Don't close the law libraryYellowknifer - Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Congratulations to the territorial government for giving Yellowknife a brand new distinction - it will now be the only provincial or territorial capital to not have a law library.
Because it has been slashed from the budget, members of the public will no longer have this resource if they ever need to navigate the justice system - a daunting task for anybody without a law degree. The library offered up a law librarian who could direct people to a good starting point for research, hard-to-find legal tomes and law-specific subscription-based online websites.
Consequently, lack of access to a law library diminishes the public's ability to defend themselves before the courts.
Say a person feels they've been wrongfully charged or unfairly persecuted by a person, organization or the government. Also, say this person - like most people - can't afford a lawyer. The law library is there for just this type of person.
Justice Minister Louis Sebert cited low attendance and high costs as reasons for the library's closure. Lawyer Sandra MacKenzie told Yellowknifer attendance records might be misleading because not everybody properly signs in and out.
But it doesn't matter whether the place is bustling with law enthusiasts chomping at the bit to get their paws on the newest issue of Canadian Lawyer magazine. What matters is whether one single individual who needed help navigating the legal system had access to the library if they couldn't afford legal advice.
It also doesn't matter whether the library was coming in $244,000 over budget every year. In the grand scheme of things, $467,000 in operating costs is peanuts. Take into consideration that the GNWT set aside almost $20 million on government travel in the same budget.
It was lawyers making noise in defense of the law library when Yellowknifer reported on its closure but Sebert, a lawyer himself, should think of the territory's regular non-practising citizens when he considers its worth. While he is right that lawyers probably have access to what they need via their law firms' legal databases, the average person doesn't. And it is the average person who needs to have access to a library such as this one the most.
Face-to-face is better than e-mailYellowknifer - Wednesday, July 6, 2016
The old adage, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" could be updated for the 21st century to say, "If you can't say anything nice, at least don't write it in an e-mail and forward it to an entire chain of people."
The NWT Federal Liberal Association had the unfortunate experience of seeing their entire colourful discussion that led to the resignation of president John Dalton aired publicly last week. The conversation was started by executive member David Monroe, who introduced a motion via e-mail for Dalton's removal, accusing him of ignoring e-mails and displaying "disgusting misogyny."
While generally membership response was amenable to Dalton's removal, it was Bill Braden who cut to the heart of the issue. He chided his organization's executive for introducing a motion like this via chain e-mail, calling it "bizarre" and suggested the entire executive resign.
"'Chiming' on e-mail is at the very least a demonstration of how undemocratic or dysfunctional our executive is," he wrote.
To be fair, the NWT Liberal Party squabbles don't seem to be having any effect on NWT MP Michael McLeod's performance in Ottawa, which so far appears to be very good.
But, just to save the embarrassment, the organization associated with its elected member of Parliament might want to call a meeting the next time they want to discuss another member's performance.
Implementing curfew requires careful considerationEditorial Comment by Cody Punter
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Broken windows, stolen guns, people being woken up in the middle the night by intruders. These are not the kinds of things you want happening in your hometown. Unfortunately, in recent weeks there have been rising concerns following a series of late-night disturbances, petty acts of vandalism and a gun theft, which is hopefully an isolated incident.
Things came to a head on June 27 when Coun. Harry Towtongie asked why the "community did not have a curfew." His question was met with support by the mayor and council and now the hamlet is considering implementing one to keep people off the streets late at night.
Now, just to clarify, nothing has been enacted yet. Council has simply asked administration to explore potential options for curfews, with the mayor pledging to talk to other communities to see how they have implemented them. According to Coun. Evan Morrison, Naaujat has a horn that goes off every night to indicate when people need to be off the streets.
Longtime residents of Rankin all say they remember a siren but no one is sure when it stopped. One older man told me the hamlet stopped using it because a woman who had immigrated to Rankin from Europe after the war complained that it reminded her of the bombing raids.
The mayor suggested that there had previously been questions raised over whether forcing children into potentially abusive homes somehow violated their human rights. However, he later explained that council is well within its rights to enforce a curfew.
On the one hand, it is great to see so many children playing outside and enjoying the fresh air at this time of year. But on the other hand, people need to be able to feel safe in their own communities. Just the other day a girl posted on the Rankin Inlet News Facebook group that a man had tried to break into a relative's house.
