Homelessness help required Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, June 23, 2017
The cost of ending homelessness in the city was reduced by $34 million last week.
The 10-year plan presented to city council by consulting firm Turner Research & Strategy Inc. now calls for a price tag of only $113 million.
The sarcasm is intended, of course, because $113 million is still an enormous figure regardless of where it is being spent. More cynical minds might consider any number of major projects over the years - by any level of government - and be hard pressed to find one that didn't far exceed original cost estimates. Deh Cho Bridge anyone?
The $113 million estimate is expected to cover construction of 240 new affordable housing units, rent support for 127 other units, a rapid rehousing program, expansion of the case management system, construction and operation of 80 permanent supportive housing units inside a single facility, plus 80 additional units.
It's a massively ambitious program to take on what has become a massive problem in the city.
Stephen Gaetz, director of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and professor at York University, in 2015 described Yellowknife's homeless problem, on a per capita basis, as worse than Toronto's.
Everyone here knows how bad it is. The question becomes - as always - what to do about it once the cold reality of dollars and cents are factored in.
Alina Turner, lead consultant on the homeless plan, said most of the money will still need to come from the territorial and federal governments.
This is a given. In a city that struggles to pay the bills for replacing water and sewer lines, such a plan could not proceed without major help from the GNWT and the feds.
Coun. Julian Morse expressed optimism that spread, over 10 years, the cost is "actually very cheap."
We don't share his optimism. More than 10 million dollars a year is not cheap.
The unfair demand from the GNWT to build a $30-million water treatment plant without extra funding, the federal government's unwillingness to announce how it will ease the burden on the North once carbon pricing comes into effect, among many other tight-fisted examples that could be raised, ought to make council wary of jumping too far ahead without ensuring the higher levels of government are fully in their corner.
The case obviously should be made that the city's homelessness problem is really a territorial problem. Many of the people considered "homeless" are visitors and migrants from other NWT communities, who whether by misfortune or otherwise, have found themselves on city streets.
It's great that a price tag has been presented on what is needed to fully tackle the city's homelessness problem.
Hopefully the hardest part won't be finding the cash.
Best commissioners are ambassadors Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, June 23, 2017
Please extend a friendly hand to Fort Providence's Margaret Thom, the new commissioner of the Northwest Territories.
Officially announced on June 14, Thom takes over a largely ceremonial role that went without a heir apparent for 13 months. In the great scheme of things, having or not having a commissioner is of no major consequence. The government ran just fine under deputy commissioner Gerald Kisoun after Thom's predecessor George Tuccaro's term ended last year.
A good commissioner, however, such as Tuccaro and his predecessor Anthony Whitford, can play an important role in being an effective ambassador for the North.
A commissioner is essentially the federal government's representative in the NWT - similar to the role performed by a lieutenant-governor in the provinces. The primary job is to give assent to legislation passed by MLAs. The part that requires skill is public relations - with the public and visiting dignitaries alike.
Thom, 66, was deputy NWT commissioner for six years under Whitford (from 2005 to 2011) so she has plenty of experience and understands what the job entails.
More importantly, she's a life-long educator, facilitator and volunteer with decades of on-the-ground service to the NWT and its people.
A mother to four and grandmother to nine, Thom is a Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee medal winner, a member of the NWT Education Hall of Fame and was honoured with a NWT Wise Woman Award in 2000.
Thom is the third woman to hold the NWT Commissioner role, following Cambridge Bay's Helen Maksagak, the first woman and Inuk to hold the office, from 1995 to 1999; and Inuvialuit politician Glenna Hansen, from 2000 to 2005.
Thom should be a great asset to the North, a role model for women and men. We wish her well.
Lack of energy found at energy showInuvik Drum - Thursday, June 22, 2017
Inuvik should be hungry for investment and anything that could stimulate the regional economy, but you wouldn't have thought so listening to the opening statements at the Arctic Energy and Emerging Technologies (AEET) conference and tradeshow last week.
We can cut the usual hosts some slack. They live in a small town and might not be public speaking stars. All of these introductory gigs must blend together at some point and their introductions can become as generic as everyday pleasantries.
