stop sign stand-off - nnsl media

Stop sign stand-offWhy did the GNWT take down two stop signs installed by CN at a rail crossing?

Volume 49 Issue 6 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2021 $1.00 (.95 + GST)

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"It's the only rec hockey tournament that happened in the Northwest Territories this year."– Hay River men's rec league president Terry Rowe reflects, page 9.

Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

Samara McKay holds a Ukrainian Easter egg she was creating at Growing Together on March 25. About 10 women gathered to learn how to create the traditional Easter eggs – known as pysanky – which are decorated using beeswax and dyes.

Skiers race for territorial championships

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To the surprise of many motorists in Hay River, stop signs appeared last week at a railway crossing on the Mackenzie Highway.

However, the stop signs were not there for long.

After being installed by CN on March 24 at the railway crossing near Porritt Land-ing, they were removed on the afternoon of March 26 by the GNWT.

A spokesperson at CN headquarters in Montreal confirmed the signs were placed by CN, but removed by the territorial govern-ment.

"We're working with them on a permanent solution," he said.

The CN spokesperson declined to specu-late on what that permanent solution might be for traffic control at the crossing.

His understanding is discussions are ongoing.

"I don't want to predetermine what they're going to be," he added. "We're just going to do whatever it takes to make sure that that

crossing remains compliant and to ensure the safety of both trains and motorists from the local community."

The railway crossing is over a spur line that goes into the operations of Marine Transportation Services on Vale Island.

While the rail line is owned by CN, the Mackenzie Highway is a territorial route, even as it passes through Hay River.

The CN spokesperson didn't have any information on whether the GNWT was consulted before the stop signs were put up.

In the brief time that they were erected, the stop signs caused a Facebook storm among Hay River residents, who almost all criticized the decision.

One Facebook user may have summed up the feelings of many motorists with a com-ment heavy with symbolism – "What the &*%$#??"

Another called the stop signs "total ridicu-lousness" considering that the rail spur is rarely used.

Others wondered why lights are not installed at the crossing.

The CN spokesperson explained that there

are many different criteria for determining what kinds of traffic controls are required at railway crossings.

"They include traffic, the frequency, the amount of cars that go by, all that stuff. It includes also visibility sightlines. All those different factors are taken into considera-tion," he said, noting the guidelines are set by Transport Canada.

On Friday afternoon, The Hub unsuccess-fully attempted to obtain a comment from the GNWT on the removal of the stop signs.

The Town of Hay River was not involved in erecting the signs.

"The town was not made aware of the stop sign installation," said Glenn Smith, the town's senior administrative officer. "We have reached out to CN with a request for more information and a hope to discuss options for the crossing."

On March 11, a train and a pickup truck collided at a different railway crossing in Hay River.

There were no injuries in that incident at the railway crossing on Balsam Drive as it meets the Mackenzie Highway.

PAul [email protected]

NewsBriefs

Itsago Dog Sled Racesplanned in Enterprise

The Itsago Dog Sled Races are set for April 3 and 4 in Enterprise, beginning at noon each day.

The event will feature 12-dog races over a distance of 17 miles, along with six-dog races over six miles.

The racing will take place along the side of Highway 2, where spectators can watch from their vehicles.

The total purse for the event is $5,000.Itsago is presented by the Hamlet of

Enterprise.

Funding for earlylearning, child care

On March 26, the federal and terri-torial governments announced over $2.4 million in federal funding for early learning and child care investments in the NWT for 2020-2021.

The additional support is being made through the one-year Canada-Northwest Territories Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.

The NWT is focused on improving the quality of programs through cultur-ally appropriate professional training opportunities and access to early learn-ing and child care, particularly in small communities and for essential workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Expanding the availability of early learning and child care opportunities requires the need for partnerships and collaborative efforts like this to meet the unique needs of families with young children throughout NWT," stated Edu-cation, Culture and Employment Minis-ter R.J. Simpson in a news release.

'Take and Make' kitsfrom public library

NWT Centennial Library is offering Take and Make Kits throughout April.

On April 1, the kits will contain seeds for growing vegetables and flowers.

