The Lord has blessed us in the Sahtu region for the past two weeks with lovely weather. As I write this on Oct. 4, we usually have snow by this time.
And, then, we see our neighbour, America. They are sure having a terrible time this year, what with the tropical storms, hurricanes, tornadoes an unpredictable president, and many unhappy people turning to crime. The killings in Las Vegas are a wake-up call -- again.
Some people say the problem is technology, just too much of it. Just watch people, even the children, with their noses always in their cell phones or games. Now you can’t seem to trust technology with the breaches in privacy. There are many stories of personal information being stolen for illegal purposes. The future is scary!
Canada now has a new governor general. Big deal! Time to cut the apron strings from Great Britain. Remember in former prime minister Pierre Trudeau’s time, the Queen brought the Constitution home to Canada. That is when we should have said, “Thank you, Misses Queen” -- as the Natives used to call her.
Wake up Canada! We just celebrated 150 years of the birth of Canada. We don’t need the British government to babysit us anymore. Time to get rid of the governor general. We need the millions we waste on the whole Queen’s representative management.
We need the money to fight the high cost of food and isolation everywhere in Canada, including the health system. The age bias means elderly patients are sent home without a diagnosis. The Indigenous bias has drunks left in the corner of emergency rooms to die like the poor man did in Winnipeg a few years ago. He was a diabetic and sat in a wheelchair in the corner of the emergency room for over 18 hours. He was dead when they finally checked on him.
Or the elderly man in Aklavik who died with the misdiagnosis of a stroke. And the woman in Inuvik, who we read about in News/North today. Part of the problem is the isolation factor -- we don't have enough doctors who stay in the North, they just fly in and out.
Julie Payette, the new governor general, seems nice. She is a former astronaut and a very accomplished woman. By the way, The Minister of Infrastructure and Highways, is Marc Garneau. He is also a former astronaut. I’ve kept my eye on him. We need highways all over and across Canada. He hasn’t done much except a lot of empty announcements.
And, our prime minister Trudeau is more like a movie star. He is all over the world, pictures on the cover of magazines, etc. He is allowing anything to please the people. For example, just look at this National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the $58 million for a two-year study.
There is always a lot of infighting where there is a lot of money. We understand in the first eight months it has already spent over $5 million and $2 million of that was by the Privy Council who has the oversight of the budget, according to Maclean’s magazine.
Well, what to do in our isolated region this winter? Let’s put on our thinking caps and do some planning. Number one is to start working with our MLA Danny McNeely. Danny is so friendly and approachable. He is in the position to help us!
We need training for jobs of every kind. So, let’s get moving all you young beautiful people, some of whom are in school and some at home. Get moving, it is your future! No one can help you without helping yourself. Life is short. Make the best of it. Take advantage now.
Seriously, we in the Sahtu region must do something now. Don’t give up, life is too short. We realize we cannot depend on the Government. But, you can depend on our MLA, Danny McNeely. Communication is not a problem, you have the technology today, your phones and your email, go meet Danny when he is in your community, and you can always phone me.
Well, I must go clean my yard before the snow comes. See you next week.