January 3, 2012

International

The Russian Bear dominates the Arctic  (January 3, 2012): In the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October, Marko Ramius, the rogue captain of a Soviet nuclear missile submarine, evades the US and Soviet navies by maneuvering deftly through a narrow and winding - but precisely charted - mid-Atlantic trench. In real life, the Soviet navy's charting efforts extended to the heart of the NATO-controlled Canadian Arctic. Soviet-era charts on board the Akademik Ioffe, an ice-strengthened ship owned by the Russian Academy of Sciences and chartered by a Canadian eco-cruise company, show many more depth soundings in the Northwest Passage than do comparable Canadian charts.

Canada a 2012 Hotspot: Bloomberg (January 2, 2012): The Canadian Arctic, specifically, will be among the top hot spots in the 2012 global economy Bloomberg News predicts. Canada is going to have to be on its toes as its northern neighbours compete with us for access to and control of our northern resources, especially the oil. Bloomberg even predicts possible “tension” between us and Denmark, which is making a lunge for a piece of our north. Remember the Hans Island incident?

Regional

The Inuit in 2011: A Snapshot and Retrospective (January 2, 2012): This time last year the Inuit in Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut territory, were battling the Arctic equivalent of a heat wave: Temperatures hovering around freezing were making roads slushy and icy, obliterating the blizzard conditions that they are used to driving in. That caused a bit of mayhem on the roads. At the moment, temperatures seem to be back on track, with temperatures on Monday January 2, 2012, hovering at –20 Fahrenheit.

Nunavut: a timeline for the year that was (January 2, 2012): A look back at 2011 in Nunavut Most Nunavut residents will remember 2011 as a year of devastating loss. No one alive in Nunavut this past year will ever forget the triple murder and suicide in Iqaluit, when Sylvain Degrasse, 44, lay down upon his sister’s grave and shot himself in the head after annihilating his common-law partner and two young children. Nor will anyone ever forget the crash of First Air flight 6560 this past August near Resolute Bay, which snuffed out 12 lives but also saw the miraculous survival of seven-year-old Gabrielle Pelky, 23-year-old Nicole Williamson, and 48-year-old Robin Wyllie.

Nunavik: a timeline for the year that was (January 12, 2012): A look back at 2011 in Nunavik For the people of Nunavik, the big political event of the year was the collapse of the Nunavik Regional Government proposal. This would have given the region an elected assembly with a directly elected five-member executive, including a government leader. The proposal also would have amalgamated most regional government bodies into a single regional government under the direction of the elected assembly.

Makivik Corp. presidential race: the candidates (January 2, 2012): Four people in the running for Jan. 19 vote Makivik Corp. will ring in the New Year with a race for its top job. Makivik’s long-time president Pita Aatami will seek re-election Jan. 19, 2012. But Aatami has some competition: he’s running against three other candidates; Jobie Tukkiapik, Harry Tulugak and Senator Charlie Watt.

Aaju Peter of Iqaluit to join Order of Canada (January 1, 2012): Greenland-born woman honoured for work promoting Inuit culture Iqaluit resident Aaju Peter is Nunavut’s newest recipient of the Order of Canada. Peter was among 66 new appointments to the Order announced Dec. 30 by Governor General David Johnston. A lawyer and a clothing designer, Peter was named a member of the Order of Canada for social service: her volunteer work promoting and preserving Inuit culture.

Iqaluit: a timeline for the year that was (January 2, 2012): A look back at 2011 in Iqaluit The Qulliq Energy Corp.’s plan to raise power rates by 19 per cent is met with fierce resistance. Iqaluit businesses and the city say a graduated rate increase would do less damage to ratepayers.

Jericho mine gets a new lease on life (January 2, 2012): After federal approval, revived diamond mine's good to go The Nunavut Water Board has renewed a water license for the Jericho diamond mine. Shear Diamonds, which purchased the mine in 2010, had requested an eight-year water licence for the duration of the mine`s recommissioning, operation and eventual reclamation.

Newfoundland court OKs residential-school-abuse suit (December 27, 2011): Federal government denies responsibility A Newfoundland court has given the go-ahead to class-action lawsuits against the federal government that could involve as many as 6,000 former residential school students. The government, however, contends it has no legal responsibility for any abuse suffered by the students in question because the schools existed before Newfoundland and Labrador joined Confederation in 1949.

Government funds announced to Increase Labrador broadband services (December 21, 2011): Keith Hutchings, minister of innovation, business and rural development and Peter Penashue, Newfoundland’s representative in the federal cabinet, along with officials from Bell Aliant, have announced a $24-million investment in Happy Valley-Goose Bay to increase broadband services in Labrador.

