Liberal's quick fix not enoughYellowknifer - Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Yes, the federal Liberals made good on the their pre-election promise to increase the Northern Resident's deduction.
A 33-per-cent bump sounds impressive, resulting in a $22 a day tax deduction.
This is a welcome help to the pocketbook of average Northerners but it only begins to address the much higher cost of living in the North.
As Frame Lake MLA Kevin O'Reilly points out, the deduction has not been indexed to match inflation. This means the deduction will be worth less every year as the cost of living rises remorselessly upward.
There are cost-of-living measurements readily available that suggest the cost of living in the North, especially for a family, outstrips the Northern Resident's deduction. According to the most recent Statistics Canada consumer price index report, the cost of food continues to rise in Yellowknife year after year.
Meat, fish and poultry saw an 8.4 per cent increase compared to 1.6 per cent nationally. Overall, food prices are up 6.2 per cent since this time last year, the second year in a row that brought increased Northern food costs.
Add to this the inflated cost of fuel for both transportation and heating, as well as the high cost of real estate or rentals in the North, and the deduction looks more like a token acknowledgment of the cost of living up here instead of an wholehearted attempt to encourage Northern residency.
Rookie MP Michael McLeod entered last fall's election promising more than his party was willing to deliver but at least has shown himself capable of getting results. He and the other Northern MPs swept into office during last year's Liberal wave should forcefully make the case that tax deduction increases are only really fair to the North when they are indexed to inflation to ensure the deduction maintains its value over time.
On the infrastructure front, the big ticket item in this year's budget is the $120 billion earmarked for spending over the next 10 years on capital projects nationwide.
Exactly what this will mean for the Northwest Territories is not clear yet but hopefully it will include spending on a much-needed all-season extension to the Tibbitt-to-Contwoyto winter road, one of Canada's so-called "roads to resources."
It would be a boost to mineral exploration in the North to have an all-season road running from Yellowknife to the mineral rich zone that currently hosts all of the NWT's operating mines.
If Yellowknifers want to continue to enjoy the benefit of active diamond mining and mineral exploration a mere few hundred kilometres northwest of the city, they should support funding for this crucial transportation link.
It is ironic that O'Reilly, who prior to becoming an MLA, built his career and earned his living on the back of active mineral exploration and mining - albeit as an environmental monitor of mining -- would insist roads to resources should be ignored and lofty goals, such as a university in Yellowknife, should be championed instead.
No doubt a university would be an attractive addition to the city but we suggest its foundation would be on firmer ground if government ensured the NWT's number one economy driver had a reliable road link to the resources corridor in the Barrens.
Still bones to pick with federal budgetEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, March 30, 2016
The Liberal govenment's recent federal budget does have some good news for Nunavummiut, but the glossy dollar figures being bandied about for the ill-fated and highly-flawed Nutrition North program don't amount to a hill of beans to those of us who purchase most of our groceries locally.
The best news in the budget for most Nunavummiut is the increase in the Northern residents tax deduction.
The maximum daily residency deduction is rising to $22 from its previous $16.50, which is a significant, if long overdue, improvement.
And while $76.7 million over two years should result in about 140 new "affordable housing" units, that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the territory's true housing needs.
In fact, as sexy as that $76.7 million may appear on the surface, $38.35 million per year is a long way short of the $105 million a year over five years the Government of Nunavut wants the feds to buy into.
It's a start but make no mistake, it's baby steps.
And that brings us to the headline grabbing, spotlight stealing amounts of money being dumped into the Nutrition North cesspool during the next five years or so.
The base amount of $64.5 million is no increase at all to the program, and the vast majority of the extra $13.8 per year (ongoing) will be going to remote communities everywhere but here.
But, hey. Fair is fair, right? We mustn't be greedy with the sweet deal we've been enjoying since this program came into affect.
The only hope we have, at this point, of Nutrition North ever paying any significant dividends to who it's supposedly in place to help (read: consumers, not retailers), is the mandatory providing of a retailer's profit-margin information to independent auditors to make sure the fox doesn't have the henhouse totally locked down.