Over the following three weeks, the kits will focus on spring painting (April 8), beginner crochet (April 15) and Earth Day/birdhouses (April 22).

Even with a limit of one kit per family, all the available kits have been assigned.

The library will try to offer more kits in May, depending on funding.

The initiative is presented as a joint venture of NWT Centennial Library, the NWT Literacy Council and Ecology North.

NWT leaders discusseducation system

Elected education leaders from across the NWT met on March 25 with Educa-tion, Culture and Employment Minister R.J. Simpson to discuss their joint work to further strengthen the junior kinder-garten to Grade 12 system.

The meeting focused on the educa-tion system and structure, language and culture, programming, and staff.

The education leaders also reviewed initial research findings on the renewal of the junior kindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum.

They meet multiple times a year to review current work and to plan for future initiatives.

The next meeting with Simpson is scheduled for April 27.

'We're working with them on a permanent solution,' railway says

GNWT removes CN stop signs

Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

On March 24, CN placed stop signs at this railway crossing on the Mackenzie Highway near Porritt Landing. On March 26, the stop signs were removed by the GNWT.

Did we get it wrong?Hay River Hub is committed to getting facts

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confirmed cases: 74recovered cases: 74completed tests: 15,825Negative tests: 15,756Pending tests: 22

days since first confirmed case: 374days since last confirmed case: 31VaccinesFirst doses administered: 22,114Second doses administered: 13,283Total doses administered: 35,397

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As March 2021 comes to an end, everyone in Hay River can just be thankful that it was not a repeat of March 2019.

everyone in community at the time will never forget March 2019. It was the month of two significant fires in the community which, even two years later, are still casting metaphorical dark shadows – perhaps dark shadows from collective memories of col-umns of smoke.

Of course, they are the month-long blaze at the land-fill site and the fire at the Mackenzie Place high-rise apartment building.

The negative effect on the high-rise is the easiest to see. The 16-storey structure stands empty, since tenants forced out of their apart-ments have never returned because of damage to the building and still unresolved concerns about environment-al safety.

The owner has been hope-ful for the past two years that Mackenzie Place would be open in short order, and he is now saying that a fund-ing application is being con-sidered by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

(CMHC) to help repair and reopen the building.

It would be good if that happens.

Hay River had a housing shortage before the fire at

Mackenzie Place and that shortage has not gotten any better since

its forced closure.And while the owner

remains optimistic that Mack-enzie Place will eventually be repaired and reopened, there has to be concern that the closure has lasted two years and counting.

If the CMHC doesn't come through with funding, the ter-ritorial government will have to seriously consider how it can become involved to get the building reopened.

As for the second major fire of March 2019, the effects of the landfill fire still linger on, although they are not as obvious as a high-rise standing empty in the heart of the community.

But the impacts of the dump fire are still serious and persistent.

They were on full display in late February when the Town of Hay River presented a reso-lution to the annual general meeting of the NwT Asso-ciation of Communities. The resolution called for changes

to the territorial government's Disaster Assistance Policy, since the town had been rejected when it applied for help to pay for the dump fire.

Deputy Mayor Robert Bou-chard told delegates that Hay River is still upset with the GNwT for not supporting the municipality's request.

Bouchard said the GNwT itself would have to directly deal with a state of emer-gency in the future because the territorial government "basically burnt up a credit" with the town.

"we got zero support here," he said. "From my perspec-tive, it's very frustrating and very maddening, and our

council is very mad."If that was not bad

enough, Bouchard noted the cost of the dump fire totalled $938,000, and only $100,000 was covered by the town's insurance.

so there are many lin-gering impacts of March 2019 – a financially-dam-aged town, soured relations with the GNwT, an empty high-rise, and vacant apart-ments that should be help-ing to solve the community's housing shortage.

It's lucky that March 2021 was not as bad as March 2019.

All we had this March was a lingering pandemic.

NNSL file photo

A fire on the 11th floor of the Mackenzie Place high-rise apart-ment building erupted on March 15, 2019. The building has not been reopened for tenants.

