Colonial attitude alive and wellYellowknifer - Wednesday, July 5, 2017
The NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines is upset over the removal of 1,500 feet from an airstrip at the old Salmita Mine but no answers are forthcoming from the federal department responsible for the work.
The shortening of the runway 250 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife at Courageous Lake, which was undertaken by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC)'s NWT contaminated sites division, seems to have flown under the radar until recently, when photos surfaced in June showing how excavating machines had chopped away a large portion of the runway.
Last week, the chamber of mines sent a letter to federal Infrastructure and Communities Minister Amarjeet Sohi requesting a stop-work order on the demolition. But the feds seem to be tight-lipped about exactly what they're doing and why.
It is possible NWT MP Michael McLeod is correct that the federal government is using gravel from the runway to facilitate clean-up work elsewhere. But that doesn't fly with the chamber's insistence there are other nearby locations with the same sand and gravel composites that could have been used instead.
McLeod's explanation is also difficult to understand given the runway is still reportedly in use by at least one company, Seabridge Gold.
Both that company and the chamber of mines told the federal government in 2011 how valuable the airstrip is, according to the chamber.
In addition, Yellowknives Dene First Nation Chief Ernest Betsina says he was never informed the airstrip was going to be shortened, despite the band using that area for hunting and trapping.
The federal government needs to explain why it failed to properly consult affected groups before doing something that could impede the economic prosperity of the region, and why it did not heed the chamber's warning of the value of the airstrip. There is no reason for such work to be done under the radar, keeping industry and First Nations in the dark is never a sensible option.
Efforts by any organization - be it INAC, the GNWT or an industry partner - to dismantle developments in the Northwest Territories need to be above board every step of the way. This is the only way to ensure proper oversight of such work.
Although the area around Courageous Lake was designated as federal land when devolution hit, this should not remove INAC's duty to consult. The department's choice to move forward with dismantling a section of the airstrip without doing so is reflective of a colonial mindset that has long pervaded the federal government.
The chamber of mines and Yellowknives Dene First Nation deserve a reasonable explanation on why INAC chose to shorten the airstrip.
No answers appear to be forthcoming from the GNWT either, despite Yellowknife North MLA Cory Vanthuyne describing the airstrip as "integral to the area's economic future."
If that is in fact the case, the GNWT needs to speak up and support the chamber's stop-work request or explain why it is staying quiet.
Silence solves nothing, and it is time governments realize they need to make concrete efforts toward transparency if they ever hope to foster a respectful relationship with anybody in the North.
The return of the enforcer: a new hopeEditorial Comment by Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News - Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Kivalliq's large hockey community had two reasons to enjoy Saturday. In addition to all the Canada Day 150 festivities, July 1 also marked the beginning of free agency in the NHL.
With the 2016-17 NHL season barely gone a month, the lure of expansion, the Entry Draft and the free agent frenzy have combined to keep plenty of hockey talk going well into the summer.
But there's been another interesting topic discussed too, speculating on the return of one aspect of old-school hockey: enforcers.
The cancer-related death of one of the NHL's best all-time enforcers added a lot of fuel to this fire. Dave Semenko, 59, was legendary in his role protecting Edmonton Oilers superstar Wayne Gretzky in the 1980s.
His presence bred confidence in a number of Oilers stars like Mark Messier, Jari Kurri and Paul Coffey, among others.
Semenko was a prime enforcer and anyone who truly understands the game of hockey and its inherent psychology has no doubt Semenko's presence gave his star teammates a lot of extra room over the years.
At the end of the recent NHL playoffs, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford created a stir when he publicly stated he was tired of the liberties being taken against Sidney Crosby and other star players in his lineup.
He promised there would be a player brought in to protect the team's top stars for the 2017-18 NHL season, who would have players think twice before taking cheap shots at Pittsburgh.
True to his word, Rutherford then went out and paid a high price in a trade with the St. Louis Blues to acquire hard-nosed winger and top enforcer Ryan Reaves.
Safe to say, there will be a little less traffic coming Crosby's way next season.
The Leafs raised eyebrows when they opted to protect rugged Matt Martin and let one of their top prospects, Brendan Leipsic, be drafted by the Las Vegas Knights expansion team.
But the Leafs have a trio of young stars in Austin Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander who respect, appreciate and highly value Martin's presence.
The three forwards are at the core of the Leafs rapidly improving team and the Leafs are willing to buy into the players own protection racket with an enforcer of Martin's ilk to dissuade other teams from messing with them.
The NHL moved too fast with its desire to eliminate 'goons' and decrease the amount of fighting in the league and, because of that, the league made mistakes.
The NHL should have eliminated the staged fighting from the game and came down hard on any enforcer who earned a major penalty against a star player.
Had the NHL done that, the 'goons' would have left with the staged fighting and there would be more enforcers in the league drawing fourth-line minutes, acting as a deterrent to attacks against their star teammates and keeping the vast majority of their physical efforts confined to aggressive forechecking, legal bodychecking and dealing with players who ignore their presence and go after those they protect.
