I'm fading to black in honor of the mighty Mista Shipu and its pending demise.

And in honor of the people who have the guts to make a stand at the attach on democracy for the sake of the almighty god damn $

A first, an anomaly and on to the unethical bordering on the illegal.

A first for the new provincial minister for works services and transport. An interview with CBC HV_GB on marine transport. 
The message has not changed from his predecessor, just a more reasoned sounding approach.

Still that does not get us to the point of dealing with the aged and ailing vessels at our disposal, looks like more of the status quo for the foreseeable future.

The anomaly is of the Nunatsiavut Government doing a media event in the fine city of St. Johns. Actually doing a media event anywhere for NG is news of and in itself. Maybe things are to change.
The video is longish but worth the time for a number of reasons. 

By the sound of the responses from government and Nalcor the next steps maybe taken up the steps of the law courts.

Unethical just does not seem the right word to describe the goings on of our MP in Ottawa, both pre and post his election.

If APTN has the bone then they are going to chew on it it till the marrow is sucked out. At least there can be no accusations of white liberal media biases.

As I maintained all along, this guy is in the doo doo he is in mainly due to dealings with bottom feeding unethical white guys with dollars flashing before their eyes, plus his own low ethical standards and dollars flashing before his eyes. 

Cultural Center part 6.

There was a public information session on the proposed Cultural Center yesterday afternoon. In reality it is not proposed, more like a done deal.

Not a bad crowd, mostly NG, Parks Canada and community government people. Just over a hand full of public.

That did not stop a lively and probing question period. Pity no questions about the validity of the process leading up to the site chosen. Has anyone being following the Rob Ford legal issue in Toronto?

I digress; the session was opened by the minister responsible for Culture. He gave a spiel, more like spin, of the reasons the site was chosen. Things like historically significant, has place in the heart of the Inuit of Nain, used to be a community when Inuit were still living traditional life styles.

I have no doubt that well may be, which raises the questions of; why no community dialogue in the lead up to the site being chosen. Why no community dialogue in the lead up to site preparation work.

Why was it used as a small boat work area and failed several attempts at building small boat wharfs these last decades.

Why have the towns burgers decided to go ahead and plonk a modern concrete, rock gravel, steel, wood, glass structure on an allegedly site of such cultural significance with out any dialogue with the community, or the region of Nunatsiavut for that matter.

Anyway enough of my silly little questions.

There were two people from the architectural firm and two from the engineering firm present. The architectural guy did most of the background talk about vision of the design leading into the changing engineering process and the shrinking size of the building as costs rose, as is the usual with these things.

The number of pylons to be driven into the ground has gone from around 20 to 100. The depth of these pylons will be in the 60 feet range, penetrating the permafrost and into a stable load holding base beneath. At least that is the hope.

The building basement has also been raised a couple of feet to accommodate any possible rise in the sea levels due to global warming. I think I touched on these points in previous posts.

The interior size has shrunk as previously mentioned, there will be offices for Parks Canada and Torngasok Cultural center people. A 90 seat theater, kitchen, areas for craft sales and a public eating area.

The majority area will be for exhibits, I’m not sure if static or changing. This area will be a public space as well with broad open views of the harbor, seating and an indoor fireplace.

Some Torngasok staff questioned why not all of them will be accommodated in the new building. The answer was *just the staff who have contact with public will be accommodated*.  Ouch.

Outside will be a wooded  type space thing around the circumferences of the building leading on to a stepped rock and gravel area sloping down to the water.

An open fireplace and the steps of about two feet high are to encourage community activity such as sitting around and contemplating while looking out at the water. At least this is the vision of the designers.

Community members have a different vision of it. Concerns about safety of children, concerns about kids hanging around the fireplace in the evenings. Not like kids have not been up to no good with previous new buildings, just look at the state of the Okalakatiget Society building, the Husky center, all the broken windows in the school, the two previous government buildings and on and on.

So the concerns are real, but alas the visionaries seem to be paying little credence to these concerns.

Concerns were stressed on the geophysics of the area, the possibility of sea water as well as water from the land encroaching on the site.
These concerns were not made light of but the engineers and architects seem confident that mitigation's like raising the height of the footings and the pylons will suffice.

