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4 Wednesday November 11 2015 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 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. EDITORIAL LETTER TO THE EDITOR 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. 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. The Northern Journal acknowledges the nancial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund CPF for our publishing activities. The too-high cost of war Lt.GenretdRomeoDallaireledtheUnited Nations Peacekeeping force in Rwanda dur- ing the genocide of 1993. He attempted sui- cide four times before seeking help for the mental injury he suffered there. Dallaire the former Liberal senator who once chaired the Senate subcommittee on Veterans Affairs briefed Prime Minister- designate Justin Trudeau on the portfolio before the election according to the Globe and Mail. The same newspaper recently published an exhaustive investigative piece that uncov- ered at least 54 soldiers had died by suicide either during or after serving in Afghanistan. Days later the military updated that gure to at least 59 with the caveat that since deaths by suicide among reservists are not tracked by the military or the Department of Veter- ans Affairs the real number is almost surely higher. A total of 158 Canadian soldiers died in-mission during the conict in Afghanistan. With another Remembrance Day upon us the storys headline The Unremembered cuts to the quick pointing to the invisible but not unknown enemy quietly inating the already too-high cost of war. Stigma associated with the ravages of post- traumatic stress disorder or PTSD is slowly falling away as the efforts of people like Lt.- Gen Dallaire and organizations like the Tema Conter Memorial Trust and its ivegotyour- backsocialmediacampaignforrstresponder mental health gain traction. The 158 number was a scandalously er- roneous number Dallaire told the Globe. There was absolutely nothing said about the horrible sacrices and cost to the families of those who kill themselves after the mission due to the injury of the mission. Based in Ontario the Tema Conter Trust offers scholarships to students taking rst- responder training across the country in- cluding those at the Royal Military College and draws attention to the suicide epidemic in the emergency services. According to the group 19 military personnel died by suicide in 2014. Between Apr. 27 and Dec. 31 27 rst responders died the same way. Another 18 rst responders and ve military members died by suicide in the rst half of 2015. The Royal Canadian Legion too has called The borders of their homeland are not being challenged their minds are not theatres of war and no number of mental inju- ries amongst our veterans can be deemed an acceptable loss. for a renewed commitment to veterans in a pre-election position paper posted online ti- tled Veterans Matter which calls on the fed- eral government to include the Veterans Bill of Rights in a new Veterans Charter and in turn for that to be enshrined in the Pension Act. The Legion includes RCMP and other peace ofcers in its denition of veteran. Interestingly the Legions paper mentions mental health and PTSD precisely zero times focusing for the most part on reducing red tape for the veterans and their families who are trying to access nancial and medi- cal benets. A study led with the Library of Parliament however paints a grim statistical picture for post-service military personnel. With respect to veterans the percent- age of deaths attributable to suicide is 45 per cent higher than for the general popula- tion and currently serving members Jean- Rodrigue Par wrote in 2011. He found 23.6 per cent of all military personnel released between 1998 and 2007 reported an opera- tional stress injury as dened by the federal government including PTSD depression anxiety mania dysthymia and bipolar dis- order. For veterans who applied for disability benets after 2006 when the new Veterans Charter came into effect that gure jumps to six in 10. Three-quarters of veterans tak- ing part in VAC rehabilitation programs fol- lowing a release for medical reasons suffer from a mental health disorder. More than a quarter of the deaths were sui- cide out of 2620 male soldiers who enrolled in the regular force after 1972 and were re- leased before the end of 2007. Among women the gure was 14 per cent or 29 of 204. The problem is not going away. Between 2011 and 2016 25000 to 35000 more Ca- nadian soldiers were expected to be released from service as many as 10000 for medical reasons and at least 5900 of them suffering from a mental health disorder. At least 2750 will suffer from a severe form of PTSD which can result in intrusive upsetting memories of an event or events ashbacks nightmares irritability hypervigilance depression and suicidal ideation. The borders of their homeland are not being challenged their minds are not theatres of war and no number of mental injuries among our veterans can be deemed an acceptable loss. This is a national crisis that deserves the attention of Prime Minister Trudeau and his newly minted cabinet including at the very least Veterans Affairs Minister and Calgary Centre MP Kent Hehr and Minister of Health Jane Philpott. In the minds of our leaders Remembrance Day should be every day. Editor Finally A candidate taking a truly vision- ary - and gutsy - stand on how the NWT is governed I applaud Yellowknife Centre challenger Julie Greens call for a broad and public re- view of our consensus system of govern- ment as she told the Dene Nahjo forum last Thursday. She is right on in her assessment that regular MLAs her opponent included rarely get it together enough to truly hold the cabinet to account and to use their major- ity weight to balance cabinets increasingly remote and executive style. I saw this during my term as Great Slave MLA from 1999 to 2007 and it has become even more so. Bob McLeod is also correct in saying that from one consensus assembly to the next their job is at least in part carrying forward good ideas. The Dehcho Bridge and achieving devolution are examples of multi-assembly work toward an end. But a huge and funda- mental ingredient of democracy has been missing over the past decades the voice of the people. Consensus politics only gives us the choice of who we want to govern. It de- nies us the choice at the voting booth to say what it is we want them to do. That is what party-style government would bring to the NWT. And for all its aws it would be worth it. Bill Braden Yellowknife Candidate took gutsy stand on consensus former MLA Police are investigating after not one but two vehicles were stolen from the airport park- ing lot in Norman Wells Nov. 6. Both were left unlocked with keys inside the vehicle. One vehicle was recovered undamaged. The other vehicle was located at the scene of a crash and sustained extensive damage. Norman Wells RCMP would like to remind people that vehicles that will be parked and left unattended should be locked and secured. This in- vestigation is continuing. CORRECTION In the Nov. 4 issue a news brief on page 2 Inmate medevaced from Fort Smith cor- rections dies incorrectly reported that the deceased inmate was being held in the River RidgeCorrectionalFacilitywhenhewaspicked up by emergency medical services. In fact he went into distress at the RCMP cell block in Fort Smith. The Journal regrets the error. PhotocourtesyofRCMP