Lots of fat in GNWT budgetYellowknifer - Wednesday, June 1, 2016
In the lead-up months to this year's budget debate, there has been a persistent grumbling about the need for budget cuts coupled with speculation as to where they will come from.
What everybody seems to agree on is that the budget needs to shrink. In the past 10 years alone, spending has grown every year, culminating in an increase of a half-billion dollars over this period of time. Earlier this year, Finance Minister Robert C. McLeod announced a goal to cut spending by $150 million - a move in the right direction. Putting mind to practice likely isn't easy for a government accustomed to an ever-growing bureaucracy but ought to come easier once the GNWT actually moves in this direction.
There are definitely redundancies across departments, there are jobs sitting empty that could be removed from the books and, as Yellowknife Centre MLA Julie Green pointed out to Yellowknifer last week, many of the departments are top-heavy, meaning a ton of money is being spent at the senior levels of bureaucracy. Green offers a figure that supports her point - the Department of Education, Culture and Employment's budget is made up of 75-per-cent spending on school board budgets and educational district authorities, while a whopping 25 per cent stays in at the department headquarters in Yellowknife.
The territorial government has already begun slashing from the top of its ranks as cabinet minister Louis Sebert recently announced he was dissolving the Northwest Territories Power Corporation's board of directors and downloading these responsibilities to deputy ministers.
The move is expected to save approximately $1 million in travel expenses and honorariums. This is where leaders should be focused in their quest to identify redundancies and waste.
Yellowknifer also reported last week the government is looking at consolidating departments in order to shrink the budget.
This is a great idea. Taking a fine-tooth comb to the departments and determining opportunities to amalgamate will naturally lead to the elimination of redundancies. Obviously one part of this whole process is the possibility of layoffs, which the government has announced may happen to some extent. Hopefully, those in power will reserve cuts like these to the last resort in order to get to their $150-million goal.
Cutting down a government budget can't be an easy process, especially for MLAs such as Green and Yellowknife North MLA Cory Vanthuyne who want to preserve badly needed government programs and services.
That said, there has got to be a certain amount of satisfaction in trimming the fat from a budget that is definitely bloated and in need of the sort of examination it is getting this year.
Who is going to build the new Stanton Hospital? Yellowknifer - Wednesday, June 1, 2016
A really good question was glossed over in the backlash over a 250-person temporary work camp proposed for Kam Lake last week - who exactly is going to be building the new Stanton Hospital?
No doubt the plan so far is to bring skilled tradespeople up from the south to do this job, but Yellowknifer wonders how much initiative is being put into scouring Yellowknife and NWT communities for people who could fill these positions.
Aurora College offers trades programming so there are people in the North who could do the work. It's just a matter of finding them and making sure the opportunity is extended to them first.
The new hospital, just like any public infrastructure project, should be a community-building initiative. Using local labour whenever possible is part of this ideal. It's probably easy to post job ads to the south, especially Alberta, where there are definitely many people with tons of experience ready to work.
It's probably more difficult to reach people in the communities but these people are the ones who should be given the exclusive opportunity to fill these positions first. Our government had a choice when it awarded this contract: maintain the present status quo, watching as these jobs are given to people who will inject a little bit of money into the economy for the two years it will take to build the hospital while sending the rest of their earnings down south, or insisting they be given to people who live here and will continue to benefit our society and economy as NWT residents for years to come.
Wherever this camp ends up, Yellowknifer hopes there as many jobs going to Northerners as possible.
The lesser of two evilsEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, June 1, 2016
And still the debate rages on when it comes to fundraisers in the Kivalliq.
Let's face it, nothing has changed in the past 18 years and nothing is going to change for the next 18.
We still have hundreds, if not a thousand or more, students and athletes each and every year who need to raise a lot of money in order to travel within the Kivalliq, across Nunavut, to the NWT, and to a number of southern locales in order to take part in any number of tournaments, academic sessions, musical events, traditional activities and competitions of all types and descriptions.
And we still have precious few ways to raise those hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.
At the top of the list in every Kivalliq community is, of course, the ever popular bingo and Nevada games.
Bingo is, in fact, the stereotypical doubled-edged sword in the Kivalliq.
On one edge, there's no way in the world any more than 10 to 20 per cent of the needed funds would be raised annually if not for bingo.
The sharp edge of that sword is, there is no other activity in our region that takes more money out of the pockets of those who can least afford it than our weekly bingo games.
All the Go-Fund-Me accounts folks can come up would have a herculean task to replace the amount raised annually by bingo in the Kivalliq.
