Tourism is a good investmentYellowknifer - Wednesday, May 10, 2017
The Northwest Territories is very fortunate to be a subject of fascination around the world.
The Northern lights, Dene and Inuvialuit culture, the unimaginably big fish lurking in some of the world's most remote lakes, big-game hunting, epic kayak and canoe trips, camping, the midnight sun and the prospect of driving to the Arctic Ocean are all intoxicating draws for people south of the 60th parallel and beyond.
This is apparent simply by the fact that more than 50,000 people went to the Northern Frontier Visitors Centre last year, up a whopping 400 per cent from 2007.
This is an incredible opportunity to grow the tourism industry.
With the Northern Frontier Visitors Centre set to close, Yellowknife needs a new pit stop for tourists. Unfortunately, the territorial government has only committed to finding solutions for a temporary location. This level of commitment is unacceptable.
It's high time for the territorial government to partner with the city to finding funding for a big, bright, inviting, informative visitors centre which incorporates a cultural aspect.
According to documents from the Northern Frontier Visitors Centre annual general meeting last week, a 1,000-square-metre building would cost between $3.7 million and $5.25 million. To compare, in January, the federal government announced it would cover 25 per cent of an all-weather road to Whati, which would help support a Fortune Minerals exploration project north of the community. This road is expected to come with an estimated $150-million price tag, which makes the cost of a visitor's centre look like peanuts.
The territorial government needs to look at the potential of the tourism sector through the same lens it looks at diamond mines.
There is potential to draw a lot of money not only into the Yellowknife economy but to the communities. And unlike diamonds, worldwide interest in the great wonders of this territory is a renewable resource.
Don't let sun set on A New DayYellowknifer - Wednesday, May 10, 2017
A New Day is a good program. The public, politicians, program participants, facilitators and even a Department of Justice report all attest to this fact.
So why does the Department of Justice seem hell bent on destroying it?
Right now, A New Day is facilitated through the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre as a full-time program with group and one-on-one counselling sessions. The department is currently looking for somebody to take over once the contract is up in June.
But in issuing a new request for proposals earlier this year, it made some curious changes to A New Day.
It would become part-time, as needed, with group sessions only. Even more curious, the department wasn't going to require bidders to have expertise in counselling.
The department has since augmented the request for proposals to require bidders to have counselling experience and the part-time, as needed aspect is now changed to "all-inclusive hourly rates for the facilitators."
Yellowknife Centre Julie Green thinks the department is breaking A New Day.
Yellowknifer agrees.
It's mind-boggling that, considering how much money it costs to send domestic violence offenders through the court system again and again, bureaucrats would think paring down this program is a good use of resources.
At this point if A New Day is going to be saved, there is going to have to be a big, unequivocal push from politicians to force the hand of the Department of Justice, because as it looks right now, department bureaucrats seem to have buried their heads in the sand.
True sense of community is a powerful thingEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, May 10, 2017
I wasn't able to get around to many Pakallak Tyme events thanks to the same ailment that prematurely ended my hockey officiating career but those I did catch were top-notch all the way and everyone seemed to be having a really good time.
And that's what Pakallak Tyme is all about.
I was still laughing to myself when I returned to my office following a visit to the bouncy castle.
I haven't seen kids having that much fun in a long time.
Some of them rocked so hard, bouncing at full speed during their minute in the castle, I don't know how they could walk, let alone in a fairly straight line, once they were let out.
Did I say walk? Some of those kids went past me, covering the few feet between the bouncy castle and the obstacle course, at speeds I'm sure are illegal in some parts of the world.
I also saw more moms and dads having fun with their kids as a family unit than I've noticed in a while.
That felt very good to see. These years don't last long, folks. Enjoy them!
There seemed to be no shortage of volunteers helping out. No matter how good the games and activities being offered, that can often be the difference between a great community event and a lot of people walking around muttering under their breath.
There was a real sense of community surrounding the Pakallak Tyme activities I was at, and that remains as cool to me today as it did when I was a kid.
I've always felt at home in Rankin and, other than the incredible hockey of course, that sense of community has always been one of the strongest attractions for me here.
