A dose of common senseNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, May 9, 2016
In his interview with News/North last week, new NWT Chamber of Commerce president Richard Morland hammers home a crucial point about the territory's economy.
Regarding an economic boom enjoyed by the resource sector that ran from approximately 2004 to 2007, he warns that some people may have mistaken the high mineral prices that bolstered mines in the territory as normalcy, when in fact it was an aberration.
These were glory days. China was rapidly growing - and rapidly importing goods - creating a seemingly insatiable demand for all sorts of metals and minerals. In the past five years or so though, the Chinese economy has slowed down, cooling the resource sector with it.
"I've never seen prices like that in the other 23 years of my career and may never see them again," said Morland about this era.
These are sobering words for any exploration company looking to extract minerals from the NWT, where high prices are a primary factor in developing mines in areas with no infrastructure. For that matter, these are sobering words for any NWT'er as well. This is why Morland so wisely pushes the idea that, rather than thinking about the resource sector as either the saviour or demise of the NWT economy, it should be seen as an anchor to help other sectors spawn and thrive.
Resource development will always be the dominant industry in the NWT, so using it to grow other sectors such as green energy, tourism, construction and small business will soften the blow when the economy slows down. It's always better to diversify. As Morland says himself, it's simply adapting to market conditions. The territorial government can't keep putting all of its eggs in the resource-sector basket if that basket can't handle the weight.
Turning away from the resource sector completely is also a foolish idea. In January, Alternatives North issued a report advising the oil-rich Sahtu to abandon the oil and gas sector in favour of fostering a traditional economy. The conclusions of this report missed a giant opportunity - that the resource sector can bolster the smaller sectors Alternatives North so desperately wants to see grow. The government could siphon some of its resource revenues towards funding for small business start-ups and green energy initiatives, for example.
The Northwest Territories could certainly benefit from an injection of new ideas on how to tackle a very old problem - how an isolated, boom-bust economy like this one can adapt to cyclical market downturns.
It will be interesting to see what Morland - who incidentally has built a career on turning under-performing businesses into successful ones -- is able to do within his one-year mandate as chamber head.
Hopefully at the very least, he will succeed in helping the territory's leaders in the political and business community see this problem in a new light.
Foreign cargo ships pose threat to Canada's borderNunavut/News North - Monday, May 9, 2016
Consider it a warning shot off Canada's bow.
News that the People's Republic of China, the world's most populous country with more than 1.3 billion people, is eyeing the Northwest Passage as a shorter route for massive cargo ships should not go unnoticed.
China is the world's top exporter of containerized cargo and it has dedicated significant resources to developing a plan to take advantage of a longer open water season off the coast of Nunavut, a plan that would reduce that country's shipping costs by an estimated 30 per cent.
There is a reason China has observer status on the Arctic Council, along with other large exporting nations such as Korea, Japan, Singapore and India. Interest in Arctic waters is high. China has said that opening the Northwest Passage to marine shipping will change global maritime transportation and have a profound influence on international trade, the world economy and resource exploitation.
However, marine shipping is dangerous. There are already a number of reported incidents involving both liquid cargo and solid cargo vessels in the Arctic Ocean, in Hudson Bay and Davis Strait, according to 2015 documents from the Transportation Safety Board.
The shipping lanes also cross from international waters into Canadian waters, where Canada, as a sovereign nation, should govern and regulate traffic. In response to questions from Nunavut News/North to Global Affairs Canada, a spokesperson stated, "All waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, including the various waterways known as the Northwest Passage, are internal waters of Canada, which it has the right to regulate as it would land territory. No right of transit passage or of innocent passage exists in the various waterways known as the Northwest Passage. Canada welcomes navigation that complies with Canada's rules and regulations."
The federal government is working on the Northern Marine Transportation Corridors Initiative, which held meetings in Iqaluit, Yellowknife, Ottawa, Montreal and St. John's, N.L., last month. But that initiative will not result in specific regulations. Instead it is meant to inform the government's deployment of existing assets and provision of services.
Therein lies the problem. Canada has no military capabilities in Arctic Ocean waters and has limited icebreaker capabilities. The Canadian Coast Guard's icebreakers, built between 1979 and 1987, are not armed with weapons. If faced with the threat of foreign invasion of Canadian waters, Canada would have to scramble jet fighters or call on the United States for help.
New icebreakers and patrol ships are being built but are years away from delivery. Russia has several icebreakers, including a few world-class nuclear-powered icebreakers.
Canada must wake up and prepare to defend its Northern border. It's a question of environmental conservation, protection of sovereignty, regulation of commercial traffic and a demonstration of military capability.
To do nothing would encourage invaders.
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 yearDeh 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 informationInuvik 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 logosYellowknifer - 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 wheelYellowknifer - 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 contradictionEditorial 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.