So, despite the obvious downside, and for lack of a tangible alternative, bingo gets put in the lesser-of-two-evils category, and will carry forward as the number-one fundraiser in the region for the foreseeable future.
In communities where alcohol is allowed, dance-styled fundraisers involving beer continues to come under close scrutiny by those who would rather have no alcohol in their communities at all.
It's an unfair situation, given the underbelly of bingo to say the least, but those against the beer dances continue to try and have their voices heard against them.
And when you need council approval for every beer dance application, some councillors prefer to listen to the voice of dissent rather than the voice of reason.
An average dance in Rankin Inlet can raise upwards of $10,000 for travelling athletes or students, and that can often be the difference between our youths taking part in the activity or staying home.
And $10,000 equates to a lot of baked goods or penny-sale items having to be sold to reach the same goal.
Like so many things in our region, fundraising is a long way from being a black-and-white issue.
Does the money being raised for those trying to lead healthy-and-active lifestyles outweigh the fact too many who can least afford it are contributing to the pot?
Does having beer attached to a fundraising effort undermine the good being done by the money raised due to the stigma attached to alcohol in the Kivalliq?
Daunting questions, indeed.
However, the fact remains, without the bingo and the dances, many of our youths are going to miss opportunities taken for granted by many of their counterparts in the south.
And, let's be honest, the vast majority of these athletes and students represent the best of our next generation.
When put in that context, grab your dabbers and your dancing shoes and support the kids who are truly deserving of that support!
Planting the seeds of Northern agricultureNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, May 30, 2016
Interesting placement of headlines in last week's News/North.
On Cece Hodgson-McCauley's column (page 9) the headline reads: "We don't need any greenhouses in NWT!" The headline on page 11 read: "Commercial greenhouses in the works."
Hodgson-McCauley was lamenting that various levels of bureaucracy and institutions are throwing money at community gardens.
In the good old days, people -- missionaries, RCMP, traders and regular folks -- cultivated their own Northern gardens without a grain of funding from anyone, she insists. They got their hands dirty, bent their back to the earth and relied on traditional storage technology in the shape of - as Hodgson-McCauley describes - a root cellar under the bedroom floor to keep the goodness for winter.
The main difference between 'the old days' and now is that people have a choice. They can labour spring, summer and fall to grow their own vegetables or they can go to the Co-op or Northern store and buy them.
With most people, when first given that choice, convenience wins out.
Enjoying the fruits of progress and modern transportation, the cultivating skills Hodgson-McCauley recalls have largely been lost.
Now there are little sprouts of garden culture coming up again as people make the decision to trade some sweat for good quality produce for their families.
Bringing vegetables from California, Mexico, points in between and beyond to tables in Fort Good Hope and Inuvik requires multiple forms of transportation over thousands of kilometres of road, sea and air, a feat only made possible by various preserving chemicals applied to the distant crops.
Even then, despite the grocers' best effort, the produce suffers and tastes less like the real thing, never mind diminished in vitamin benefits to human health.
With heightened consumer consciousness, people are altering their food choices and governments are listening.
In 2014, the federal government funded the Northern Farm Training institute for two years at $1 million a year.
The territorial government has contributed more than $200,000 over the past couple of years, all of this to help dozens of Northerners from 28 communities regain the skills needed to rejuvenate the culture of agriculture.
According to Opportunities North, soon coming out in June, the Institute employed five full-time and 15 part-time staff in 2015 and graduated 58 students, double the year before. And let's not forget the 80 animals on site - cows, sheep, goats, pigs and chickens.
Community gardens have sprung up across the NWT, from Lutsel K'e to Gameti to oil rich Norman Wells which has proven itself to be good potato growing land.
Hodgson-McCauley is right that all the money in the world can't replace a hoe and a shovel in a determined pair of hands.
But the funding can pay to educate people about the benefits to their family of growing their own food, not to mention the planet, and the most efficient way to do it.
Better yet, any surplus could be sold to local stores if the consistency and quality is there, generating an income comparable to the heydays of trapping.
Living off the land is a long and proud tradition in the North. Time for a comeback.
Hospitality industry in the driver's seatNunavut/News North - Monday, May 30, 2016
Adding a destination marketing fee to the hotel room rate has the potential to make a real difference in attracting visitors and ensuring they have an experience worthy of telling their friends and relatives.
The funding method the city is considering could very well trigger some real think-outside-the-box initiatives. That's because the money won't go into general revenue but will instead be used to create a marketing plan developed in concert with the hoteliers and others in the hospitality industry.
