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At last! Ottawa moves on Nunavut

Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin announced this week that Ottawa will spend $149.9 million on the creation of Nunavut over the next four years-including nearly $40 million for training.

IQALUIT--Ron Irwin has come up with the answers.

Canada's northern affairs minister says Ottawa is now ready to get on with the job of creating Nunavut--for which they'll spend $149.9 million between now and the year 2000 to build Nunavut's infrastructure, train Nunavut residents, and set up an interim commissioner's office.

"I'm here and we're committed and we're ready to go," Irwin said at a news conference in Ottawa April 30. "I have faith in the leadership and the people of the North that it can be done."

He also confirmed that Iqaluit will be the capital of Nunavut.

Irwin also implied that Ottawa prefers making deals with the people of Nunavut than with people in other parts of the country.

"I like the way they negotiate," Irwin said. "We argue a lot-we really do, we've had some horrendous arguments with the Inuit people and the northerners-but at the end, when we reach consensus, they stick to consensus, which is great. That's the way it should be done."

As well, $39.8 million will be spent on training-an increase from the $27.5 million estimated last year in the Nunavut Implementation Commission's Footprints in New Snow report.

"We actually upped some of the costs," Irwin said, saying that Ottawa is putting a lot of emphasis on training.

And Irwin said the people of Nunavut have no choice but to make do with what Ottawa is now willing to give for the creation of the new territory.

"We think the budget is realistic and fair," Irwin said. "This is as far as we will go at this stage-$150 million is a lot of money, quite frankly."

Nunatsiaq MP Jack Anawak, who also attended the news conference, said Nunavut residents must use all their resourcefulness to make the money stretch.

"We will somehow make do with the $150 million," Anawak said.

Of the $150 million announced, only $50 million has been set aside for the construction of infrastructure-which looks like a lot less than the nearly $200 million estimated last year by the Nunavut Implementation Commission.

But that number only covers those assets that the government will actually build and own-the rest of Nunavut's infrastructure is expected to be built by private companies who will lease facilities back to the Nunavut government.

Judith Tanguay of the Nunavut Secretariat in Ottawa said that of that $50 million, about $30 million will be spent on roads and sewers and other community infrastructure, another $13 million will be spent on Crown construction of federal facilities, and about $9 million on site development.

But she said Ottawa is expecting that a total of $171 million worth of infrastructure will be built by a combination of Crown construction, private sector investment and long-term leases.

"What we're saying is that the remainder will come from the private sector, and that the private sector will become involved in infrastructure development as owners and investors for office facilities and possibly even staff housing and that the government will guarantee lease arrangements," Tanguay said.

John Rayner, DIAND's assistant deputy minister of northern affairs, says Ottawa is now negotiating with Nunavut Tunngavik on exactly how to manage the infrastructure construction.

"The capital budget will be administered through an arrangement between Public Works Canada and NTI, and through joint ventures encouraging private sector Inuit capital from the Nunavut region and because of that, and because we're going to do it in lease-back type arrangements, we are able to keep, in the early years, the yearly cost of the capital infrastructure down to a reasonable amount," Rayner said.

Rayner also said negotiators are looking at the idea of having a consortium of Nunavut's four Inuit birthright development corporations play a major role in constructing, owning and leasing Nunavut's infrastructure.

NIC report followed

Rayner also confirmed that Ottawa has endorsed the Nunavut government structure set out in the NIC's Footprints in New Snow report last year.

That report set out a lean, efficient, decentralized type of government for Nunavut.

"The structure of the government that is contained within the $150 million is as it was set out in the Nunavut Implementation Commission report, and we have taken that and we have costed that out," Rayner said.

As for the ongoing costs of running two new territories in the place of one after 1999, Irwin said that will be dealt with in negotiations between territorial finance ministers and Ottawa.

"We met with [NWT Finance Minister] John Todd last night, and Jose Kusugak from the Inuit leadership, and Premier Morin, and these were questions that were asked and they seemed satisfied that this system will work-finance minister to finance minister," Irwin said.

Irwin also said Ottawa had considered delaying the April 1, 1999 start-up date for Nunavut, but rejected the idea.

"I think there's adequate time to do it by April 1, 1999," Irwin said. "If we put it off into the next century, then the decisions that will have to be made won't be made, and it will probably be more expensive, with more consultants and more meetings and we won't be doing the decisions that are necessary to set up a democratic new territory."

And he also said he will appoint Nunavut's interim commissioner by next fall, after consultations with NTI and the GNWT.

