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4 Wednesday February 17 2016 The Northern Journal is an independent newspaper covering news and events in the western Arctic and northern Alberta. 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...................................................................................... Craig Gilbert 867-872-3000 ext.24 newsnorj.ca Reporter........................................................................ Dali Carmichael 867-872-3000 ext.25 reporternorj.ca Comptroller........................................................Jessica Dell 867-872-3000 ext.20 webnorj.ca Advertising............................................................................ 867-872-3000 ext.26 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 verified. 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. EDITORIAL LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR 2013 CCNA BLUE RIBBON CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2013 C M C A AUDITED Advertising Deadlines Display ad deadline is Thursday at 400 p.m. Classified 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. The Northern Journal acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund CPF for our publishing activities. ISSN No. 0707-4964 DIAND is badly broken and must be fixed In some of those cases the local water has been unfit to drink for years even decades. This reeks of incompetent administration. The hubbub has died down following the shocking ruling by the Human Rights Tribu- nal in late January that the Canadian gov- ernment discriminates against First Nation children on reserves failing to provide the same level of child welfare services that other kids in the country receive. The injustice has been revealed but what is the root cause and will anything meaningful be done Indeed that revelation emphasizes a far deeper and more serious malaise within the federalgovernmentthatmustberecognizedand dealtwith.Entrencheddiscriminationagainst First Nation children on reserves is but one of manysimilarproblemsstemmingfromacom- binationofineptitudeandordeep-seatedcolo- nialism within the department of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development DIAND. Canadians assume DIAND looks after or sees to the needs of Canadas indigenous citizens. That is obviously not the case. There are more than 130 drinking-water advisories in 87 First Nation communities across the country not including British Co- lumbia or the three territories. That alone is a categorical denunciation of the departments work. In some of those cases the local water long-term solutions which takes will and ef- fort. There are other deep-rooted issues like the tragedy of murdered and missing indig- enous women or health issues downstream of industry - ongoing in Fort McKay and Fort Chipewyan and common across the country. Those require complex systemic fixes. The capability is there but not the results. There are roughly 5000 DIAND employees. Theytakehomeexcellentwagesinalmostevery casemuchmorethanthatearnedby90percent of the indigenous Canadians they purport to serve yet they consistently fail. It is shameful. The DIAND mandate is Working together to make Canada a better place for Aborigi- nal and northern people and communities. Why is it not being carried out DIANDs stated mission on behalf of all indigenous Canadians is to Improve social well-being and economic prosperity Develop healthier more sustainable com- munities and Participate more fully in Canadas political social and economic development. Too often in each of those three objectives the opposite is true. CarolynBennettthenewDIANDministera TorontoMPservedasministerofstateforPub- licHealthunderformerLiberalprimeminister Paul Martin. She knows full well the troubling lotofindigenousCanadiansandmustbeaware howineptlyDIANDhasdealtwiththatovertime. She needs to make wholesale changes. The Liberal election promise to invoke an inquiryintomissingandmurderedindigenous women is Bennetts priority. She is engaging with family members of victims across the country plus indigenous leaders at all levels to seek their views on the scope and design of the inquiry. It is certain be a long difficult heart-wrenching process. That terrible situation is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many more very serious issues facing indigenous Canadians Bennett must address. Her challenge is onerous. Un- fortunately DIAND is broken and since it is essential in the execution of any solution the Herculean requirement of reconstituting it must also be at the top of her list. Her department is what she has to work with and she needs to make it work. Thetackshemusttakeisoppositetothecar- ing careful approach required in dealing with the tragedies of murdered and missing indig- enouswomen.Theentrenchedculturemustbe eliminatedandthatwilltakedrasticmeasures. Tofixherdepartmentshemustgrababroad axe and wade in swinging. The depth of fail- ure at DIAND is so extensive that heads must roll and imperatives with deadlines must be issued. It is time her department became ef- fective and did its job. It is time indigenous Canadians received the due diligence from their department that they deserve. Dear editor Since 2012 the prestigious Arctic Inspira- tion Prize AIP has been rewarding North- erners for their immense accomplishments in advancing real-world solutions for the peoples of the North. Those achievements will be celebrated once more this week with a special reception hon- ouring the growing collection of prize recip- ients from the Northwest Territories at the Great Hall of the Legislative Assembly on Feb. 17 from 730 to 930 p.m. IthasbeenanhonourtobepartoftheArctic Inspiration Prize Selection Committee over the past four years. We are very pleased to have an opportunity to showcase the NWT recipients of the prize here at home and to share some information about the future of the prize with the people of the NWT. I hope to see many future applicants and recipients at the reception. Arctic Inspiration Prize founder Arnold Witzig will be in attendance along with Prize Trustee Candice Lys and NWT recipients FOXY Fostering Open eXpression among Youth the NWT Recreation and Parks As- sociation and Thaidene Nene to showcase the significance of the prizes impacts. Stephen Ellis Thaidene Nene negotiator has said the prize awarded to the Thaidene Nene Initiative allowed for great national and international exposure for the excellent work led by the Lutsel Ke Dene First Nation in exploring what it means to be contempo- rary Indigenous caretakers of the land. This is an important demonstration of the posi- tive impacts of the prize even beyond the financial benefit for recipient organizations. Though prize winners are recognized on the national stage at the annual awards cer- emony in Ottawa this celebration allows us the chance to acknowledge their achieve- ments at home as well. Kyla Kakfwi-Scott 2015 Arctic Inspiration Prize Selection Committee Chair Celebrating Arctic inspiration in Yellowknifehasbeenunfittodrinkforyearsevendecades. This reeks of incompetent administration. Poverty and shameful housing conditions arealltoocommononreservesafactrevealed repeatedlyyearafteryear.Itisonlyamatterof timebeforeonceagainpicturesofblackmould on the walls of a hovel that is federal govern- ment reserve housing are splashed across media reports as some investigative reporter exposes yet another First Nation housing cri- sis. How can this be happening in Canada How can it happen routinely for decades and never get fixed when so much money people and resources are dedicated to it Drilldownalittlefurtherandtherearecon- troversies over joblessness poor graduation rates from high schools the lack of adequate firefightingtrainingandresourcesonreserves and so on. The list seems never-ending. Things like water treatment and enhancing local firefighting departments are basic issues thathavereadysolutions.Canadiansgotocoun- triesaroundtheworldtofosterserviceslikethose forothercultures.Whydontwedosoathome Some of the challenges such as culturally relevant education require more adaptive High school students at Lutsel Ke Dene School including Jonah Deranger set and check rabbit snares a couple of times a week giving them the chance to walk through the woods learn about how to identify animal tracks and where the ideal places to set snares are. They havent caught anything yet but they are hopeful PhotocourtesyofSSDEC