So from bottom to top we have 100 steel pylons, these are joined together where the floor will start, then steel stanchions raised to the roof height. There will be a heated space under the floor.

Large I type floor joists will tie it all in then flooring (not sure what type), 8 inch wooden studs for the exterior walls with large glass windows on the sea side and treated lumber on the town side.
Looks like a flat roof with a good amount of skylights in areas not having natural light from the windows. Not sure about this concept in winter.

Heating bills will be augmented by some solar panels, mainly to heat water to kitchen and washrooms. Large black heat absorbing fin like panels will be installed, I am not sure where exactly.

I neglected to ask about cooling in summer, and air re distribution, it is going to get bloody hot with those large triple glazed windows.

Outside we have the rock, gravel terraced down to the waters edge.

Seems like the engineers have taken care to adapt as discovery of soil and geophysics work was taking place. Only big question is, why?. There were other locations with less vulnerability to the ever changing environmental conditions. These would have required less ground preparation for less cost to mitigate leading to more dollars for the actual building.

Some asked about local employment. As usual this was not handled well by the powers that be.
The post construction  phase should garner some local jobs in the lower paid area.

But the construction jobs was danced around, the best that anyone could come up with was, *see the contractors when the job starts*. Well we all know how that has worked in the past don’t we.

In closing, the architects promised more community dialogue as work on the design of the exhibits progresses and what should be incorporated outside the structure such as carvings and such.  Not sure who will be the target of the dialogue, sure hop it encompassed more people than any dialogue to date.

Interesting that the power brokers behind all this did not dialogue their intentions of more dialogue with the public.

Update:  Here is an interview CKOK radio did with the NG minister responsible for the culture on the public consultation and the cultural center itself.  Inuktitut first as it should be.

Who’s on first is playing again on the Labrador coast.

Remember yesterday I mentioned that the Astron was heading back to Goose Bay from Rigolet instead of doing the advertised scheduled run up the coast.

The word that came from our MHA after talking to someone at WST was that Astron unloaded some equipment in Rigolet and was going back to Goose Bay to empty out the shed of freight and head back up calling into Makkovik then points north.

I was thinking that was a load of BS……………….. turns out it was a load of BS.

Issued this morning on the CIA- Nunatsiavut we site is that the Astron has an ETA of 6:00 am Nain on the 29th, then ports south to Lewisport.

I will capture the report instead of linking as it could change at any moment, Abbott and Costello anyone?

MV Astron (Freighter)

Thursday, Nov. 29th

ETA Nain 06:00 am

Next port(s) of call: Points south to Lewisporte

Well that little warming trend soon got blown away out to sea din it?

+1 yesterday morning to -11 today with -23 wind chill, winds gusting to 76, poor old air line passengers cant get a break.

Going to be icy underfoot, the roads were all slushy snow and ice under yesterday, council was laying sand on hilly areas, now with all that combined things will be tricky, but what is life without some challenges?

The Aston is due Rigolet 6:30 this morning, if the winds persist it could be held up again on way up coast. Then it has to get back to Lewisport for another run up.

Update: Well the Astron made it to Rigolet, now it is headed back to HV-GB with an ETA of  6:30 pm according to the CAI-Nuntasiavut web site.
No need to panic or get stressed, the government has it all under control.

No fly weekend

with fog, light snow, light rain, low clouds you name it we had it.

In my back and forth twittering with one of the air lines it came to my attention that Nav Canada Wx cams are badly needed and should be installed in all the coastal communities.

Environment Canada often does not give precise information on ceilings and visibility, and with constant changes like this weekends the Wx cams would be an invaluable extra tool for the air lines.

 There are only 4 Wx cams in all of Labrador, two of them on the north coast.

Time for the community councils and other players to start lobbying for this to change. Even if cams are installed outside of Nav Can it would be a way for the airlines to log in and check the local conditions regularly.

Update: Same conditions today as well, same result with airlines not sure if they can get into Nain. 

Big hugs and kisses to our ingutatjusak Carter who is celebrating his 2nd birthday today.

Theres going to be wrapping paper flying all over the place any time soon.

Photos by Aimee, Carter was more taken by the balloons on the ceiling at first, until he and dad opened all the presents.

