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Fortune Minerals no failed bridge builder
Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, May 6, 2016

The saga of David Ramsay and Fortune Minerals simply does not compare to that of former premier Joe Handley and bankrupt bridge builder ATCON Construction.

Within nine months of leaving office in 2007, Handley infamously took a position with the New Brunswick-based company, which was still busily employed building the NWT's largest-ever man-made structure, the Deh Cho Bridge.

In the twilight of his last term in office, Handley finalized a deal on behalf of the territorial government that awarded the then $155-million contract to ATCON. The bridge would finish two years behind schedule and cost $202 million to build - all of it on the backs of NWT taxpayers -- after ATCON was unable to complete the project and the public-private partnership company tasked with overseeing construction, the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation, failed. ATCON declared bankruptcy in 2010.

Conflict of interest rules in place at the time would have prevented a cabinet minister from taking a job with a company that had direct dealings with the minister's department while he or she was in office.

In Handley's case, all was OK -- with a wink and a nudge -- because ATCON's contract was not with the GNWT but with the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation.

Ramsay's recent appointment to the Fortune Minerals board of directors has raised eyebrows in some quarters. But conflict of interest rules were revised following the Handley affair, and by all accounts Ramsay played by those rules.

Fortune Minerals has never received financial backing, nor even the promise of it, from the GNWT, and neither has the company ever entered into any kind of contractual arrangement with the government.

As minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Ramsay's job was to elevate the territory's profile as an investment-friendly region in the eyes of the world.

Over the term of Ramsay's appointment, Fortune Minerals was largely involved in achieving environmental regulatory landmarks for its NICO mine project while working within a difficult capital market.

Ramsay's involvement here would have been negligible, as he had no authority regarding regulatory processes.

Ramsay worked to boost the North as a place to invest. That job came to an abrupt end when he was unseated in Kam Lake. He has to get on with his life.

Taking a board position, and whatever stipend that may involve, with a company he had little-to-no dealings with is not something the public should begrudge him. There are simply not that many jobs a former cabinet minister can land in the territory that doesn't have some kind of connection to government.

The appointment was cleared by the conflict of interest commissioner. It would be unfair to expect former politicians to do more than the rules demand of them when it comes to a career restart following an electoral defeat.


Lack of 911 will be the GNWT's shame
Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, May 6, 2016

Last week's fire at Fitzgerald Carpeting, tragic though it was, at least provides us with some instruction.

Something far more shameful and horrifying will have to occur before the territorial government deems 9-1-1 emergency phone service a priority.

The perpetual back-burner issue came to the forefront once again after it was learned the person trying to alert the fire department about the Fitzgerald blaze had to drive to the fire hall after dialing 9-1-1 in vain, not realizing that calling in an emergency in the Northwest Territories requires dialing a local prefix followed by a four-digit number, 1-1-1-1 for police, 2-2-2-2 for ambulance or fire. This follows many years of close calls where, faced with an emergency, people were simply unable to recall the seven-digit number.

The GNWT has previously brushed aside the urgency of 9-1-1 by pointing to disparities in services between Yellowknife and the communities but it's difficult to fathom how anybody in the territory could begrudge the city if 9-1-1 were to launch here first. Yellowknife is the capital. It's where the bulk of the population resides and where the RCMP are headquartered and home to the territory's largest hospital. It's just common sense that 9-1-1 begins here.

It's a relatively moot point anyway because the GNWT admits 9-1-1 is achievable in virtually every corner of the territory in as little as a year.

Now apparently the argument is that it is too expensive. The $616,100 start-up cost and $266,200 a year operations expenses are too much a cost burden to bear in tough economic times, we are told. This coming from a government that is willing to spend $350 million to replace a hospital nobody was complaining about and spend hundreds of millions on roads with no immediate economic benefit, as in the highway to Tuktoyatuk and the proposed road to Whati.

People have been calling for 9-1-1 for years but the GNWT refuses to listen. After a major business in Yellowknife burned to the ground following a delayed response last week we now know it will not act until lives are lost, and it is to the GNWT's discredit and shame that that is the price it is willing to pay.


Busy time of year
Deh Cho Drum - Thursday, May 5, 2016

As the ice breaks on the Mackenzie and Liard rivers, the people of the Deh Cho - particularly those locked in their communities during breakup - can once again look forward to what the summer has to offer.

From sports to festivals and assemblies, this summer is shaping up to be one for the history books.

In Fort Liard, skyrocketing temperatures have already struck with a high of at least 31 C this past week.

In Fort Simpson, the streets are bare and the dust is already starting to kick up.

Community groups are starting to hold their annual general meetings and local governments are gearing up for summer construction.

For many of those groups, the real struggle is how to schedule their events around the many summer assemblies and festivals ongoing in the region.

