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Around Nunavut
February 24, 2006
Seven suicides already in 2006
Seven Nunavummiut have taken their own lives in the first eight weeks of the new year, says Tim Neily, Nunavut’s chief coroner.
That’s higher than the number of suicides by this time last year. If this rate persists, Nunavut will see the worst year ever for suicides, although the numbers do not typically occur at a steady pace throughout the year.
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, two people died by suicide in two different communities.
Neily notes that suicides in the past year have been both slightly younger and slightly older than in the past, when the vast majority of suicides were males aged 14 to 21.
Since 1999, four 13-year-olds have taken their own lives.
February 24, 2006
Canada to increase maritime surveillance
Canada plans to sign a new defence treaty with the United States that will see more surveillance over sea lane approaches to North America — including those in Arctic waters.
The existing bi-national agreement on continental air defense, the North American Aerospace Defence Command or NORAD, will be expanded to include maritime surveillance, Gordon O’Connor, the new federal minister of defence, said last week.
The deal is to be signed in May.
O’Connor dismissed the suggestion that the new terms could lead to U.S. warships patrolling Canadian waters. The agreement will mean “merely a transfer of information,” he told reporters.
“It doesn’t change our responsibility as a country. We have to look after our own sovereignty. We have to deal with any threats coming from the sea.”
Once ratified, the new treaty would allow for intelligence on shipping data and threats to the sea lanes to be sent directly to NORAD headquarters, which is jointly staffed by the Canadian and U.S. military in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
O’Connor said this addition to the NORAD agreement doesn’t mean Canada supports the U.S. proposal to create a shield of radar and anti-ballistic missiles to protect North America.
“If the Americans approach us to negotiate ballistic missile defence, we would enter into negotiations,” he said. “If we perceive this to be in our national interest, we would bring this to Parliament and Parliament must approve our participation.”
A year ago, the former Liberal government turned down a formal request from the U.S. to be part of the program, but changes made to the NORAD agreement last summer now allow its radar to track any incoming missiles.
February 17, 2006
Cape Dorset as artsy as it gets
One in four workers in Cape Dorset works in the arts, making that hamlet statistically the most artistic municipality in Canada.
The news comes from Artists in Small and Rural Municipalities in Canada, a report produced by Hill Strategies Research this month.
In total, Dorset has 110 carvers or printmakers out of 485 working people, or 23 per cent of the labour force. That’s more than double the ratio of artists to workers in the second most artistic municipality of Squamish-Lillooet, an electoral district located between Vancouver and Whistler.
The percentage of artists in Dorset is almost 30 times the national average of 0.8 per cent.
The report notes that the arts contribute to quality of life and economic vitality in small towns, a press release said. A strong artistic community leads to “pride of place,” enhancing the whole community’s well-being.
The report was funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Ontario Arts Council.
February 3, 2006
Jericho processes first diamonds
The Tahera Diamond Corp.’s Jericho mine used its newly constructed on-site diamond processing plant to produce its first batch of diamonds late last month.
In a press release issued this week, Tahera said workers are now moving the mine rapidly forwards towards full production by the end of March. They achieved “substantial completion” of the mine this past December, well ahead of schedule.
Right now, they’re not able to say how many carats of diamonds have been produced and how much money they’re worth. That’s because they have to wait until they conclude their first sale.
But the company says they will provide information on production results and revenue figures in their first-quarter financial report, due in May.
Their winter road, which they’ll used to ship 450 truck-loads of material to Jericho, is expected to be ready for use later this month.
Meanwhile, Tahera has started evaluating the nearby Muskox kimberlite pipe, which they believe may contain two-and-a-half times more diamonds than the Jericho pipe.
January 13, 2006
Advance polling starts today
Advanced polling for federal elections will be available in select communities around Nunavut on Jan. 13, 14 and 16.
Voting in advance is recommended for residents who’d like to vote, but are nervous or unsure about the process, according to chief elections officer Ranbir Hundal. It’s also a solution for residents who will be away during the Jan. 23 election date.
Advanced polling stations will be available in Iqaluit, Pond Inlet, Igloolik, Pangnirtung, Cape Dorset, Arviat, Rankin Inlet, Baker Lake, Gjoa Haven, Cambridge Bay and Kugluktuk.
Advance polling stations will be open from noon to 8:30 p.m. Voting in Iqaluit takes place at the Cadet Hall. Voters must bring two pieces of identification.
January 13, 2006
Pang attacker appears in court
Tommy Nuvaqiq appeared in an Iqaluit courtroom this past Tuesday, just in time to hear two lawyers repeat, for his benefit, what they had already decided before they realized Nuvaqiq was present in the courthouse.
Nuvaqiq is charged with attempted murder, related to an attack on a Pangnirtung woman in June of last year. Other charges include breaking and entering to commit an offense, resisting arrest, and aggravated sexual assault.
The 31-year-old woman was a student, working on a special assignment in Pangnirtung at the time of the attack.
Nuvaqiq was arrested on July 16 and has been in police custody ever since.
Defence counsel Sue Cooper, and the Crown attorney agreed to defer setting a date for a preliminary enquiry until after Nunatsiaq News press-time this week.
The preliminary inquiry is expected to take two days, and will likely be held in Iqaluit.
January
6, 2006
Bill Riddell to run for NDP
After an enthusiastic start, Nunavut’s New Democratic Party candidate
Amanda Ford-Rogers backed out of the Jan. 23 federal election race just before
Christmas.
Bill Riddell, Nunavut’s NDP candidate in the 2004 election, has stepped
in to take her place.
“She hadn’t registered with Elections Canada yet so there was no
harm done,” Riddell said this past Tuesday.
Ford-Rogers changed her mind after considering the substantial commitment that
a federal election campaign would require — especially if she won, Riddell
said.
With that in mind, Riddell said, she decided to “save it for another time.”
In the spring election in 2004, Riddell took 15 per cent of the vote, just
behind independent candidate Manitok Thompson.
“This time I have a better handle on some of the issues that need to be
addressed,” Riddell said.
Riddell has lived in Iqaluit for the past 23 years. He originally moved north
to teach social work at Nunavut Arctic College. Eventually, he became a justice
of the peace, and then a residential tenancies officer, handling conflicts between
landlords and tenants.
January
6, 2006
What about the North?
premiers query party leaders
The three northern premiers want to make sure federal party leaders make their
northern policy positions clear to Canadians in the campaign leading up to the
Jan. 23 election.
To do that, they sent a joint letter to Liberal Leader Paul Martin, Conservative
Leader Stephen Harper, New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton and Bloc Québécois
Leader Gilles Duceppe on Dec. 14.
The letter outlines four issues that they want party leaders to clarify. That
includes:
- Funding for federal programs — the premiers are concerned that Northern
jurisdictions are shortchanged when programs are funded based on population.
- Northern development — the premiers want to know how each party would
complete a comprehensive development strategy for the North.
- Devolution and land claims — the premiers want to hear clear positions
on devolution, the completion of outstanding land claims, and implementation
of land claims.
- Outcomes of the First Ministers’ Meeting on aboriginal issues —
the premiers want to know whether the commitments made in Kelowna in December
will be honoured.
Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik, Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie and Northwest Territories
Premier Joe Handley all signed the letter.
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