We've seen situations in which organizations come to the table with their own money and discover various levels of government will match or increase their funding commitments.
An integral part of the plan must be communication -- by hotel staff to visitors so there is an understanding of where the money will go, and by hospitality industry players to tourism operators so that it is used for specific new initiatives that benefit the capital city and surrounding area outside of the tourism industry's overall marketing campaign. Work will continue to attract conferences, conventions and corporate retreats.
But who better to decide where more attention is needed than the private sector, those businesses who derive their livelihood from money spent by visitors either on vacation, coming to visit friends or relatives, business travellers who are interested in enhancing their experience or adventurers passing through on their way to smaller communities.
Currently, it is the people who get off an airplane at the Iqaluit airport who should be the target of any specific marketing campaign. That means hotel, restaurant and tourism business operators have to know their customers and sell them something that they want. This is not as easy as some would think.
People will pay money if there are options for interaction, especially if the end result is a unique and enjoyable experience. Weather, infrastructure and transportation are all challenges to success.
The skills required to interact with tourists don't come naturally for many people. Just like any other craft or trade, it requires training, knowledge and desire. What is needed is a warm welcome from a person familiar with Iqaluit's vibrant and diverse offerings, the territory's rich history, captivating scenery, strong traditions and inspiring culture and arts.
The future looks bright with a recently completed hotel renovation, a new airport under construction and approvals pending for a deep water port.
Putting the pieces in place now will allow the tourism industry to perfect its pitch for many profitable years ahead.
Tap it if it's safe Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, May 27, 2016
If it it's safe, drink it. Those are the words of wisdom imparted by Coun. Niels Konge ahead of a debate on whether the city should scrap plans for the expensive replacement of its aging eight kilometre pipeline to the Yellowknife River or simply draw water from Yellowknife Bay where the city's new state-of-the-art water treatment plant is located.
Fears of arsenic contamination in the city's water supply have long been ingrained into the collective psyche of Yellowknifers who are all well-aware of Giant Mine's legacy and the 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide still buried beneath it.
As Baker Creek, which continues to show elevated arsenic levels, flows through the Giant Mine site and into Great Slave Lake, the idea of drawing water from the lake has always been a non-starter in any conversation even though arsenic levels in Yellowknife Bay itself are far below the maximum threshold for what is considered to be unsafe and a much cheaper arsenic filtration system would eliminate virtually any trace of the toxic compound.
The city should consider itself blessed to be having this debate when drinking water for cities such as Toronto and Chicago must be thoroughly scrubbed of pollutants, including sewage and industrial effluents, from the Great Lakes.
Konge recently suggested that if water from the bay is safe to drink then the city could save millions by sinking the replacement project and drawing water closer to home. Replacing the submarine line running along the bottom of Yellowknife Bay - scheduled for 2020 - to the river intake is expected to cost $20 million. Installing an arsenic filtration system at the water treatment plant would cost around $5 million.
As it stands, the city already draws water from Yellowknife Bay during periodic maintenance and when the water treatment plant was being commissioned last summer. Notwithstanding elevated arsenic levels that occurred in 2011 when a tailings pond overflowed into Baker Creek, testing in 2014 found arsenic levels at 1.9 parts per billion. Health Canada's arsenic threshold is much higher at 10 parts per billion.
If drawing water from Yellowknife Bay is to be considered, residents will need to be assured that future flooding at Baker Creek will not lead to elevated arsenic levels and a filtration system at the treatment plant would be up to task.
It should be noted that drawing water from the bay would require a new water licence, which would ultimately set an extremely high threshold for public and environmental safety.
If the city cannot meet this threshold it should stick to the current plan. However, blindly pursuing a $20 million pipeline replacement out of fear and burdening taxpayers with further debt, increasingly seems like an irrational proposition.
With a city debate scheduled for June 13, council should enter discussions with a thirst for facts and not shut off the taps to reason.
9-1-1 lawsuit a missed opportunity Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, May 27, 2016
The recent lawsuit victory by James Anderson and his son Samuel Anderson over Bell Mobility and its fees for non-existent 9-1-1 phone service in the North could have had a much happier ending for all.
After nine years of legal wrangling, the class action lawsuit has been finally settled in the Andersons' favour after Bell exhausted all legal avenues to have the case quashed.
Thousands of Northerners throughout the NWT, Nunavut and parts of the Yukon were charged a monthly 75 cent 9-1-1 fee even though Bell could not provide the service. These customers can now expect to collect a tiny portion of the $1,016,336.57 agreed upon in the settlement.