Another vibrant summer has hit. So far, it looks like things will kick off in Fort Providence, which is throwing its third annual Spring Fling on May 21 - although you may be late getting there if you're driving, since the community is also looking to resurface its main road this summer.

That fair is known for drawing multitudes to the hamlet as artists, clothing vendors and others vie to sell off their winter work.

Meanwhile in Fort Liard, the summer fair season opens this weekend with a May 7 bazaar.

The month of July will be packed full, opening with the Open Sky Creative Society's renowned summer festival on July 2 and 3, and capping off with the Dene National Assembly which is coming to Fort Simpson for the first time since 2001.

Scattered throughout the summer are other anticipated gatherings: Liidlii Kue First Nation's annual gathering will happen as usual in Fort Simpson, while Dehcho First Nations anticipates having its annual assembly in Wrigley this year.

No matter where you go in the Deh Cho, there is bound to be a fair, festival or event kicking off almost every week.

That is part of the region's draw as community members embrace a vibrant love of summer.

The soccer season is also mounting, kicking off this past weekend with a much-anticipated tournament in Grande Prairie, Alta.

Soccer is the big one, as usual, in Fort Liard, as the school's team of excellent players get ready to seize more medals.

Youth and adults alike in Fort Providence, Fort Liard and Fort Simpson can look forward to their community pools opening soon as they put the winter sports gear away and get out the swim trunks.

In Fort Simpson, many are eagerly anticipating the opening of the Seven Spruce Golf Course as the turf begins to green and the ground starts to dry up from the spring melt.

In Fort Simpson, breakup happened the evening of May 2. The summer is just beginning.


The importance of information
Inuvik Drum - Thursday, May 5, 2016

I spend more time than I would like to admit calling Statistics Canada and complaining to them about the dearth of information they have on the North.

As a reporter, this is a pretty typical part of the job. Whenever we try to tackle a wider story, we look for numbers that illustrate the severity or extent of whatever it is. Things like employment trends, reports on homelessness, even some health stories are largely dependent on accurate, up-to-date and accessible information gathered by governments and made public.

Unfortunately, the entry for Northern jurisdictions -- right under the full and complete entries for the provinces -- is often a note saying the data can't be divulged. This just means that not enough people answered to make the data anonymous which is a key tenet crucial to StatsCan's existence.

This is partially because there just aren't that many people here, compared to provinces in the south. It is also partly because getting people to take time from their day to answer questions about themselves and their families -- as I can personally attest -- is a hit-or-miss prospect at best, and an exercise in getting doors slammed in your face at worst.

There are good reasons to be wary of a process like the census. Historically, census-takers have been found fabricating answers based on their own opinions of the people they are supposed to be interviewing.

Language barriers are obviously a challenge and simple mistakes and oversights are reasonably common.

At the heart of it, being tallied and counted by a government is a profoundly uncomfortable thing for marginalized people.

When your immediate family can tell stories about being rounded up and forced into institutions meant to erase their identity, anyone asking you to raise your hand to be recorded by an agency of the Government of Canada can justifiably cause the hairs to rise on the back of your neck.

But these are arguably different times and the census is another way of making your voice heard.

Far more important than this reporter's frustration with what is currently available, there is strength in numbers and telling the federal government who we are and how we live -- no matter what our background and situation -- is a useful exercise in democracy. Not to mention that is used to determine per-capita funding to the territory from Ottawa.

Take the timer to fill out the long-form census, it helps everyone.


Words matter, even in logos
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Well, the territorial government has gone too far. In an attempt to placate the French and aboriginal language speakers of the territory, it has stripped the only identifying feature from its logo: the 'Northwest Territories.'

Now, it's just a polar bear encased by a blue semi-orb; no words.

The powers-that-be defend the politically-correct-to-a-fault logo as a success in not alienating French-speaking people while respecting indigenous languages. The former logo, apparently, did not meet legislated language requirements, which would force the addition of 'Territories du Nord-Ouest.' So instead, the problem was "solved" by removing all words. Seemingly, the territorial government has legislated itself into obscurity.

If legislation eclipses recognition, which is the goal of any logo, it's the legislation that is flawed, not the logo. Oddly, in an interview with Yellowknifer, a representative of the GNWT's Department of the Executive said it's important people quickly and easily recognize the logo so they know they're dealing with GNWT material, adding the logo, before, did not promote a single GNWT identity. One could argue the words 'Northwest Territories' were the only feature that identified the logo as belonging to the GNWT. How many people - inside or outside the territory - know about the three-legged bear?