The fact that the message was shared 34 times, far more than any other post on the page, reaffirms the consensus among the handful of residents I have spoken to - implementing a curfew is an unfortunate but necessary evil.
As council takes this back to the drawing board and tries to figure out what if anything it should do, residents should speak up and have their voices heard.
If a curfew is going to be put into place, how late should it be? Who is going to enforce it? What will the punishment be for breaking it? These are questions that need to be asked if the hamlet decides to go down this road.
It should also be pointed out that while there are certainly lots of younger people out late at night, the RCMP does not currently have any suspects in their ongoing investigation, so it is uncertain who is responsible for the recent vandalism.
Perhaps if people come together and discuss how to make the streets safer at night, a compromise could be met, and a less punitive tack taken.
Because as much as everyone deserves to feel safe, it really would be a shame to tell kids that are outside running around to go back to their Xboxes because of a few bad apples.
Grads, grads everywhere! Northwest Territories/News North - Monday, July 4, 2016
Readers of News/North in recent weeks have seen dozens and dozens of youth from across NWT who are graduating from high school this year.
It's a remarkable achievement, especially for students in smaller communities who don't have access to educational opportunities taken for granted down south, such as science labs and field trips to the museum.
There are also cultural and family barriers to be overcome. Schools for some aboriginal parents and grandparents still bring back the nightmare of the residential school system.
So there isn't always the push to get their children out the door and into a classroom. Especially when help might be needed around the house.
And exactly what does having a high school diploma mean? Is it really the passport to a better future that many would have you believe?
Without a doubt, it surely is. But it's only the first step.
The graduates of the Class of 2016 have many options ahead. But all will require more work: Yes, life is all about working. Working to get an education. Working to find work, then working at the job you obtain.
So moving forward, individuals from the Class of 2016 can decide to upgrade their current diplomas, attend trades programs, college or university, enter the workforce immediately, or take a year off to 'find themselves.'
Here's a bit of info, if one is still undecided. Over the next 15 years, the Conference Board of Canada says there will be 28,500 to 36,700 job openings in the NWT, of which 78 per cent will "typically require some form of post-secondary education and/or extensive work experience and seniority."
At News/North we have reported on the constant need for workers in the health care, service and education fields. Good jobs, good pay. And people can stay near their families.
That high school diploma in hand can be the key to a good life. Don't throw it away.
De Beers donation a good example of co-operationNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, July 4, 2016
De Beers Canada announced at a community barbecue June 14 it's providing $100,000 toward upgrading the Lutsel K'e community arena. The facility's sand base will be replaced with a hard surface, opening the rink to use for more activities.
Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation Chief Felix Lockhart said the new floor will allow the facility to hold sports events such as indoor soccer, basketball or community feasts and other events.
"This investment into the arena ... will benefit all residents, in particular our youth," Lockhart stated.
Kim Truter, CEO of De Beers Canada, announced funding for the project will be a partnership with Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation and the federal government.
"By working with the community and government, De Beers is helping to improve the quality of life in Lutsel K'e," Truter stated in a news release.
Tom Ormsby, a De Beers spokesperson, said the spending is the company's largest donation this year.
The announcement came after De Beers had previously slashed sponsorships following the decision to suspend production at its Snap Lake Diamond Mine in December.
However, De Beers has a new mine, Gahcho Kue, that's expected to begin production this year.
It's not clear if the money for a new surface at the Lutsel K'e community arena has anything to do with De Beers' future now being brighter in the region. And we can't say if it was in response to the impact benefit agreement entered into with the Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation for the Gahcho Kue mine.
But it's a good example of co-operation between the diamond company and residents of the community whose land they will be mining.
Nunavut fishing boats deserve lion's share of shrimpNunavut/News North - Monday, July 4, 2016
The importance of the Northern shrimp fishery to Nunavummiut and an external review of Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Last In, First Out policy was thrust into the spotlight June 17 in an unlikely place.
It was Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson who blew the whistle on the policy review from the floor of the Senate, stating the policy, introduced in 2003, is discriminatory against Nunavut commercial fishing operations.
The policy fails to recognize provisions in the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement which require the federal government to ensure a fair distribution of fisheries licences between residents of the Nunavut Settlement Area and other residents of Canada.
