Now that, at long last, the Department of Finance is preparing to retrofit the Iqaluit liquor warehouse to sell beer and wine directly to customers - instead of forcing them to order a shipment from Rankin Inlet - residents in the two other regional centres are wondering if they should have the same at-will access.
May 1 plebiscites in Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet will ask voters if they want beer and wine stores locally. The government doesn't have to obey the result but if the votes are yes, and the Iqaluit store works, we should expect to see more beer and wine stores in Nunavut.
It's hard to ignore the evidence that beer and wine stores have proven effective in reducing the use of hard liquor in Greenland. Even better, crime related to alcohol fell, too.
This is a good thing, especially considering how the RCMP doesn't keep statistics on crimes involving alcohol in Nunavut because, as far as they can tell, pretty much all of them involve alcohol. For the most part, it involves hard liquor, much of it sold through bootlegging.
Can beer and wine have a negative effect on people, and on families? Certainly. But is it as problematic as hard liquor, at least the way hard liquor is consumed here? Likely not.
Drinking a 40-ouncer in one shot is a recipe for disaster. Who hasn't seen someone beyond drunk on our streets, even outside the grocery store? From our experience covering Nunavut's courts, trouble gets more serious once the vodka starts flowing. Too many families have been broken because of liquor's 40 per cent alcohol content.
Depending on who you ask, government officials estimate a bottle of vodka costs $180 to $300 from a bootlegger. Buying alcohol from a store should reduce the amount of money put into the black market, and keep that money in the pockets of the people who need it.
There will still be a market for bootleggers, as some people will maintain a desire for hard liquor, and they'll want it right away.
But the mission of the government is to reduce harm, and every step in that direction will help. In this regard, MLA Paul Okalik's resignation over the issue was short-sighted. He was right that addiction treatment facilities are needed. But they've always been needed, including during the years he was health minister. They are one part of the solution.
Another part is offering drink that contains less alcohol. Another is reducing the amount drinkers spend.
What we hope more than anything is that the overall result will be a reduction in crime - especially the extreme cases where the perpetrator doesn't even remember the attack - and healthier people. This should be the measure of success.
We expect voters in Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet will say they want stores in both hamlets. It's the right move.
But the next move will be to push the government to support the healing needed by so many who find solace in alcohol. It's an election year, after all, and a push for treatment facilities is an issue we can get behind.
Arsenic anonymous
Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, April 21, 2017
Nineteen eighty-nine was a banner year. Among events that shook the globe were the fall of the Berlin Wall; the march of protesters in China at Tiananmen Square and their clash with Communist China broadcast live on television; the Exxon Valdez oil spill along Alaska's pristine coastline which sparked a generation's environmental activism.
In the excitement of the day, it appears a 1989 report on Kam Lake water quality may have fallen through the cracks.
Nearly 30 years later, Dr. Andre Corriveau, the territory's chief public health officer, has issued a health advisory based on the report recommending no one drink, swim in or eat fish caught in the waters of Kam Lake.
The issue is the potential for consuming arsenic from the lake. Longtime residents know Kam Lake is no Fountain of Youth but visitors and more recently established residents are likely only to see a pretty lake when wandering by. Many people may have no idea that a gold mine had once operated on the rise of land above it and that tailings from the mine had been percolating into the lake for decades.
In some respects, Corriveau's health advisory is an absurd afterthought after so many decades lying there mostly neglected by officialdom, its toxic legacy just barely hidden beneath the surface.
Even after all these years, Kam Lake's reputation is no more rehabilitated than Frame Lake's, which gave up its fish, beach and diving towers back in the early 1970s.
But, after dusting off that musty old report it's understandable why the health department would rather be safe than sorry - with findings showing arsenic levels at more than 50 times the Canadian guidelines for drinking water.
It was the best data Corriveau had so he was right to raise the alarm.
But Kam Lake MLA Kieron Testart is also right to demand better of the territorial government when it comes to staying up-to-date on the water quality of the larger lakes in the immediate vicinity of the city.
As it turns out, Miramar Mining, as part of obligations for remediating the old Con site, has much more current data on water quality in Kam Lake. Its 2016 report, filed with the Mackenzie Land and Water Board, shows arsenic levels are now about 20 times higher than the accepted standard for drinking water.
