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‘We must do better:’ Nunavut leaders optimistic about housing money from Ottawa

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IQALUIT, Nunavut — Leaders in Nunavut say they’re happy with territory-specific housing money in the federal budget even though the amount is well below what they say is needed to address a long-standing housing crisis.

The Liberal government budget last week sets aside $60 million to go to Nunavut for housing.Federal Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, on a two-day visit to Iqaluit to promote the budget, called the amount a “down payment.”

Vandal sat shoulder to shoulder Wednesday with Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok, Iqaluit Mayor Kenny Bell and Aluki Kotierk, president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., which represents Inuit on treaty rights.

Akeeagok said the housing shortage can only be fixed if all levels of government and Inuit organizations work together.

“Today’s gathering speaks of our continued commitment to collaborate to address Nunavut’s growing housing gap … Nunavut is united in our call for more affordable housing in our territory,” Akeeagok said at a news conference.

The premier spoke about ongoing COVID-19 and tuberculosis outbreaks made worse by overcrowded and inadequate housing. In some cases, he said, households have been faced with both infections.

“We must do better,” Akeeagok said.

The budget also includes a further $845 million to address Inuit housing needs overall across Inuit Nunangat, the name for the four Inuit regions in Canada. The amount Nunavut is to receive has yet to be determined.

Data from the Nunavut Housing Corp. indicates 56 per cent of Inuit in the territory live in overcrowded homes.

Last month, the corporation’s president, Eiryn Devereaux, told a federal committee on Indigenous and northern affairs that Nunavut would need to build 300 houses a year for the next eight years to meet demand.

Nunavut Tunngavik has a 10-year housing plan that says it would take $4 billion to fix the territory’s housing crisis.

Nunavut NDP MP Lori Idlout has routinely criticized the Liberal government over housing. In March, she rose in the House of Commons to critique a federal announcement of 101 new housing units in the territory, well below the thousands needed.

Despite that, Kotierk said money in the budget shows a “clear acknowledgment” by the federal government of the need for “a new, transformational approach to solving the deep infrastructure and housing gaps in Nunavut.”

Kotierk said she was also pleased to see the $845 million overall for Inuit housing needs.

“We will see what the allocation looks like for Nunavut.”

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Vandal said high costs, a short construction season and a lack of infrastructure all make it difficult to address Nunavut’s housing problems.

“It’s really very difficult to close that gap in one year or two years,” Vandal said.

“We’re going to continue investing significant dollars for as long as we can,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2022.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship

 

Emma Tranter, The Canadian Press

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A linebacker at West Virginia State is fatally shot on the eve of a game against his old school

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.

The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.

Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.

West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.

Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.

“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”

Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.

West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.

“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”

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Hall of Famer Joe Schmidt, who helped Detroit Lions win 2 NFL titles, dies at 92

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DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.

The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.

One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.

“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”

Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.

“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”

Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.

Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.

In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.

“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”

Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.

Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.

Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.

“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”

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Coastal GasLink fined $590K by B.C. environment office over pipeline build

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VICTORIA – British Columbia‘s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.

The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.

It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.

The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.

Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.

The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

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