Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
2 Tuesday September 29 2015 POLITICS TECHNOLOGY NEWS BRIEFS North Slave morel haul expected to garner 4-5 million The GNWT estimates the morel harvest in the North Slave and north of Fort Providence will fetch up to 5 million at market.The60-dayharvestseasonsawmorethan280000 poundsofmorelspickedintheregionaccordingtogovern- ment estimates. Harvest numbers for the rest of the South Slave and Dehcho regions are still being assessed. Many were sold on-site for up to 7 per pound dried morels cost about 170lb. Man arrested for murder attempted murder in Yellowknife A Yellowknife man was arrested for murder and attempted murder after turning himself into police on Sept. 28. Police responded to a disturbance at a home on Lanky Court in Yellowknifejustbefore1a.m.andfoundamanandwoman both critically injured. They were rushed to Stanton Terri- torial Hospital where the man was pronounced dead. The female was transported by medevac to an Alberta hospital. The suspect turned himself in later that morning. The in- vestigation is ongoing and charges are pending. Caribou herds still declining GNWT A survey taken this summer shows barren-ground cari- bou herds in Bluenose East Bluenose West Bathurst Cape Bathurst and Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula have dropped by as much as half since 2012 from 32000 to between 16000 and 22000.In 1986that gure was 470000. The GNWT continues to work collaboratively with all of its co-manage- mentpartnersoneffortstoconservebarren-groundcaribou herds said ENR Minister Michael Miltenberger. This in- cludes work to complete an inter-jurisdictional agreement withtheGovernmentofNunavuttocollaborateonresearch monitoring and management actions for shared herds. Fort Smith Health Social Services Authority STARTS ON OCTOBER 13 2015 From 1030 am noon daily at Community Counselling Services at the Fort Smith Health Centre THE ADULT MATRIX Outpatient Addictions Treatment Program This program is offered to accommodate those who wish to receive local support with addictions. It is open to anyone dealing with an addiction or wanting to maintain their sobriety. This FREE program is 10 weeks in length with daily 1.5 hour sessions and bi-weekly one-to-one sessions with a counsellor. CALL 867 872-6310 to book an intake appointment By CRAIG GILBERT A cadre of Yellowknifers council candidates among them is drawing attention with a new piece of software called IserveU. Apowerfulnewtoolforpub- lic engagement the future of democracy or the fast-lane to its erosion are all possibilities for the software designed to crowd-sourceopiniononmu- nicipal issues in the capital depending on who you ask. With IserveU registered Yellowknife voters can sign up and take part in instant polls on municipal issues. Councillors who have signed on agree to vote according to the poll result if there is a clear majority and enough people have chimed in for the vote to be relevant. We use it as an engagement tool Dane Mason a council candidate who has worked on the project since its incep- tion. Its a way to get more varied opinions. We still have the chance to say this is how we are going to vote. Two other council candi- dates Rommel Silvario and Marie-Soleil Lacoursiere have signed on. What is IserveU Depends on which Yellowknifer you ask What theyre trying to do is talk to every candidate Silvario said. Its not for a few its for everyone who wants to join. Mason said there are 1400 people signed up and they are in the process of verifying addresses - you have to be a Yellowknife citizen eligible to vote in the city to join. More than 700 have been veried so far. He said the IserveU volunteers and employees have been getting a positive response from 70 to 80 per cent of the people they meet out on the hustings. One of those people is stu- dent Jaimee Imrie who said people her age have been disenfranchised by the po- litical process. I think that IserveU is almost like the wave of the future she said via Facebook messenger. Our current voting system is antiquated and not usually representative of the popula- tions the politicians serve at least with this system there is a modicum of account- ability that is backed up by actual data she wrote. Its really only a matter of time before democracy becomes e-democracy. She admitted she is good friendswithIServeUfounder Paige Saunders. Everyone is connected in some way Yellowknife is a small place. Thats why I think this has the potential to be successful. The movement has also drawn criticism. Yellow- knife Mayor Mike Heyck told the Journal last week he wonders what the upstart programmers are trying to fix exactly. While I think its an in- teresting concept I would One of the founders of IserveU Dane Mason is running for Yellowknife city council on Oct. 19. PhotocourtesyofDaneMason say to a considerable de- gree and probably more so than ever over the past three years weve really reached out to the community in a number of avenues to gauge opinion get feedback and to have real face-to-face conversations with people about whats important to them and where they think the city should be going he said. Ive seen many times where an issue will come before council and each and every councillor and myself as mayor will reach out to residents either in person or already online through social media to gauge pub- lic opinion on an issue but decision-making at the local government level is more than simply public opinion theres research and analysis council has to do. Incumbent councillor Re- becca Alty was one of just two incumbents running for reelection who responded to an email from the Journal last week. She did not di- rectly answer a question on whether she would commit to respecting the will of the IserveU community. I think it can be used as a tool in decision-mak- ing but it shouldnt be the one and only tool to make a decision she wrote in an email. Sometimes you need to stand up for a minority group and with this sys- tem majority always rules. Edmonton recently passed a by-law where all of their future municipal buildings will include gender-neutral bathrooms. If this was voted on under IserveU and the majority voted against it as a councillor I would like the opportunity to still look into this issue further. Her colleague Neils Konge was more direct like most of council both are seeking reelection expressing con- cern the system would not work because not enough people would take the time to become properly informed. Would he sign on as a councillor and respect the virtual poll NO. According to Inuvik na- tive Dr. Stephanie Irl- bacher-Fox adjunct profes- sor at Carleton Universitys School of Public Policy and Administration the IserveU system is being developed in a jurisdiction with voter turnout rates well above the national average 49 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot in the last Yellow- knife municipal election in the last territorial vote 55 per cent. The problem clearly is not so much accessibility of our representatives or avail- ability of electronic voting opportunities she wrote on the Northern Public Af- fairs blog on Sept. 22. It is more likely apathy or per- haps lack of interest in par- ticipating in civil society or unwillingness to take up the responsibilities of citizen- ship such as volunteering and voting. Can IServeU rescue us from our own apathy I sin- cerely hope that at the very least IServeU will motivate greater political connected- ness at least a virtual con- nectedness not just be- tween voters and represen- tatives but between citizens. Because if it doesnt do that I fear it will render our de- mocracy even weaker than it is now. - with files from Dali Carmichael Everyone is connected in some way Yellowknife is a small place. Thats why I think this has the potential to be successful. Yellowknifer Jaimee Imrie