But that's still just one kernel on a very large ear of corn.
The Nutrition North program will never be fixed by throwing money at it.
It was fatally flawed from the moment it was dreamt up by a Conservative government overreacting to a few speed bumps with Canada Post over the old Food Mail program, and then acting on a lot of input from a bunch of former Bay boys, directly and indirectly, with shiny new titles.
It has done nothing but produce record profits for retailers, ever-escalating prices for consumers on all but a small number of items, and the Lord only knows how many tonnes of rotting fruit and vegetables in Nunavut landfills.
It also resulted in the all-too-surreal scenario of Company A turning a profit while paying Company B to transport plane loads of its goods to various locations.
If the Liberals are not willing to wipe the slate clean with Nutrition North and say, "Oops, sorry about that," and tear it down completely, then it must stop focusing on ways to make the retailers more accountable in passing along the subsidies and focus on ways to put the subsidies in the hands of the consumers.
It's been done rather effectively in other countries, so surely we can figure it out here.
The Liberal government's first federal budget is definitely a step up from just crumbs going to Nunavut, but, as far as Nutrition North goes, there's still more than a few bones to pick!
Housing money meant for housing peopleNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, March 28, 2016
Nahendeh MLA Shane Thompson asked a very good question in the legislative assembly on March 3.
In an exchange with Caroline Cochrane, the minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, he wondered why the corporation imports modular homes from Alberta rather than building them up here.
He argued that using modular homes does nothing to stimulate the NWT economy. He figures that if the NWT Housing Corporation were to commission housing from builders within the territory, then the housing corp could kill two birds with one stone - house people and foster a whole new economic sector.
Indeed this is a very good question that happens to have a very good answer. The one glaring problem with Thompson's premise is construction in the NWT is much harder than it may seem. Lumber and other building materials need to be imported and the NWT doesn't necessarily have a workforce of skilled labourers big enough to take on multiple housing projects across multiple NWT communities.
In fact, an example that illustrates how difficult it can be for contractors to make a living constructing housing in the NWT happens to be playing out in Inuvik right now. Millenium Construction, the contractor hired to build the Sydney Apartments project in the community, has abandoned the partially-finished structure in the face of multiple lawsuits. The Western Arctic Business Development Corporation has taken the company to court over $12,000 in unpaid loans and the Canada Revenue Agency has ordered the company's assets seized and sold to recoup unpaid taxes to the tune of $1.4 million. Meanwhile, the NWT Housing Corporation is left picking up the pieces. The Sydney Apartment complex was scheduled to be finished this spring. Instead, the housing corp is preparing to post a new contract for the building's completion next month, with the hopes it will be finished by autumn.
Obviously, not every housing project commissioned within the territory is doomed to the fate of Sydney Apartments but the situation makes the reason the housing corporation opts for 30 per cent cheaper Alberta-built homes easier to understand.
This argument doesn't mean Thompson's challenge lacks merit. Perhaps the territorial government could be doing more to encourage NWT residents who go into the trades to bring their skills back home. But building a competent workforce is a long-term initiative, while housing is something many residents across the territory desperately need now.
Building a house and building a workforce are two separate problems and in order to get it right, they need their own solutions.
Another way for business to support whole communityNunavut/News North - Monday, March 28, 2016
Almost everyone has met a person who is special in a certain way.
That person might have a learning disability, suffer from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, live with a physical disability, have varying
degrees of mental illnesses or require special attention in certain areas.
There are no hard numbers on how many people in Nunavut live with a disability, although it is estimated to be up to 33 per cent of
the population.
That's where the Nunavummi Disabilities Makinnasuaqtiit Society comes in.
Staff from the society are not only touring Nunavut's larger communities to identify people with disabilities, see if they are employed and identify their goals but the society also wants to hear from potential employers, business owners who might be able to hire people with disabilities not as an act of charity but because they contribute to a company's success.
The society is developing a territory-wide program to match disabled people with potential employers, essentially seeking suitable positions to place people who otherwise wouldn't be part of the work force.
