Old Town parking essential Yellowknifer - Wednesday, May 25, 2016
City council is making a mistake in its rush to overturn the Old Town parking plan developed by its own city staff to deal with the runaway success of the Woodyard Brewhouse and Eatery.
The idea centred on creating 13 angled parking spots across the street from the brew pub and eliminating street-side parking along Franklin Avenue to the boat launch at the intersection with Wylie Road.
The proposal was initially approved unanimously by council as a summer paving project, even though councillors apparently weren't aware of the details. When work notices went up around Old Town, residents complained and council jumped.
A public municipal services committee meeting was held that ultimately led to the elimination of the angled parking plan with an emphasis on directing traffic to the city-owned lot on the corner of Franklin and School Draw Avenue, which patrons and shoppers will now share with vehicles attached to boat trailers.
Approximately 20 parking spots will now be lost along Franklin to be replaced by multi-use pathways.
In a matter of days the brew pub and other area businesses went from having confused parking to no street-side parking at all.
The Woodyard has helped reinvigorate Old Town and given more reasons to venture that way. It is undoubtedly a boon to shops and artisans in the neighbourhood who rely on tourism traffic by anchoring these tourists to the location with good food and drink while they shop.
Yes, the pub's popularity has caused some parking concerns but the solution is not to remove street-side parking and tell customers to park two blocks away.
The city will harm Old Town businesses with this plan -- especially during the cold and difficult winter months -- essentially punishing the pub for its success.
The city had the right idea with its plan to improve street-side parking at the brew pub, something which would have benefited both the pub and all businesses in the area.
Where the city fell down was in trying to execute the plan with little effective public consultation.
The city gave the appearance of proceeding aloof to the wishes or concerns of local businesses and residents, while our elected council looked as if it were asleep at the wheel, only aware of the details of significant changes they had authorized after residents complained about those very proposed changes.
A roadwork project with such a substantial impact to Old Town is not something that should have proceeded as far as it did without a full and thorough airing of the city's plans.
A public that does not feel part of the process is bound to react negatively to major changes announced as a kind of fait accompli.
On the other hand, residents should expect people are going to want to visit Old Town and they need places to park. There is busload after busload arriving every day. For the most part, they stick to Franklin and McDonald Drive and leave the side streets to the residents.
Improved street-side parking was a good idea but burying it in the budget as if it were nothing more than laying a new strip of asphalt is not the way to introduce neighbourhood-altering plans.
This all could have been avoided had the city gone to council first with a detailed plan and council was paying attention to what they were approving.
Council should admit it made a mistake in both initially approving the plan and its knee-jerk reaction to the complaints. Third time is the charm is the old saying. Council should revisit its parking decision - again.
Trudeau accident wasn't violence against womenEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, May 25, 2016
A column written by Toronto-based Gabrielle Gallant, which criticizes the reaction by some to the so-called "elbowgate" incident in the House of Commons last week, should be mandatory reading for everyone dumb enough to think Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed a gender-based act of violence.
And to those who went so far as to compare what happened with our prime minister to the actions of an ex-CBC radio personality, please!
Reading some of these claims and comparisons this past week reaffirmed my evergrowing belief that the world has, indeed, gone mad.
Mr. Trudeau was simply trying to help the Conservative Whip reach his seat, and had no idea NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brousseau was behind him when his elbow accidentally made contact with her.
Video of the fiasco in the House of Commons is rampant on the Internet and completely backs up, as Gallant writes in her column, that our prime minister's elbowing of Brousseau was undeniably unintentional.
Maybe, just maybe, the words coming from an intelligent, articulate and successful woman will help sway these people to realize while Prime Minister Trudeau's behaviour in getting himself involved in the incident to begin with was unacceptable, he in no way, shape or form meant to make contact with the female MP, but I doubt it.
As well written and insightful as Gallant's column is, those penning pieces that claim Trudeau's actions were intentional and an example of gender based violence, including the NDP party itself, are working agendas and are not interested in anything as trivial as facts, or truth for that matter.
NDP MP Brigitte Sancoucy's remarks comparing the Trudeau incident to "abusive husbands" whose wives had taken shelter at a centre for battered women transcends the ridiculous to being downright outrageous.