Currently, Nunavut fishers receive a quota of less than 38 per cent of the total allowable catch in their waters. Meanwhile, commercial fishers in other Canadian jurisdictions hold 80 to 95 per cent of the quotas in water adjacent to their place of origin. That means a vast majority of Northern shrimp in Arctic water off the coast of Nunavut is being caught by commercial fishers from other places.
There is also the matter of consultation by the federal department with the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, another requirement under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. Patterson charges that no consultation has occurred. And, interestingly, of the public meetings held by Fisheries and Oceans Canada during its external policy review, only one meeting was in Nunavut, held in Iqaluit May 10, while five meetings were held in various communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, and one was held in Nova Scotia.
Perhaps Fisheries and Oceans Minister Dominic LeBlanc needs to be told that, in considering and giving preference to those fishers who have been harvesting Northern shrimp the longest, Inuit have been harvesting food from ocean water adjacent to Nunavut's 24 seaside communities for time immemorial, long before fishing boats from Newfoundland and Labrador, or from Greenland and Norway, arrived off the coast of Nunavut.
Today, the commercial fishing industry in Nunavut generates more than $86 million in market-value sales. Northern and striped shrimp accounted for $14 million in sales in 2014 but fell to $6.5 million in 2015.
Inuit-owned commercial fishing operations have poured millions of dollars into their boats and equipment, and hundreds of Inuit have been trained and are being trained for jobs in the fishing industry.
LeBlanc stated June 28 he has received the final report and recognized that hundreds of harvesters, industry representatives and indigenous peoples took time to share their experiences and views.
Let's hope logic and understanding of Inuit rights are given primary consideration and the people of Nunavut are given the majority right to harvest Northern shrimp from water adjacent to their home communities.
Sour grapes ruin French school announcement Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, July 1, 2016
This September it will have been 17 years since Yellowknife's francophone students walked through the doors of the newly built Ecole Allain St. Cyr.
It will also have been 17 years the school has been sharing a gym with neighbouring William McDonald School, something which is scheduled to change within the next two years.
Last week, Education Minister Alfred Moses announced the territorial government will build a gymnasium at Allain St. Cyr by the start of the 2018 school year.
This announcement came as a surprise to the Commission scolaire francophone (the French school board) and was greeted with a touch of skepticism by board superintendent Yvonne Careen.
"We have heard absolutely nothing about it," she told Yellowknifer. Quite reasonably, she declined to comment on the news until she had official confirmation.
This new gymnasium is a step toward the GNWT meeting court-ordered obligations.
In 2012 the French board won an NWT Supreme Court case giving it greater control over admissions, and a $15 million expansion of Allain St. Cyr that would have included the new gymnasium, expanded lab facilities, and an improved playground, among other things.
A early 2015 appeal court 'victory' saw the GNWT claw back most of those court-ordered concessions but left the requirement for a new gymnasium in place.
It seems the GNWT is finally making good on its obligation to the French school board but its sour grapes handling of the announcement was not the way to treat the french community in Yellowknife.
Yellowknife's francophone community is a vibrant contributor to the city's culture. A strong school system that reflects and protects that culture is a natural fit and benefits all of Yellowknife.
Allain St. Cyr is a locally designed and thoroughly modern facility that has won accolades from the international architectural community. Expanding that facility, starting with a gym, only makes sense.
For the GNWT to fight this expansion tooth-and-nail to the bitter end must have frayed nerves on both sides. Announcing funding for a new gym at Allain St. Cyr without first mentioning it to the French school board suggests a disregard for the people the GNWT is mandated to serve.
This lack of communication between the GNWT and the school board needs fixing, and the minister should act now. Tossing court-ordered money at a school board -- no matter how much it is -- in a back-handed manner does not set the stage for healthy co-operation in the future.
Important to take bad with good Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, July 1, 2016
A recent survey Abacus Data on behalf of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines shows good news for mining.
The results show by and large people in the territory greatly value the industry. Eight out of 10 people surveyed held a positive view of mining, according to the survey.
So it is odd some results that could be construed as slightly negative were left out of a presentation shown to media - and by extension, the public - while the full survey was heard by MLAs in the legislative assembly. They were told 36 per cent of people surveyed were in favour of more regulation compared to 51 per cent who were fine with the existing amount.
Tom Hoefer, the mining chamber's executive director, said the pollster didn't intentionally leave out the results, suggesting the company simply didn't want to overload the public with information.
