.
And, let's be honest, there's not a whole lot to do during an average Kivalliq winter, even in a community as big as Rankin Inlet.
The winter blahs often set in with many people before Mother Nature decides to allow spring to arrive in the region each year.
And, any one who says sports tournaments, the Christmas Games, or any other major event held at the arena or community hall doesn't help lift the blues is whistling Dixie.
And whistling out of tune at that!
Then there's the other matter, which Merritt admits himself, of nobody being able to remember the numbers being enforced in the past.
Anyone who knows Merritt realizes the man is one sharp cookie, and he would never make such a move without first weighing the pros and cons.
The promised enforcement has already attracted its share of media attention.
And that, no matter which side of the fence you sit on, is also a good thing.
Far be it for me to read anything into Merritt's decision other than his stated concerns for the safety of all who spend time at the arena or the community hall.
But the move should ramp up pressure on the Government of Nunavut to start investing itself a little more into the community it defines as the transportation hub of the territory.
To have an arena and community hall that can service a scant 18 per cent or so of its population is both laughable and degrading to such a vibrant community. Rankin has fallen so far behind with its infrastructure needs, its government thinks it's ahead. And, while enforcing the capacity numbers in our old building may increase the safety factor somewhat, the truth of the matter is it's an old and dilapidated building that can cause injury at any time, no matter what the number of people inside.
And that alone goes nowhere near encompassing the hit the community's collective mental health takes by having to turn roughly 82 per cent of its population away from entertaining and uplifting events.
It's long past the time for Rankin to receive a new community hall and arena for its residents.
The people as a community have earned them and it's time for the government to deliver.
We'll all have fewer "safety concerns" when the community has a new facility it is more than deserving of.