A very good  article contained in Up Here magazine on the lady who is the power behind Feeding My family Facebook page.

Leesee Papatsie and others are proof positive that individuals can make a difference, and community activist is not a dirty word as some milquetoast brown nosing status quo recidivists around here would have people believe.

Its harp harp harp on marine shipping time again.

Every year this happens, and every year there is more and more reason to harp as every year the service deteriorates.

This year we have the Nunatsiavut government harping (an anomaly of sorts) the concerns that the people on the coast have about receiving the winters freight.

We also have the MHA for the region using social media very well  and speaking to the house and to the minister about the same concerns, plus claiming (I have no reason to doubt the claim) that there is a back log of freight in both Lewisport and Goose Bay.

Then we have silence from the government of the province but doubling troubling is the total silence from the minister responsible for this file. Also troubling is that CIA- Nunatsiavut (the contracted operators of the one vessel left) is saying that there is no backlog.
If it can be proved that there is a backlog then CAI-N should be given a big kick up the arse, they are after all majority owned by the people of the Torngats, rather than a bunch of pencil pushing know bugger all civil servants..

It just highlights the contempt these Island centric politicians have for the people of the Torngats in particular and for Labrador in general.

That folks is my harp harp harp for the day………………… but maybe not seeing as the day has barely begun.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that relations between the Nunatsiavut Government and the Provincial Government continue to be a paternalistic one. No prizes for guessing who is on top has the father figure role.

Since the new Minister of Works and Services took over NG has issued two press releases and numerous other representations (so we are told) pertaining to the state of Marine shipping, not one response, at least that is known to the public, this is the latest presser.

November 21, 2012

For Immediate Release

Concerns continue to rise as shipping season nears end

The Nunatsiavut Government is calling on the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to ensure all freight is shipped to northern Labrador communities before the season comes to an end.

“We have made numerous requests, in writing and verbally, for another vessel to complement the Astron,” says First Minister Darryl Shiwak. “We are at a crucial time in the year when residents and businesses in Nunatsiavut are completely dependent on goods and supplies for the winter. While the provincial government has given us a guarantee that all freight will be delivered, based on our experiences we are very concerned that this will be the case.”

Minister Shiwak says he’s concerned that some freight will be left behind.

“This has been one of the worst years ever for the marine service,” he says. “Given the situation, the Astron is doing a good job, but it can only do so much. If that vessel breaks down, or if there are delays because of weather, then we run the risk of not having essential goods and supplies shipped to our communities this winter.”

The Minister is once again calling on the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to replace the MV Northern Ranger, which broke down in early September, with a new, modern vessel – one that is capable of serving the long-term needs of northern Labrador.

Bert Pomeroy

Director of Communications

Considering the ministers lack of interest on issues in Labrador within his departments mandate I now take back the nice things I said about him when we met at Frans O.N.L investiture. He is like his predecessor, an Island centric partisan hack, albeit less prone to verbal diarrhea.

Sadly this is not the only file where meetings between the two governments lead to zero, in many cases they just lead to layoffs and cut backs in funding for much needed programs and services.

I just wish someone would come out and just put the cards on the table and be truthful about what is going on. Sadly again, governments dont deal in truthfulness and oneness. 

The provincial governments finances are in dire straights, but we continue to be barraged with hype and propergander and its full steam ahead to invest future generations well being in in the folly of Muskrat Falls hydro development.

The overnight and morning temps are not good for this time of year. +4 is the opposite to what most people are looking for. Freezing temps and then lots of snow mid December is the ask.

Stupid formatting again, not it doing it all over again.

Today’s picture of last nights meal has a real purpose. It shows the breaded (my doing) pork tenderloin chops from Northern, reasonable pricing and nice and tender along with what is available for a salad on a Tuesday in Nain. Note: my favorite salad is lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber.

Which leads me to today’s Blog topic:

 Kind of a disrupted day yesterday ending with reasonably good results, time will tell.

Started out I had an 11 O’clock meeting set up with three people from Nutrition North Canada.


No weather delays but airline fleet issues let to the NNC charter leaving Goose Bay later than intended.
So the NNC board of advisers and NNC staff did not arrive in Nain till about 12:45. Lunch dash strategy meeting followed by meetings with other folks had my meeting set back to 5:30, while the three people eat, but that’s OK, got to put some of my thoughts out.