"The arrangement is that over the next few months, they will be setting up the terms of reference for the interim commissioner," Irwin said. "All three groups will be putting names forward, and no one will be chosen unless all parties agree on the person."

And he said that the interim commissioner, who legally must report directly to the minister of northern affairs, must work closely with the GNWT and NTI.

"The role of the interim commissioner will be much like a deputy minister. He or she will take his or her instructions from the two governments and the Inuit," Irwin said.

Judith Tanguay said one of the interim commissioner's tasks will be to work out a budget for the Nunavut government's first fiscal year.

This week's news is also good news for Canada, Irwin said.

"It is a statement for our country, because there are very few countries on this planet who would be doing what we're doing-a territory that is one-fifth the size of Canada," he said. It [Nunavut] has a very distinct and old culture, and it says a lot about our country that these things are important, that this recognition is important."

Irwin, along with Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrews also said Ottawa will spend no more money on constitutional development in the western NWT.

Blondin-Andrews said western NWT residents must first show that they can reach consensus on what kind of territory they want after division.

"We really need to get the direction, get the consensus building, and those are some of things that money can't buy," she said.

And Irwin even said that the West, with its developed infrastructure, which includes a lavish $25 million legislative assembly building, should help the east.

"I'm thinking more of the western Arctic helping the eastern Arctic," Irwin said.

Good news for Nunavut

IQALUIT--Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin's Nunavut announcements this week represents good news for Nunavut.

Here's why:

• There will be at least $171 million available to build Nunavut's infrastructure--made up of $50 million in Crown construction, with the rest made up of private sector investments and long-term leases;
• Nunavut will likely be built by Inuit-owned Nunavut companies--Public Works Canada and Nunavut Tunngavik are now working out an arrangement to manage the construction of Nunavut's infrastructure;
  
• Infrastructure development is expected to create about 1,400 construction jobs over the next four years in Nunavut;
  
• About 200 private sector spin-off jobs are also expected to be created by infrastructure development in Nunavut;
  
• Nearly $40 million in new money will be available to train Nunavut residents--Ottawa, NTI and the GNWT will soon put into place a four-year training strategy;
  
• Nunavut's interim commissioner will be appointed by this fallÑan advisory committee, with one member each from Nunavut Tunngavik, the federal government and the GNWT will be set up to conduct an "executive search" for a candidate who will be recommended to Irwin;
  
• The Nunavut Implementation Commission's model for a decentralized government has been preserved;
  
• Nunavut will be created on time, on April 1, 1999;
  
• Iqaluit has been officially confirmed as Nunavut's capital.

What Ottawa will spend on Nunavut

IQALUIT--Here's what Ottawa has agreed to spend on Nunavut between now and the year 2000:

• $13.2 million on transitional O&M expenses-including Office of the Interim Commissioner, statute revisions, preparation for first Nunavut election, and electoral boundaries revision;
• $46.9 million on other O&M-includes salaries and and other costs associated with recruitment of 150 new territorial government employees;
• $50 million in capital construction-of this, about $30 million will be for Crown construction of community infrastructure like roads, sewers, and water lines, about $13 million will be for constructing new federal facilities, and about $6 million will be spent on site development (The remaining $120 million is expected to come from the private sector);
• $39.8 million for training Nunavut residents-this will be managed through a Nunavut human resources plan espected to be produced soon;

Total: 149.9 million over four years.

No more job cuts, no new taxes in Todd's first budget

Finance Minister John Todd says he and other cabinet ministers will soon be doing a lot more travelling. He says they will tell anyone with money they meet along the way to come to the Northwest Territories to invest it.

IQALUIT--Finance Minister John Todd's first budget charts a new course for the territorial government-one that should warm the heart of the private sector.

Todd says his budget, unveiled yesterday in the legislative assembly, is aimed at attracting new business and development to the Northwest Territories to help make up for shrinking government dollars.

"We've got to move the government away from being the only economic engine and try to develop an investment climate that will encourage industry and others to come our way," Todd said from Yellowknife Wednesday.

Todd said he wants to encourage the private sector to get into areas that the government can no longer afford to be in.

"What we are looking for is alternatives besides the government, because the government's base is shrinking... We have no choice in the matter."

Does that include more travel for cabinet ministers going out to try to drum up business?

"You've got that right. We are going to go out there and have a strategy that is pro-investment and replace the shrinking government dollars and get the private sector to create more jobs."

But to attract business here, the government may have to change some of their protectionist programs that sometimes discourage southern investors from doing business here.

That means the GNWT's business incentive policy, that gives northern businesses an edge in bidding for government contracts may also be scaled back or scrapped.