The Andersons won a moral victory in their fight to have Northerners reimbursed but alas, the NWT remains no closer to establishing an actual 9-1-1 service.
The Andersons' lawyer said they were open to a settlement that establishes 9-1-1 in the territory but Bell Mobility turned it down and only the company's lawyers could speak to why.
By refusing contrition and only accepting a grudging truce forced upon it by the courts, Bell missed a golden opportunity to rehabilitate a corporate image greatly damaged by its lengthy crusade to overturn the verdict of a righteous cause.
It could have offered to contribute the settlement money toward setting up 9-1-1, which the territorial government reported last year would cost only $616,000 to launch it.
Instead, Bell will issue what likely will amount to payments in the single digits to individual customers who may not even bother to cash the cheques. A waste all around.
Put wellness first for communitiesDeh Cho Drum - Thursday, May 26, 2016
Putting a focus on wellness in the Deh Cho could lead to incredibly positive results.
Healthy minds and bodies contribute to a healthy region, and the importance of mental health has increasingly been at the forefront of the conversation on healthcare access in the Northwest Territories.
One of the constraints to addressing mental health issues is finding solutions for smaller communities, where resources are more scarce and mental health care professionals are not easily accessed.
In picturesque Nahanni Butte, band leaders are now taking a serious look at the prospect of building a wellness camp where youth and people from all over the region can come to spend time near the mountains, secluded in nature.
This camp will be brought forward by youth, to youth, during the upcoming Dehcho Assembly in June, where it may be discussed in more detail.
Not only would it put a focus on mental and spiritual well-being, it could also be open to people from Trout Lake, Fort Liard and other communities and bands in the Deh Cho.
The details of this camp, including scope and location, are still being hashed out. In particular, the band needs funding if it hopes to succeed.
The issue of health care -- physical and mental -- in small communities is no secret. The smaller and more remote the community, the greater impact isolation can have on the well-being of youth in particular, although anyone can be affected.
Potential funding partners such as Canadian Zinc, the territorial and federal governments should be leaping at the chance to be brought on board. They should be throwing funding at the feet of the band and promising to do whatever they can to make these camps a reality.
At this point, it is only common sense that such a camp could have untold benefits for Nahanni Butte as well as the people of the North.
The true benefits of wellness camps -- particularly in getting people back on the land -- have been established in overwhelming anecdotal evidence. There is a reason why school-aged children are often brought into the bush for culture camps, and are encouraged to learn from their elders and take part in traditional activities.
Many people view going out on the land as not just a way of connecting with their culture but as a way to re-establish their spiritual balance.
The impacts of that can be life-saving.
More fun under the endless sunInuvik Drum - Thursday, May 26, 2016
Something happens in the summer for community newspapers. Things slow down, lots of people leave on holidays, and politics grinds to a halt. One of the things that keeps newspapers like the Drum filled each week are children's sports.
While Inuvik has a lot of programs and activities and resources available during the summer, including a stellar day-camp and Green Shack program, there is nothing in the way of organized sports.
This seems to be somewhat of a gaping hole in what is otherwise a seriously packed athletic calendar.
There are undoubtedly a number of factors that make this the case. When people leave on month-long vacations in the summer, they usually take their children with them, making it difficult to field a team, let alone two that could ostensibly play each other.
Those same people are likely the ones who would do a lot of the coaching for this hypothetical organized league, as well as undertake planning and attending meetings.
The summertime inaccessibility of the delta makes welcoming visiting teams for tournaments harder than usual, and the lack of facilities in town -- most notably a soccer field -- hamper attempts at sports development.
That being said, there are indeed people who remain in town. Most importantly, there are children who remain in town for the summer months, most of whom could seriously benefit from organized sports when school and the structure it provides is not an option.
The thing is, having something, say a soccer league, might be a draw for people to stick around.
All school-year long, people talk about the importance of sports for keeping people active, for building community spirit, and maintaining culture. There are a number of extremely popular leagues for adults, including a slo-pitch association that sends a team to territorials regularly.
So clearly, people see the value of organized sports. It's just not translating into something a large number of children can take part in.
It's easy to say that there should be a soccer league, or equivalent, in town, and something else to make it happen. In a community already plagued with volunteer fatigue, asking people -- generally parents -- to step up and take on more is not likely to work. There is also an issue with getting children to commit to showing up, and then following through on attendance when there is no requirement for them to attend.
That being said, most places have summer sports and there is no question there is excellent weather during the summer in Inuvik.
If it can be done, the community would certainly benefit from making the most of the endless hours of daylight.