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Samantha Williams"I would say, now that my kid is old enough, him hunting for Easter eggs."

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karen Wall"Time with family."

Cynthia Mandeville"It's finally spring."

March 2019 still reverberates

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Chuck Lirette has been honoured as the Hay River Citizen of the Year for 2020.

Lirette, a retired teacher, is the biathlon coach and trails co-ordinator with the Hay River Ski Club.

"I'm really humbled to be recognized because Hay River is such an amazing community," he said when presented with the Alfred Mansell Citizen of the Year Award by the Hay River Chamber of Commerce on March 24.

Lirette noted there are countless other people in Hay River who should also be receiving the award.

"That will have a place of honour within our home," he said. "I'm really touched."

As it does every year, the Chamber of Commerce also pre-sented the Customer Service Award, and this year's winner is Kim Morin, a bartender/server at The Doghouse Sports Bar at The Ptarmigan Inn.

In accepting the award, Morin said she was humbled by the honour.

"I love my job. I love what I do," she said. "And I enjoy my customers. I love my hometown. So I enjoy making people happy and making sure that they're served properly and well, and everything is good."

This year's awards presentations did not include the usual gala because of Covid-19 restrictions.

Instead, about eight people gathered in a meeting room at The Ptarmigan Inn.

"Usually it's a little bit more formal," said Terry Rowe, the president of the Hay River Chamber of Commerce. "We have our gala each year where we invite anybody and everybody to come and have a nice dinner and present these awards to the very deserving award winners. This year with everything going on, we've decided to cancel the event, but we, of course, still wanted to do these awards."

Rowe said the chamber received some very strong nomina-tions.

"But the two of you are very well the most deserving," he told the winners. "And we're very happy that we can have you here today to award these."

Lirette was nominated as Citizen of the Year by Tamarah Pellissey, who was on hand to talk about his contributions to Hay River.

"Chuck Lirette is a great person to receive this award for all he contributes to Hay River and the entire North," she said. "He offers not only his time but also his kindness, commitment and motivational leadership."

Pellissey noted that Lirette taught for 33 years in the North, including 20 years in Hay River, after being raised in Fort Reso-lution and Pine Point.

She listed his many contributions as a coach and sports

official, including his involvement at the Arctic Winter Games, Canada Winter Games and NWT Track and Field Champion-ships.

Countless hoursPellissey also praised his volunteer commitment to the Hay

River Ski Club as its biathlon coach and trails co-ordinator."Chuck spends countless hours packing and grooming our

beautiful ski and snowshoe trails, often early mornings until late nights," she noted.

In response to Pellissey's tribute, Lirette noted that, when he was growing up in Fort Resolution and Pine Point, there were minor hockey coaches, Boy Scout leaders and teachers who had

a big positive impact on him"And I think that's kind of what I hope that I'm doing here in

Hay River," he said.Morin was nominated for the Customer Service Award by

Greg Rowe."Kim has worked at The Ptarmigan Hotel in The Doghouse

Pub for more than five years, and continues to be a leader in providing our guests with the highest level of customer service," Rowe wrote in a letter read at the awards ceremony.

"Her friendly and welcoming demeanour has made her a favourite of our regulars and her co-workers. Kim's hard work and dedication make her a true professional in the field. Kim simply is the best when it comes to service."

Chuck Lirette is Citizen of the Year


Kim Morin honoured with Customer Service Award

Chuck Lirette, second from right, has been named Hay River's Citizen of the Year for 2020. On hand on March 24 to honour Lirette were, at left, Terry Rowe, president of the Hay River Chamber of C o m m e r c e ; Tamarah Pellis-sey, who nom-inated Lirette; and Kandace Shaw, the vice-president of the chamber.Paul Bickford/NNSL photo


Over a year ago, the most recent licence was awarded to run a Chase the Ace in Hay River.

However, the group that obtained that licence – a partnership between the Hay River Golf Club and the Hay River Ski Club – never got to stage a Chase the Ace because of Covid-19. The group volun-tarily suspended operations on March 13, 2020, before it had ever made any sales.