And, we get lucky a lot with some of the people who, one way or another, end up calling Rankin home.
I grew up in Cape Breton, in a little fishing village just a 10-minute drive from the rough-and-tumble town of Glace Bay, going through my teenage years in the 1970s.
The Cape in those days was driven by coal mines and steel plants.
People worked hard and played hard, and, believe me, folks, I was no saint in my youth.
That's why I froze, my eyes darting around trying to feed me data, and a blind panic started to slowly rise up inside me when I came around an aisle at the Northern store this past week and came face-to-face with some type of flashback apparition that looked an awful lot like Mr. Terry Kent.
Imagine my relief to find he was, indeed, the real Terry Kent and, seconds later, I was enjoying a handshake and a hug from a good friend of many years who I honestly didn't think I'd see again in this lifetime.
That's the type of thing a town with a real sense of community can create.
I'm going to really enjoy seeing Terry every day, or second day, at the Northern for the next month, and them I'm going to miss the heck out of him when he leaves again.
Another tell-tale sign that a strong sense of community exists is when a town tends to be a bit overly generous when it comes to supporting charitable events and local fundraisers, and the folks of Rankin Inlet have that down in spades!
I'm sure almost everyone in all seven of our Kivalliq communities feels the same way about their community, and with good reason, but I will maintain there's something special at work in Rankin Inlet until the day I'm called home for the final time.
It truly is a wonderful community to call your own.
Road dispute needs a calming solutionNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, May 8, 2017
A Dene band that defied the threat of legal action by the GNWT in order to build a road was hacking through much more than brush and trees.
Nahanni Butte simply got tired of regulatory delay and started slicing through the bureaucratic red tape it believed was holding back its chance for economic development in conjunction with a proposed mine near the community.
On March 28, the Department of Lands filed a notice of injunction with the Supreme Court of the NWT, seeking to stop Nahanni Butte band members and associates from "trespassing" on territorial lands. The department also filed a statement of claim with the courts regarding the road.
The department claims Nahanni Butte is trying to speed up development of Canadian Zinc Corporation's Prairie Creek Mine by getting around an environmental assessment process required for construction of a road to the mine.
Currently, a proposed all-season road to the mine has been languishing before the Mackenzie Valley Review Board for three years.
Although the old logging road Nahanni Butte was clearing – it finished in late April – did not overlap with the proposed all-season road, the GNWT noted it follows "the same general path."
The statement of claim sought unspecified damages, costs, an injunction against the band and possession of the road, arguing the band has "damaged territorial lands." The document claims territorial lands in the Nahanni Butte region are controlled by the commissioner until Nahanni Butte's land claims are settled.
As you'll read in today's News/North, Nahanni Butte is now pulling out of the Dehcho First Nations, the all-season road to the mine again at issue.
But in March, the band was defending allegations of "trespass" levelled against it by the GNWT as a land use permit would be needed to use heavy equipment on the land.
Marcellais said the band had asked for the department's assistance in putting together an application for a land use permit in early February and has been waiting to sign off on the final application.
"After more than 48 days, our operating season is coming to an end and the use of heavy equipment is pointless as we will soon be under spring thaw conditions," Marcellais stated in an e-mail.
"Once again, we are confused by government officials who claim to want to work with us to help us navigate the complex bureaucracy ... and when it's obvious they cannot simplify the process in a logical manner, they resort to calling attention to their self-importance and need to 'protect' the public.
The hearing between the band and the GNWT in front of NWT Supreme Court judge Shannon Smallwood in Yellowknife was adjourned April 7.
The GNWT has held the position that Nahanni Butte is trying to manoeuvre an end-run around the environmental protection process in order to speed up development of Prairie Creek Mine. However, after the band retained a lawyer and vowed to fight the injunction, the GNWT declared it would seek a solution outside of court.
Outspoken NWT Senator Nick Sibbeston, who hails from the Deh Cho region, has even called for an apology from the territorial government for what he termed its " terrible" decision to take legal action against the band.
We're not sure if that's called for but surely cooler heads need to prevail in this dispute.
It's amazing anything except frustration and frost flourish in this territory. With its overlapping jurisdictions and multi-layered approval processes, this is a frustrating place to do business.