Innocent as that may be, it was unwise to do so. By presenting an incomplete picture, one that excised the most negative results, it opens the door toward speculation on the motives for doing so.
Regulations over mining are undoubtedly a contentious issue in the territory. One doesn't need to look far to see why. Giant Mine and the 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide buried beneath it in perpetuity is the poster child for what happens when regulations are too lax.
In the eyes of most people in the NWT the mining industry is welcome but there will always be detractors and their voices are just as important.
Burying them one day only assures they will be louder the next.
New tactic for understandingDeh Cho Drum - Thursday, June 30, 2016
After what seems like years of stagnancy, Premier Bob McLeod announced during the Dehcho Assembly on June 27 the creation of a new role - a ministerial adviser to both the territory and the Government of Canada - responsible for consulting with all Deh Cho communities and reporting back.
While on one hand, it seems as though after decades of consultations the governments should already know where the people of the Deh Cho stand, it has been made clear over the past couple years that's not actually the case.
After all, just last year the negotiations broke down to the point of halting altogether after the territorial government delivered a thoroughly uninspiring land offer to Dehcho First Nations.
Now there is renewed hope. One person from the government dedicated to seeking out the position of each band could signal a change in the spirit of negotiations, if implemented correctly. And the spirit of negotiations most certainly needed to change, at least on the territorial side.
This person needs to be willing to listen, first and foremost, and they cannot come to the table with an agenda already in mind. They need to hear what communities have to say - and the government needs to be willing to hear what this adviser reports to them, however harsh it may be.
However, it is wise to remain skeptical until the fruits of this new advisory role are evident. Less than a month ago, in the legislative assembly, Premier Bob McLeod backtracked on the promise he gave when campaigning for premier to deliver a land offer to Dehcho First Nations within 90 days. On May 31, McLeod defended the fact he had failed to live up to that promise by telling MLAs, "We can do (an offer) anytime. What we want to do is focus on results."
Discrepancies like that show the government has a long way to come in order to meet Dehcho First Nations at the negotiating table.
The first thing to watch will be who the government appoints, and how that person is appointed. Some suggestions were already made during the Dehcho Assembly, and the government needs to take all these suggestions into consideration.
If they appoint a bureaucrat who intends to push the government agenda in these communities, the whole notion of an advisory position will fall apart rather quickly. But if they appoint someone who genuinely cares about the process and about these communities - ideally, someone who currently lives in the Deh Cho - that will be a good sign.
While the creation of an advisory position is not a leap toward successful negotiations, it is the first tentative step. It shows the governments - territorial and federal - are finally acknowledging they need more information.
Fresh faces follow new voting systemInuvik Drum - Thursday, June 30, 2016
The Gwich'in Tribal Council election has ushered in a new wave of younger faces at the organization.
According to chief returning officer Mary Ann Ross, Bobbie Jo Greenland, the presumptive new president, and her counterpart in vice-president Jordan Peterson, could have defeated the other candidates because they got out the youth vote.
But part of getting out that youth vote, she added, was probably due to the new online voting system implemented for the election. Preliminary results also show that overall voter turnout was slightly down from the last full election, held in 2012.
Whatever the reason, there is a clear shift in leadership at the tribal council level and -- with no disrespect to previous leaders -- this is a good thing.
All we ever hear from politicians of all stripes is that the youth are the most important asset of any group or nation. We talk about the importance of education, the need to protect land and traditions for future generations, and the need to help children and teenagers through rough patches to allow them to succeed. These are always feel-good talking points, both during and after elections.
And yet every election, young people are some of the least well-represented in the ranks of voters who cast their ballots. Typically, people are more likely to vote the older they are, and we see the results both at home and abroad.
Finally, at least in this case, young people have stepped up to the plate, cast their electronic ballots and have elected leaders that can understand the issues related to young people.
Greenland-Morgan and Peterson cannot -- and should not -- be in this alone. Elections are not the only time democracy is active, and members of the electorate need to remain involved deep into the heart of the term to ensure their voices continue to be heard and their needs met.
New energy is all well and good, but it fades quickly under the yoke of a multimillion-dollar organization, with disparate factions, facing a rocky economic future and challenging self-government negotiations.
What remains to be seen is how these new, younger leaders handle the responsibilities they have been given. While there is great value in experience, there is also something to be said for fresh faces, new perspectives and optimism.