The licence, which was good for one year, expired in mid-March, according to Randy West-Pratt, secretary of the golf club and an organ-izer of Chase the Ace.

"We have made a new application to the town to be awarded the licence again," he said, noting that applica-tion was submitted in mid-March.

West-Pratt recognizes that the right to the licence is now open for other applications.

"We're by no means guar-anteed just because we didn't operate last year to get it again," he said.

"We'll be competing with

anyone else who applies."However, West-Pratt hopes

that the two clubs will be suc-cessful in obtaining a licence once again.

"Absolutely," he said. "We've still got the same funding requirements that we had before."

That includes the need for a new roof, washroom repairs and updated equipment at the golf club.

The ski club also has fund-ing needs, said West-Pratt.

"They've gone ahead with some of their projects because they brought whatever fund-ing they have of their own, but they've still got lots of things that they're working on improving and rebuilding, and there's always ongoing needs."

Plus, he noted there are other grounds and facilities expenses shared by the two clubs.

West-Pratt said the new application to the town involves in-person sales of tickets.

Plus, organizers are also looking into the possibility of doing online sales.

West-Pratt noted that, in the application, he listed Fri-

day, April 16, as a possible starting date for Chase the Ace, simply because he had to pick a date.

However, he does not know when or if the town

may award a new licence.West-Pratt believes that

some limited sales could take place within the Covid-19 restrictions of the GNWT, which would include control-

ling the size of crowds, sani-tation and keeping track of people purchasing tickets for possible contact tracing at a later date.

When contacted late last

week, Glenn Smith, the sen-ior administrative officer with the Town of Hay River, could offer no update on the status of the Chase the Ace applica-tion process.

Chasing the Chase the AcePAul [email protected]

Two groups awarded licence in 2020 had to cede it

NNSL file photo

In March 2020, organizer Randy West-Pratt held the board which was to be used to tally the numbers of a Chase the Ace. However, the lottery never took place last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.


Town anticipates highwater for river breakup

As usual this time of year, the Town of Hay River is getting ready for spring breakup and the possibility of flooding on Vale Island.

And this year, the town is considering how the continuing high water on the Hay River and in Great Slave Lake will impact breakup.

"I think it has to be concerning with respect to how it might influence the breakup," said Glenn Smith, the town's senior administrative officer (SAO), in comments to The Hub on March 18.

"It's a variable," he said of the high water. "There are a lot of variables that need to be considered in trying to forecast what will ultimately determine if there will be flooding for the area, especially Vale Island."

Smith said those variables include ice thickness on the lake and river, flow rates, the amount of water in the lake, the amount of water coming down the river, snow melt, snowpack levels and temperatures.

"There are so many things that it often makes it difficult each year," he said. "We spend a lot of time and we have a lot of history in monitoring, and there's been some forecasting studies completed. But there are so many vari-

ables that lead right up to that event of breakup that it's hard to determine what might happen. But the added water lev-els, it's unprecedented. I think we've got to respect that and try to work that into our planning and responses."

It is estimated that the water is up to two and a half feet higher than normal on Great Slave Lake.

lake, rivers higher than normal"The river seems to be higher, as

well," said Smith. "Will it change much over the next month? Probably not."

The SAO said one positive sign appears to be that ice levels on the river are below normal.

"There's more ice volume because, on the rivers, they're wider, but the actual thickness is less and there's likely to be a fair amount of water flowing underneath the ice," he said. "So having water that flows under the ice is thought to be a good sign that helps with the outflow of ice during a breakup."

During the March 15 online meeting of town council, Ross Potter, the director of protective services, said the focus is now on preparing for breakup, including by getting monitoring equipment ready and meeting with members of the Emer-gency Measures Organization.

Potter also noted the high water levels."The lake is two to three feet higher

than what it normally is at this point in time," he said.

Deputy Mayor Robert Bouchard noted information will be going out to town residents in advance of breakup.

"We will be assembling our nor-mal packages we send out every year," he said. "We're just getting some final details put together on that."

Bouchard added there will also be work done to organize an information meeting, possibly online or perhaps in-person.

