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4 Tuesday June 9 2015 The Northern Journal is an independent newspaper covering news and events in the western Arctic and northern Alberta. 2013 CCNA BLUE RIBBON CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2013 C M C A AUDITED The Northern Journal is published weekly by Cascade Publishing Ltd. Printed at Star Press Inc. Wainwright AB. Publisher................................................................................. Don Jaque 867-872-3000 ext.21 donnorj.ca Editor.........................................................................Meagan Wohlberg 867-872-3000 ext.24 newsnorj.ca Reporter....................................................................... Dali Carmichael 867-872-3000 ext.25 reporternorj.ca Comptroller ..................................................... Dixie Penner 867-872-3000 ext.23 dixnorj.ca Advertising.............................. Heather Foubert Hay River 867-874-4106 adsnorj.ca Administration............................................Jeremy Turcotte 867-872-3000 ext.26 adminnorj.ca Production Manager ......................................Sandra Jaque 867-872-3000 ext.22 sandranorj.ca Graphics........................................................Paul Bannister 867-872-3000 ext.27 graphicsnorj.ca Letters to the Editor Policy The Northern Journal welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and include a phone number so the author can be veried. Names will be withheld on request in special circumstances where the reasons are determined to be valid. The Journal reserves the right to edit letters for length libel clarity and taste. Opinions expressed in letters and columns are not necessarily those of the publisher or editor. Advertising Deadlines Display ad deadline is Thursday at 400 p.m. Classied ad deadline is Thursday at 500 p.m. Email adsnorj.ca Subscription Rates Prices include GST. 47.25 in Fort Smith 52.50 elsewhere in Canada 105 in the USA overseas 164.30. EDITORIAL LETTER TO THE EDITOR Editor I spent some time thinking about the TRC and the residential school experience. While I was only a short-timer in residential school en route to time spent in foster care and then adoptionintotheDahlfamilyIcanonlywonder what my birth mother Mandy King nee Per- raultoftheWaubaskangFirstNation-daughter of Robert Perrault who served in the 141st Div of the Canadian army in 1918 must have felt having almost all of her children taken from her because someone within the government system felt she wasnt a capable mother. In all she had 13 children - eight of which I neverknewbutheardaboutovertheyearsand almostallofusandasIunderstanditweretaken fromheratvarioustimestobesenttoresidential schoolsinFortFrancesKenoraandelsewhere in northern Ontario and Manitoba. We were separated from each other at a young age and endured hardships of different kinds through theyearsbecausesomeofuswereprocessed differently. I ended up one of the lucky ones as one person who didnt really know me de- scribedmewithinthefostersystematayoung age312afterspendingarelativelyshorttime in Fort Frances yet I still had hardships of my own trying to adapt to my circumstances and ttinginwithbothanon-nativefamilyandcir- cle of friends as well as a non-receptive native social group. I was an outsider many times and in many instances still am. So now that the TRC has concluded Im left wonderingifanythingwillchangeforthebetter. Im left hoping that eventually those of us who enduredwhatwedidwillbewelcomedintothe families and communities we were torn from becauseofcircumstancesnotofourowndoing or whether or not we will always have to ght for a place at the dinner table so to speak. Ive sometimes been criticized for my lack of lan- guage skills land skills or cultural participa- tion but there are still lots of things I pass on to my children like how to cope with racism blatant or not and how to fend for yourself in an unsympathetic society that values money over cultural and linguistic wealth. Yet I en- dure. Yet I survive. Yet I will prosper. I am hopeful we can become stronger com- munitiesandfamiliesbecauseoftheseparations and the need to embrace each other in the face ofchangingtimesinthiscountry.Iamhopeful we can use the hardships we endured the rac- ism the abuse - even from our own people and familymembers-andtheostracizationtoteach ourgrandchildrenlessonsinlifenooneelsecan so that we can become stronger nations within our own lands. My grandfather great-uncle father and uncle served this country at a time when they didnt have the ability to leave their reserves without permission because they be- lieved that Canada was capable of great things whichIknowinmyheartitis.Iamhopefulthat weasFirstNationscanmoveforwardfromall thehurtsandpainsandbecomeasgreatasthey wantedustobe.IhopeintheireyesIhavelived a good enough life to be welcomed with open arms when it comes time for me to meet the ancestors.ItisthenthatIwilltrulyunderstand the tears of my mother and shake the hands of my grandfather with a deeper sense of pride foreverythingtheysacriced-willinglyornot. Roy Dahl Yellowknife Residential schools An unwilling sacrice The time of Senate