Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Hay River girls golden in Calgary
Trio of players part of NWT team that won division at world female hockey festivalVolume 47 Issue 41 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2019 $1.00 (.95 + GST)
Have spaghetti, will travelHUB
HAY RIVER, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
T H E
Local student shows brains and brawn
Sports
Ice crossing opens to traffic
News
Meet your new ombud
Community
Publication mail Contract #40012157
7 71605 00200 2
"I felt due to my ties with the South Slave region I was in a good position to help."
– Dr. Bing Guthrie of Yellowknife is the new medical director for the southern area of the NWT, page 3.
Stacey Barnes volunteered to help prepare a spaghetti dinner for a Nov. 22 fundraiser by the French Travel Club at Diamond Jenness Secondary School. Her son, Zachary Barnes, is a member of the travel club.
Paul Bickford/NNSL photo
www.hayriverhub.com2 ▼ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2019
The Office of the Ombud will be opening its doors in Hay River in early December.
"I'm expecting that it will be Dec. 9," said Colette Langlois, the NWT's first ombud. "It might be sooner, but Dec. 9 at the latest."
An ombud is an independent statutory offi-cer of the Legislative Assembly and free from political influence. The office promotes fair-ness in public administration and investigates complaints concerning GNWT departments, agencies, authorities, boards and councils.
Langlois said the hope had been to have the doors open by Sept. 1, but there was a delay because of the late delivery of some supplies and ongoing work at the office space.
Langlois moved to Hay River from Yellow-knife at the end of August with the expectation that she would begin working in the new office space, but that did not happen until early Octo-ber when she could set up a desk there.
"But before that I was working at a picnic table out at Twin Falls Park and sometimes I was working at a carrel in the library," she said. "So if people saw me in my truck mak-ing phone calls, that's what was going on. I just didn't have a place to work."
Currently, an office manager/intake offi-cer is also working at the office and an early resolution and investigations officer will start on Dec. 2.
Langlois said she is happy with the loca-tion, particularly because it is not in a govern-ment office building.
"Because we're independent from gov-ernment, I didn't want to be in a building where there were a whole bunch of other government offices," she said. "Then it would seem like we're just another govern-ment office and we're not. We're independent."
The Office of the Ombud is located in space formerly occupied by the law firm Mac-Donald and Associates.
Langlois said she is very excited to see the office almost ready to open.
"I've had some enquires over the summer from people," she said. "In some cases, I've been able to refer them somewhere else and in some cases I wished I could have taken the
complaint and done something to help them out.
"So to finally be able to do that is really good. And I'm really looking forward to advertising it so we start getting more calls coming in."
The territorial legislation creating the Office of the Ombud came into force on Nov. 18.
"So that means that I now have the author-ity to take complaints and look into them," said Langlois.
Langlois was appointed the ombud in April.
Since then, along with working to get the office physically opened, she did a number of things to prepare for that day.
"I've been to Yellowknife a couple of times
and met with the deputy ministers there to start explaining to them what our office does and building those working relationships that we're going to need to make this a good pro-cess," she said.
Langlois has found the deputy ministers receptive to her new role.
"The proof will come out when we actually have some situations to deal with that are difficult," she said. "But I think there's a lot of receptivity to this. I think it's important to remind people that I'm not an advocate for complainants.
"I advocate for fairness. So it's not an adversarial process. I'm not representing com-plainants and trying to take an adversarial approach with departments. It's really col-laborative."
In addition, she met with ombuds in other parts of Canada.
All the provinces and territories have a legislative ombud, except for P.E.I. and Nuna-vut and they have offered help and advice, she said.
"From providing copies of their job descriptions so I had an idea of what I needed to do for our office to advice on policies and procedures. There's a whole network of people that I can pick up the phone and call and that feels really good to have that support."
The ombud can make recommendations to various government departments and agen-cies, but cannot order them to do anything.
"I report to the Legislative Assembly," Langlois explained. "So I will be doing annual reports to the speaker that go into the Legisla-tive Assembly.
But if I do an investigation and recom-mendations come out of it, there's actually a process for me to make those recommenda-tions directly to the department."
