Letters
Plan would have saved no lives at Kangiqusalujjuaq
I am writing in my capacity as the head of the department of medicine at the Ungava Tulattavik Health Centre in response to the comments attributed to Mr. Patrice Guyard in an article that appeared in the Nunatsiaq News on May 7, 1999.
The avalanche that tore through the Sattumavik School in Kangiqsualujjuaq on January 1 had many painful lessons to teach with regard to emergency preparedness in Nunavik. Mr. Guyard carries on at length about how he believes these lessons should be applied. Although many of us at Tulattavik think that several of his specific recommendations are born of a debilitating naivete regarding the realities of the north, one of his remarks left me wondering just how carefully he was listening to the information presented at the coroner's inquest.
Mr. Guyard was reported to have said that "...more lives might have been saved and much suffering avoided on January 1 if emergency plans had been in place to help health workers react."
This kind of absurd sensationalism serves no other purpose except perhaps to prey on the minds of the people of Kangiqsualujjuaq. If this incident had occurred at the base of Mount Royal in the heart of Montreal, it is highly unlikely that the medical outcomes would have been substantially different.
No emergency plan, not even one designed by Mr. Guyard himself, would have saved a single life in Kangiqsualujjuaq on January 1. To pretend otherwise does a disservice both to the people of Kangiqsualujjuaq and to the health care workers, all of whom did outstanding work in an extremely difficult situation.
There is much room for improvement in our handling of major emergencies in Nunavik. The development and implementation of a new plan to cope with disasters promises to make Nunavik a safer place to live in the future.
Carl Bromwich, M.D.
Kuujjuaq
Respect for the animals you hunt
I read a very interesting article about caribou migration and hunters' philosophy. ("Nunavik transports southern hunters to shoot caribou," Nunatsiaq News, August 20).
I concur with the opinion expressed in article about the lack of respect for animals. My father, who died suddenly at the age of 48 in 1985, always drummed into me the proper respect to be given when taking animals for food.
I want to hunt caribou with that philosophy in your part of the world.Would you provide me with the names of hunting guides in your area? I have travelled into the Dakotas each year for the past six years for bird hunting with my dogs, but I'm turning 40 years old next year, and I want to experience the Far North.
Your help would be appreciated.
Mike Powell
1199 Oxford Road,
NE Atlanta, GA 30306,
USA
404-812-4052
Theater of the absurd
Your story "No Pot Luck For Rankin Inlet Man" (8/13/99) raised a couple of troubling questions.
When are we going to hand over responsibility for such matters to the native communities? When are we going to end this senseless squandering of police resources?
In 1997, (R. v Clay), Ontario Justice John McCart ruled, "Cannabis is not an addictive substance; does not cause a motivational syndrome; and health related costs of cannabis use are negligible when compared to the costs attributable to tobacco and alcohol consumption." His findings were confirmed by B.C. Justice F.E. Howard in a similar case in 1998.
Sgt. Mark Henniker may one day discover he has been unwittingly playing a lead role in a scenario fit only for a Theater of the Absurd.
Pat Dolan
Vancouver B.C.
Hard time for sex offenders?
It is about time that a sexual predator is finally looked upon as a dangerous offender. We always see cases were a molester, pedophile, or sexual offender gets a lenient sentence. Once sentenced, they just serve time and are out again without much rehabilitation.
In the rest of Canada, when sexual offenders are about to be released and located into a community, the community is informed that a dangerous criminal will start to live within their community. It should be the same here, because we live in Canada and because of the law of precedent.
The law of precedent states that if a court of law has made a ruling on a similar case, then that precedent should become law. It should not matter if that similar case was set in a different jurisdiction.
There was talk earlier that the territorial court was considering a case from a different jurisdiction that was similar. They really should follow that precedent.
In our criminal court system, there really is a need for consistency and predictability for cases of that nature. If a person is charged with something as atrocious as a sexual assault, we as a society should expect that the person will be incarcerated for a long time.
We as a society should feel safe from those predators, and no one else needs to be assaulted sexually. That is if the territorial court sets a precedent and sexual offenders start to serve the time for their wrongdoing.
Otherwise, more criminals of that nature will continue to prey on children, women, and the mentally challenged. It is bad enough that there are many people, too many for that matter, who never get reported to the authorities even if they had committed a sexual assault.