"They'll have to be some changes. There's no question it will all have to be re-examined to make them more conducive to the new direction we're taking."

Todd says people in the Northwest Territories have to look beyond their boundaries.

"We can't bury our head in the sand. We've got to look for new revenue or we've had it."

The good news for public sector employees is that they won't be joining some of their departed colleagues in the employment centre office.

"We are going to make any additional [job] cuts, and we are not going to increase any more taxes."

Most of the job cuts have already been announced, and he'll just summarize those cuts in the budget address.

One of the new measures the finance minister said he will unveil is the creation of a new investment office that will set out to attract new investment.

The government will also offer some tax deductible loans to small business.

Todd said he's pinning some of his hopes on the mining and resource sector.

"The mining industry's going to have an enormous impact on our fiscal position," he said.

"The mining sector's a big one right now. Not just in Lac de Gras, but there's an enormous amount of activity going on in the Kitikmeot, in the Keewatin and I believe they've even started in the Baffin now."

He said the government wants to meet with representatives of the mining industry to find out what the government can do to make the NWT a more attractive and lucrative place to invest.

"We are prepared to put forward a fairly competitive regime in place that will make them welcome."

He said he expects his budget will cut about $130 million dollars this year, and about $85-90 million next year.

"I'm fairly confident that we can balance the budget in the second year," he said, adding that some MLAs were urging him to do it all in one year.

MLAs also took part in preparing the budget, and had a say in some of the cuts. The capital budget is also scaled back.

In the next couple of weeks, Todd says he plans to visit Iqaluit, Fort Smith, Hay River, Cambridge Bay, Inuvik and Rankin Inlet to explain and defend his budget.

Premier unveils his government's game plan

The NWT's plain-talking premier, Don Morin, sat down with the northern media Wednesday to talk about the new strategy he and MLAs have mapped out for the Northwest Territories-"the Agenda for Change."

IQALUIT--Privatization, community empowerment, and made-in the-north solutions.

These will be the guiding principles for the GNWT in the years leading up to division in 1999. They're just some of the things outlined in Building a Foundation for the Future: the Northwest Territories' Agenda for Change, a 28-page, 10-point document released by Premier Don Morin when the legislative assembly resumed sitting Wednesday.

In a teleconference with reporters afterward, Morin said the NWT must take control of its own destiny by taking on powers normally held by provinces.

At the same time, however, Morin said the territorial government must have a smaller roles in peoples' lives and allow communities to come up with their own solutions to improve social conditions or spur economic development.

"That's the fundamental principle, the fundamental cornerstone of this document, is that people in the communities will make those decisions," Morin told reporters.

Community empowerment, which would transfer control over GNWT departments to municipalities, isn't about dumping costly programs onto communities, Morin said.

"I know there is going to be less money. That does not mean that you have to have less health care or a poor quality of education," he said.

"The bottom line, my friend, is that the quality of life should go up. The minute you empower communities, the minute you let people start making the decisions for themselves and you work with them to make those decisions, then those peoples' lives automatically become better, because they are in control of their lives."

In addition to talking about functions the GNWT could transfer to municipalities, Morin said it's time for the government to get out of some areas altogether.

"The private sector has said repeatedly to this government and to the public of the Northwest Territories: 'We can do things cheaper, we can do things better,' and we are going to give them that opportunity to prove that they can do better."

Morin mentioned fuel resupply and computer functions, areas he's repeatedly deemed ripe for privatization.

But while the GNWT wants to get out of those areas, it wants to take on some new responsibilities, too: the <I>Agenda for Change<P> document mentions taking over attorney-general responsibilities from the federal government.

Then, of course, there is the elusive northern energy accord, which would transfer authority-and more importantly, royalties-for oil, gas and minerals from the federal government to the GNWT.

"I believe by taking control over northern resources and putting them in the hands of northern people, that we will move a lot further towards self-sufficiency than we are today," Morin said.

When Prime Minister Jean Chrétien came to Yellowknife to open the legislative assembly in 1994, he made a vow to give northerners control over their own resources, Morin said.

"And I, for one, am going to make sure that that same prime minister-I will work with him to make sure that what he said in this house becomes a reality and it will become a reality in the life of this government."

He added that finance minister John Todd was to have talked about the northern accord in his budget address delivered Thursday.

So far, goals like signing a northern energy accord have been unattainable for the territorial government, but Morin said the government hasn't set its sights too high.

"I can't change things overnight-there's no magician sitting around the table. There's no big pot of gold at the end of the rainbow," he said in response to one reporter. "Believe it my friend, it's going to take a lot of hard work by northerners and its going to take northerners ability to work together to make it all happen."