The new office is located in Hay River at Langlois' own recommendation, partly because it is a territorial office and partly because the location makes it easier to travel to many other communities by highway.
Langlois grew up in Yellowknife and served nearly two decades with the GNWT and the Legislative Assembly, including as acting clerk for a year and as director of research services for over a decade.
Colette Langlois has been preparing since April for new role based in Hay River
NWT's first ombud soon to open office
Paul Bickford/NNSL photo
Colette Langlois, the NWT's first ombud, is in the process of readying her new office in Hay River. She expects the office, which will employ three people, will open to the public by Dec. 9 or sooner.
PAUL [email protected]
Santa Claus Parade set in Fort Smith
Thebacha/Fort SmithA Santa Claus Parade is set for Dec. 1 in
Fort Smith, beginning at 4 p.m. at the Rec Centre.
The parade will end at the Fort Smith Town Hall.It will be followed by the lighting of a community Christmas tree.
Church to hold Christmas Bazaar
Thebacha/Fort SmithSt. John's Anglican Church in Fort Smith
will hold a Christmas Bazaar from 2 to 4 p.m. on Nov. 30.The bazaar will feature a bake sale, craft table, deli table and more.
Christmas craft sale at PWK High School
Thebacha/Fort SmithThe PWK Christmas Craft Sale will take
place on Nov. 30, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Paul William Kaeser High School in Fort Smith.
The annual event will feature baked goods, local jewellery, Christmas gifts and more.
Community coach training at ski club
Thebacha/Fort SmithA workshop for skiing coaches will be
hosted by the Fort Smith Ski Club and Cross-Country NWT from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1.
The in-class and on-snow workshop will teach community coaches how to lead a skill development program at the club level for children aged four to 10 years old.
Coaches will also learn how to teach basic cross-country skiing skills (both classic and skate), design a seasonal plan, select equip-ment and prepare skis for participants.
Fort Smith union local to hold AGM
Thebacha/Fort SmithThe annual general meeting of Local 2
of the Union of Northern Workers will take place in Fort Smith on Nov. 27, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Rec Centre.
The meeting will include elections to fill vacant positions on the local's executive for secretary, chief shop steward and member-ship/booster officer.
There will also be reports from the presi-dent, vice-president and treasurer.
AROUND THE SOUTH SLAVE Paul Bickford is the reporter for The Hub. Send your ideas to: [email protected].
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2019 ▼ 3www.hayriverhub.com
Did we get it wrong?Hay River Hub is committed to getting
facts and names right. With that goes a com-mitment to acknowledge mistakes and run corrections. If you spot an error in Hay River Hub, call 874-2802 and ask to speak to an editor, or email [email protected]. We'll get a correction or clarification in as soon as we can.
Dr. Bing Guthrie of Yellow-knife is the new medical direc-tor for the southern area of the NWT.
Erin Griffiths, the CEO of the Hay River authority, said in a press release that the "partner-ship between health and social services authorities is part of the one-system approach to delivery of care and services in the NWT."
She said he will "oversee the deployment and development of integrated physician services of the southern regions of the NWT, including Hay River."
Guthrie first came to the NWT to work as a general prac-titioner in Hay River in 1993 and stayed until 2000 when he left to complete his training in obstetrics and gynaecology.
"I have always had a fondness for this part of the territory, hav-ing raised my family there for a good chunk of their lives," stated
Guthrie in the news release.The new medical director
added he is looking forward to taking on the new and challen-ging role.
"I can see the recruitment dif-ficulties the community faces and I felt I could offer some help, both by supporting the recruitment of their physicians and also assisting in guiding the medical direction of the health services in Hay River," he said.
The role also involves oversee-ing the Fort Smith and Deh Cho regions.
"Although I have had less experience in these other com-munities, I felt due to my ties with the South Slave region I was in a good position to help," Guthrie said. "My vision is to have stable sustainable services in these regions. When I first worked in Hay River, there was a lot of collegiality and collab-oration amongst the various com-munities which I hope to foster once again."
