Thursday 25 October 2012

EDITORIAL: It’s time for movement on Arctic telecoms

[excerpt: see original URL for embedded links]
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674its_time_for_movement_on_arctic_telecoms/

EDITORIAL: Around the Arctic October 25, 2012 - 9:30 am
It's time for movement on Arctic telecoms
NUNATSIAQ NEWS

You know how bad it can get.

It's the government employer who blocks websites to save bandwidth. It's
the internet link that dies in the middle of an email download. Or maybe
it's the cell phone — if you're lucky enough to even get cell service —
that never works when you need it the most.

No regular person who reads this — especially any Arctic resident reading
this on the internet — can deny that a top-to-bottom overhaul of northern
Canada's rickety telecommunications system is long overdue.

The companies who sell these services, and now, even governments, know
what you know about how bad it can get.

For some, the Oct. 6, 2011 software glitch that threw the Anik F2
satellite out of whack for most the day was a big wake-up call.

Within a week, Government of Nunavut officials met to figure out how to
better cope with such a screw-up in the future.

But even before that, at the behest of Joint Task Force North, Public
Safety Canada and other government agencies, a bureaucratic group called
the Northern Communications and Information Systems Working group had
already delved into the issue.

The title of their August 2011 report says it all: "A Matter of Survival."
They began work on it after a less well publicized communications meltdown
that occurred in August 2009. This was during the Operation Nanook
exercise near Iqaluit, when emergency responders discovered their cell
phone and internet connections repeatedly failed.

At the same time, a complex menu of federal government broadband subsidies
for rural and remote regions, delivered through Industry Canada, is due to
expire by 2016.

So what should government do?

First, territorial, provincial and federal governments should take a good
look at what, in the Arctic, amounts to a new technology: undersea
fibre-optic cable.

The leading proponent of this technology, a firm called Arctic Fibre Inc.,
plans to invest some $600 million of private money in an undersea cable
between Europe and Asia. This cable would pass through waters off Nunavut,
Labrador, Nunavik, the Northwest Territories and Alaska.

Arctic Fibre has just applied for the the necessary licences. They're
lining up customers. If they get the required number of telecom firms to
sign on, especially in Asia, they will build this line. When that happens,
52 per cent of Nunavut's population will get high-speed telecommunications
at a dramatically lower cost.

No government with jurisdiction over any section of Canada's eastern
Arctic can afford to ignore this opportunity. Should the Government of
Nunavut, for example, ignore this development, they would likely endure a
major political embarrassment.
[...]

Video chat: What it's like to do business in the #NWT with Old Town Glassworks

YkOnline posted on Facebook... "The Globe and Mail did a virtual report on business with Old Town Glassworks. Have a look at it here: http://yk.onli.ca/QIffZA "

Video chat: What it's like to do business in NWT

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-marketing/sales/video-chat-what-its-like-to-do-business-in-nwt/article4636306/

[excerpt]

Report on Small Business senior editor Terry Brodie hung out with Matthew Grogono, founder and president of Old Town Glassworks, based in Yellowknife.

The eight-employee company Mr. Grogono founded in 1994 and turned into a co-operative incorporated in 2006 makes and sells "reclaimed" glassware out of recycled glass. The number of bottles recycled to date: 70,000 and counting. 

Mr. Grogono discussed his business and some of the unique benefits and challenges in operating out of the Northwest Territories

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Yellowknife Artist Run Community Centre presents: Alison Mccreesh's They Call Us Squatters


Janna Graham [vivanomadia@gmail.com] on behalf of Yellowknife Artist Run Community Centre has distributed the following announcement:

They Call Us Squatters: a fibre based collection by Alison Mccreesh

They Call Us Squatters

YK ARCC couldn't be more excited to have this exhibit as our inaugural show.

Fresh from a tour in Whitehorse, They Call Us Squatters comes home to Yellowknife beginning Friday October 26 until November 15th.

OPENING – Friday, October 26 5 – 9pm.
Alcohol will be served after 6pm so unfortunately no minors after 6 can be in the gallery.