Duane Smith, president of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, shows the ability to ad lib and say more than the standard fare. I always look forward to his "Aariga!" introduction to see his reaction to the (lack of) reaction from the crowd. One day, we'll all shout aariga back, but not today.
People paid a lot of money to come to this conference and they only have two days to network and get things done. Introducing every cabinet member in the room with a clap inbetween takes way too long.
But past that, it was disappointing that Industry, Tourism and Investment minister Wally Schumann simply read off a long essay for his keynote address. I didn't fully comprehend what he was talking about until I read the speech later on the GNWT's website, because it was a little too dull to keep anyone's attention.
This guy should be absolutely buzzing about the energy industry in the Northwest Territories. He should barely need notes, let alone have to read verbatim from a prepared speech.
In addition to that, he started his speech by saying he had been on the road a long time and was looking forward to going home. That's like starting off a first date with, "Yeah, I can't wait to get out of here."
Some of the leadership in Inuvik and the NWT didn't give the impression they cared about the AEET that much. Sadly, the empty tradeshow in the arena reflected that lack of energy.
It's a dire time in Inuvik. There's so much that could be said. A number of non-profit group in town say they are on the brink of closure because of the poor economy.
Inuvik needs life. The AEET was supposed to be a huge opportunity for local leadership to do everything they could to encourage investment.
Hopefully the actual conference was more productive for attendees. The networking potential when you bring together that kind of crowd is still real, despite the dull air to the show.
Maybe our leaders don't get how bad it really is here. Guaranteed, government salaries can do that. They might know the words to the song, but it's not real to them.
Town council is similarly frustrating. Members seem to prefer sleepy, empty meetings when nothing important is discussed. They don't seem energized to action. Maybe summer will change that.
Or, perhaps everyone's just waiting for the bust to end and a new boom to start. But not everything about fate is out of our hands and subject to larger powers.
Litigating treaty rights is futileYellowknifer - Wednesday, June 21, 2017
There is an old adage that states a sure sign of insanity is to keep trying the same thing and expect different results.
In 2015, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada released a report revealing that in the previous five years, the federal government spent a whopping $100 million on litigation of indigenous issues.
The government has a terrible track record in these cases. A November 2013 Law Times article ("Feds pouring big money into aboriginal litigation") looked back at court cases from the 1980s and found indigenous people won about 90 per cent of them. This isn't, by any measure, a wise investment from the public purse.
Indeed, when former Ndilo chief Ted Tsetta was charged under the NWT Wildlife Act in February 2014 for hunting caribou northeast of Yellowknife without a valid tag, he maintained his treaty rights gave him every right to hunt. Tsetta and Dene First Nation Chief Bill Erasmus were gearing up to fight the charge by filing a constitutional challenge under section 35 of the Constitution Act, which recognizes and affirms indigenous rights.
Lawyers with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources must have spent some time with the constitution, because earlier this month Dene Nation announced the charge had been stayed - it was resolved using an alternative measures diversion agreement. This is an excellent resolution, because there is no doubt had this case proceeded to trial the GNWT would have spent millions only to lose.
In the future, bureaucrats can save themselves years of futile effort and millions of dollar in court fees if they start understanding and respecting treaty rights.
Caribou health is a major issue but it won't be solved dragging First Nations into court.
The best government can hope for regarding First Nations autonomy over their lands is positive discussion and compromise.
Continuing to take these issues to court will only continue to create conflict, waste millions of taxpayer dollars and waste years of everybody's time. And that is insane.
Good on housing minister CochraneYellowknifer - Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Good on housing minister Caroline Cochrane.
She flew to Ottawa earlier this month to confront the federal government over the amount it allocated to NWT housing in this year's budget.
The GNWT will be receiving a paltry $36 million over 10 years, leaving just more than $100,000 annually for each community when the money is divided up between the 33 of them. Meanwhile, Nunavut will be getting $240 million over that same period of time.
Cochrane said the allocation confused her when the budget was announced and she continues to struggle to understand it. While Nunavut's housing needs are, according to Cochrane, double the NWT's, she points out this territory also deals with transportation issues, high costs and a harsh climate.
Cochrane didn't come back with any specific commitments but said the federal government would consider the NWT in its next allocation of housing funding. This is absolutely necessary.
