John Thompson

Affordable housing money lined politicos’ pockets

Nearly $3 million earmarked for affordable housing in Watson Lake appears to have been spent by Liard First Nation on acquiring three hotels, instead.

The First Nation justified the deal, made in June of 2007, by promising to convert part of one hotel into affordable housing for its members.

But, more than two years later, this hasn’t happened.

This raises big questions about the administration of the federal Northern Housing Trust program, which provided Yukon with a total of $50 million between 2006 and 2008.

Stuck with $20,000 medevac bill, man needs a hand, gets a kick

Sheldon Miller owes the territory $20,000 for a medical evacuation that doctors, nurses and administrators assured him he would not have to pay.

This is plainly unfair, Yukon’s ombudsman found after conducting a lengthy review of the matter. She’s repeatedly asked Yukon’s health department to forgive Miller’s debt.

It won’t.

Deputy disagrees with salary secrecy

Stuart Whitley, deputy minister of Health, wants to disclose how much he earns.

But he’s not allowed to.

Such information is public knowledge in most Canadian jurisdictions. But not in the Yukon, where the actual salaries and bonuses paid to top staff is a secret.

Only salary ranges are disclosed.

“In my view, these figures should be released,” Whitley wrote in a January 15 e-mail to Patricia Daws, commissioner of the Public Service Commission.

“We are paid out of public funds. Withholding the info makes us look nontransparent and defensive. I’m not happy about public finger-pointing and speculation but it’s a lesser evil than secrecy in government administration.”

One small city's big language divide

If you speak only Inuktitut in Iqaluit, visiting a pharmacy could be life-threatening

To understand the importance of Nunavut’s draft language laws, look no further than the pharmacy in Iqaluit’s NorthMart.

There, elders who are unable to speak much English try to comprehend instructions, which may be of life-or-death importance, given by non-Inuit pharmacists, who resort to hand gestures and crude drawings while dispensing drugs.

No Inuit work behind the counter. No Inuktitut labels or instructions are provided. If elders don’t understand the well-meaning pharmacists, and are unaccompanied by family, their only hope may be that a passing shopper stops and helps.

It’s just one of many bewildering experiences that elders must encounter routinely in Nunavut, which English speakers may need to travel overseas to understand.