Alas, as governments all too often demonstrate, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing and no one apparently thought to ask. The latest Miramar report likely would've remained buried too had the health department not stumbled upon the 1989 report.
Considering how Yellowknife is a modern city with a fairly transient population of people in it, it is incumbent on the GNWT to ensure the public health officer has current and relevant water quality data for area lakes so he can do his job.
It's not like Kam Lake has gone unnoticed by the people living here. Despite its murky past, or perhaps in ignorance of it, many people still enjoy the lake. There has been more than one fishing derby on the lake in recent years and it is a popular place to hike and explore.
If the water in Kam Lake, or any larger lake surrounding the city, is unsafe to drink, swim in or take fish home to fry, Yellowknifers need to know without relying on the chance find of a document that's apparently been collecting dust since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Arts and culture festival needs a true fiscal hero
Inuvik Drum - Thursday, April 20, 2016
The annual general meeting for the Great Northern Arts Society painted a grim picture of the organization's state.
It's no secret money has dried up in Inuvik. Every organization and society tells the same story.
Money is not flowing in the North.
Still, there are some bright spots, such as the 100 People Who Care Inuvik group, which recently started up and makes quarterly donations to charitable organizations.
All of this underlines the fundamental role a strong economy plays in society.
When things are good, it is easy to say no to projects, slap regulations on businesses and crank up the taxes to skim a little more off the top.
But when the drought hits, people realize what a survival situation life can be.
A society lives and dies on the back of its economy. It is not some disconnected entity. The economy cannot be separated from the rest of society.
"Business" and "profit" have become dirty words in some modern social narratives.
But if profitable business doesn't exist, neither do the arts, charities, food banks, you name it.
Consider Robinson Crusoe on his deserted island for example.
The humans washed up and stranded there must first catch fish before they can start painting. Nothing happens if they don't find food and water first.
From there, they can start saving superfluous food to free-up the time and energy needed to build, say, a net that allows them to catch more fish at once. This increases their productive capacity, frees their labour and the development of an economy follows.
Similarly, arts organizations and the like exist today because our society can feed itself already and people have the luxury to invest superfluous resources into these sort of organizations.
Let's not forget who puts food on the table.
Inuvik isn't dead yet. It might have to adopt Aklavik's slogan of 'Never say die' if this economy keeps up, though.
There are still opportunities here and available resources. Look at the Muskrat Jamboree queens raising over $178,000. It can be done, but there's no doubt it takes more work than it once did.
Local arts are an important part of the area's cultural history and a source of income for the artists themselves. It would be a great shame if the dwindling economy took some of the region's culture down with it.
The task is now with the Great Northern Arts Society to do everything it can to make its case for survival.
As resources shrink, sponsors get pickier. No one has the right to funding. It has to be earned, and that will be a bigger job now for the society than ever.
The Great Northern Arts Festival needs a big hero, or many small ones.
Calling their bluff
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, April 18, 2017
Let's be real - reducing class-time hours will not benefit students, and it's ridiculous the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is pretending it will.
It's time to abandon the notion of justifying what is essentially throwing a bone to teachers in contract negotiations is an improvement to education.
Everybody agrees teachers are overloaded but this collective bargaining agreement will not necessarily relieve any of that pressure. The concession is to decrease class-time by as many as 100 hours, and each school will decide what exactly those hours that will be. So some teachers may see 100 hours chopped off their school year, others may see 10 and some may see no change.
So any relief to workload is not guaranteed, and could be minuscule, depending on the school.
So, as a labour concession, the victory is minimal at best, and as an improvement to education, it's no victory at all. To be clear – there will be no positive result to giving students less time in the classroom.
If the department really wants to increase the quality of education, bureaucrats will need to overhaul the entire system, identify areas for improvement and fully fund those improvements. Because the bottom line is, funding for education has not kept up with the times. Today's education includes inclusive schooling, more enlightened disciplinary methods and bureaucratic tasks such as in-depth student evaluations. On top of this, according to the NWT Teachers' Association website, teachers are expected to volunteer their time outside of school hours to coach, supervise extracurricular activities, chaperone trips and dances, attend local meetings and run various community functions. Expecting teachers to take this much on – on top of the act of teaching – can only hurt the quality of education.
The education department is going through an "education renewal" right now but the way it's heading this renewal is only going to come up with more innovative ways to fail.