GALLERY HOURS:

Saturday, October 27: 1 – 5pm; Sunday, October 28 :1 – 5pm;

Monday, October 29 – Thursday, November 1: 5 – 7pm

Saturday, November 3: 1 – 5pm

Sunday, November 4: 1 – 5pm

——————————————
"They call us squatters" aims to draw a portrait of the Woodyard; of its past fights and of the form it takes on today. The exhibition presents a series of fibre based snapshots of an ever fading way of life. It's about the quirks and the contradictions of living in a shack 5 minutes from Yellowknife's downtown core : it's about living in a modern city and needing to come home at lunch to throw a log on a fire, it's about having a smart phone and not having a flush toilet, . This exhibition reflects on the last little scraps of 'frontier living' that remain in our Territory's capital. As yet another enhancement plan is to be revealed – and put into action – in the year to come, it is time to once again dwell on what makes our young Northern cities unique and on what can be considered heritage.

YK ARCC – Come Check Out Our New Location! We're at 4913 50th Street, next to Taste of Saigon (formerly Dave Brosha's gallery).

http://ykarcc.com/

For more info: vivanomadia@gmail.com





10

Oral Questions. Nunavut MLA for Quttiktuq, Mr. Ron Elliott on the Nutrition North Canada Program & access to healthy foods

NUNAVUT HANSARD UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012 IQALUIT, NUNAVUT
[excerpt] [emphasis added]
Oral Questions. Member for Quttiktuq, Mr. Elliott.
Question 408 – 3(3): Update on Federal-Provincial-Territorial Meetings of Ministers of Health (Elliott)
Mr. Elliott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
On September 27, 2012, Canada's provincial and territorial ministers of health met in Halifax to discuss issues of concern. I was very pleased to note that the official communiqué from this meeting announced that all of the provincial and territorial ministers of health have joined together to, and I quote, "encourage the federal government to expand the Nutrition North Canada Program to ensure Canadians living in Northern and remote communities can benefit from improved access to healthy foods."
On September 28, 2012, our minister and his provincial and territorial colleagues met with the federal Minister of Health. Can the minister advise the House if he took this opportunity to directly raise the issue of the Nutrition North Canada Program during this meeting? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker: Thank you, Mr. Elliott. Minister responsible for Department of Health and Social Services, Minister Peterson.
Hon. Keith Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank Mr. Elliott for that excellent detective work, tracking my movements in Halifax. It was a very good FPT meeting. I am very encouraged by the support that the northern ministers had from the provinces. We did talk about Nutrition North.
I was able to enlighten my southern colleagues about the "Feeding My Family" Facebook page, which has well over 20,000 friends. I enlightened them about some of the costs and challenges of getting food into Nunavut, standing in line at the stores and seeing the charges that people who are checking out have to pay.
It was very encouraging. It was very heartening that we received that support and health ministers recognize that healthy and nutritious food is an important factor in the health of our citizens, especially our younger citizens. We talked about early childhood development and babies getting the sources of food early in their lives.

