Our Beautiful North Soon As We Can

Stanton contractor sues for $9.7 million Kelson Mechanical Inc. claims it was short-changed by general contractors 1257+:(677(55,725,(6 Our beautiful Volume 74 Issue 32 MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2019 $.95 (plus GST) North Dene gamers in training Paul Bickford/NNSL photo Sharon Pekok, centre, the recreation director with K'atlodeeche First Nation, and Stacey Sundberg of Dettah compete in a finger pull match – officiated by Tyler Lafferty of Fort Simpson – during a training session for Northern Games and Dene Games on the Hay River Reserve. The training for would-be instructors, coaches and officials was presented by the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the NWT. Land rights Nearly half A plan critical to of NWT to save Indigenous housing Team autonomy: has issues: North columnist report Publication mail Contract #40012157 "There's different ways of communicating." 7 71605 00200 2 – Premier Caroline Cochrane on her decision to stay silent during a post-first ministers press conference, page 6. 2 NEWS/NORTH NWT, Monday, December 9, 2019 NEWS/NORTH NWT, Monday, December 9, 2019 3 Did we get it wrong? News/North is committed to getting facts and names right. With that goes a commitment to acknowledge mistakes and run corrections. If you spot an error in News/North, call (867) 873-4031 and ask to speak to an editor, or email editorial@ nnsl.com. We'll get a correction or clarification in as Our beautiful North soon as we can. Submit entries via Facebook messenger to our NNSL.com page each week by 4 p.m. Thursday and we'll post the con- testants each Friday on our Facebook page. They may also appear in this newspaper and other Northern News Services publications. The photo with the most votes at the end of the week's voting will receive $100. NEWS Briefs Santa's Elves still need help Inuvik Members of Santa's Elves Inuvik are asking the public to keep up the donations for their annual holiday hamper drive to ensure every- one has a happy Christmas. Last year, the Elves raised nearly $7,000 to help construct 134 hampers for 435 people. Residents can help out in a number of ways – they can donate money for the cause or they can adopt a family, actually putting the package together for the people in need. All donations are anonymous. Anyone who asks where their hamper came from will be told it was from Santa Claus. Anyone hoping to get involved should email the Elves at [email protected]. – Eric Bowling Beaufort Oil Barges under construction in China Beaufort Sea There may be a moratorium on oil and gas exploration in the Beaufort Delta, but that has not stopped the government of the Northwest Territories from commissioning four new oil/ deck cargo barges for hauling fossil fuels around the waters of the Beaufort Delta. The official steel cutting ceremony for the four ships was held in Jiangsu Jinling Shipyard WINNER: LLOYD CASTADA Co. Ltd. in Yizheng, China on Oct. 10. Con- Prosperous Lake struction of the barges is expected to take nine Aurora and stars at Prosperous Lake. months. Designed to be capable of carrying liquid petroleum as well as container cargo, the barges will be double hulled and will be able to carry 3,600 tonnes in the ocean and 1,200 tonnes when sitting in rivers 1.52 metres deep. Each barge will be able to carry up to three million litres of fuel and they are being con- structed for service in the Beaufort Delta. – Eric Bowling Simpson addresses council on college NWT On Nov. 26, Education, Culture and Employment Minister R.J. Simpson addressed the inaugural meeting of the Aurora College Transformation Academic Advisory Council. In October of 2018, the GNWT committed to transforming Aurora College into a polytechnic university. The council links Aurora College with eight post-secondary institutions: Wilfrid Laurier University, Ryerson University, University of Alberta, Southern Alberta Institute of Tech- nology, Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Ontario Tech Univer- sity and Yukon College. – Paul Bickford Dene Nation, DFO and Coast Guard sign deal Beaufort Sea The Dene Nation and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Canadian Coast Guard have signed a contribution agree- ment. It will provide funds to the Dene Nation to hire a fisheries co-ordinator to develop the Dene position on the new Arctic Region announced by DFO and the Canadian Coast Guard in 2018. "The recently-signed contribution agree- ment between Dene Nation and the Canadian Coast Guard is a step in the direction of finaliz- ing a memorandum of understanding (MOU)," stated Dene National Chief Norman Yakeleya in a Nov. 29 news release. ROSARIO BANDAY CHRIS ALEXANDER – Eric Bowling Cameron Falls Somba K'e/Yellowknife Cameron Falls blanketed by snow. Taken at the ice caves. 