The Nahanni Butte Dene Band's frustrating struggle to find a better way of life for its members is just the latest sad example of this.
'Tapped out' city a bad signNunavut/News North - Monday, May 8, 2017
Iqaluit Mayor Madeleine Redfern was the first guest speaker for a breakfast meeting series organized by a reborn Iqaluit Chamber of Commerce last month.
She told attendees about the city's woes finding the money to fund infrastructure repairs, which are such a burden on the city that it has had a hard time considering the creation of new infrastructure. But a growing population demands housing development, which requires sewage and water pipes. Apart from September 2016 funding for much-needed wastewater treatment, it's a cost the city has to bear.
Compared to the other communities, Iqaluit is blessed with a solid base of people with decent incomes. This fact leaves Iqaluit ratepayers holding the bag for infrastructure that supports all Baffin communities. The city, for example, is responsible for the roads that will lead to the airport set to open in August. Washrooms and food beyond security are among the perks of the new airport, but the water and sewer infrastructure for those are paid for by the city. Who decided that was fair?
Anyone in the city knows well the condition of the underground infrastructure, as city workers are always digging somewhere to replace pipes that are long past their expiry date. Redfern said the city would need hundreds of millions of dollars to get out of the business of temporary fixes.
Every hamlet faces similar problems. The federal and territorial governments took an important step this week in announcing $230 million to help ease some of them.
But the infrastructure funding deficit is only a symptom of a bigger problem: the economy on Baffin Island is too dependent on government and one large company, Baffinland. We are told about 100 businesses in Iqaluit - Redfern says the city has 300 licensed businesses in total - are contractors for Baffinland, and the trickle-down from the mine's activity means work for a lot of Baffin Island's workers.
But when Baffinland isn't producing, we also see the lack of trickle-down.
The positive effects of a busy mine are seen in Baker Lake, where Agnico Eagle has taken a depressed community and turned it into a thriving one.
Work begets work begets work.
A mine needs housing, services, groceries, airlines, etc. It's hard to quantify the number of people supported by such a corporation but it's easy to see the quality of life that comes from having it in the community and region.
And mine infrastructure begets other infrastructure. Depending on the mine, the business may need new or upgraded roads, airports and seaports. And those need workers to build and maintain them.
Governments often see infrastructure as the way to stimulate the economy, and it can certainly be an effective approach. Compared to local infrastructure, the feds are spending far more -billions -on Arctic/offshore patrol ships. That no doubt serves a purpose in maintaining Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic, but so does healthy and happy communities.
For years to come, the territory will need massive support to even approach the level of infrastructure wealth enjoyed by southern businesses and communities.
The federal government and southern taxpayers must understand the overwhelming infrastructure needs of the North, and if Canada is truly a nation from coast to coast to coast, it is unacceptable that Northern communities exist in Third World conditions.
Filthy rest stops a disgrace Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, May 5, 2017
Highway rest stops are often a visitor's first impression of a new area or region.
There's nothing more natural than the need to stop and stretch one's legs or use the facilities after the
lengthy leg drive between High Level, Alta. and the NWT 60th Parallel Visitor Information Centre.
Officially the centre is only open May 15 to Sept. 15 but a pull-out remains cleared all winter and an
outhouse remains available and open.
One would assume this is in case a traveller needs to use the facilities. It's a benevolent gesture and many
a traveller is probably grateful for it. At least until they stop to use it.
Photos taken this past winter along with the recent observations of Ice Road Trucker columnist Alex Debogorski document a foul scene the description of which would turn stomachs if it were repeated here.
One can only imagine the reaction of a visitor coming across such a sight on his or her first visit to the territory. First impressions are lasting impressions.
While it would be hoped people using the outhouses would show consideration for those who come after
them, the territory should take more care to ensure that if facilities are made available, that they are maintained and cleaned regularly. To make matters worse, the phone number the GNWT provides to outhouse users takes callers to a voice-mail informing them that the number is disconnected and nobody is checking the messages.