The main ice crossing between Hay River and the Hay River Reserve opened for the sea-son on the afternoon of Nov. 21.
"That is early," said Chief April Martel of K'atlodeeche First Nation (KFN), which cre-ates and maintains the ice crossing.
Last year, it was ready for traffic on Nov. 30.
The opening date can vary by weeks each year, depending on the temperatures in Nov-ember and the amount of snow which can act as a form of insulation on the ice. In 2017, the crossing was ready for use on Nov. 17, while it did not open until Nov. 28 in 2016.
Martel said residents on the Hay River Reserve are happy that the crossing is open.
She noted it benefits both the people on the reserve and those in Hay River.
"It's really important because of quicker access to town and quicker access to the reserve because a lot of people come to the reserve for gas and tobacco and shopping," she said.
"It basically opens it up for both sides."The chief also noted the ice crossing even
makes it easier for parents to drop off their children at school in Hay River.
Without the ice crossing, motorists have to drive about 15 to 20 minutes to get across the Hay River by the bridge on Highway 5.
Workers with the municipal department of KFN worked for about a week and a half to create the ice crossing, including by flooding the ice to make it thicker and ensure it is safe to use.
When the crossing opened, the ice was about 20 inches thick.
Martel praised the KFN municipal work-ers for their hard work and dedication to the annual project.
The Town of Hay River looks after the approach to the crossing on the town side of the river.
The ice crossing has an initial weight limit of 5,000 kg, meaning cars and pickup trucks
can use it. Larger trucks will have to wait until the ice is thicker.
KFN also opens an ice crossing between Vale Island and the Old Village of the Hay River Reserve later in the season.
Work has not yet started on the Old Village crossing, Martel noted. "They don't do that until after, when it's really cold."
PAUL [email protected]
PAUL [email protected]
NEWSBriefs
Bouchard returns astown's deputy mayor
Robert Bouchard has once again been appointed deputy mayor of the Town of Hay River.
Bouchard, who has been deputy mayor since the last municipal elec-tion, was the only council member to put his name forward for the position on Nov. 18 and was appointed by a motion of council.
Under the Council Procedures Bylaw, a deputy mayor is selected in November of each year.
Polar Pond Hockeysets earlier dates
Polar Pond Hockey will be held from March 13 to March 15.
Terry Rowe, an executive member with Polar Pond Hockey, said that is a little earlier than the dates – March 20 to 22 – set for the event earlier this year.
That Polar Pond Hockey had to be cancelled because of unseasonably warm temperatures and deteriorating ice on the Hay River in front of Fish-erman's Wharf.
Rowe said the new dates are ear-lier partly because of that, but he noted the event has always been held around that second or third weekend of March.
The organizer expects colder tem-peratures for the upcoming event.
"We're hoping it was just a freak year," he said of the temperatures this past March.
Polar Pond Hockey was also not held in 2018 to avoid conflict with the South Slave Arctic Winter Games.
Toy Drive to collectgifts for Secret Santa
The ninth-annual Toy Drive in sup-port of Hay River Secret Santa will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Dec. 1.
Members of emergency services in the community – including the RCMP and the fire department – will drive through the community collecting donations of unwrapped gifts.
Residents can watch for the lights and listen for the sirens to know when the Toy Drive is in their neighbour-hoods.
People are being asked to donate only new items.
The Dope Experienceto begin touring NWTThe Department of Health and
Social Services announced on Nov. 21 the official launch of a travelling workshop called The Dope Experi-ence, which covers topics such as substance use, mental wellness and community health.
In partnership with the NWT Asso-ciation of Communities and Western Arctic Moving Pictures, youth will engage in discussions and use arts and media-based activities to explore topics of concern.
Teams will deliver information ses-sions for students on cannabis, alcohol and other substances.
The workshop will run until March 2020, reaching almost every NWT community.
Dr. Bing Guthrie tasked with recruiting other doctors to area
KFN chief says both reserve and town benefit from faster access
New medical director has historical Hay River ties
Ice crossing opens over Hay River
NNSL file photo
Dr. Bing Guthrie of Yellowknife is the new medical director for the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, along with other regions of the southern NWT.