Parents, teachers and the public need to start speaking up, and demand better from the government. So far, some seem to be doing this.
The Standing Committee on Social Development is holding public meetings on the proposed legislative changes that will allow for these class-time reductions. Shane Thompson, Nahendeh MLA and committee chair, told Yellowknifer last week that people are "very concerned."
"They're not able to understand the rationale," he said. This, from the MLA who wants more wellness days for all GNWT employees.
These people have a right to be concerned. Because right now the government is attempting a classic bait and switch: it's trying to sell a collective bargaining agreement as a sound public policy change.
Justice needs to be amplified
Yellowknifer - Wednesday, April 18, 2017
It seems simple: people should be able to hear what's going on in public court.
This isn't the case in Courtroom 5 in the Yellowknife Courthouse.
During an April 6 court appearance, both defense lawyer Jay Bran and the court reporter had difficulty hearing the defendant's testimony because of a loud fan noise.
Audio amplification technology has been around for more than a century.
It is mystifying the Canadian court system is so reticent to jump on board and buy a microphone and speaker so everybody in a public courtroom can hear and understand the court case unfolding in front of them.
This isn't a problem unique to Yellowknife – those who run the Canadian justice system have long been hesitant to adopt new technology.
Yellowknifer isn't advocating for anything revolutionary. Just a microphone and speaker.
Baby steps. Miniature audio amplification devices can be found in Yellowknife stores for less than $50.
Yellowknifer urges the Justice department to look into it.
Police need to bust behaviour
Editorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, April 18, 2017
I've been quietly proud of our nation's RCMP force for most of my life.
The officers always got their man, were tough as nails, were known around the world for their unique uniforms and had a romantic aura surrounding them that made people think of simpler, bygone times.
Being rural, my hometown of Port Morien, Nova Scotia, in dear old Cape Breton, was always policed by the RCMP, and one officer formed, organized and led a great new youth initiative in my town called the Young Involved Citizens Club.
We met twice a week and, for the three years Const. Gary Smith oversaw the club, we took part in a number of fantastic, fun-filled programs.
We also did a bunch of community initiatives like cleaning up our well-known beach, the awesome Morien Sandbar, and we held bottle blitzes and put the money toward a good cause in the town.
One year Const. Smith had us look at trying to debunk or prove a few Cape Breton legends, and that particular undertaking led to six of us spending the entire night at the well-known "Old Dan's" haunted house in the middle of nowhere on Brickyard Road.
You take a small group of young male teenagers who were acting a whole lot braver than they really were, and who had vivid, overactive imaginations, knew the spooky legend of Old Dan's all too well, and couldn't see each other's faces after midnight because it was too dark, and you can pretty much figure out the kind of night we had.
Suffice to say, I was never so glad in all my life to see my mom and dad's car the next morning.
We were left with many lifetime memories when Const. Smith was transferred and the club faded away. They're the kind of memories that leave a soft spot inside you for the entity or person responsible for them.
My fondness for the force never wavered. That is, until recently.
Many years ago I overheard a retired RCMP sergeant, who was a friend of my father's, say he was a little concerned about the direction the force was going.
In the few years previous to his retirement, he said, more and more of the new officers had aggressive personalities and methods of policing, and a number of them spoke openly about hoping one of their suspects gave a reason to get physical or fire their weapon.
I must admit, even in Rankin Inlet, a lot more of the RCMP officers I've met during the past 18.5 years have been of the TV undercover maverick cop Baretta-wannabe type than I ever knew even existed.
As the headlines of RCMP officers being charged and convicted of crimes continued to mount during the past few years, and the allegations of sexual harassment within the force itself took centre stage, my resolve for always being pro-RCMP began to dissolve.
Finally, the details of a former RCMP counter-terrorism officer found guilty of committing vile and unthinkable acts of abuse on his own 11-year-old son shattered my romantic notions of the force.
The time has come for extreme scrutiny when deciding which people can be put in positions of authority and set loose in public carrying a loaded gun and other assorted weapons.
One can only wonder what the fallout would be if one of the unthinkable acts being committed in other parts of Canada were to happen in Nunavut.
Let's hope that day never comes.
But, the only way, sooner of later, it's not going to come, is if less men and women hiding violent tendencies or antisocial behavioral traits are given guns and badges!