There is much value to players policing themselves when enforcers play a role in the league and almost no value at all while it still remains open season on the league's superstar players.
The move back to having a team enforcer strengthens the game of hockey and, hopefully, teams will continue to follow Pittsburgh's example as the summer goes past.
Court fight deepens divideNorthwest Territories/News North - Monday, July 3, 2017
At one time the Dene Nation was strong enough to stop a pipeline and force the territorial government to hand the reins of power over to a council led by indigenous politicians.
Now indigenous politicians are going to court to fight over the same well-chewed bone while Ottawa and the GNWT lord over a divided people in a divided territory.
This is the impression one might get when contemplating the North Slave Metis Alliance's lawsuit against the feds, GNWT and the Northwest Territory Metis Nation. The Metis Nation is based in the South Slave but also has members in the Yellowknife area, where most of the North Slave Metis Alliance membership lives.
A Metis historian could explain the history of disunity far better than the newspaper can but both groups trace their roots to Francois Beaulieu II - considered one of the founding fathers of the Metis populating the territory around Great Slave Lake in the mid-19th century.
The two groups have many historical ties to Treaty 8 signatories and the Akaitcho First Nation, which incidentally, does not recognize any right-bearing Metis north of Great Slave Lake.
All were at one time part of the Dene/Metis Comprehensive Land Claim, which dissolved like sugar cubes in hot tea when some of the parties tried to renegotiate the signed agreement in 1990. This led the way to more and more regional bartering and horse-trading with the federal government, with some groups signing deals and others - such as the Akaitcho - growing long in experience but short in progress.
This has all become ripe pickings for Ottawa, and now the GNWT, who, with devolution in 2013, can complicate the matter further now that it has a seat at the negotiating table. The lack of cohesion makes it easy for government negotiators to spin in their chairs while smaller and smaller entities squabble over harvesting rights for the few remaining caribou and spend their members' money on legal fees.
North Slave Alliance president Bill Enge is well versed in legal talking points and likely has a case. There is no denying the membership has a rich history in the North and are deserving of hereditary rights enjoyed by other indigenous groups in the territory.
But what's missing in this saga is any sense of desire for harmony, one to be celebrated not only by their group but all indigenous people in the territory.
Alas, the discord has built to a point where it would appear only a costly and lengthy court battle will bring about resolution - a resolution decided by a judge citing case law rather than between peoples with vast mutual interests.
Meanwhile, areas that would benefit all, such as economic development and jurisdiction over land, go untapped and unsettled.
The Akaitcho could reinvigorate its land claim process by finally deciding on a grand chief and showing some unity in the face of a government bureaucracy that would prefer to keep its power instead of sharing it with territorial rights holders.
Acknowledgment of Metis rights, not only by the Akaitcho but among themselves, ought not to weaken their positions but strengthen them.
Unfortunately, as long as there is discord between indigenous groups in the territory the only people benefitting will be the lawyers.
Royal wake up callNunavut/News North - Monday, July 3, 2017
Royalty arrived in Nunavut last week but behind the pomp, circumstance and hundreds of people lined up to take pictures, we would like to know if anything was gained from it.
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall visited Iqaluit on June 29, before flying directly to Ottawa for Canada Day celebrations. While other royals have visited since the creation of Nunavut -- the Queen in 2002 and Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex and his wife, Sophie, Countess of Wessex in 2012 -- this is the first time Prince Charles has visited the eastern Arctic since 1972, when he travelled to Pangnirtung.
Things might look a bit different 45 years later.
It's a shame their Highnesses only visited Iqaluit-- Nunavut is a vast territory with a long history, both at home and in connection to the British Empire.
Famous careers were launched and even more infamous stories emerged during Great Britain's hundred-year long obsession with finding a Northwest Passage through Nunavut.
While British explorers, including Sir John Franklin and the 133 men who perished with him on his final expedition in 1845, tramped over ice and snow with heavy sledges in search of this fabled route, they learned nothing of the people who lived here, even after naming most of the seas, islands, and rivers after themselves.
Hopefully Prince Charles had a bang up time in Iqaluit but what we really hope is that he came with a open mind and left with a heavier heart than his sledge-hauling forebearers.
Nunavut could use more champions on the world stage and the future king could make an exceptional one. If Canada, and Nunavut, is really part of a grand commonwealth tradition, the royals need to take a big bite out of some metaphorical (or real) muktuk, and address the dire issues Nunavummiut face.
It would be great if the royals took away not only a sense of the strength and culture of the region but also took some measure of its problems -- from its tragically high suicide and addictions rate to its lack of housing and food insecurity.
With great power -- even symbolic power -- comes great responsibility to shine a light on the issues. Next time, for instance, when a neighbouring country proposes a ban on seal products, or even his own country for that matter, we hope the future king will be a leading voice in explaining why that is bad for Nunavummiut.