reckoning is at hand The stench emanating from the Senate is unbearable. As if the sense of entitlement and extravagance fueled by taxpayer money were not bad enough it is obvious from the Mike Duffy court case and the way the Senate handles legislation that it is at best a pawn of the ruling Conservatives. Good work may be done by Senate commit- tees and there are undoubtedly well-inten- tioned diligent Senators who carry out their dutiesinawayrespectfultoCanadiancitizens but they are not the majority and unfortu- nately that type of thinking is not at all what dominates the role and purpose of the Senate. A Senate as we know it has no place in a modern democratic country. The sooner Can- ada is rid of it the better. That would have helped make it transparent and accountable ending the entitlement and extravagant ways of its members. The greatest champion of an evolved and improved Senate was Stephen Harper - before he became prime minister that is. When Harper was a young idealistic poli- tician he was opposed to the way the Senate worked and wanted to change it. He led the driveforanelectedsenatewhichhadthemost support in Alberta. When he became the op- position leader he was even more frustrated by the way the ruling Liberals were able to use the Senate to their own ends. Changing and adapting the Senate so it was accountable to the people by electing the Senators made sense. That was a way to make Canadas bicameral or two-house system of government into a workable truly democratic system. Most Canadians liked his plan to re- form the Senate. Unfortunately when Harper gained power he set aside his ideals. His zeal to stack the Senate with partisan appointees outpaced even his Liberal predecessors. The Senate as it is now is not accountable and has no oversight to ensure things are done right. In addition to the ever-present graft being revealed to Canadians in the series of ongoing trials of Senators it is obvious the Senate has become a fop manipulated by the ruling party in Parliament. It has no purpose other than to do its masters bidding. Unfor- tunately that master in the very authoritarian style of government running Canada today is the Prime Ministers Ofce PMO. Those directing the Senate are too often PMO staffers working in the background. The prime minister may ultimately hold sway but he is also very busy doing other things. The whole point of having two houses of government is that they counter-balance each other. If one is being completely controlled by theotherthatisclearlyproblematic.Ifasisthe casenowoneiscontrolledbyunelectedunac- countable bureaucrats that is a terrible thing. Having two independent houses of govern- ment that each provide checks and balances to theotherisanexcellentstructureforagovern- ment. The Senate should become elected and accountable to make that system work. That no longer appears feasible. The only other op- tion is to get rid of it but that would require revamping our entire system of government which would be no small feat. Canada is in a conundrum. Inthemeantimehavingunelectedadminis- trators with their own partisan agenda wield- ing so much power and having so much sway over the goals objectives and agenda of our government while at the same time control- ling the Senate is very dangerous. TheCanadianSenateiscopieddirectlyfrom the one in Great Britain which is a remnant of the past when monarchs ruled and hereditary bloodlines were all-important. The authority of the Crown was manifest through the aris- tocracy. Honours titles and wealth were be- stowed on the favoured few while the people were chattel considered the property of what- ever nobleman whose land they were born on. All that changed with the concept of a dem- ocratically-elected government run by repre- sentatives of a majority of ordinary citizens. During the formulation of that new type of government the power of elected represen- tatives of the people in Parliament was offset by the Senate which was populated by lords and noblemen. Rather than an institution of sober second thought it was meant to be a stop-gap a nal refuge for the rapidly wan- ing power of the nobility put in place to con- trol the peoples government. As such it had nal say on all legislation and where neces- sary could even deny it. The Senate is the last vestige of the monar- chical system and is anti-democratic. That is reason enough to get rid of it. TherewasatimewhentheCanadianSenate could have been salvaged evolved so that it too was elected and represented the people. A Senate as we know it has no place in a modern democratic country. The sooner Canada is rid of it the better. PhotoJeffTurnerAuroraCollege Aurora College president Jane Arychuk presents the Mens Open trophy to Brad Tuckey at the close of the 17th annual Aurora Open Golf Tournament held in Fort Smith over the weekend. Other winners were Bob McArthur Senior Men Curt Snook Super Senior Men Barb McArthur Ladies Open Joan Bevington Senior Ladies and Dalton Beamish Juniors. Just over 50 golfers enjoyed the two days of competition. All proceeds raised at the event go towards the fth annual NWT Youth Symposium on at Aurora Colleges Thebacha Campus this week.