That's the premise behind the Inclusion Cafe in Iqaluit, which was developed to create work experience, training and employment for
people with disabilities in the capital city.
There has been some reluctance in the business community to hire people with a disability. The question of liability looms large for some business owners, who have invested literally millions of dollars in premises and equipment. Many business owners don't know how they can modify their work flow to accommodate a person with a disability.
However, in a project funded jointly by the governments of Canada and Nunavut through a threeyear labour market agreement, funding is available to provide on-the-job support, from job coaches to specialized equipment and technology that may be needed in the workplace.
To make the project work, potential employers are being asked to fill out a survey which asks them to be frank about their attitudes
towards the disabled, what kind of support is required and whether there is a place for disabled people within the business.
Time after time we've heard stories about disabled people who have overcome the challenges they face to excel in a specific area.
The disabled individual benefits immensely from the experience, gaining self esteem, a sense of belonging and proves to be a benefit
to the community at large.
But this project does more than that. It seeks to generate a true benefit for the employer. And it has funding available to modify the workplace to make that happen.
We see the opportunity for a win-win-win situation. The business
benefits, the individual makes gains and the community at large becomes home to another contributing member of society.
Government waiting for tragedy to act on 9-1-1 Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, March 25, 2016
The change in government does not appear to have brought us any closer to moving forward with 9-1-1 service in the Northwest Territories.
Implementing 9-1-1 should have been in the new government's mandate. It was not. Instead, further briefings are planned sometime "in the coming months."
This prolonged inaction is incomprehensible in the face of figures showing start-up costs for the service are now pegged at little more than $600,000 with annual costs of $266,200 to the taxpayer after cell and land-line service fees are taken into account.
This is a pittance in the face of the GNWT's total budget of roughly $1.8 billion, and would begin to bring the NWT in line with the rest of North America where dialing three simple digits in an emergency is largely taken for granted. Whitehorse has had 9-1-1 service since 1994.
Although the service would likely roll out in Yellowknife before being extended throughout the territory, this is an acceptable starting point and not the deal-breaker MLAs representing the communities may think it is.
There are three realities here: many citizens from the communities travel to Yellowknife; Yellowknife represents approximately half the population of the NWT; and Yellowknife is the staging point for virtually all pleasure or business travel to the North.
The territory is in the middle of a tourism boom, something which the business and government leaders are set on exploiting further.
A visitor death or deaths thanks the absence of a service taken for granted elsewhere would be a black eye for Spectacular NWT. Imagine the international headlines blaring reports of tourists unable to reach help due to an archaic emergency dispatch system.
People new and moving to the territory, including the teachers, nurses, and other professionals the GNWT has been so desperate to lure here to help shore up its bottom line, are also particularly vulnerable.
There have been many close calls. Just yesterday the Transportation Safety Board of Canada remarked in its report on the emergency landing of an Air Tindi aircraft on Great Slave Lake how a passenger tried to dial out but was unable to make the call because the person's cellphone plan had expired. Even without an active cellphone plan, the passenger would still have been able to call 9-1-1 using that same phone had the service existed in the NWT, the report states.
Visitors to the North expect basic 9-1-1 service. Northerners deserve a simplified emergency dispatch system that begins with three simple numbers.
Why is the GNWT dragging its heels on this matter? The sad fact is it often takes an avoidable tragedy to effect change. That's what it took for the government to hire "beach attendants" after a seven-year-old boy drowned at Fred Henne Territorial Park in 2013 - 10 years after deciding to do away with lifeguards at Long Lake.
What human tragedy is the GNWT waiting for before it implements 9-1-1 service, and what will it cost us?
More to Northern tourism than Northern lights Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, March 25, 2016
It has been a warmer than usual winter, of that there is no doubt. Whether it is a sign of climate change celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio says it is, or merely the effects of an El Nino year is debatable.
What isn't debatable is that even in a warm winter year, there is still plenty of winter in the Northwest Territories. It was raining in Toronto on Wednesday. Outside of Yellowknife there is more than three feet of ice on the lakes, and it will still be there for at least another month.