4 NEWS/NORTH NWT, Monday, December 9, 2019 news NEWS/NORTH NWT, Monday, December 9, 2019 5 Almost half of NWT homes have problems: report NNSL file photo A home in Paulatuk. A house is considered to have a problem if it has an "affordability, adequacy or suitability issue," according to a report on the state of the housing stock in the NWT. NWT Housing Corp. looking at serving as hardware store to smaller communities by Tim Edwards help with home repairs. programs have been making 4,000 households were hous- supplementing rent for 245 their communities, as well Northern News Services "Lots of times in the small a difference, despite the work ing programs over the past households, 626 instances of as helping families get out of NWT communities there's no hard- left to be done. four years," he said. emergency repair support, homelessness, major repair to A new NWT Bureau of Sta- ware store or a lack of avail- "The NWT Housing Cor- Those situations include 107 instances of helping sen- privately owned homes, and tistics report paints a worrying ability to get contractors to poration has assisted nearly building 100 new units, iors secure housing to age in supportive housing." picture of the state of housing do the work, so a lot of these across the NWT. repairs on the homes are just In 2019, 42.7 per cent (or not getting done," said Wil- 6,308) homes across the NWT liams. "So, one of the things had at least one housing prob- that we were looking at in lem, according to the report. the new year is increasing This ranged from 30 per cent programming in that area, in Sachs Harbour, at the bot- where we may get our local tom end, to 90 per cent in housing organization to serve Colville Lake at the top. as a hardware store in the "A house is considered to smaller communities to pro- have a housing problem if it vide material which could be has an affordability, adequacy purchased." or suitability issue," stated the One of the corporation's report. major programs to address An affordable house, housing issues across the according to the report's cri- territory right now is help- teria, is one in which less than ing communities create com- 30 per cent of the household munity housing plans, which income is spent on housing will serve to guide the Corp.'s costs. The measure of adequa- investments, government cy is whether it has running policy, as well as assisting water and does not require communities and individual major repairs. Suitability is investors. whether it has the enough and "Whati will be the first appropriate bedrooms for its one completed (in the coming occupants. weeks)," said Williams, "and In addition to managing that community was select- public housing across the ter- ed just because they had the ritory, the NWT Housing Cor- all-weather road going in and poration is tasked with pro- there's potential for growth viding housing assistance to in the community. The com- homeowners. NWT Housing munity, in the plan, will let Corp. president and CEO Tom us know what the immediate Williams said the agency is needs are and what are the still reviewing the data associ- longer term needs are, and ated with this report, and that every community has different these reports from the NWT needs and they have different Bureau of Statistics help it solutions to meet those need." guide its operations. Williams said there are 15 Williams said the hous- community housing plans in ing corporation only operates various degrees of completion "seven or eight" public hous- right now. ing units in Colville Lake, The community's priorities the community that faced the will be backed, in the plans, most issues in this report, and with data about the state of that most homes there are pri- housing in the community and vately owned. relevant government program- In this situation, the hous- ming. ing corporation may be able to Williams said Housing's 6 NEWS/NORTH NWT, Monday, December 9, 2019 news Northern issues a priority for premiers Premier Caroline Cochrane took part in her first Council of the Federation by Nick Pearce Cochrane attributed this to a falls emerging from those ailing New Brunswick, Manitoba, Sas- Northern News Services difference in styles. sectors. katchewan, and Alberta said the Toronto "There's different ways of Asked if she would pursue bill made resources development Fractious federal politics communicating," she said. similar efforts for the Northwest "virtually impossible" and would greeted the country's lone "Some people will use their Territories, the premier said "I be a huge economic burden. woman premier as she joined time, and some people will pick think it would be foolish for Cochrane said she needed her 12 counterparts for a meet- and choose when they speak any jurisdiction to turn away more time to study the bill.

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