Paul Bickford/NNSL photo
The ice crossing between the Town of Hay River and the Hay River Reserve opened for the season on Nov. 21.
www.hayriverhub.com4 ▼ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2019
Three girls from Hay River helped a team from Yellowknife win a banner at the Wick-enheiser Female World Hockey Festival earlier this month in Calgary.
The Yellowknife Wolfpack won the Midget Tier 3 Division.
Most of the players hailed from Yellowknife, but there was help from Hay River and Fort Smith as each community provided three play-ers to shore up the roster.
The Hay River players were Helene McKay-Ivanko, who plays defence, goalie Kamilah Gostick and forward Jenna Demarcke.
"It was really exciting," said McKay-Ivanko of the tournament. "It was really fun."
Although she had played before at the Wick-enheiser Female World Hockey Festival, it was her first time winning a medal at the event.
"I find it's a very good opportunity to go meet some new people and just play with new people," said the 13-year-old Grade 8 student at Ecole Boreale. "It's just a really good experi-ence."
McKay-Ivanko explained that the three girls from Hay River – and three others from Fort Smith – didn't get to play or practise with the Wolfpack before the tournament in Calgary.
"They just pick people from Hay River and Fort Smith and you just go up to them for one tournament and you just see how you play with them," she said.
McKay-Ivanko noted she had played before with her defence partner.
"But there were multiple people on that team that I'd never played with and I had to find out how they play and what's their speed and how they like to do things," she said.
Rob Hart, the coach of the Wolfpack, said the new players from Hay River and Fort Smith had no effect whatsoever on team cohesion.
"They started getting used to each other quickly," he said. "There are a lot of girls who will be trying out for the Arctic Winter Games team and it was great to get them together on the same team."
The Yellowknife Wolfpack won gold in its division thanks to a 7-2 win over the GHC Jr. Inferno squad from Calgary in the final in mid-November. It was a reversal of fortune as the Inferno defeated the Wolfpack by a score of 5-3 in a round-robin meeting just before the final.
The Wolfpack played four round-robin games with three lopsided wins to their credit and the loss to the Inferno as the lone blemish on their record.
The Wickenheiser World Female Hockey Festival, often called WickFest, is celebrat-ing its 10th anniversary during the 2019/2020 season.
Two sections of the festival were held in Calgary in November and another section is set for Surrey, B.C., in early 2020.
WickFest attracts teams from around the world.
- with files from James McCarthy
Three Hay River girls help Yellowknife team win division at Calgary tournament
Gold at WickFest female hockey tourney
PAUL [email protected]
HUBSPORTS
photo courtesy of Rob Hart
Three players from Hay River – left to right, Helene McKay-Ivanko, Kamilah Gostick and Jenna Demarcke – helped the Yellowknife Wolfpack win a division of the Wickenheiser Female World Hockey Festival, held this month in Calgary.
PRIDE OF A NATIONHay River's Fiona Huang got an encouraging note from the Governor General after
being named an academic All-Canadian, page 6.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2019 ▼ 5www.hayriverhub.com
HUBOPINIONHISTORICAL QUOTE
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." – Aristotle
2011CCNA
Display ad deadline:4 p.m. Friday prior toWednesday publication
Subscription rates: In Canada $501st Class $100
PHONE (867) 873-4031FAX (867) [email protected]
Publishers of• Hay River Hub • Inuvik Drum • Kivalliq News • Yellowknifer • NWT News/North • Nunavut News/North
Hay River Hub14B 66 Woodland Dr.Box 4434Hay River, NT X0E 0R8Canada Post #2180316Return undeliverable Canada mail to above addressMail Reg. #07426 ISSN 0714-5810
Established in 1973Published Wednesdays by
Northern News Services Limited
HAY RIVER, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
REPORTERPaul [email protected]@nnsl.comTERRITORIAL SALES REPRESENTATIVETeresa [email protected]
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada.
Nous reconnaissons l'appui financier du gouvernement du Canada.