NWT MP Michael McLeod isn't off the hook in this either - it's hard to fathom how the territory ended up so shortchanged if McLeod was doing his job to educate his peers about his constituents' needs.
Now that the public knows the feds will be considering the NWT for future housing funding, McLeod better get cracking to advocate for as much help as possible.
High stakes time in NHLEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, June 21, 2017
With the Stanley Cup playoffs in the rear-view mirror, excitement is mounting on which players could be selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL's first expansion draft since the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild joined the circuit in 2000.
The biggest difference with this expansion draft is that it, by far, has the best rules governing the protected lists of other teams than any expansion draft in history.
Teams had the option of protecting seven forwards, three defencemen and one goalie, or any eight skaters and one goalie. Players with no-trade or no-movement clauses (NMC), who refuse to waive them, must be protected or bought out before the expansion draft.
Both Colorado (Francois Beauchemin) and the New York Rangers (Dan Girardi) paid the price to buyout veteran players with a NMC so they could protect another player.
Nonetheless, it would be folly for Vegas to not take advantage of a more level playing field and actually ice a competitive team their first year in the league.
And, there are just enough teams with roster dilemmas, and just enough random situations in play, to make the Knights competitive in year one and still have the beginnings of a development plan in place.
The Knights get instant credibility in the crease by drafting M.A. Fleury from the Stanley Cup champion Pens.
The addition of another veteran with a couple of years left in the tank as a serviceable backup (think Cam Ward) would then give Vegas the ability to jump on two younger goalies in need of just a little seasoning.
And there is talent, such as Antti Raanta in New York and Malcolm Subban in Boston, on those unprotected lists.
Five teams with definite roster problems - taking for granted none pulled off a trade the morning after I wrote this - are the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Black Hawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild. The Knights should quickly select Sami Vatanen, Trevor Van Riemsdyk, Josh Anderson, Colin Wilson (or do the Predators leave a still only 29-year-old James Neal exposed?) and Jason Zucker or Jonas Brodin, and make their deals elsewhere.
There are also a few boom-or-bust picks the Knights simply can't afford to pass on, and those include Ryan Strome from the New York Islanders and Mikkel Boedker in San Jose.
Lest we forget, the Knights also have to reach the salary-cap floor and there are, probably, some intriguing options being mulled over by the Vegas brass. David Perron really should be a no-brainer from the St. Louis Blues and, with only one year left on his contract, Tomas Plekanec of the Montreal Canadiens fits the bill nicely.
However, there are some "name" players out there whose production does not measure up to their salary. Their teams may be inclined to dangle them out there and see if Vegas bites.
Would the Knights pass on Bobby Ryan in Ottawa or Jordin Eberle in Edmonton? We'll know by tonight.
From what's being reported, the Knights already have four deals worked out. There's no doubt they've been offered enough incentives to pick this player, or ignore that player, that their management team will need a small wheel barrel to lug the draft picks safely back to Vegas.
Still, when all is said and done, Knights GM George McPhee is holding a lot more cards than any expansion GM before him. It's going to be a ton of fun to see how he plays them!
Satellite farm a tough row to hoe
Northwest Territories/News North - Monday, June 19, 2017
The community of Inuvik has seen better times. The town was created between November 1954 and 1962 to act as a federal government hub in the Beaufort Delta region.
It was thriving until the Canadian Forces base closed and the oil and gas industry dried up. It's especially frustrating for the latter to have happened as Inuvik sits near three massive fields containing reportedly trillions of cubic feet of natural gas.
But any moves to finally start accessing that underground wealth will be made more complicated by a five-year federal moratorium on Arctic offshore oil and gas drilling in the Arctic. The ban could make the onshore natural gas less attractive to develop if oil and gas companies can't access offshore oil as well.
So News/North has to wonder what form of bureaucratic penance the feds are forcing Inuvik to pay as a relatively new satellite industry there - so perfectly eco-friendly, compared to oil and gas - is being forced to wade through a licensing process wrapped in red tape.