While aurora will likely always be the big tourism draw, maybe it's time to start showcasing all the other great winter activities that take place here and have potential to grow.
Snowtrails tales columnist Bruce Hewlko reported last week on a snowmobiling conference he attended and the difficulties snowmobilers were having finding snow down south. Well, there is plenty of snow and many wide-open trails up here.
Perhaps Yellowknife can benefit as a premier snowmobiling destination in future years.
A short drive onto Yellowknife Bay via the Dettah ice road reveals a readily accessible and endless expanse of ice for skiers, paraskiers, snowshoers and other snow and ice enthusiasts to enjoy - all within sight of the SnowKing Winter Festival and Long John Jamboree.
Tourism operators and city and territorial officials should be taking note of the tourism opportunities in a place where winter blankets the land for half the year. Its value will increase as winter gets rarer elsewhere.
The cost of doing businessDeh Cho Drum - Thursday, March 24, 2016
The fitness centre is off on the right foot. But in order to ensure the project meets the needs of the community, extensive consultation should be undertaken.
Hopefully, councillors will continue on the path they've started, instead of calling it a day with the input they've already received.
Usually, that sort of consultation would take place before floor plans are drawn up. However, in this case, councillors are meeting the community's needs by reaching out.
As they gather input, they are also hearing from community members who want a say in what goes into the finished building.
Floor plans already exist, although they can be tweaked. Additionally, the federal government just came through with more than $400,000 in funding specifically for this project.
Mayor Darlene Sibbeston and senior administrative officer Beth Jumbo have yet to nail down exact costs for the operations and maintenance of the fitness centre but estimate it to be more than $200,000 each year.
As with the village recreation centre, a well-utilized fitness centre would require plenty of upkeep.
However, those costs should not make the village balk at the thought of building and maintaining this project.
Already, councillors have canvassed scores of community members who are in support of the building -- tax increase or no.
Those results are encouraging.
Now, council needs to take the momentum from its initial canvassing to reach the community as a whole.
Whatever their method, they need to make sure they hear from people outside their normal social circles. There are 1,200 residents in Fort Simpson and so far fewer than 10 per cent have been formally heard.
Residents need to be made aware that this $400,000 from the federal government is a one-shot opportunity. That kind of money does not come around every day.
The funding program that money is being accessed through ends March 31, 2024. That gives councillors plenty of time to get answers from the community.
The value of proper infrastructureInuvik Drum - Thursday, March 24, 2016
While other places may be getting youth centre retrofits and millions of dollars for new recreation centres, Inuvik is getting a chunk of cash to replace a section of its utilidor.
There are many reasons to love what I like to call "shiny projects", which include improvements to rec centres, arenas and parks. Fixing roads and creating additional parking are also popular choices for politicians seeking re-election, and are undoubtedly worthy projects. By far the most common requests from the public come from sports clubs and other community groups looking for support for whatever initiative or piece of equipment they desperately need.
After years of sitting in municipal council meetings in communities big and small, I have never seen anyone stand up before a panel of politicians and tout the value of basic, boring infrastructure like water and sewer services. That is, of course, until they break down and the streets and people's homes are flooded. Then they clamour pretty loudly for that boring public infrastructure.
I certainly haven't heard any grumbling from anyone about the nearly $6 million to be spent on the utilidor this summer or the $19 million for the water treatment plant currently under construction, but for some it may be within the realm of reason. There are issues that need tackling that have more to do with people and less to do with contractors. Setting aside the fact the money was allocated for new infrastructure projects and cannot be spent on anything else, good and solid civil engineering makes it possible to care about everything else.
Unglamorous as this project may be, it is necessary. People love to complain about their local governments; they don't do enough to help the homeless, they don't adequately pave the roads, some club needs some piece of something for the next season and is looking for support that isn't given.
Personally, I spend a fair amount of time railing against byzantine bureaucracies and shouting about a lack of transparency. I would not be doing so if I had to worry if my toilet would flush or if clean, safe water was being piped into the place I live. It's things like boring infrastructure projects that allow us to complain about the other stuff.