In an image search of other provincial and territorial government entities across Canada, the defining feature that emerges in all the logos is the words - the image is secondary. In some cases, such as for the governments of Yukon and Alberta, the logo is only the words. To think the blue semi-orbed polar bear is going to be immediately recognized as belonging to the GNWT is pure wishful thinking. It just won't be apparent on most, if not all, national and international levels.

If the territory truly wanted to be respectful of all 11 of its languages, it could farm out a variety of logos with the relevant language tagged on each one, depending on the audience.

It might cost a little extra but at least people will know what they're looking at.


Hands off the phone when behind the wheel
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, May 4, 2016

No phone call is worth risking lives. The territorial government is driving that point home with stiffer fines and clearer definitions of distracted driving.

Recent changes to the NWT Motor Vehicles Act include a hefty $644 fine for persons caught reaching for their phones while driving through a school or construction zone, whether it is on or not.

This is a mandate to combat distracted driving. The definition of "using a phone" has been expanded to mean holding, operating or touching it. The changes are necessary, explained Steve Loutitt, director of road licensing, to clarify rules for both courts and the public.

The huge fine may sound excessive but it has to be looked at from a safety point of view. Fiddling with a phone for even a few seconds takes the driver's concentration off the road ahead. Loutitt cited studies in Ontario showing distracted driving has killed or injured more people than impaired driving. Truth is, distraction is a form if impairment because the driver is unable to focus on operating the vehicle in a safe manner.

If someone really has to make a phone call, a hands-free system or Bluetooth is safer and often costs less than the $644 fine.

That seems a wiser investment than risking a ticket, or worse, hurting someone or themselves because drivers just couldn't wait to take call until they were safely parked.


Remembering a man of contradiction
Editorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, May 4, 2016

I took a break to contemplate the few times I spent around James Arvaluk when I heard of the former Government of Nunavut (GN) minister's passing this past week.

It was a strange feeling to find myself thinking about the man, because I never knew what to make of him.

On one hand, Arvaluk was highly intelligent and deserves full accolades for his work with Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami) and the governments of both the NWT and Nunavut.

When in a natural state of mind, I found Arvaluk to be a relatively soft-spoken man who put on no airs of importance and always seemed to genuinely put the needs of his people ahead of his own. He had a subtle sense of humour and a gift for whispered one-liners, always in good taste (at least to my ears), that could leave you turning red in the face trying to hold back the laughter.

And there were times he could be downright hilarious without even knowing it.

I was travelling to Whale Cove with Arvaluk and Manitok Thompson -- both GN ministers shortly after the formation of Nunavut -- when I noticed Thompson was close to a belly laugh while looking at Arvaluk's arm.

I followed her gaze until I saw Arvaluk's sleeve go up to reveal the four or five Nicorette patches on his arm to hold him over during the 15-minute flight to Whale.

I had met Stanley Adjuk during a hockey tourney in Rankin and immediately took a liking to the man.

We had horsed around a bit and had a few laughs during the tournament, so I was very pleased to see him upon our arrival at Whale's hamlet office.

Plus, I was still very new to the Kivalliq and was glad to see a familiar face.

After I had just finished kidding around with Adjuk for a few minutes, Arvaluk leaned in with a look of great concern on his face and whispered to me, "Probably not a great idea to try and noogie the mayor in public."

Mayor?

He took great delight, and rightly so, in watching me squirm under the realization my new friend was also the mayor of Whale Cove.

Arvaluk also had his demons and alcohol topped the list.

I knew about his troubles in the NWT and subsequent incarceration shortly before he became Nunavut's first education minister.

After meeting the man two or three times, I had a hard time getting my head around this was the same guy who spent about 30 months in jail on a charge of sexual assault. That feeling intensified about a year later when he was charged with assaulting his girlfriend.

This just wasn't the man I had read so much about, and with whom I'd had the chance to have a few "deep" and very insightful conversations with.

I would never, in a million years, condone the actions Mr. Arvaluk was convicted of, despite knowing the evil power booze has over people who can't handle it.

That being said, I'm grateful for the peek behind the curtain I was fortunate enough to have had with Mr. Arvaluk in getting to know the sober man a tiny bit and appreciating his intellect, determination and loyalty to his people.

While the rest of the pieces can't be ignored or thrown away, I am thankful I got to meet that James.


Catholic church still owes for past sins
Northwest Territories/News North - Monday, May 2, 2016

The road to reconciliation for residential school abuse has not been easy but for the most part, those who have done wrong have made impressive efforts to make amends.

Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper publicly apologized on behalf of the Canadian government, accompanying a payout of $2 billion to residential school survivors who were harmed. The government formed a $60 million Truth and Reconciliation Commission which toured the country, providing venue for survivors to share their stories and heal. The commission made dozens of recommendations, many of which are now being implemented.