Correction of Nunatsiaq News story

Reporter erred, not Deputy Premier Goo Arlooktoo or NTI's Tagak Curley

We also wish first to publicly apologize to Deputy Premier Goo Arlooktoo, Tagak Curley, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. members of the legislative assembly, and our readers for the confusion the inaccurate article has created.

The article Úquot;GNWT circumventing land claim, Kusugak saysÚquot; was discussed in the legislative assembly on Friday March 3, and was also later reported on CBC Radio.

After reading the Hansard transcript of Mr. Arlooktoo's reaction to the story, the reporter reviewed his files, re-interviewed Tagak Curley, and discovered errors in the story.

The story incorrectly reported that Deputy Premier Goo Arlooktoo had discussed the territorial cabinet's position on implementing Article 24 of the Nunavut Land Clams Agreement with Tagak Curley, the director of business development with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

In an interview Sunday March 5, Mr. Curley confirms that Mr. Arlooktoo did not talk to him about that.

During the original interview, Curley discussed his frustration that the GNWT cabinet hadn't yet formally responded to a proposal on how to implement Article 24.

In responding to a reporter's question about whether he was surprised that Arlooktoo, a cabinet minister and a beneficiary of the land claim, hadn't addressed the delay, Curley replied that, Úquot;I think he's under a lot of pressure.Úquot;

Then Mr. Curley offered his own opinions of why the GNWT cabinet hasn't yet officially responded. The reporter mistakenly understood and interpreted Curley's comments to be information he'd learned from conversations with Mr. Arlooktoo-not his own personal opinions.

This is what Curley said, according to a tape recording of the interview:

Úquot;He respects the claims no doubt, the agreement, he would like to honor it, but he has different constituencies that are privately very strongly opposed to implementing Article 24, in the cabinet. Publicly they won't say that, but if they were to make their position public it would certainly be helpful,Úquot; Curley said.

A paraphrase of Mr. Curley's comments also appeared in direct quotations, which created further confusion.

But even if the comments had been correctly attributed, the facts were still wrong, and once again we apologize for any confusion and embarrassment the article has caused, particularly to Mr. Arlooktoo and Mr. Curley. Back to Nunatsiaq News
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GNWT circumventing land claim, Kusugak says

The territorial government is trying to avoid honoring Nunavut's land claim agreement by handing over contracting authority to municipalities, Nunavut's Inuit organization charged last week.

IQALUIT--Nunavut's Inuit land claim body says the territorial government is trying to do an end run around the Nunavut land claims agreement.

Nunavut Tunngavik President Jose Kusugak says the government is having municipal governments do contracting for them to try to sidestep the contracting provisions set out in Article 24 of the agreement.

Kusugak says the evidence is in recent newspaper advertisements that municipalities have taken out for contracting jobs. He says, for example that a recent advertisement the hamlet of Pelly Bay took out for the construction of a new air terminal building didn't mention Article 24.

"We are concerned that this appears to be an attempt on the part of the territorial government to circumvent their obligations under the land claims agreement," Kusugak said in a news release issued last week.

"By transferring funds to the municipal level it seems that they are trying to avoid having the various steps they agreed to as signatories to our claim to ensure that government contracts will result in training and job opportunities for Inuit and contracting opportunities for Inuit firms," Kusugak writes in the release.

Kusugak's director of business development goes even further and says he thinks the cabinet is deliberately delaying coming to a decision on how to implement Article 24.

Curley says NTI officials reached an agreement with senior GNWT officials and deputy ministers have briefed the members of the territorial cabinet about it. But NTI is still waiting for a response.

"It is critical....The word is that the GNWT cabinet was to respond soon. That soon has extended to three months," Tagak Curley said from Rankin Inlet.

He says he's been urging Public Works Minister Goo Arlooktoo to respect the land claim agreement.

But Curley says Arlooktoo has told him he's under pressure from other cabinet colleagues who aren't as eager to see Article 24 implemented.

"I think he's under a lot of pressure," Curley said. "He said there are other constituencies in the cabinet that are strongly opposed to implementing Article 24. They don't say that publicly."

He also says he thinks certain cabinet ministers hoped Jose Kusugak might lose the NTI presidency and that the issue would go away.

"I think eventually the premier is going to have to take some leadership on that issue. The rules should be clear. Right now we don't know what the rules are. Uncertainty doesn't help anybody."

In an interview Wednesday, Finance Minister John Todd said that Deputy Premier Goo Arlooktoo would be making a statement on Article 24 in the legislative assembly on Monday May 6.