Gallant is bang on when she writes, "To compare this incident to violence against women is a slap in the face to any woman who has actually been assaulted."
It also perfectly illustrates how men are easy targets these days for any female with the desire to spew such venomous drivel.
And, most importantly, it casts a dark cloud over those people, male and female, who work tirelessly to help curb male aggression toward the fairer sex (If I can even use that term these days. Who knows?).
I can only imagine what women who have suffered real violence must think and feel while reading such hyperbole.
It must hurt very, very deeply to have the horror they experienced, and the trauma they're still trying to come to grips with, trivialized in such a way, especially coming from educated women who should know better.
With domestic violence being such a pressing issue in many parts of Nunavut, I shudder to think of the damage such statements are capable of creating among those men (and I use the term lightly) who are quick with their hands but slow with their ability to control their emotions and distinguish, in a meaningful way, the difference between right and wrong.
To give them fodder for diminishing the reality of their actions is nothing short of reprehensible.
I share Gallant's disgust!!
Actions speak louder than wordsNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, May 23, 2016
On May 9, the Beaufort Delta Health and Social Services Authority announced staff at Inuvik Regional Hospital breached the privacy of 67 patients by "inappropriately" and "repeatedly" accessing their health information.
During a news conference to discuss the issue with media, hospital CEO Arlene Jorgensen emphasized the importance of "being as transparent as possible" in managing the breach, but wouldn't disclose who the staff were, how many staff were implicated in the breach, how many breaches there were or what disciplinary actions were taken.
It's easy to imagine how upsetting privacy breaches must be for patients involved. A healthy doctor-patient relationship relies on a guarantee of confidentiality so patients feel comfortable discussing their physical, mental and emotional health, thus making it easier for them to get the treatment they need. When health-care workers access information outside their scope of duty, that trust is thrown out the window.
In 2014, the legislative assembly passed a new Health Information Act - and it has teeth. It is an offence to collect, use or disclose patient information in contravention of the Act and any person convicted could face a fine as high as $50,000.
In Ontario earlier this month, two people were the first to be convicted of breaching their province's Personal Health Information Protection Act after accessing former Toronto mayor Rob Ford's medical information when he was undergoing cancer treatment at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in 2014. They were each fined $2,505, according to the Toronto Star. Like the cases in Inuvik, there is no evidence Ford's health information was shared outside the hospital. In fact, in one of the cases, a woman went into his health records for a total of two minutes. Yet, investigators took the breach seriously and the woman was fined.
According to Department of Health and Social Services spokesperson Damien Healy, the Beaufort Delta Health and Social Services Authority hired outside investigators to look into the breaches and make recommendations. The health authority opted not to lay charges under the Act because it had already "imposed a range of discipline on the employees."
Discipline the public is not privy to.
Elaine Keenan Bengts, the Northwest Territories Information and Privacy Commissioner, told News/North she is also currently completing her review of the case.
She confirmed either the health authority, Department of Health and Social Services or the information commissioner could refer a case like this for prosecution under the Health Information Act. It is fortunate that Keenan Bengts - a third party outside the health authority and department -- can do this because it can understandably be tough for any organization to find the political will to hold itself accountable when rules are broken.
Jorgensen told News/North her hospital has "no tolerence" for privacy breaches. The authority and department both declined to put actions behind those words but the information commissioner still can. The legislation is there. News/North is curious to see if it's utilized.
Truth comes out in Angry Inuk filmNunavut/News North - Monday, May 23, 2016
Traditionally, the seal hunter's greatest strengths are patience and endurance, staying still in wind, snow and cold to outlast the watchful seal under the ice.
So it's with some pride Nunavummiut should regard the patience and strength of filmmaker Alethea Arnauq-Baril in bringing her documentary Angry Inuk to the world stage.
Eight years in the making, Angry Inuk was shown at Toronto's Hot Docs Film Festival last month. It won the hearts and minds of the audience, high praise accompanied by $25,000 and the most votes of the viewers.
So as an artistic accomplishment, Arnauq-Baril has succeeded. But her film, while artfully done, is also a courageous political statement made both on her behalf and all Inuit.
For every person in the film festival audience shown a powerful truth on the screen before them, there are thousands who have swallowed the lies and guise of anti-seal crusaders as passionate defenders of Mother Earth.