The Catholic Church is by far the denomination with the biggest hand in running these schools, and in consequence is responsible for $79 million to aid in reconciliation. This amount was divided into three pots: $29 million in cash, $25 million in in-kind donations and another $25 million to be provided through fundraising.

Recently, the Globe and Mail uncovered documents that show the church was freed from some of these obligations, specifically the responsibility to provide $25 million through fundraising efforts, due to a miscommunication between lawyers. This development has incensed many who were affected by residential schools, leading them to believe the church has weaseled its way out of not just a legal but a moral obligation.

The church denied this in an April 27 Catholic Register blog post ("Church did not 'weasel' out of residential school settlement"). The writer argues the church paid almost the full amount of the $29 million it owed in cash, exceeded its in-kind contribution responsibilities of $25 million by $5 million and, regarding the money it was supposed to raise but didn't: "The original 2006 agreement did not commit Catholic entities to anything more than 'best efforts.'"

In other words, the Catholic Church did its best but no dice so let's move on. No doubt Catholic groups across Canada are hurting for money and donations might be hard to come by.

The church's reputation is no doubt struggling under the priest abuse scandal (thousands of allegations worldwide over 15 years) and its role in Canadian residential school abuses.

So why doesn't the Roman Catholic Church leadership provide financial help to these Canadian Catholic groups struggling to raise money for reconciliation?

The answer to this question lies in a 2014 Globe and Mail story: "When the settlement was being negotiated in the early part of the previous decade, the Roman Catholic Church - considered one of the richest organizations in the world - successfully argued that it was not 'one entity' capable of being sued."

Another legal loophole, this one allowing the Roman Catholic Church to pass the buck down to its various, less rich offshoots.

In contrast, the Anglican, Presbyterian and United churches' (admittedly much smaller) financial obligations to the residential school settlement have all been met. But because an agreement in the settlement ties all participating churches' contributions to what the Catholic Church owes, the Anglican, Presbyterian and United churches will now get some of their money back. In other words, even less money will make it to the hands of residential school survivors and their representative organizations.

The Anglican Church will keep $2.7 million and the United Church $450,000. That's more than $3 million more that will not make it to aboriginal healing programming.

While the legal mechanisms by which the Catholic Church has relieved itself from $25 million dollars worth of responsibilities might be legitimate, this whole affair tarnishes the process of moving forward.

True reconciliation and healing takes an enormous amount of effort from everybody involved.

If the Catholic church was only obligated to "best efforts" to raise $25 million and failed, it needs to re-examine what those best efforts were and try harder.


All of Canada deserves part of digital economy
Nunavut/News North - Monday, May 2, 2016

The provision of reasonable bandwidth with affordable Internet service is a question of essential infrastructure for Nunavut, just as other infrastructure matters have been historically provided to other jurisdictions in Canada.

Consider the wave of infrastructure spending across Canada following the invention of the telephone in 1876. It started slowly but was quick to expand from house to house. Sure, some residents had to deal with the inconvenience of having a party line, where a telephone number was shared with more than one household, and having to place calls through an operator, in the early days.

The same holds true for the building of infrastructure for a national railway. It took years, a great deal of money and effort for a railway to be constructed until the Last Spike was driven into the ground, linking eastern and central Canada with the west.

The difference with the provision of Internet to remote communities is that it is far past the early days, when dial-up Internet and painfully slow speeds were the norm. In southern Canada, for instance, the norm for most households is an Internet speed exceeding 30 megabits per second (Mbps). In Nunavut, most households are lucky to get 1.5 Mbps, meaning it takes much more time for pages to load, for e-mails to be sent and for people to exchange information.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) held hearings last month in Ottawa to gather information surrounding the question of whether all Canadians, regardless of where they live, deserve equal access to broadband Internet service.

We agree with the Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation, which made a submission to the CRTC, that telecommunications infrastructure is absolutely critical for the future of Nunavut.

Unlike the NWT, where Internet service is provided by one company, Nunavut has a couple of private Internet service providers who are intent on improving service using a combination of their own money and funds provided by the federal government. One company, SSi Micro, which offers it services through Qiniq, made a submission to the CRTC hearings calling for quality broadband to be a key component of basic service.

We draw a parallel between broadband Internet services and the early days of the development of telephone service and the railway line simply because those historic infrastructure projects had such a profound impact on the lives of ordinary Canadians, allowed for expansion of economic opportunities and set the stage for considerable growth.

We urge the CRTC to rule that Nunavut and the rest of Northern Canada deserves the same type of broadband Internet service as the rest of Canada. Once in place, better Internet is bound to spawn many benefits -- businesses can prosper, education efforts can expand, health-care delivery can be improved and access to government services will be easier, to name a few.

It is time all of Canada reaps the benefits and participates fully in the digital economy.

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