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Around
Nunavut
February
20, 2004
Court hears boat deaths case
A federal court in Winnipeg heard a case this week filed by the families of
three Avataq crew members who died when their boat sank on Aug. 26, 2000.
The families are suing 16 individuals and organizations, including the Northern
Transportation Company Ltd., the Government of Nunavut, the estate of Louis
Pilakapsi and 12 other parties for lost wages, pain and suffering, funeral costs
and other damages.
Also named in the suit are the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Hudson
Bay Port Company, the Attorney General of Canada, and two unidentified Kivalliq
contracting businesses.
The 12-metre lobster boat Avataq, which Pilakapsi owned and operated, sank
10 nautical miles south of Arviat after being badly overloaded with steel construction
materials ordered by a contractor for use in the construction of social housing
units.
The statements of claim, filed in Nunavut, Manitoba and with the federal court,
allege that the boat was not seaworthy, lacked proper safety equipment and was
operated by inadequately trained people.
In a report issued in July 2003, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada
found that the Avataq had been improperly loaded, that it had never been inspected
as a cargo boat, and that Pilakapsi was not qualified to operate as a master
of a cargo vessel.
February
20, 2004
How-to business guide launched
The Inuktitut version of an aboriginal women's business planning guide, Journey
to Success, was released in Yellowknife at the Pauktuutit annual general meeting.
The guide talks about some of the hurdles First Nations and Inuit women face
and suggests how to overcome them. It includes advice and ideas from women,
entrepreneurs and native women's organizations.
Copies of the guide are available through the regional offices of Indian and
Native Affairs Canada or by calling (819) 997-0380.
February
13, 2004
Board seeks school
fire report
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PHOTO TO ENLARGE
Members
of the IDEA have yet to see a report on the fire that razed Joamie School. (FILE
PHOTO)
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The board that oversees
schools in Iqaluit has not received a copy of a report on the July 2003 fire
at Joamie School that was completed last month by the Nunavut Fire Marshall's
office.
Caroline Anawak, a member
of the Iqaluit District Education Authority, directed the board to write a letter
to Fire Marshall Gerald Pickett, to inquire about the status of the report and
request a copy.
The report, which was to
be released before Christmas, was finally completed in early January. But Pickett
said last month that he had to distribute it among stakeholders before he could
release it to the public. The stakeholders' review was expected to take a month.
Anawak said parents have
been asking her for information about the fire and about the report itself.
And she said as an elected board governing school issues, the IDEA should be
able to provide a response.
Tim Neily said he was asked
to attend a recent stakeholders meeting on behalf of the IDEA, but said he missed
the meeting because of a work conflict.
He added that the report
is not ready for release to the public because it contains the names of people
involved in the fire and its aftermath, and that it must be partially censored
before ordinary Nunavummiut can read it.
"The other aspect
is not only what happened, but that there may be recommendations," Anawak
said. "These things could be quite timely, and time is coming on here."
Pickett did not answer
a message left at his office this week.
February
13, 2004
IDEA member questions
students' expulsion
A member of the Iqaluit
District Education Authority told the board this week she had second thoughts
about expelling the two Grade 9 students who admitted to calling in a false
bomb threat at Inuksuk High School last month.
Police arrested the two
teen boys at the high school on Jan. 20. Their case has been referred to the
city's restorative justice committee.
But after the IDEA voted
on Jan. 26 to expel the boys, Kathy Smith said she was approached by a parent
who asked why the IDEA would take such serious action against them "for
making one stupid phone call," while taking no little or action against
school yard bullies.
"As a parent, whose
safety are you protecting," Smith said the parent asked her. "If the
safety of our students is our priority, then we have to make the safety of our
students a priority."
But students aren't necessarily
more safe with the two boys out of the classroom.
"I have to think,
who would I rather have in class with my kid - the one who made a stupid phone
call or the one who's going to repeatedly beat him up?" she said.
Smith added that she believes
the IDEA made the right decision in expelling the two boys, but said her fellow
members should also consider the concerns of parents whose children are constantly
bullied in school.
February
13, 2004
Hargrove's visit upsets
education minister
Education
Minister Manitok Thompson is disappointed she was left out of the picture. (FILE
PHOTO)
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Manitok Thompson, the minister of education, is upset that she was not notified
that Buzz Hargrove, president of the Canadian Autoworkers Union, was in town
last week to donate $50,000 to the breakfast program in four Iqaluit schools.
Hargrove was invited to Iqaluit by Hunter Tootoo, an MLA who is seeking re-election
in the riding of Iqaluit Centre. The half-hour event took place on Feb. 4 in
the library of Nakasuk School.
On Feb. 5, Thompson sent a letter to Andrew Tagak, chair of the Iqaluit District
Education Authority, which administers the breakfast program, informing him
of her concern.
"I am disappointed that as minister, there was no effort to notify me
of this important event. I have been informed that the department of education,
headquarters, was not notified that this was taking place within one of our
schools," the letter says.
"As I am the minister of education until the new minister is sworn in
(following the election), I would have thought it would be within protocol to
at least extend the offer of attending. In discussions with my staff it appears
this process was very irregular and this appears to have been a 'closed' event."
Several members of the IDEA attended the meeting, along with three principals,
the president of the Nunavut Federation of Teachers, and Premier Paul Okalik.
February
13, 2004
Briefer breaks get
long hearing
Members of the Iqaluit
District Education Authority spent about half an hour Monday night discussing
a motion to reduce the length of coffee breaks to 10 minutes from 15 minutes.