FOUNDER (1934-2018) J.W. (Sig) Sigvaldason PUBLISHER, CEOBruce Valpy [email protected] FINANCIAL OFFICERJudy TriffoMANAGING EDITOR Mike W. [email protected]
HUBT H E
Where would you travel if you could go anywhere in the world?We asked students at the Nov. 22 fundraiser by the French Language Travel Club
at Diamond Jenness Secondary School
You Said It!
Zoey Walsh: "Probably Greece, because it looks really beautiful there."
Abbey King: "If I could go anywhere in the world, I'd like to go to Australia because I have lots of family there. And I'm really into surf-ing."
Jon Tatti: "It would probably be Australia because I just like the heat. And also the ocean would be very fun to surf in. And I like a lot of the locations there and the animals."
Sarah Buth: "If I could travel any-where in the world, probably Pennsylvania because I have a close friend who lives there and I've been dying to meet her in person."
If you ever had any doubt where the North stood in the big picture of Canadian politics, you should have an answer now.
And that answer – more like confirmation, really – is the North barely registers on the radar in Ottawa.
That might be a bit harsh, but it's true. On Nov. 20, Prime Minister Justin Tru-deau named his new cabinet.
It was a well-choreographed event for television. One after another, the returning and new ministers walked up a long line in Ottawa to where they would be officially named to the new cabinet. They were accompanied by their spouses and often one or two of their kids to make the polit-icians look a bit more human (because it is hard to be sure sometimes).
In hindsight, we admit to being foolishly optimistic. We were expecting to see Michael McLeod – the MP for the Northwest Territories – join the parade. Certainly, not at the head of said parade, but somewhere. We didn't expect that McLeod would go from the Liberal backbenches to a high-profile portfolio. But we were hoping that maybe he could squeeze into the cab-
inet in one of the portfolios of lesser clout.
Yet, McLeod was nowhere to be seen.
Not even when the West is in near revolt over the results of the recent election could Trudeau bring himself to name
McLeod to his cabinet.
Here was an opportunity for
Trudeau to appoint some rep-resentation from the Mountain Time Zone. McLeod is the closest thing that Trudeau has as a representative of Alberta. McLeod's riding even borders Alberta.
Trudeau could have then claimed that he had a cabinet minister from our region of the West. The word 'west' is even in the name of McLeod's riding – the Northwest Territor-ies.
And it wasn't like Trudeau would have had to appoint a political novice to his cabinet. McLeod is now into his second term as an MP and had experi-ence as a cabinet minister in the territorial government.
Yet, all that was not enough.
While we waited in vain for McLeod to make that walk into cabinet, we were treated to a parade of politicians that showed once again where the real power lies in Canada.
There was a deluge of MPs – some well-known cabinet ministers and some newcom-ers – from Ontario (particu-larly the Toronto area) and Quebec.
In one sense, that shouldn't be much of a surprise. Ontario and Quebec are the popula-tion centres of Canada and you would expect them to be well-represented in cabinet. (And, of course, Alberta and Saskatchewan can't really moan – although they will – about not being represented if they don't elect candidates from the winning party.)
But the NWT elected a Lib-eral and we got nothing for it, even in a time when a cabinet minister from the northwest would be good for us, good for the Liberal Party and good for the country.
Trudeau was obviously more interested in shoring up Liberal support in Quebec and Ontario with an eye to winning a majority in the next election.
Western alienation, national unity, Northern representa-tion, doing the right thing and all that inconsequential stuff come far behind winning elec-tions.
EDITORIAL
North shut out of cabinet, again
Northern News Services
www.hayriverhub.com6 ▼ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2019
There has been a change in the man-agement structure of K'atlodeeche First Nation (KFN) – there will no longer be a band manager.
Catherine Heron was the band man-ager until a two-year contract – involv-ing a funding arrangement with the Department of Municipal and Commun-ity Affairs (MACA) – ended in early November.
Heron noted she had the option of staying with KFN as part of the initial agreement under which she was hired, but she decided to head back south to Edmonton, where she previously lived for many years.