RCMP make three drug-booze busts in Pond Inlet (January 2, 2012): Seizures include weed, hash oil, home brew RCMP in Pond Inlet made three big contraband seizures in this past December, thanks to tips from the public. On Dec. 8, RCMP seized 210 grams of cannabis oil and 215 grams of cannabis resin. Police estimate the re-sale value of those drugs at about $44, 000.

N.W.T. bans cellphones while driving Jan. 1 (December 30, 2011): New law also applies to iPods, GPS units and other hand-held devices As of Jan. 1 it will be illegal to use hand-held devices such as cellphones while driving in the Northwest Territories. The penalty is a $115 fine plus three demerit points. The new law also applies to iPods, laptops, GPS units and other electronic devices. “There is no grace period, so it's not like "Oh gee whiz I got caught ... I shouldn't get a fine," said RCMP Sgt. Wes Heron. “Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.”

Companies gearing up for more exploration (December 27, 2011): Uranium mining on Labrador Inuit lands was given the green light earlier this month when the Nunatsiavut Assembly voted to lift a three-year moratorium.Members voted unanimously to remove the ban, enacted in April 2008 amid concerns among the community over environmental and health effects. Glen Sheppard, Nunatsiavut's minister of lands and natural resources, said the general consensus in the community - after a review of the decision - supported the resumption of uranium mining.

Lynx Still Considering Providing Cell Service to Other Communities (December 22, 2011): When the news that Natuashish may be receiving cellular service first surfaced, the provider was also in talks with the communities of Nain and Hopedale. The latest we reported was that Lynx Mobility was trying to find a local partner in Nain to provide the service. Balgovinde Pande, the Corporate Secretary with the Lynx, says that it’s still a possibility.

Climate Change

Climate change must be addressed now (December 31, 2011): We are beginning a new year, and the silence in Congress is still deafening. Will there ever be a debate about what should be done to deal with climate change? Oh, you don't "believe" in it? If you do not, please, suspend that belief system for just a few minutes and take a look at what the major scientific organizations in this country say. Go to their web pages. Examine the mountain of evidence that has convinced 97 to 98 percent of climate researchers that climate change is a stark reality, and that human behavior has been a contributing factor to it:

CBS Hosts Guest Who Implicates Climate Change in Disasters of 2011 (December 31, 2011): On Thursday's The Early Show, CBS hosted a guest who implicated climate change as one of the factors contributing to many weather disasters in 2011, and he ended up warning of more droughts in the future. After asserting that 2011 was an unusually active year for natural disasters, Dr. M. Sanjayan of the Nature Conservancy including climate change in the list of influences: "There's a perfect storm of events. We had a La Nina year, we had this thing called Arctic oscillation that drifted further South, but then we also have this underlying factor of climate change that makes everything warmer and supercharges the atmosphere, plus people today are living in places that sometimes puts them in harm's way."

Other

Winnipeg's New Year's baby to live in Arviat, Nunavut (January 1, 2012): It didn't take long for Winnipeg's New Year's baby to make his appearance. Noah Nicholas Nehemiah Ishalook was the first child born in Winnipeg and he and mom Anne Rose Aulatjut are both healthy and happy. Noah made his debut at 12:09 a.m., only two minutes before the next baby.

Out in the cold: the struggle of Inuit film  (December 30, 2011): There’s a point in the 1944 short film Eskimo Summer that will irk contemporary viewers. The officious British narrator of the National Film Board of Canada educational film describes the population of aboriginal Northern Canadians as being the same as “a small English town.” It’s a ridiculous comparison and not the only anachronistic scene in some of the older films in Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories, a two-volume box set of some of the NFB’s landmark films about the North.

Scientists probe ozone-chewing 'chemical cauldron' (January 3, 2012): Last year's unprecedented hole over Arctic has researchers wary about 2012 High over the Arctic, winds swirling around the pole in the winter darkness are isolating an air mass that will grow colder in coming weeks. It will create what James Drummond, atmospheric physicist at Dalhousie University, calls a "chemical cauldron" around the pole - which can do nasty things to the protective ozone layer. Last year, the cauldron chewed an unprecedented hole in the ozone. There will be plenty of concern if there is a repeat in 2012.

Polar Potties calendar shows where explorers go (December 28, 2011): If you think about the Arctic and the scientists devoted to studying it, outhouses may not automatically spring to mind. But thanks to the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists, an outhouse somewhere in the Arctic — or the Antarctic — could become part of your daily life next year. The international group has put together the Polar Potties 2012 calendar, devoted to the unique bathrooms of each polar region.