The good news is Inuvik is a perfect place to install satellite dishes due to the greater line of sight at the Earth's poles when the dishes are pointed toward space. Six satellite dishes - two operated by Kongsberg Satellite Services of Norway, and four by Planet, of the U.S. - have been completed and ready to go since October 2016.
Alas, this may not matter if the federal government doesn't pick up the pace and prevent the industry from fleeing to more business-friendly circumpolar jurisdictions, such Alaska and Iceland. All six recently constructed satellite dishes in Inuvik still await federal approval.
Tom Zubko, president of New North Networks, the company that installed the satellite dishes, says what ought to be a good news story has become a frustrating example of how bureaucratic inertia can cause free enterprise to whither and die.
"All these millions of dollars sitting here just looking pretty," said Zubko. "None of them are working."
The company hopes to build another 12 dome-type dishes over the next two years but worries the investment could dry up if the pile of paperwork grows any taller.
Zubko says the problem is Canada's 12-year-old legislation, which has failed to catch up with this rapidly evolving industry. He says the legislation reflects the type of satellites being built at the time, mainly large-scale government installations that aren't dependent on a quick timeline.
Meanwhile, as the GNWT gathered June 11 to mark the completion of the much-delayed Mackenzie Valley Fibre Link.
The $80-million public-private partnership project was set to be completed by Aug. 31, 2016.
The 1,154-kilometre fibre line through extremely challenging terrain connects High Level, Alta., to Inuvik, and it will extend to Tuktoyaktuk once the all-season road is finished.
"This is an exciting day," the finance told the assembled VIPs and media.
"This is going to put Inuvik on the map in the satellite world."
He would especially like to see young people get jobs in the satellite industry here.
This seems like the perfect pitch the GNWT should use to pressure the feds to get the licences approved.
We must wonder what NWT MP Michael McLeod is doing to help move this file along. And we would hope McLeod and his Liberal government will modernize the apparently outdated regulations governing satellite operations.
Summer of youth
Nunavut/News North - Monday, June 19, 2017
It's heartening to see summer approach, and our pages filled with news of young people preparing for summer jobs, a new law program, and making a difference in the communities.
Nunavummiut can also take pride in the territory's mine rescue teams competing to success across the North.
The Department of Environment's Corenna Nuyalia showed us the benefits of working as a summer student for the government, which can bring decent pay to those who can find such work. That job, working as an administrative assistant after her first year at Nunavut Sivuniksavut, launched a government career, and Nuyalia is a great example of a young Inuk rising up.
And now, at long last, Nunavummiut will have another opportunity to get a law degree in Nunavut. Of the territory's first and only attempt more than a decade ago with 15 law students, 11 graduated in 2005, and nine passed the bar. It's a success rate on par with southern law schools, so the return of such a program has been a long time coming. Whether these people end up working in courtrooms, in government policy shops, or as active citizens, the territory needs more educated Nunavummiut who can take Nunavut forward.
And Nunavummiut must take heart that our miners, supporting so many back home in the smaller communities, are also among the best at taking care of their colleagues. Nunavut's mine rescue teams are to be praised for their success at the recent mine rescue competition, and for working hard to keep the mines safe.
This bright side is too easily overshadowed by the challenges faced by Nunavut's youth. A graduation rate, as of 2015, of 33.7 per cent (by the government's count).
A shortage of opportunities outside of the major centres. Challenges at home - housing shortages, food insecurity, a suicide epidemic - that create roadblocks for young people. The long tail of colonialism. Schools that have been left in ruins by fire.
And then there is the small issue of the government's insistence that putting off deadlines for Inuktitut education will somehow benefit the young Inuit who can't get a high school education in their own language.
It's no wonder so many struggle to be a success story.
But each of us can have a hand in helping a young person. University of Winnipeg researchers said in 2015 that parental encouragement made the difference for those who did graduate in Nunavut.
As students prepare for the end of the school year, take the opportunity to be an ally for the young people you know.
Show them the benefits of waking up and making their way to school each day.
Point out job and volunteer opportunities you see that will raise their spirits. Advocate for youth at DEA meetings and to the government. Speak up when you see bullying or children struggling.
It could take generations to catch up to the pace set by southern schools but the youth want their dreams to come true. People in the territory have to do what they can to help.