Mr. Speaker, in my meeting with the minister herself, there were three territorial ministers there and we did not discuss Nutrition North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker: Thank you, Minister Peterson. Your first supplementary, Mr. Elliott.
Mr. Elliott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the House will recall, I worked with a number of northern Parliamentarians earlier this year to write directly to the federal Minister of Health and Aboriginal Affairs concerning the Nutrition North Canada Program. So I am very pleased that we now have every province and territory government working together to advocate for improvements to this critical program. Can the Minister of Health and Social Services indicate how the Government of Nunavut will be pursuing this issue over the coming year? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker: Thank you, Mr. Elliott. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Minister Peterson.
Hon. Keith Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again I thank Mr. Elliott for his question. As we all know and most Nunavummiut know, Mr. Elliott is a strong advocate for nutrition and inexpensive food into all of our communities in Nunavut. In fact, we had a recent briefing by Mr. Elliott, who continues to lobby. I encourage and support him to do that.
Mr. Speaker, I think there is recognition on this side of the House that we do have to continue to do what we can to assist our citizens. At this time, I can't tell Mr. Elliott specifically what we're doing. I know in my own department, we do have officials working with the communities.
Through some funding from Nutrition North, actually, we are educating Nunavummiut about nutritious foods, recipes, and this is working with the communities themselves. Through the health portfolio funding that the Government of Canada has provided, we have streamlined that process and communities have developed community wellness plans. I believe most communities are using some of their funds to provide breakfast programs in the communities.
We recognize that kids in particular, in the morning, they should have a good meal to help them get through the day at school. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
An Hon. Member: Hear, hear! Speaker: Thank you, Minister Peterson. Your second supplementary, Mr. Elliott.
Mr. Elliott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I'll have to do some more investigative work to try and find out what the GN is doing.
The official communiqué from the September 27, 2012 meeting of provincial and territorial ministers of health also stated that, and I quote, "Ministers discussed how the shift in the federal government's approach on health issues is impacting Canadians. Ministers would like to discuss with Minister Aglukkaq decisions made by the federal government without consultation."
Mr. Speaker, our government was a signatory to this communiqué. Can our minister clarify which specific decisions made by the federal Minister of Health he is unhappy with? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker: Thank you, Mr. Elliott. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Minister Peterson.
Hon. Keith Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank Mr. Elliott for the question. Mr. Speaker, I had a double-whammy last December. I attended an FPT finance ministers' meeting in Victoria and that's when Minister Flaherty presented the funding letters to finance ministers. I happened to also be the health minister. So I got the finance shock and now I got the health shock.
The decision that we were unhappy with was that the Government of Canada didn't seem to want to negotiate the health accord and basically told us, "Here is the funding envelope and you have to work within it." They set some parameters with respect to growth on the Canada Health Transfer.
So those are bigger issues, really, for provincial health ministers because in certain provinces, depending on the demographics, it could affect them more seriously, particularly if you have an aging population and they're close to retirement. A lot of elders and seniors in our country do develop health issues and we have to look after them. That was a big concern for my provincial colleagues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker: Thank you, Minister Peterson. Your final supplementary, Mr. Elliott.
Mr. Elliott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As our minister is very much aware, the issue of federal support for essential health care infrastructure in Nunavut is a major concern for me and my constituents. Can the minister indicate if he raised this issue when he met with the federal Minister of Health on September 28 of this year? If not, why not? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker: Thank you, Mr. Elliott. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Minister Peterson.
Hon. Keith Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank Mr. Elliott again for the question. Mr. Speaker, I did not raise that issue with the federal Minister of Health. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker: Thank you, Minister Peterson.

Moving Forward on Poverty Reduction in Nunavut

News Release

Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. Commit to Moving Forward on Poverty Reduction

IQALUIT, Nunavut (October 24, 2012) – Premier Eva Aariak http://www.premier.gov.nu.ca/apps/authoring/dspPage.aspx?page=home and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) President Cathy Towtongie http://www.tunngavik.com/ today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Nunavut Roundtable for Poverty Reduction and announced the development of a Nunavut Food Security Strategy.

The MOU is an agreement for collaboration between the government and NTI to implement The Makimaniq Plan: A Shared Approach to Poverty Reduction. The establishment of the Nunavut Food Security Coalition and the preparation of a territorial action plan on food security is a principal goal of The Makimaniq Plan. http://www.makiliqta.ca/

"This MOU sustains the Government of Nunavut's commitment to collaborate with partners to reduce poverty, increase accountability, assess results and ensure it remains a priority for future governments," said Premier Eva Aariak. "As part of this commitment, we aim to develop a food security strategy that finds practical solutions to one of our most urgent societal issues."

"NTI is excited to build upon our existing partnership with the GN on poverty reduction in Nunavut. We are proud of the public engagement process, which culminated in The Makimaniq Plan, and we now look forward to working with our partners to produce Nunavut-made solutions. NTI believes and expects these solutions to positively impact Inuit. Action must be taken now on food security," said President Towtongie.

The MOU specifies that the Nunavut Roundtable for Poverty Reduction will have two principal purposes: to fulfill the requirements of Article 32 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement with respect to poverty reduction, and to ensure ongoing collaboration in the implementation of The Makimaniq Plan: A Shared Commitment to Poverty Reduction.

Development of the Nunavut Food Security Strategy begins this fall with a series of roundtable sessions and includes a Nunavut Food Security Symposium scheduled for January 2013 in Iqaluit. Symposium participants will collaborate on the preparation of a food security strategy for Nunavut, to be released in the spring 2013.

The four-month strategy process will bring together members of the Nunavut Food Security Coalition and representatives from all organizations involved in the production, distribution and consumption of food in the territory, including harvesters, producers, retailers, Inuit organizations, government departments, communities and non-governmental organizations.