Wildlife board wants DFO to drop bowhead charges

The Nunavut Wildlife Management Board is suggesting that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans drop charges against three Igloolik hunters accused of illegally killing a bowhead whale, and look for alternative ways of dealing with the issue.

IQALUIT--The group that's in charge of wildlife management in Nunavut wants the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to drop charges against three Igloolik hunters accused of illegally killing a bowhead whale.

They say an "adversarial, divisive and very expensive" trial may not be the way to deal with the issue.

"We're just putting forth a suggestion," says Ben Kovic, the chair of the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, who says at least some of money that could end up being spent on the trial should be spent instead on a conservation education program or some other useful purpose.

"Instead of flying back and forth and trying to prepare for this case and everything, maybe we could use that money, or at least start using that money, for conservation education," Kovic said.

Fisheries officials laid the charges after a bowhead whale was killed near Igloolik in November, 1994.

At the time, Igloolik residents said the whale was killed to satisfy the last wishes of a beloved Igloolik elder, who wanted to taste bowhead muktuk before he died.

Shortly after that, three Igloolik men were charged with killing a bowhead whale without a licence.

For many years, it's been illegal to hunt bowhead whales in eastern Arctic waters.

In the western Arctic and Alaska, however, a limited bowhead hunt takes place every year.

But provisions in the Nunavut land claim agreement allow the NWMB to set a quota of one bowhead a year for Nunavut, and requires them to conduct a study of eastern Arctic bowhead populations.

The board has recently set that quota, and has convened a process that will result in a bowhead hunt near Repulse Bay this summer.

The Igloolik bowhead, however was killed before any of that had happened.

But Kovic said it was clearly an isolated incident and that everyone's money may be better spent.. A conservation education program is one possibility, Kovic said.

"We don't know how much it would take or how many years it would take to educate the people on this particular species," Kovic said. "It's just a suggestion."

Kovic said he's written to the presidents of Nunavut Tunngavik and the Baffin Region Inuit Association about the NWMB's idea, but that he hasn't heard any reaction yet.

Nunasi wins Iqaluit fuel supply contract

IQALUIT--The Nunasi Corporation is on a roll.

Last Friday, the Inuit birthright corporation found out that it has won a 10-year, multi-million dollar fuel distribution contract for Iqaluit.

"We're really really pleased about this. This is a major contract for an Inuit-controlled company and we're very, very proud of ourselves," Nunasi chief executive officer Fred Hunt said Wednesday.

It's the second big fuel contract won by Nunasi in recent months. In February, a Nunasi joint venture won a $90-million contract to supply and ship petroleum products to 14 eastern Arctic communities.

Hunt said the Iqaluit contract will generate $25 million a year in revenue and create 17 new jobs in Iqaluit--12 full-time and five seasonal.

The Iqaluit contract is also a joint venture, this time between Nunasi, the Qikiqtaaluk Corporation--which is the investment arm of the Baffin Region Inuit Association--and Narwhal Arctic Services. Nunasi and Qikiqtaaluk will own 51 per cent of the venture in a yet-to-be named company, while Narwhal will own the remaining 49 per cent.

Nunasi and its partners will take over the tank farm on September 1. The contract involves leasing the tank farm from the GNWT and buying fuel from the GNWT. The company will then sell the fuel to bulk users in Iqaluit.

"It'll fuel the aircraft, it'll fill up your houses with fuel oil, it'll feed the power plant-anything that uses fuel," Hunt said, adding that sales will likely top 50 million litres a year.

Their bid beat out three others in an open call for tenders by the GNWT, including a bid from the current contract holder, Shell Canada. Officials from Shell could not be reached for comment at press time.

Internet service provider folds as another grows

After a sometimes bitter battle for the hearts and dollars of Internet enthusiasts in Iqaluit, only one company remains.

With the demise last week of Nunavut Communications Ltd., Nunanet Worldwide Communications Ltd. has become the sole local Internet service provider in Iqaluit and the Baffin.

The Internet is the worldwide network of computer networks that links people from around the world.

But despite his newfound monopoly, Nunanet owner Adamee Itorcheak said that Internet access will be cheaper than ever for local users.

Last Wednesday, Nunavut Communications Ltd. announced it was going out of business, saying there aren't enough customers in Iqaluit to support two Internet businesses.

"It appears there is not a large enough customer base for two [Internet service providers] in a community this size," NCL's operations manager, Tammi Porter, said in a prepared statement.

In a deal between the two companies, Nunanet has agreed to take on NCL's subscribers free of charge until their subscriptions run out.