"I would have stayed, but I actually miss the south," she said. "I miss actually doing my Zumba. There's a lot of things that I miss that I was doing down south."
While Hay River has Zumba – a popular exercise program – Heron noted she did a lot of travelling for KFN and could not commit to any type of Zumba classes here.
"I have a great networking system in Edmonton and I also curl in Edmonton, as well," she added. "There's just differ-ent things that I would like to get back into that I did when I was in Edmonton."
Heron noted she previously worked as a paralegal in the Alberta capital and will be looking at getting back into that career. She was KFN's band manager
since January of 2018. Previously to that, the position didn't exist.
Debbie Miller, the CEO with K'atlodeeche First Nation, said the organization is not looking for a new band manager.
"Certainly the role of chief executive officer incorporated some of the activ-ities of a band manager and I think some of the band manager responsibilities incorporated some of the activities of the
chief executive officer," said Miller. "So there is a melding."
The CEO said the First Nation will be determining in the coming months if another form of supportive position or positions may be needed for the organ-ization.
"I would not necessarily call it a band manager," she said.
Miller praised Heron's contributions, noting she helped outside organizations and agencies understand how to work with a First Nation and helped obtain funding for KFN.
Chief April Martel also praised Heron, noting she worked long hours and dedicated herself to learning new things.
"She worked really well with every-one," said Martel. "She basically took on a big role for such a short time. I'm really proud of her for taking on a big respon-sibility and trying to complete all tasks."
Heron was employed by K'atlodeeche First Nation under a contract in which MACA paid most of her salary for two years as she trained to become a band manager. While working, she also took classroom and online training from MACA's School of Community Govern-ment.
An eventual return to the North is possible, said Heron, who is a member of KFN. "Because I also am contemplating starting my own consulting business and coming back up working with different organizations at some point in time."
Hay River's Fiona Huang has been recognized for her dedication as a student athlete at the University of Toronto.
The 18-year-old has been named an Academic All-Can-adian.
"It's definitely a huge hon-our," she said.
U Sports – the national gov-erning body of university sport in Canada – introduced its first Academic All-Canadians in 1988 to recognize exceptional student athletes who achieve
an academic standing of 80 per cent or better while playing on one of their university's varsity teams.
Huang, a graduate of Dia-mond Jenness Secondary School and a long-time com-petitor at the NWT Track and Field Championships, is now in her second year as a mem-ber of the track team at the University of Toronto, where she specializes in sprints and relays.
She is also studying kinesi-ology at the U of T.
Huang and a number of other student athletes at the
university were awarded the Academic All-Canadian designation on Nov. 20. She also received a congratula-tory letter from Governor Gen-eral Julie Payette, who wrote that it is no ordinary feat to achieve academic excellence while pursuing varsity-level athletic endeavours.
That accomplishment deserves some "serious kudos," wrote the Governor General.
"You should be very proud of yourself," Payette told Huang. "I am very impressed by what you have achieved and what you will continue
to accomplish. I wish you all the best in the pursuit of your ambitions. Aim high and never give up!"
Huang said she felt really honoured to receive the letter from the Governor General.
"It was nice to see that the hard work put into school and the long hours of studying and just good study habits paid off," she said. "It's like a good recognition of being able to balance track and school and all the hours devoted to both. It's just really nice. I guess I'm pretty proud and just hon-oured."
No plans to fill position vacated by Catherine Heron
Fiona Huang honoured as student athlete at U of T
Zumba blues pull KFN band manager south
An Academic All-Canadian
NNSL file photo
Catherine Heron, who was the band manager for K'atlodeeche First Nation since the begin-ning of 2018, is returning to the south.
photo courtesy of Fiona Huang
Hay River's Fiona Huang, centre, was named an Academic All-Canadian on Nov. 20. The student athlete at the University of Toronto received the honour from Sandy Welsh, left, the vice-provost of students at the University of Toronto and Beth Ali, right, the executive director of athletics and physical activity with the university.
PAUL [email protected]
PAUL [email protected]
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2019 ▼ 7www.hayriverhub.com
www.hayriverhub.com8 ▼ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2019