And as always, the town is get-ting ready for the possibility that flood-ing may require an evacuation of Vale Island.

"The town is preparing evacuation procedures that will again consider any Covid restrictions, and we're hoping this year that the Covid restrictions will be a little more favourable to supporting the evacuation," said Smith. "Last year, there were no allowances to stay in other people's homes. We couldn't work towards a community evacuation cen-tre."

This year, the town is working with the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer and the Department of Munici-pal and Community Affairs on getting a better understanding of what will be permitted, which may allow possible evacuees to stay with family members.


One more variable added to the list

NNSL file photo

A roadblock was set up at the West Channel Bridge on May 4 of last year for the evacuation of Vale Island during the spring breakup of the Hay River.

First nation electstwo new councillors

Deninu K'ue/Fort ResolutionDeninu K'ue First Nation in Fort Resolution elected two

councillors in a March 18 by-election.The two winning candidates are Dean McKay and Dave

Pierrot.McKay received 36 votes and Pierrot earned 35 votes.They were chosen from a field of seven candidates, which

included Sam O'Reilly (34 votes), Gordon Beaulieu (32 votes) Margo Edjericon (25 votes), Kirk Fabien (18 votes) and Cindy Villeneuve (18 votes).

The two new councillors have been elected for four-year terms.

Soccer camp foryouth in Fort Smith

Thebacha/Fort SmithThe Town of Fort Smith will be presenting a soccer camp

from April 6 to April 9 for children nine and 10 years of age.The camp, which will run from 9 a.m. to noon each day,

will feature skills instruction and mini games.It will be held at the Fort Smith Community and Recrea-

tion Centre.More information, including on the registration fee, can

be obtained by contacting the centre.

Registration openingfor Pine Lake sites

Thebacha/Fort SmithRegistration is opening for two sites at Pine Lake in the

Alberta section of Wood Buffalo National Park, south of Fort Smith. On April 1, Kettle Point group camping sites become available for reservations from May 21 to Sept. 30.

On April 13, Pine Lake rental cabins will be available for reservations.

Volunteers needed forFort Res spring carnival

Deninu K'ue/Fort ResolutionThe Hamlet of Fort Resolution is seeking people inter-

ested in volunteering for an upcoming spring carnival.No date has yet been set for the event.People interested in volunteering can contact the hamlet

office.

ARouND THE SOUTh SLAVE Paul Bickford is the reporter for The hub. Send your ideas to: [email protected].


Six young skiers from Hay River were in Yellowknife recently for the 2021 NWT Territorial Cross-Country Ski Championships.

"They did super great," said Ashley Coombs, a parent of three of the skiers.

"They have a passion for skiing," she added. "It's great. They really do love it."

Two of her children had top-three finishes in lower-age categories.In classic races on March 20, Jaxin Coombs placed third in the

Under-10 category, while Smith Coombs came second in the Under-8 division. In freestyle races on March 21, Jaxin placed first and Smith again finished second.

Medals were only awarded in the Under-12 and older race categor-ies.

However, everyone who skied received a cookie medal at the fin-ish line, no matter the division or where they ended up in the final standings.

Hay River's Grayson Groenewegen, 14, finished fifth in the Under-16 division for the classic and freestyle races.

It was his first time at the cross-country territorials, he said. "Or skiing in Yellowknife at all, actually."

Grayson was pleased with his performance."Of course, I would like to do better, but I think that I did as good

as I could," he said. "And since this was our first time out here, I was pretty happy with that."

Grayson noted it was different to see so many people competing, compared to races in Hay River.

More than 130 skiers from Yellowknife, Hay River and Fort Smith competed over the two days of action.

Shawne Kokelj, president of Cross-Country NWT, said it was good to see skiers make the trip to Yellowknife from out of town.

– with files from James McCarthy

'Super-great' six ski in YkPAul [email protected]

Took part in territorial cross-country championships

James Mccarthy/NNSL photo

Hay River's Grayson Groenewegen competes at the 2021 NWT Territorial Cross-Country Ski Champion-ships, held in Yellowknife on March 20 and 21.