The addition of NCL's customers is just the latest development in what has been a "crazy" month, Itorcheak said.

As of last week, Nunanet had more than 300 subscribers. Most of them live in Iqaluit, but a small portion of subscribers call long-distance from other Baffin communities.

Itorcheak said he recently hired two full-time employees to help him keep up with the demand for new subscriptions.

Itorcheak says the demand for Internet access has far surpassed his expectations, and because of that he's able to lower the cost of Internet access for his subscribers.

"They're the ones that supported me, so I might as well support them with more hours," he said last week.

Starting May 1, the $30 basic monthly fee will buy 45 hours of Internet access a month-up from 30 hours a month. Nunanet charges $2 an hour for any hours above that amount.

Charging subscribers $30 for 45 hours of access is cheaper than what many southern-based companies charge their users, and providing cheap, local access to the Internet is the whole reason Nunanet and NCL started up in the first place.

Nunanet and NCL launched local, dial-up access to the Internet last August. Up until then, a local user could easily rack up $400 a month in long distance charges by calling a southern-based service provider.

But before the two local companies even had their lines hooked up, they were embroiled in controversy. Last June, Iqaluit businessman Kenn Harper, who was a minority partner in NCL, was accused of being in a conflict of interest by Peter Baril, who was involved in starting up Nunanet.

At the time, Baril said Harper's involvement in the Internet business was inappropriate because Harper is a commissioner on the Nunavut Implementation Commission, which has drafted recommendations on Nunavut's future telecommunications needs.

But NIC chief commissioner John Amagoalik decided that Harper was not in a conflict of interest.

However, to avoid the appearance of any conflict, Harper was asked not to participate in any of NIC's discussions on telecommunications for Nunavut.

Last October, Itorcheak accused Harper of being in a conflict of interest over a call for proposals for Internet access issued by the Baffin Divisional Board of Education. In that case, Harper was exonerated.

Last week, however, neither company was interested in dredging up the past controversies.

"For Harper's portion, I feel bad--he works very hard," Itorcheak said of his former rival. "It's never nice to see people go down. I like competition because it keeps people on their toes."

But Itorcheak said that he doesn't feel sorry for NorthwesTel, adding the big utility "jumped the gun" by throwing its weight and support behind NCL. NorthwesTel is a minority shareholder in Network North Communications, NCL's Yellowknife-based parent company.

For their part, representatives of NCL declined to comment about the past controversy between the two companies, offering Porter's prepared statement as their only comment.

Looking toward the future, Itorcheak said he plans to offer more services to subscribers in the coming months.

By June, Itorcheak hopes to give subscribers full access to the Usenet--a network of more than 10,000 discussion groups where users from around the world can post messages about their favorite topics for others to read and respond to. Currently, Nunanet subscribers receive only 83 "newsgroups," as they're called.

As well, Nunanet plans to start selling computer hardware and software. If the upcoming months are anything like Nunanet's first eight, they will be a learning experience, Itorcheak said.

"I've made a lot of mistakes and I still have a lot of mistakes to go, but I'll learn at it," he said, laughing.

Cabbies, cops and Iqaluit's thriving booze dens

RCMP officer Lew Philip says it's the first time in his 48 years that he's seen bar managers sit down with police officers and taxi drivers to talk frankly about drunkenness in Iqaluit.

IQALUIT--Cabbies and cops met with bar managers this week to sort out Iqaluit's growing drunk disposal problems.

Cab drivers complained to the RCMP that they're getting tired of having staff from local bars--most notably the Royal Canadian Legion and the Tulugaq Bar--carry out drunks and toss them into their cabs.

"People are supposed to walk in cabs and walk out of cabs," said Nelson Soucy, part owner of Pai-Pa Taxi. "If a person is being helped to the cab-forget it," he said emphatically.

At a three-hour meeting Monday at the Navigator Inn, the cabbies said the bars are serving their customers too much booze and then expecting cab drivers to cart them home.

"Is this just greed?" asked driver Louis McComber. "We bring them to the drunk tank. Isn't this proof that the establishment overserved?" McComber asked the RCMP officers at the meeting.

RCMP representatives at the meeting said they're also getting tired of having cabbies deliver drunks to them after the bars close. The police sometimes even have to call the taxi dispatch to tell them not to bring any more people because the drunk tank is full.

Const. Mitch Monette also conceded that even RCMP officers sometimes use taxis as a drunk delivery system.

"We, the RCMP, have to take a bit of responsibility. In the past we've taken intoxicated people and dumped them into taxi cabs," said Monette, the organizer of the meeting.