While these people are not evil, they are wrong in failing to understand the life-sustaining and historical relationship between Inuit and seals.
They call it a senseless slaughter while driving in their gas-guzzling SUVs to supermarket meat counters laden with cuts from countless cattle stockyards across North America.
These are the slaughterhouses, the opposite of the pristine seascape of Nunavut.
The towering hypocrisy of the European Union's ban on seal products is baffling until you stop to think of the self-serving mindset behind centuries of barbaric colonialism that still afflicts indigenous peoples around the world.
Make no mistake, Arnauq-Baril has and will pay the price for taking these liars on just as Tanya Tagaq has.
There will be vicious attacks on social media, blogs full of insults and cries for revenge and hateful comments at the end of stories.
Yet her hope that those who view Angry Inuk will emerge wiser and willing to spread the word that the propaganda attacks by anti-sealing groups are unfounded and downright vicious should be shared by us all.
As mentioned, Arnauq-Baril is not alone.
Aside from the majority of her people and many reasonable Canadians, the federal government, both under the last and the present party, have made commitments to turn the tide of poison seal hunting politics.
Last week, Nunavut's own Hunter Tootoo, federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, announced calls for proposals for $5.7 million to support sealskin marketing efforts, part of a five-year program, now in its second year.
One concession Inuit sealing supporters have won from the Europeans was an exemption to the sealskin ban for products of indigenous harvesters. The marketing program is designed to take advantage of the exemption but it's an uphill battle considering the widespread misinformation that has torpedoed the commercial sealskin industry as a whole.
While social media is one of the instruments of hate taken up by anti-seal hunting advocates, Nunavummiut and Canadians in general can help by liking, commenting and promoting every mention of Angry Inuk they see.
Truth always wins but, as Arnauq-Baril demonstrates, not without a great hunter's dedication and patience.
Strong medicine required Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, May 20, 2016
The criminal history of a repeat offender highlights a need to link release to achieving mental health treatment goals.
Territorial court was told Jacob Griep, a man diagnosed with schizophrenia and major depression and has more than 75 convictions on his record, had spent more of 2015 behind bars than outside. Six of those convictions came in the past year for failing to follow conditions of his probation order forbidding him from entering the Black Knight pub.
He was sentenced May 6 to 105 days in jail for once again being in the pub he was barred from entering.
All of this means that whatever treatment he received behind bars does not seem to be taking hold once he rejoins society.
It is not known whether Griep took advantage of mental health services available in the correctional centre. It has been noted in a 2008 court case that he does have issues taking his anti-psychotic medication once he is on the streets.
In any event, there should greater emphasis on treatment and healing programs in the correction service that help mitigate the huge cost of doing nothing.
Statistics Canada pegs the cost of incarcerating an adult in the Northwest Territories at $280.10 a day. Add to that the cost of a judge, two lawyers, police officers, court sheriffs and guards that must be paid every time Griep is accused of a crime, and the cost of providing the mental health care necessary to rehabilitating convicted criminals starts looking like a bargain.
Many convicted criminals require mental health supports but may not always be inclined to accept it when offered to them. The correctional system should be provided the necessary tools to encourage inmates to accept the help being offered to them.
Those convicted of a criminal offence have lost the right to move freely and act destructively. It follows that they also give up the right to refuse necessary mental health interventions that would empower them to act as functioning members of society upon release.
Is there more patronage pork to cut? Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, May 20, 2016
News that the soon-to-be scrapped board of directors for NWT Power Corporation cost taxpayers $1 million a year in honorariums, travel expenses, and other fees leads one to suspect there are plenty of other flabby pieces of pork within the territorial government that can easily be trimmed.
This is not to cast aspersions on the individual board members themselves, who doubtlessly performed their work diligently but let's be frank, given that power corp. is wholly owned by the GNWT, with the premier and cabinet largely functioning as the de facto board of directors, what is the eight-member board of directors but a parking spot for patronage appointments anyway?
The government's decision to have deputy ministers - who represent cabinet ministers - serve as the board only makes sense, at least for now.