HubspORTs


Hockey tournaments in the NWT were one of the casualties this winter of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, Hay River has managed to hold one tournament as the hockey season nears its end.

From March 19 to 21, Hay River Men's Rec Hockey hosted teams from Yellowknife, Fort Smith and Fort Simpson.

"As far as I know, it's the only rec hock-ey tournament that happened in the North-west Territories this year," said Terry Rowe, the president of the league. "So I'm glad it went over smoothly and safely."

The tournament featured six teams – three from Hay River and the three visiting squads.

"It was very last minute," said Rowe. "We weren't really plan-ning on hosting a tournament just now with everything going on."

However, the rec league saw that women's hockey was doing some home-and-home series with other communities, and decided to follow suit.

"Originally, it was just going to be some exhibition games and we were planning on just kind of doing an in-house thing with maybe inviting one community," Rowe explained. "So we got interest from Smith and Simpson really early, and then Yellowknife heard about it and they wanted to bring a team."

So the smaller series of games became a six-team tournament.

That is still a small tournament by the stan-dards of previous years.

"It went over very well and without a hitch in safety," said Rowe. "So I'm very happy with the way everything shook out."

In fact, he noted that the tournament could not have had more than six teams and still be able to safely use the dressing rooms under Covid-19 restrictions.

As another safety precaution, there were no fans in the stands, as has been the standard for rec hockey during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We followed that same protocol," said Rowe. "The arena suggested that they close the walking track to avoid any issues there. We

definitely agreed with that. So we had no spec-tators. It was just the hockey players."

The walking track had reduced hours on March 20 and March 21 because of the tourna-ment.

Each team had their own dressing room and there was no mingling.

All players also had to sign a waiver that they hadn't recently travelled outside the NWT, that they weren't feeling any symptoms of Covid-19 and that they hadn't come into contact with anybody with Covid.

Stephane Millette, the director of recreation with the Town of Hay River, was pleased to see

a tournament in the Hay River Community Centre.

"We're happy to see a gradual return to some normalcy," Mil-lette said just before the tourna-ment took place. "We're happy to be working with Hay River Men's Rec Hockey, and they've been really good to work with when we're talking about the Covid guidelines and the best practices we should be follow-ing."

Like Rowe, Millette noted there have been some local tour-

naments and home-and-home series for various hockey teams, but no tournaments as in past years.

"There hasn't been a tournament where there have been teams from other communities come play at the community centre here," he said.

Rowe said it was good to see at least one tournament.

"Our league was getting pretty sick and tired of playing the same three teams over and over, and I think Smith and Simpson can say the same," he said. "Everybody is pretty happy that it went through."

With no prize money and no beer garden, Rowe said the tournament was just about play-ing hockey and having some fun.

Teams were charged only half the normal registration fee to cover the cost of the ice and referees.

"Obviously, we took a bit of a financial hit," said Rowe. "I hope next year that each com-munity can host a tournament like before and do it safely, of course."

As for the actual hockey, the Fort Smith

Pelicans won the tournament by beating Yellowknife 4-2 in the championship game.

Rowe noted the Hay River teams faced strong competition from the visitors.

"We were probably outmanned, but a couple of the Hay River games were pretty close with some of the out-of-town teams," he said. "It was good to see."


The Fort Smith Pelicans won the March 19 to 21 rec hockey tournament in Hay River. The team consisted of, front row from left, Johnny Bem-bridge, Phil Joseph, Gordon Delorme, Jody Doherty, Shaun Mac-Pherson and Lonin Bulger; and, back row from left, Hunter Lantz, Davin Jacobson, Devin Case, Chris Waniandy and Sean Poitras. Mis-sing from the photo is Dezmond McDonald.photo courtesy of chris Waniandy

Rec league hosts teams from Yellowknife, Fort Smith and Fort Simpson

▼ "It's the only rec hockey

tournament that happened in

the Northwest Territories this

year." Terry Rowe ▼

Hay River squeezes inone hockey tournament

stop sign stand-off - nnsl media

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