Filthy rest stops and poor roadside maintenance have been a longstanding problem. When Yellowknifer investigated complaints of human feces being left at rest stops on Highway 3 in 2009 the departments of Transportation and Industry, Tourism and Investment both argued it was the other that was responsible for cleaning up.
If maintenance is impossible for whatever reason, simply lock the thing up. A disgraceful outhouse does
no one any good and only invites ridicule and disdain. A situation like this invites finger pointing and blaming as different government agencies pass the buck but this isn't about laying blame.
This is about the government of the Northwest Territories cleaning up its act and putting its best foot forward
when it comes to what visitors experience when they first arrive in the territory via the major southern highway artery.
Keep calm and think of arsenic Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, May 5, 2017
Knowledge is power but the latest batch of academics researching
arsenic might want to take a lesson from their predecessors.
When researchers from the University of Ottawa announced last
year that lakes around Yellowknife had dangerously high levels of
arsenic and mercury, it caused a panic. Not because the findings were false – they're not – but because researchers failed to explain what the situation actually meant for ordinary people.
The way the information filtered to the public painted Yellowknife as a
toxic stew bubbling with danger. The lakes in question, however, are all tiny – many mere puddles – and in close proximity to Giant Mine where people are not likely to fish or go bathing.
On the flipside, in the 1990s data from the Baffin region showed Inuit in Canada had some of the highest levels of toxicity in the world, thanks to country food that had been contaminated with around 200 different toxic pesticides and industrial compounds.
Health officials were stymied - there's no good solution when the
choice is eating contaminated meat or unaffordable processed food from the south. So in 1997, public health officials decided to just shut up, and tell people the benefits of eating their foods outweighed the risk.
This year's researchers, who took samples from people at a community consultation last month to study the human-health effects of the Giant Mine cleanup, need to tread lightly and strive for a similar balance. The research they're doing is incredibly important.
It needs to be done, and it needs to keep making headlines so the issue isn't literally buried. Ignorance isn't bliss-- but researchers have a responsibility in how they choose to ring the alarm.
Avoiding the broad brush of indigenous reportingInuvik Drum - Thursday, May 4, 2016
One of the most interesting things I was told at the 25th anniversary for the Gwich'in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement was that they weren't hosting any hand games for the evening.
All of the other communities had hand games for their corresponding celebrations.
Purely from my work-driven need for photography opportunities, I was hoping for hand games in Inuvik and curious why they weren't on the agenda.
Apparently not everyone here likes hand games.
Some view it, I heard, as a Sahtu tradition. It's not part of the history of the people here and not something many of them want to engage in.
Learning that made me reconsider how I report on indigenous issues in general.
Being non-aboriginal myself, it is natural and easy for me to report on indigenous people as a block, writing that they are engaging in an "aboriginal tradition" or showing their "aboriginal culture."
Even if I don't personally like to use those kind of blanket terms, a fast-paced reporting environment lends itself to easy turns of phrase.
Describing something as a Gwich'in or Inuvialuit tradition would be more accurate.
Traditions across aboriginal cultures are not all the same, and neither are traditions across other cultures or any other ethnicity. Broad brushes paint a poor picture.
It bothers me to ever refer to someone's ethnicity or heritage, but as a journalist I can't escape the fact "indigenous issues" is a repeated theme of coverage in the North. Almost all the institutions, from the government to the private sector, use the same blanket terminology.
To an extent it makes sense, as the subject of indigenous history is its own niche considering Canada's history, whereas "Canadians" is used only as a matter of fact and identification.
Although many indigenous people speak proudly of their aboriginal heritage, I can't help but wonder if any get tired of being lumped together as a homogenous group.
I personally bristle at any sort of group identity being placed on me, whether it's Canadian, caucasion, male or what have you. I am all of those things but don't want to be reduced to one and equated to everyone else who shares those traits with me.
The same goes for women, who are also often treated by the media as a block, as if all women think the same and are invested in the same issues.
The blunt presumption of using group identity to determine an individual's opinions is inaccurate at best and downright offensive at worst.
When writing on a deadline, "aboriginal tradition" is an easy way to get through a sentence and move on, without being more precise.
But surely I owe the same nuanced view I have of myself to the people on whom I report.