The government is looking at re-organize territorial health boards, and the shake up at the power corporation is exactly the kind of message the GNWT needs to be sending as it searches desperately for a way to climb out of its $150 million budget hole.
Kam Lake MLA Kieron Testart was correct to point out that cost cutting alone will not be enough to make the power corporation "work for Northerners" in terms of developing a long-term energy strategy. But cost cutting is as good a start as any.
Whatever the NWT's future energy strategy looks like, it must rise from a foundation of taxpayer dollars well spent.
Cutting the million dollar board sends the signal that the current cabinet understands the need for public accountability, and is beginning to take it seriously.
Spring cleaningDeh Cho Drum - Thursday, May 19, 2016
As the ground dries up and spring takes hold, one of the uglier aspects of the season is about to be tackled.
Spring cleanups are happening across the Deh Cho, and in some communities they have already begun.
Community members seize the initiative put forth by municipalities and businesses, who often donate to spring cleanups, donning rubber gloves and spend an afternoon beautifying their community.
Trash from the winter is ready to be picked up - but the real problem is that it's there to begin with.
The fact there is trash in the first place means someone discarded their empty packages, bags or bottles on the side of the street.
To be fair, there are those of us who are not completely environmentally conscious. That is one of the reasons why spring cleanups are necessary in the first place.
However, there is a difference between casual and wanton littering - although they should both be frowned upon.
Recently, Fort Simpson's gun range was left a mess by someone or a group of people who did not clean up after themselves.
That included empty cans lying around, targets destroyed and the garbage cans used for target practice.
Luckily for the village's many shooters, Enbridge stepped up to the plate and not only donated new garbage cans but helped to clean up the mess left behind.
It seems slightly ironic that a company that is part of an industry many consider to be dirty and harmful to the Earth should be the one responsible for cleaning up someone else's mess.
That should serve as a reminder to everyone to pick up after themselves, and the culprits responsible should feel duly chagrined.
It is also a reminder of how a lack of personal responsibility can have a great negative impact on the community.
In general, littering affects communities in the same way, if to a lesser degree, than the situation at the gun range. Litter blows onto private property, into yards, down to the shore and even into the river.
It affects wildlife, flora and the ecosystem.
But even though the negative effects of littering are widely known, every time spring rolls around the community seems to have this same discussion, with little changing.
In the end, the people in smaller communities in the Northwest Territories are the most vital stewards of the land. They are the ones who are out on the land every season and whose voices are loudest in favour of preserving the environment.
It would be great if more of us could be more responsible about our littering practices - then, we could hold others to the same standard.
From study to realityInuvik Drum - Thursday, May 19, 2016
There is something sadly amusing about the federal government announcing $100,000 worth of funding for feasibility studies a month after the initial study was authored.
There are a few ways this could be interpreted. There is the possibility CanNor didn't want to throw its support behind the initiative until commercial greenhouses were found to be viable in Inuvik and Norman Wells, as opposed to saying they would fund a study before knowing the outcome. It is also possible the news release was sitting on a bureaucrat's desk for weeks and late getting out. We may never know.
What the timing does point to however, is the preponderance and abject love for government studies in this jurisdiction.
Now, don't get me wrong, studies are important. No one wants to throw taxpayer money at a project not thoroughly vetted and determined to be viable, but there is a way to take this too far.
Studies - and their business-plan cousins - can bog projects down in a big way. They are a relevant part of the process, but far from the most important. There seems to be a lot of money allocated for starting things - or just looking at starting things - but operational support is much more conservative.
Of course, one could argue it's not up to the government to fund and support organizations in all their endeavours. Except they end up doing so anyway through a patchwork of grants and contribution agreements, renewed (or not) on an annual basis.
Also, if the government isn't interested in operating a commercial greenhouse, which it is has given no indication of, what is it doing funding and conducting a $200,000 feasibility study?
Furthermore, a commercial greenhouse - albeit a seasonal one - has been operating successfully in Inuvik for the past 15 years, is this not evidence enough?
There have been numerous studies conducted around the North to study food systems and much hand-wringing and patchwork attempts to make them function in any meaningful way. If this latest study is the thing it takes to propel the project forward and into reality, then we're all for it. However, if it is followed by years of additional plans and studies only to end up on the dusty shelf of some government worker, that is something else.