NNC had a public meeting at 7 pm in the NG board room. I think most people were not expecting a great turn out, history tells us that, but lo n behold around 45 people plus the NNC people were in attendance, standing room only and chivalry is a thing of the past. Age justified my seat.

It was an eclectic mix of people, about 50 50 of local residents and a lot of women who I have no clue who they were. I suspect most worked in health field either for NG or Labrador Grenfell Health. There was defiantly more NG department people that others, but that is the way it should be. Well not less others but NG staff have been notoriously missing at many public meetings that are in their field of interest.

Each retail store had representatives present and the heads of NG and Community Governments were present, and rightly so.

What came out of all this? Time will tell as usual, but there was a good exchange of ideas and concerns and the NNC people had a chance to see first hand the good and the ugly of the stores we shop in daily.

Noticed were little or no labeling of many of the NNC subsidy items in one store in particular (BigLand). Dated items like bread (best before Nov 9, store not stated). They noticed the ridiculously small and unattractive space at the back of the store (BigLand) where fruits and vegetables are displayed.
Also noticed was lack of product and the state of product on display (Bigland). Mind you it was a week since the last shipment, but nothing was on sale to help move it off the shelf.

Also noticed were the discrepancies of prices between stores on many items covered under the NNC and provincial subsidies.
A lively discussion insured over this at the public meeting, not sure if the explanations were all that well received by the public. But NNC seemed to be listening.

Will update later.

Later:  Kind of a disrupted day yesterday ending with reasonably good results, time will tell.

Started out I had an 11 O’clock meeting set up with three people from Nutrition North Canada.


No weather delays but airline fleet issues let to the NNC charter leaving Goose Bay later than intended.
So the NNC board of advisors and NNC staff did not arrive in Nain till about 12:45. Lunch dash strategy meeting followed by meetings with other folks had my meeting set back to 5:30, while the three people eat, but that’s OK, got to put some of my thoughts out.

NNC had a public meeting at 7 pm in the NG board room. I think most people were not expecting a great turn out, history tells us that, but lo n behold around 45 people plus the NNC people were in attendance, standing room only and chivalry is a thing of the past. Age justified my seat.

It was an eclectic mix of people, about 50 50 of local residents and a lot of women who I have no clue who they were. I suspect most worked in health field either for NG or Labrador Grenfell Health. There was defiantly more NG department people that others, but that is the way it should be. Well not less others but NG staff have been notoriously missing at many public meetings that are in their field of interest.

Each retail store had representatives present and the heads of NG and Community Governments were present, and rightly so.

What came out of all this? Time will tell as usual, but there was a good exchange of ideas and concerns and the NNC people had a chance to see first hand the good and the ugly of the stores we shop in daily.

Noticed were little or no labelling of many of the NNC subsidy items in one store in particular (BigLand). Dated items like bread (best before Nov 9, store not stated). They noticed the ridiculously small and unattractive space at the back of the store (BigLand) where fruits and vegetables are displayed.
Also noticed was lack of product and the state of product on display (Bigland). Mind you it was a week since the last shipment, but nothing was on sale to help move it off the shelf.

Also noticed were the discrepancies of prices between stores on many items covered under the NNC and provincial subsidies.
A lively discussion insured over this at the public meeting, not sure if the explanations were all that well received by the public. But NNC seemed to be listening.


To encapsulate; NNC officials are not up to speed on the vagaries and differences of the workings of the NNC program in Labrador compared to elsewhere in the north.

THAT IS NOT SURPRISING WHEN YOU CONCIDER THAT IT COST nnc $1,000,000 TO SHIP 600,000 KG OF FREIGHT INTO LABRADOR AND  11,000,4000 KG OF FREIGHT WORTH $30,7000,000 WAS SHIPPED INTO NUNAVUT IN 2011-2012 YEAR.

I GET THE IMPRESSION THAT NNC OFFICIALS AND ADVISORY BOARD ARE LOOKING AND LISTENING.