The North needs a champion, not just for his subjects who look, sound, and live like him, but for the Inuit who have long had historical ties to his country and were not always treated with respect. Their legacy deserves better.
Perhaps Prince Charles can do his part toward building a more positive relationship as Canada celebrates its 150th birthday.
Homelessness help required Weekend Yellowknifer - Friday, June 30, 2017
Dettah Chief Edward Sangris isn't happy about the recent problems on the Bullmoose-Ruth clean-up project.
The Yellowknives Dene First Nation chief is calling for an indigenous oversight group to monitor ongoing work after an inspection report by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) was released stating its lead contractor failed to comply with the conditions of its land-use permit.
Bullmoose-Ruth is a government project to remediate seven former mine sites 60 to 90 kilometres east of Yellowknife. Rowe's Outcome, a joint venture from Hay River, was awarded the contract back in late 2015 after submitting a winning bid of $14.9 million, which INAC said at the time was "less than anticipated." The company also promised it could complete the work a year ahead of its competitors.
The issues listed in the May inspection report include improper storage of fuel drums, equipment leaking fluids without drip trays, creation of an unauthorized quarry, a truck burnt in an unreported fire and a "very large" hydrocarbon spill near the Spectrum Lake shoreline.
None of this looks good for the government, which endured intense skepticism last fall about its ability to protect the land while opening up a winter road to access the mines.
Sangris, one of the skeptics, must feel like he is perpetually sitting on a bruise. He has spoken to Yellowknifer several times about his concerns relating to the Bullmoose-Ruth project - with worries over the winter road construction and lack of consultation with indigenous groups.
To the government's credit, it has demonstrated a commitment over the years to clean up abandoned mine sites and other eyesores and environmental messes. This has led to other issues in some cases, such as its decision to bulldoze a landing strip at the former Salmita Mine, as reported in today's Yellowknifer. More on that in a later edition.
But for the government to fulfill its commitment, it will necessarily need to open up winter roads to access these sites. This inevitably leads to increased traffic - at least for a few years - by recreational users such ice fishers and hunters.
This scenario was all very apparent when the federal government was remediating Discovery Mine north of Prosperous Lake several years ago.
To its credit, INAC did the right thing after releasing its inspection report: it took responsibility, ordered the contractor to fix the issues quickly and agreed to increase its oversight. That the issues were picked up and publicly reported in the first place also show its monitoring and inspection system is working as intended.
Everybody knows what the problem is now and everyone can consider the issues and provide suggestions to avoid these problems in the future.
The department's mistake was not involving Yellowknives Dene more closely from the beginning.
Given the project is on Yellowknives Chief Drygeese territory, their traditional land, it makes sense that the First Nation should have a significant say over how the area is cleaned up.
A couple of community meetings don't provide that. Working with an indigenous oversight group would go a long to building trust in these types of projects and make sure they are done properly in the first place.
Of course Nihtat wants self-governmentInuvik Drum - Thursday, June 29, 2017
Nationalism versus globalism has taken centre stage in international politics the last few years.
But the debate isn't new or limited to entities the size of countries.
The Nihtat Gwich'in Council, which represents Gwich'in in the Inuvik region, appears to want its own self-government agreement separate from the Gwich'in Tribal Council, the territorial body for Gwich'in.
Desire for the most local government is only natural.
If all funding levels were the same, who knows Inuvik better and can care for its citizens more closely, the Town of Inuvik, the Government of the Northwest Territories or the Government of Canada?
The more local the government, the more accountable it is, the more it can tailor its actions to people's needs and the more connected to its citizens it will be.
This idea can be pursued right to its logical end: that the most local government is the one of individual over himself. No one can know better what's right for the individual than the individual.
That doesn't mean the individual is flawless in her decision making but she is the only one who can know her heart and is entirely responsible for her actions and any repercussions they may bring.
The more distant the government becomes, the less responsible the actors are for mistakes and the more blurred their perspective is.
You can have the smartest technocrats in the world but if they're not responsible for their actions, they're working with bad information.
For Nihtat Gwich'in, the debate is whether to take complete control over their own affairs or subject their power to a regional body.
It might not always be a simple decision to go more local.
Perhaps there are benefits in letting the established GTC lead self-government.
That organization has built up its infrastructure to take on the task, and it might just be less of a headache to let the larger authority take control.
We're not talking the International Gwich'in Union here - the GTC would preside over a fairly localized territory already.
What makes sense for the Nihtat may not for the Gwich'ya in Tsiigehtchic.
A designated Gwich'in organization taking self-government into its own hands doesn't mean it is adversarial with the tribal council.
Organizations with different levels of authority and jurisdiction coexist happily all over the country.
The only way it could turn adversarial is if it gains the air of a power struggle.
Even if it does, that's only healthy. These are big decisions being made.
Those who roll over when action is needed deserve their fate.