Let's start here and start to try and protect those poor souls that get repeatedly assaulted, and those that have been assaulted or those that will get assaulted.
If those victims start to see that assailants will serve time for their criminal actions, maybe they could report those bastards to the authorities and see that justice is on their side.
Taima,
Peter Piugaatuk
Igloolik
A message for Inuit residential school survivors
Inuit survivors action group
From Survivors Tasiuqtiit
OTTAWA — This is an important time for the Inuit survivors of residential schools, especially for those who resided at Turquetil Hall and for those who attended Sir Joseph Bernier Federal Day School in Chesterfield Inlet during the period of 1950 to 1970.
We have been through so much since we were first taken from our loved ones and from those who would have protected us against the abuse we experienced at the hands of the residential school authorities. The guardians of the residential schools who were supposed to look after us did more than what they were supposed to do — they took a part of our childhood and our innocence for their own intentions, which deeply affected our life.
Now is the time for us to take back our lives by forming a group to formally complete the process of healing. Within each region and the communities, we need to organize — something that is hard to do considering the nature of the issues and due to the distances made more complex by the lack of resources. However, we have survived one of the worst kinds of treatment that can befall upon children. We have succeeded against the conditionings and now we are coming out with our experiences of what happened at the residential schools. Despite the odds against us, we are succeeding and we can achieve more by working together. We were abused in isolation as children; we need to get rid of that isolation which was imposed upon us; we need to do things together. We need to achieve justice by working together.
Specific mandate required
Our disclosures of what happened at the residential school are an important part of our healing process. In order to complete the overall healing process, some of us, if not all of us need to seek justice through compensation. Moreover, to have representatives in the discussion with the authorities, it would be better if we select those who will represent us rather than have volunteers speak for us as we are doing presently.
As volunteers, we can only do so much and cannot speak for all survivors and former students unless we get permission and direction. The process of healing and pursuit for remedy is slowed down by the fact that we presently do not have direction and permission from those that are going to be affected in the healing projects and remedy. To get clear direction and permission, we need to get together and formulate plans for specific actions.
Thus a group — an action or working group of former students and supporters — should be established. To form an action group that is representative of the survivors, we need to determine who will represent the former students in the discussions toward remedy and justice. For it to operate and function effectively, the action group would require resources. This group of individuals — elected by the former students and survivors — would have the responsibility of seeking resources and utilizing those resources on behalf of the students and survivors in the discussions on justice with the authorities, both the religious denominations and the governments.
Organizing an action group
The formulation of the group can occur at a gathering, such as a reunion or healing project workshop. Another way to formulate the group is through community elections in which the studens elect an individual from the community in question.
For the election of the residential school representatives to proceed to completion, a central site for processing the results from the different communities is needed. At this time, a couple of locations for central processing the elections are considered: IqaIuit, Igloolik, Rankin Inlet and Ottawa. Ottawa is considered because most of the volunteer work by a couple of former students and survivors living in the city; these former students are willing to volunteer time to the election. Iqaluit, Igloolik and Rankin Inlet are considered due to the numbers of former students residing in those communities who are willing to oversee the elections.
We need your input. We need your involvement. We need to work together in order to complete our healing journey. It is hard to work alone on those issues. They are too much for us to deal with alone. With each other we can do a lot and achieve things that we cannot do alone. Let us work together. By doing so we will produce wonderful memories for our future — of how we overcame assimilation policies and residential school abuse. Tavvauvusi tamasi.
With respect to all the matters of elections, selecting a central location for processing the elections and providing considerations for objectives and direction, you can contact the following:
Richard Immaroitok
1-140 Tabor Ave.
Vanier, ON
K1L 7J2
Tele:1-613-745.1324
Fax:1-613-745.1324
Simeonie Kunnuk
510-170 Laurier Ave. West
Ottawa, ON
K1P 5V5
Tele:1-613-238-8181
Fax:1-613-234-1991
E-mail: skunnuk@tapirisat.ca.
Marius Tungilik
P.O Box 227
Rankin Inlet, Nunavut
X0E 0G0
Tele: 867-645-2562
Uvagut band objects to bar's use of name
As a band, as Uvagut, we felt that it is important to point out and clarify few things about the Uvagut bar proposal that has been in the paper in the last few weeks.
