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2014THEYEARINREVIEWOCTOBER7OCTOBER21OCTOBER14OCTOBER28NWTtrappersgladtoseeRCMPkeepingfurhatsWhentheRCMPtellstheHumaneSocietyinAugusttheywillbephasingouttra-ditionalfurMountiehatsthiswinterfederalminis-tersquicklyspeakoutandofciallyreversethedecision.YklandlordsjoinforcestoghthomelessnessTheYellowknifeCoalitionAgainstHomelessnesshostsitsrstlandlordsroundtable.Numeroushousingauthori-tiesgathertolearnaboutvari-ousavailableresourcesforimprovinghousingsecurity.GameticelebratesnewmultipurposefacilityPeopleofGametitourtheirnewmultipurposefacilitywhichhousesclassroomsforavarietyoftradesandcomputer-basededucationalprograms.Thefacilityispartofave-yearstrategyimplementedtoim-provelocallivingconditions.FireMarshalquestionssafetyofHayRiverhighriseHayRiverresidentslivinginthecommunityscrumblingMackenziePlacehighrisere-ceivewarningfromtheNWTFireMarshalwhothreatenstoclosethebuildingoverseveralseveresafetyissues.FortSmithcutsribbononrenovatedhealthcentreThepeopleofFortSmithcelebratethecompletionofyearsofrenovationsontheirupgradedhealthcarecentrewitharibboncuttingandopenhouse.TuesdayJanuary13201513HappyNEWYEARHappyNewYearWishingyouasafeandhappy2015Wishingyouasafeandhappy2015SmithsLandingFirstNationP.O.Box1470FortSmithX0E0P0867-872-4950GroundbreakingstudymakesrstlinksbetweenoilsandsandcancerinFortChipewyanByMEAGANWOHLBERGForoveradecaderesidentsofFortChipewyanhavebeencryingoutforsome-thingtobedoneaboutwhattheybelievetobetheclearconnectionbetweentheriseofrarecancersintheirtinynorthernAlbertacommu-nityandthemassiveoiloperationsupstream.Thoughmanyscienticstudieshavecon-cludedwithcertaintythatpollutionfromtheoilsandsindustrynorthofFortMcMurrayismakingitswaythroughtheairandwaterwellbeyondwhatwasinitiallyclaimedtheextenttowhichthatcontaminationhasbecomeanissueofhumanhealthhasneverbeenstronglydrawn.OratleastthatwasthecaseuntillastyearwhenresearchersfromtheUniversityofManitobaworkinginconjunctionwithlocalFirstNationspublishedtherststudyofitskinddrawingconclusivelinksbetweentheoccurrenceofcancerinFortChipewyanandtheoilsandsindustry.Thestudycoupledscienticdataonthecon-centrationsofoilsands-linkedcontaminantsinwildfoodswithinformationprovidedbyresidentsonexposuretosuchcontaminantswhetherthroughworkingdirectlyfortheoil-sandsindustryorbyconsumingcountryfoodsmanyofwhichshowelevatedlevelsofheavymetalsandPAHs-cancer-linkedhydrocar-bonsproducedinthecombustionofpetrol.Therststageofthestudywasreleasedearlierintheyearfocusedentirelyonresultsfromthewildfoodsampling.Thendingsshowedelevatedlevelsofheavymetalslikemercurycadmiumandarsenicmostpromi-nentlyinwaterfowlandorganmeat.Carcino-genicPAHswerealsofoundtobepresentinconcentrationshigherthanfoundinstudiesdoneinindustrialurbanizedareasofChinaandSpainpositioningthedailyhumanin-takeofPAHsinFortChipewyanthreetimesabovetherunner-upcommunity.Thosendingswerebackedbyseparatestud-ies-andsubsequentstop-consumptionwarn-ingsfromtheAlbertagovernment-showingelevatedmercurylevelsinwildbirdeggsintheFortChipewyanareawherepeoplearealreadylimitedintheamountofshtheycanconsume.ButitwasthesecondstageofthestudyreleasedinJulythatmadethedirectcon-nectiontoimpactsonhumanhealth.Thereportnotedapositivecorrelationbetweenconsumptionofcontaminatedtraditionalfoodsemploymentintheoilsandsandthegrowingcancercrisisinthecommunity.Ofthe94individualsinterviewedforthehealthportionofthestudy2021.3percenthadexperiencedcancerincludingcholangiocarcinomaararebileductcancer.Thoughtherareformofcanceristypicallyfoundinoneofevery200000to300000peopleithasbeendiagnosedinfourindi-vidualsinthe1200-personcommunityinrecentyears.ThestudyspelledvindicationfortheAborigi-nalcommunitywhichhasspentyearsstrug-glingtoconvincetheprovincialgovernmenttoactonissuesofhealthandtheenvironment.DespiteyearsoftalksAlbertaHealthhasyettolaunchacomprehensivehealthstudyincommunitiesdownstreamfromtheoilsands.ThendingscamefollowingacontentiousreportreleasedbyAlbertaHealthtothemediainMarchbeforebeingpresentedtothecommu-nity.ThereportwhichfoundFortChipewyantobemostlyonparforcancerrateswiththerestoftheprovincenotedthatahigher-than-averagefrequencyofcervicallungandbileductcancerarecauseforconcern.Thereportignoredpossiblelinkstoin-dustryoutliningriskfactorssuchasHPVsmokingandotherlifestylefactorscontrib-utingtochronichealthproblemsaspossiblecausesthatcouldbeprevented.BoththeFirstNationsandtheUniversityofManitobareportrecommendstheAlbertagovernmentworkwiththelocalcommunitytoconductaholistichealthstudythattakesintoaccountthepossibleenvironmentalim-pactsonwellness.AlbertaHealthhasyettoagreetothere-questsbutitisunlikelythatdemandsfromthecommunityformorehealthresearchwillceaseinthenearfutureasmorefamiliescon-tinuetobeimpactedbycancer.Regardlessofwhetherornotthegovern-mentchoosestoparticipateoneoutcomeofthestudyiscertainthecommunityhasshownitismorethancapableofgettingre-searchquestionssurroundinghealthandtheenvironmentansweredbyitself.ThestudyspelledvindicationfortheAboriginalcommu-nitywhichhasspentyearsstrugglingtoconvincetheprovincialgovernmenttoactonissuesofhealthandtheenvironment.ThedrivingforcebehindtheListenUpcreativeartsexperiencetaketheirprojectnorthwiththeJuno-awardwinninggroupGryphonTriobringingtheirexpertisetoclassroomsaroundtheterritory.COMPOSERSWORKWITHYOUTHCAPTURINGVOICESOFTHENWTPhotoBillBraden