The Nunavut Food Security Coalition is made up of representatives from seven GN departments, NTI and each of the three Regional Inuit Associations. The coalition is co-chaired by GN's Department of Health and Social Services and NTI's Department of Social and Cultural Development.

The Nunavut Roundtable for Poverty Reduction is co-sponsored by the GN and NTI; however, membership is open to any organization that wishes to contribute toward the reduction of poverty in Nunavut as outlined in The Makimaniq Plan.

For more information contact:
Emily Woods Press Secretary Office of the Premier Government of Nunavut 867-975-5059 ewoods@gov.nu.ca

Kerry McCluskey Director of Communications Department of Corporate Services Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. Tel: 867-975-4914 Cell: 867-222-2893 Toll-free: 1-888-646-0006 KMcCluskey@tunngavik.com

Perspectives On: The Nunavut woman who caught attention of the world (APTN video)

Perspectives On: The Nunavut woman who caught attention of the world with the Facebook group "Feeding my Family"
http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2012/10/24/perspectives-on-the-nunavut-woman-who-caught-attention-of-the-world/
APTN National News | 24. Oct, 2012
For the first time people living in far-flung communities have access to a tool that lets them have a say on how things are going.
And that tool is social media.
In Part II of an ongoing series, APTN National News reporter Kent Driscoll tells the story of a Nunavut woman who started a movement that caught the attention of the world.
Feeding my Family on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/239422122837039/
Feeding My Family - Kitchen Table (the back channel)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/114958495322165/
Feeding my Family webpage
http://www.feedingmyfamily.org/

In the news
June 12, 2012 - 1:04 pm
"Feeding My Family" goes viral after June 9 protest
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674feeding_my_family_goes_viral_after_june_9_protest/

Tuesday 23 October 2012

The Annual YK Handmade Festival: November 24th

The Annual YK Handmade Festival: November 24th
"...Hello Yellowknife Handmakers and Supporters! The Annual YK Handmade Festival will be November 24th, 2012, at Northern United Place (NUP), from 10-2pm. This event is for local handcrafters, artisans, wildcrafters, and bakers! So get your creative minds and hands busy and get involved in this great event!
Last year's Handmade Festival was a huge s
uccess, and Ecology North wants to celebrate in Yellowknifers amazing talents again this year! We are extending this opportunity for you to participate in this years festival. If you are interested in having a vendor table please contact Melissa at ykhandmade@gmail.com or 445-9285.
Please spread the word and come out and support your talented community at the YK Handmade Festival! Looking forward to seeing you all at the event...."
via Ecology North

Sunday 14 October 2012

Folk on the Rocks Festival 2013 Submissions Now Ope

Folk on the Rocks Festival 2013 Submissions Now Open
http://folkontherocks.com/
Submissions to perform at the Folk on the Rocks 2013 music festival is now open through Sonic Bids or by ground mail. Sorry, we can't accept email submissions.
If you are a performer, please consider applying to join us at next year's festival. We look at all submissions while choosing the line-up. Deadlines for submissions: southern artists: Jan. 15, 2013; northern artists: March 4, 2013.
If you are a northern performer please use Sonicbids http://www.sonicbids.com or our Northern Application Form 2013.
http://folkontherocks.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Northern-Application-Form-2013.pdf
If you are a southern performer please use Sonicbids http://www.sonicbids.com or our Southern Application Form 2013.
http://folkontherocks.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Southern-Application-Form-2013.pdf
For further information please contact Penny at (867)920-7806; email: exec_director@folkontherocks.com; or by ground mail at Box 326, Yellowknife, NT, X1A 2N3.
Northern Performers Definition
In determining whether a performer in considered to be "northern," Folk on the Rocks will consider the following factors:
a) northern residency (Canadian): the artist lives (for at least two years) or has lived (within the last five years) in the northern territories of Canada (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut); or the northern parts of the provinces, where people are culturally linked to the northern territories (eg. Nunavik and Nunatsiavut (Labrador))
b) northern residency (international): the artist lives in or originally comes from other northern countries/areas (Alaska, Greenland, Scandinavia, Russia)
c) authentically northern content: the artist's musical performance style is culturally or linguistically linked to northern or aboriginal tradition or culture