THEY ARE TO MEET WITH PROVINCIAL, NG, RETAILERS AND WHOLESALERS IN GOOSE BAY. SO HOPEFULLY SOME ANSWERS WILL BE FOR COMING AS TO WHY THE TWO WHOLESALES HAVE A MONOPOLY ON NNC SHIPPING INTO THE COMMUNITY AND WHY THE RETAILERS ARE NOT INVOLVED IN THE PROGRAM.  IN OTHER AREAS OF THE NORTH PEOPLE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ORDER FROM SOUTHERN SUPPLIERS IF THE SO CHOOSE.

THE DIRECTOR GENIAL OF AANDC AND NNC SUGGESTED THAT THE COMMUNITIES IN NUNATSIAVUT START HAVING COMMUNITY DIALOGS ON MANY OF THE VAGARIES OF NNC, THE PROVINCIAL PROGRAM, ISSUES WITH PRICE VAGARIES AND THE LIKE. I COULD NOT AGREE WITH HIM MORE.

HE ALSO MENTIONED THE FEEDING MY FAMILY FACE BOOK SITE AND ITS SUCCESS IN GETTING THE NUNAVUT GOVERNMENT AND MANY OF THE RETAILERS  FURTHER NORTH IN STARTING TO REACT TO THE COST OF FOOD AND FOOD SECURITY IN A POSITIVE WAY.

mumbo jumbo

Mumbo jumbo man is back lowering the bar yet again.

Unfortunately this guy has his supporters, both in supporting his behavior at hockey rinks and his attitude to constituents that do not agree with him on the political front.

There is an interesting interview on CBC Lab Morning with a fan who was at the two games where Russell lost his mojo.
 I will post a link when it is up, guys like this have no place in public forums nor government.

Pizza snob

One of my best, but I keep saying that dont I?

This one I took more time over. Focaccia bread dough rolled super thin, caramelized onions, salami, olives, fresh basil, fresh spinach, fresh tomatoes, mushrooms and three cheeses.

I was debating anchovies but decided against, maybe too many taste sensations, will have to find out next time.

Weather is seasonal, still the wind is a bugger, in the minuses for the most part. That is supposed to change mid week with projected high of +6 and low of -3.

Windiest kind of day yesterday, and on the day Carter bear and his fam jam were due to fly in.

First off Nain was out as far as planes landing so fam jam planned to stay home and try again today. Then it was decided that fam jam would get off the plane in Hopedale and fly to Nain Monday.
Mid flight the winds picked up and fam jam and Carter bear could not land in Hopedale so ended up back in Goose Bay.

As to Nain, the winds were brutal. Official 100 clicks with gusts to 105. But, an Environment Canada peep who twitters had the highest gust to 124 clicks for Nain.

I'm inclined to not doubt the EC peep, when we were coming back from the stores Siutik and I were blown backwards and peppered with blowing gravel in one nasty gust.

Good news for local sports fans; the Nain mens Huskies volley ball team won the regional finals yesterday. The finals were played over in Western Labrador. Next stop the Provincial finals.

Update: Carter bear and is fam jam made it in about 12, windy and clear but hell of a lot less wind than yesterday,

Unfortunately G Grandma had time for a quick kiss and a hug and boarded the plane Carter arrived on, she heading for Rigolet for women's group seniors workshops.

A weekend change of pace for brekky. Crepes, snags, strawberries maple syrup.

Couple of local stories regionally speaking.

First one is local, not a big bust as drug busts go but not bad for a town of 1300 removed from any roads and by the way it is going removed from any marine access, but I digress. The other regional and in keeping with how things seem to be spiraling out of control for the once proud mounted Mountie. They are after all only human.

Back to the drug bust, anyone with a functioning brain should be aware that drugs are an issue in this town. How large an issue is not known to me, but I an sure it is known to others, and they apparently are not saying.

The drugs in this bust were packaged ready for re sale, if the authorities got a whiff that the drugs were coming in then does it not stand to reason that it may be known who shipped them?

The alleged perk is just a little cog in the big wheel, which makes me wonder why no discussion is taking place in the province, and indeed the county, along the lines that is taking place in other jurisdictions, namely several states in the US of A at the moment.