Bar managers replied that cabbies aren't doing their job and are refusing to take some customers--sometimes even refusing rides to elders. But Monette told them that cab drivers have the right to refuse any fare they don't want to take.

After listening to everyone point fingers at one another for a couple of hours, the only Inuk at the meeting, RCMP Constable Lew Philip, waded into the debate.

Philip said it was the first time he had ever seen a group like this meet to talk about ways to solve the drinking problem in Iqaluit.

He said taxi drivers and RCMP officers do have something in common.

"These poor people as RCMP, and these taxi drivers, we are slaves. We are social workers. The business people feed them until they are falling down, shit their pants, piss in their pants, then they kick them out. You guys have a responsibility," Philip said, addressing his comments to the representatives from the Legion, the Tulugaq Bar and the Kamotiq Inn.

"I'm an ex-drinker. I know a little bit about drinking in Iqaluit," Philip said. "We don't have time to argue right now.... Let's try to fix something in Iqaluit right now."

Philip said he knows many children who go without supper and without supervision because their parents are out drinking.

"Why? Because of the bar, because of the Legion, because of the restaurant. My people are victims of the bar."

Philip also thanked the cab drivers for taking care of many Inuit over the years.

"For years and years you guys saved a lot of people's lives. Thank you very much. All the guys they kicked out of the big businesses, you guys should be thanked for that. You saved a lot of my people-including me," Philip said.

Philip says the bar owners should be aware that many Inuit are starting to talk about cleaning up Iqaluit's booze problem. He said bar owners have to be responsible for the people in their bars.

After he made his comments, Philip earned the only round of applause at the meeting.

Ross Bennett, the bar manager from the Legion, countered that people in Iqaluit have to take responsibility for their drinking.

"When are people going to face up to their own problems? We are not forcing the people to come to the Legion or the hotel. We are not dragging them in. People have the right to go for a drink and have a good time," Bennett said.

Bennett also defended the good work the Legion does for the community, saying they built an air cadet hall, put roofs on churches, support hockey and built an elders' facility.

"We do some good things. What we do is not all bad," he said. Philip replied that he's just concerned about peoples' survival.

Bennett says proof that the Legion cares about the community, is that they've barred almost 200 people from going there to drink.

"We're not totally concerned about dollars. Yeah, we're a business, we try to make money like other businesses, but we are trying."

Bill Strickland, the manager of the Tulugaq Bar at the Frobisher Inn, also lashed out at cabbies, saying some of them deliver drugs to his bar patrons and get drunk themselves while they visit.

"Nelson, I have some of your drivers which are barred for drugs from the bar. Other drivers I see here in the room have been so drunk that they were lucky enough to get a cab because they are a cab driver," Strickland said to Soucy.

RCMP Const. Mitch Monette also told the drivers that police are getting information that some cabbies are dealing drugs and they are going to clamp down on them.

"If they want to play with fire, they can play with fire. But they are going to get burnt," Monette said.

The three groups agreed to meet regularly to try to find solutions to Iqaluit's alcohol problems.

Strickland agreed to provide escorts for patrons leaving the Tulugaq Bar who can no longer take care of themselves. Bennett, however, said that wouldn't work at the Legion.

The RCMP agreed to fax the bars the names of people who are under a court order not to drink alcohol. The bars also agreed to swap information about who they've barred.

Towards the close of the meeting, Strickland also reacted angrily to suggestions that he doesn't care about the well-being of his patrons.

He said he's tried hard to make the Tulugaq Bar rise above its nickname "the Zoo."

Strickland, a non-drinker, said he'll never forget the time a teenager came to him and said he had to take care of him for the night because he got his parents drunk in his bar. Strickland gave the boy a place to stay.

But three months later, the 13 year-old boy killed himself. A few months later, his mother did the same thing.

"When I see a drunk person come out of that bar, you know what I see? I see that little boy. Don't think I don't care."

Letters to the Editor

Recycling centre or tin can graveyard?

This is the question I would like to submit to Bryan Hellwig, the owner of the Iqaluit Recycling Centre.

After all the great speeches and promises that were presented to both the public and government for this so called wonderful project-all I see is pile after pile of garbage bags and tin cans. Garbage laying above and below several feet of snow. What will be unveiled after all the snow melts?

I am a patient person but all I have seen since the beginning of this project are garbage bags (most of which have broken open) full of cans piled higher and higher. At least keep the cans isolated to stop them from blowing all over the place during the summer.

Just what was the government funding used for? I think it is a disgrace to squander taxpayer's money on such frivolous projects if you can't follow up. It's time the public was made aware of the eyesore.