"After attending
several IDEA meetings, it has come to my attention that the majority of people
attending the meeting are non-smokers and actually very few drink coffee. However
the IDEA usually dedicates at least 15 to 20 minutes to allow people to smoke,"
reads the introduction to a motion brought by Sean Maloney, a member of the
IDEA.
Maloney recommended that
breaks be shortened to five minutes, saying it would be more than enough time
to allow members to go to the bathroom, stretch their legs or get a cup of coffee.
However, some members objected
to the motion, saying they like the coffee breaks, which provide a short reprieve
from the three-hour meetings.
Tim Neily, a member of
the IDEA, said he probably wouldn't obey a rule requiring members to return
after five minutes, and would feel justified taking a 15-minute smoke break
if he felt he needed it.
But members compromised,
passing an amended motion stating breaks will not exceed 10 minutes.
The motion passed narrowly,
with three voting in favour, and two opposed.
Last month, IDEA members
spent the better part of an hour debating whether meetings should be shortened
by half an hour, to end at 9:30 p.m. instead of 10 p.m.
They have yet to reach
a decision.
February
13, 2004
Members clash over
25-cent pay raise
Members of the Iqaluit
District Education Authority debated at some length this week about whether
to pay their new office manager an hourly wage of $19.75 or $20.
The 25-cent difference
would add a few hundred dollars in the office manager's yearly income.
The discussion came after
the IDEA's hiring committee recruited a new office manager to replace a longtime
employee who resigned last month.
"There were four applicants
to the office manager position," reads the introduction to a draft motion.
"One applicant withdrew from the competition, one applicant failed to show
to the interview, one applicant was interviewed in person and one applicant
was interviewed by phone."
The pay increase was meant
by the hiring committee "to reflect the experience of the candidate,"
however, some members said the IDEA should not be quite so free with school
funds.
The motion to increase
the office manager's wage by 25 cents passed.
February
6, 2004
Sila at the Canadian
Museum of Nature
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PHOTO TO ENLARGE
Nunavut
Sivuniksavut students performed at the opening of the Sila exhibition at the
Canadian Museum of Nature last week. (PHOTO COURTESY OF NUNAVUT SIVUNIKSAVUT)
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The Canadian Museum of
Nature in Ottawa opened a new traveling exhibition on climate change last week,
called "Sila: Clue in to climate change."
The exhibit combines western
science and traditional knowledge, focusing on the Arctic, and features Inuktitut
information on each display.
The trilingual exhibit
(English, French and Inuktitut) contains real-life examples of climate change
in different parts of the world, and shows how some areas are trying to reduce
their use of fossil fuels, using solar walls, for example, to heat some schools
in northern Canada and relying on solar energy for cooking in India instead
of burning wood or kerosene.
The exhibit is compact
(16 feet by 16 feet) and geared to 10- to 15-year-olds.
It will be on display until
March 28 at the CMC. Then, copies will be presented simultaneously on April
22, Earth Day, in several major Canadian cities at the co-launch of the National
Film Board's documentary series, "Arctic Mission."
"Sila," or weather
in Inuktitut, was produced in collaboration with the Centre for Traditional
Knowledge and with support from the federal Canada Climate Change Action
Fund and the Canadian International Development Agency.
February
6, 2004
Kunuk gets Native
American film honours
Zacharias Kunuk's documentary film Atanarjuat was screened in Boston this week,
where Kunak received the first-ever Sun Hill award for excellence in Native
American filmmaking from the Harvard Film Institute.
Also shown at the awards were Kunuk's most recent documentary, "Shaman's
Stories," as well as an animated film by his sister, Mary Kunuk, and the
opening episode from the television series, "Nunavut."
Kunuk and cinematographer Norman Cohn also discussed their work and that of
other Isuma-Igloolik filmmakers.
February
6, 2004
Body of missing Baker
Lake woman found
A small search party finally located the body of Joan Arngnanaaq of Baker Lake
on Jan. 29 near a cabin 25 kilometres east of the community.
Arngnanaaq, 39, had been missing since Dec. 2, when she left the community
to go hunting alone.
A land and air search, which was frequently hampered by cold weather and poor
visibility, continued for 15 days without success.
On Jan. 28, Baker Lake Search and Rescue team members and the RCMP met after
a local resident reported finding clothing identified as Arngnanaaq's at the
cabin. The next day, her body was found.
February
6, 2004
Ottawa abandons NIHB
consent forms
Pierre Pettigrew, Prime Minister Paul Martin's new health minister, has cancelled
a much-criticized scheme that required Inuit to surrender their privacy rights
to receive health care benefits under the NIHB.
Jose Kusugak, the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, praised the move in
a press release this week.
"No other Canadians have to provide consent of this nature, in turn providing
personal information to a number of health professionals and government agencies.
It was an invasive solution, and we are pleased that the requirement to sign
a consent form will not come into force," Kusugak said.
Called the "NIHB Program Consent Form," the document would have given
Health Canada bureaucrats - and numerous Health Canada agents and contractors
- permission to look at sensitive personal information contained in medical
files.
All Inuit and status First Nations people ran the risk of being denied NIHB
benefits if they refused to sign the forms by March 1, 2004.
The intent of the scheme was to track prescription drug abuse among aboriginal
people, following a prescription drug scandal in western Canada, when it was
revealed that some aboriginal NIHB recipients were using NIHB money to supply
their addictions.
But privacy advocates, aboriginal leaders, and northern politicians all denounced
the scheme, saying it violated the privacy rights of aboriginal people.
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