We want to make it abundantly clear that the band Uvagut has absolutely no connection with the Uvagut bar application. These are two totally different matters.
There apparently has been some confusion about our band Uvagut being perceived to be part of this bar application group. Just for the record, we want to publicly state that we have never been part of this group nor had we known about it until we read the article in News North in their July 19, 1999 paper.
We are also making a petition objecting to this group using Uvagut as a name. The intent here is to hopefully demonstrate to them that it is not acceptable to use an incorporated name without consulting with the affected group. This did not happen until I spoke with one of their group recently. They apparently are not in tune with reality.
It is also time for all of us, Inuit and English and French, and all other residents of Nunavut, to start making a stand, especially Inuit,. to stop allowing the system to abuse and patronize them.
We trust that this letter clarifies some confusion out there once and for all.
Please keep an eye out for our petition. Your support will be much appreciated. Thank you.
Jose Arreak
Representing Uvagut
Iqaluit
Alcohol abuse is a private issue
Recently in the press and on the radio, there have been discussions and articles on the proposed addition to the town of a new bar.
I have recently signed a petition in favour of this same business endeavour, and no, I'm not surprised by the same old excuses for not allowing a new bar into Iqaluit.
When I arrived in Iqaluit, the liquor store had over the counter sales and there was alcohol abuse in town, so the Commissioner closed the liquor outlet to Iqaluit residents.
Still, there was alcohol abuse, so the bars cut back their hours of operation. Still, there was alcohol abuse.
Now, a new business wants to start in Iqaluit and we hear all the same arguments: "Oh, kids will suffer," and "We might be creating new alcoholics." Silly, when you look at the town.
Now, a new bar won't make things better or worse. It will give the town new tax revenue. It will employ local people and it will be "public," removing the view that it's only for member and their guests.
I think that's something Iqaluit needs. As to the alcohol abuse issues, well, they're still going to be here because they are private issues that individuals have to solve themselves.
Niel Langer
Iqaluit
NIRB not a protection agency
I am dismayed at your editorial comment (Nunatsiaq News, July 23, 1999) regarding a research licence in the fossil forest on Axel Heiberg and Ellesemere Islands. You have stated with great indignation:
"Unbelievably, this project appears to have escaped the scrutiny of an expensive and highly-touted regulatory system designed specifically to make sure those kind of things don't happen. Where was the Nunavut Impact Review Board sleeping when this application was made?"
With due respect, you sir obviously do not understand the Environmental Impact Assessment Process and for your information, the Nunavut Impact Review board (NIRB) was not sleeping. It was very much awake.
First, NIRB is not a government department; it is an institute of public government, at an arms length fmm the government.
Second, our process requires that we obtain comments from various departments, agencies, HTO's, etc. We received a recommendation. in a letter dated April 9, 1999 from the agency responsible for culture and heritage stating: "we recommend approval of the above cited projcct and research application as the proponent's proposed activities do not constitute a threat to known archaeological resources."1t On this basis, the board approved the application.
Third, NIRB is an environmental assessment agency, and not a policing or protection agency. It makes a determination of the environmental impact assessment of a project that is referred by an authorizing or permitting agency.
I therefore request that you publish this letter with your apology and a retraction of your unprofessional statement.
S.Y. (Joe) Ahmad, P.D., P.Eng.
Executive Director
Editor's note: The opinions expressed in our July 23 editorial were fair comments based on facts that are widely available to the public. No apology or retraction is needed.
Courts too soft in Nunavik
I have been living in Puvirnituq, Quebec for some years now and I am concerned about the ways that judges and prosecutors are doing things here.
For one, we had two persons who were charged with attempted murder, assault with a weapon, assault on a police officer, breach of probation, drinking and driving, and the prosecutors dropped all charges except one: drinking and driving.
We also have a lot of cases that are dropped. The police force works very hard to keep our little communnity safe, but the people living here, a lot of us, are scared to go out at night, even in the evening, because a lot of people are big drinkers and get into fights for no good reason.
Our police force takes them off the streets, but the next day, the prosecutor releases them on minor charges and most serious charges are dropped 80 per cent of the time. Most of the people who are arrested know the lessons of our court system, that people in this community have to suffer.
What makes me mad is that when they leave my village, the prosecutors think they did a good job.
(Name witheld by request)
Puvirnituq, Nunavik