My suggestion to Bryan Hellwig is to remove some of the irons from the fire and start performing an acceptable service in at least one of his current projects. It's time to start delivering.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

A concerned citizen,
Theresa Rodrigue
Iqaluit, NT

Editor's note: Bryan Hellwig reports that his recycling centre doesn't receive any ongoing government funding. He did, however, get some money from the territorial department of economic development and tourism, and some from the federal government to get the project going.

Editorial

An attack on Nunavut?

What's a VTA worth?

For a lot of people in Nunavut, not much.

If you're a hunter, carver, housewife, taxi driver, seamstress, or social assistance recipient, or if you work for any number of private companies, or if you work for yourself, the concept represented by the acronym "VTA" is meaningless.

That's because all those people don't get vacation travel assistance, never did get it, and never will. Any changes to GNWT VTAs, or other parts of the GNWT pay and benefit system, really don't have much affect on large numbers of Nunavut residents.

But it's the concept of "vacation travel assistance"-- and especially the question of how to interpret what the concept really means -- that has sparked a war of words between Finance Minister John Todd and the Iqaluit Chamber of Commerce.

So who's right?

The answer to that question lies in how you actually look at vacation travel assistance.

If you regard it as just a recreational benefit, then you have to agree that the GNWT is right. But if you count it as real, essential income, then the UNW and the Iqaluit chamber are right.

Here's how it works:

The GNWT's total payroll-all by itself-in recent years has risen above $455 million a year, to more than 40 per cent of its total spending.

So it's understandable that the gnomes and ciphers toiling within the GNWT's Department of Finance would seek to make that number smaller, seeing as they have a potential $150 million deficit to deal with.

So in March, they started first with their non-unionized employees, offering them a complex new package that gets rid of their accommodation allowances, vacation travel assistance, and ultimate removal assistance.

The $5,400 accommodation allowance is added to the employee's base salary. Then the combined new figure is reduced by 6.25 per cent.

After that, the existing settlement allowance and VTA for each employee is replaced by a new "northern allowance." Employees in Yellowknife will get the minimum northern allowance-$1,750 a year. Employees outside of Yellowknife get more, depending on where they live-the further away from Yellowknife, the more they get.

About a month ago, the Iqaluit Chamber of Commerce, the Union of Northern Workers, and people sympathetic to them took the government's figures and did their own figuring.

And they came up with a set of numbers that make it look as if Nunavut residents are hit much harder than western residents.

But what their figures really show is that it's people with families who lose the most-whether they live in the east or the west.

But that's not such a big surprise-because in their calculations, they subtracted the value of what GNWT employees are losing in vacation travel assistance.

One plane ticket for a single employee costs a lot less than a set of plane tickets for a family of six. So if you count VTAs as income, it's logical that people with families will appear to lose more than single people. Those who used to get two VTAs a year lose even more.

And if you work into your calculations the higher air fares that Nunavut residents generally pay, people in Nunavut, with families, will lose the most.

That's exactly what the Iqaluit chamber's figures show. A single employee in Arctic Bay earning $30,000 a year with one VTA loses only 0.1 per cent of his or her income. The same kind of single employee living in Yellowknife loses more-3.5 per cent of his or her income.

But in both communities, a family with four dependents would lose far more-14.7 per cent in Arctic Bay, and 11.4 per cent in Yellowknife.

So if there's an "attack" represented by the GNWT's new wage package, it's an attack on employees with families -- but only if VTAs are regarded as legitimate income, and not as an extra recreational benefit.

Whether VTAs should be regarded that way or not is a subject of legitimate debate and dispute.

But it's clear what the GNWT's position on that question is, as their officials have said many times. Their position is that vacation travel assistance is an outdated relic of colonial times, when it was assumed that the territorial government's workforce would be made up of transient southerners who need extra incentives to live and work in the Far North.

The GNWT now says it wants an workforce made up of permanent northern residents -- and a lot of northern residents, whether they live in Nunavut or the west, agree with that.

Should VTAs be part of what is a paid to a truly northern work force? Or to a Nunavut government workforce? Good question.

But that's the question that should be debated -- not whether or not John Todd and Don Morin are attacking Nunavut. JB

These materials are Copyright (C) 1996 Nortext Publishing Corporation (Iqaluit), and may be freely distributed throughout the Internet, or other electronic computer networks or bulletin boards, as long as this notice remains intact and the articles are reproduced in their entirety. These materials may not be reprinted for commercial publication in print or other media without the permission of the publisher.