I am not a user of any drugs, leaving aside the odd Advil, but there may come a time when medicinal marihuana could be a choice in treating some illness that may come my way. I sure would like to have that option rather than having some of the drugs within the status quo medical profession fostered on me.

We I had a break from cooking last evening and had a nice meal and wine at the Atsanik, only gone just over two hours and when we came home Siutik was all sooky and all over me as if we had been gone six weeks.

Something a little different (for us) last evening; wineless chicken cacciatore, having no wine I substituted beer.

The Astron is creeping its way up the coast leaving damaged freight and not leaving freight as it goes.

In one part a ski doo destined for a port further up the coast was dropped from height onto the deck, pity the poor bugger who is waiting for it.

In Hopedale one of the relatives was anxiously waiting for a new washer to arrive. They had been without a washer for some time so excitement was in the air when they were informed that said washer was on the boat.

After the boat departed and the relative went looking for the washer it was discovered there was no washer, it was still on the boat.

Now the washer goes rest of the way up the coast and back down the coast to Lewisport then up the coast again and this time hopefully dropped off (not literally) in Hopedale.

The sad part is that these two incidences described above are not an anomaly, they are more the norm.

I hear that the last day to ship goods out of Lewisport and anywhere else is this Friday.

This is another anomaly as in all previous years the closure dates varied between Lewisport and Goose Bay and the coast.

He never did did e?




And the guy under the bus does not know anything about it either. Mind you a comfortable and lucrative place to be under the CNLOPB bus

Yesterday started out fine and dandy weather wise. Planes on the go playing catch up with passengers both ways and freight coming into the coast. The provincial court circuit staff had been stuck here since Friday.

Then sort of out of the blue a front moved in with light snow and closed down on Nain and other communities. Planes had to deal with freezing conditions at altitude, some turned back to Goose Bay and others who were closer to their destinations and found holes in the clouds got down safely.

On the water things were status quo, nothing moving.
The Astron had been at the dock in Goose Bay storm bound, it had an ETA Rigolet of 7pm last evening.

The fund raiser for the Seniors Van mentioned yesterday realized $1,538:50.
Kudos to all those who organized and worked hard to put this on and to the people who donated food items or cash.

Now here is a great recipe just geared to today's rush rush world (not), poached eggs that take up to 2 hours to cook. Or perhaps it is geared to today's uber rich who can place an order a day ahead and pop in for breky on the way to the hairdresser.

Today is PP day, Our beleaguered Member in Ottawa is going to explain all the overspending and alleged illegal fund raising during the last election to his constituents some time today.

From what I can ascertain on social media no media are invited, there is no venue set and no time st for this great revelation.

Important upertydate:  
On PP day, lady was just on CBC Labrador morning, she called PP this morning as he had not replied to her e mail of last week asking where and when the explanation would be.

PP told said lady that he had meet with some people last evening and is intending on meeting with some more people today.
Lady asked about a public meeting, PP said if any one want to contact him they can either e mail him, sent a snail mail or call his cell phone, he gave her his cell number.

The hole is getting deeper, time to start back fill by sound of things.

Super duper important upertydate:

PP had no intentions of meeting with his constituents as he had most of the country believe. Instead he issues a press release.
Talk about PP Pee Peeing allover his constituents and pushing his election official agent under the bus.
By that criteria I guess his ex official agent has no business in the job he was appointed to after PP won the election.

Windy weekend getting up to 100 k gusts, kept planes grounded to all the coast and the freight boat Astron was delayed leaving Goose Bay.

Spent Sunday moving some snow but mostly doing some baking for a fund raiser event today.  Peanut butter choc chip cookies and baguettes are pictured.

The recreation department of the town council acquired funds to purchase a van to aid seniors in getting around town for appointments and the like. The bulk of the funds to purchase the van came from the International Grenfell Association.

The funds came up a bit short by about 8 grand, so there is a fund raising program that will be on going as wages for a driver and such have to be found yet.

Today in the school gym a bake sale along with soup and chilli and stuff will start at noon. I am told the van will be on display as well, she came in on the last freight boat. Lots of little things to be worked out on the operation of the van so it wont be put into service until next summer.

Update:  Droped off the donations at the gym, lots of goodies coming in prior to the sale, checked out the van which is parked outside the entrance.