May 6, 2005 - Government of the Northwest Territories

THE
May 2005
Volume 9 • Issue 5
F A C T S
A NEWSLETTER FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE
GOVERNMENT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Yellowknife Airport Improvements
Get Off the Ground
Contributed by Caitlin Cleveland
Anyone who goes to Yellowknife Airport
these days will probably notice a lot of activity
happening around and inside the passenger
terminal building. It’s a busy place.
“In terms of passenger traffic, we are the
18th busiest airport in all of Canada,” says
Marvin Ringham, Manager of Buildings and
Planning with the department’s Airports
Division. “Yellowknife Airport not only
provides service to the city of Yellowknife, but
is an air transportation hub and gateway for
the entire North.”
A total of 380,000 passengers passed
through the airport in 2003. That number
is expected to continue to grow by six to
seven per cent annually, well above the
national average. Combined with new
federal requirements for changes to security
measures, it became clear – improvements to
the passenger terminal building were going to
be needed. The Department of Transportation
got busy.
The requirement to install a checkedbaggage
screening system at all major airports
in Canada by January 1, 2006, was the main
driver. The need to renovate and expand
part of the building to do that allowed the
opportunity to add other improvements to
help deal with the congestion and growth
issues. The result? An $11.2 million project
intended to improve security and passenger
facilities, give airlines more room to park, deice
their aircraft and enhance the public vehicle
parking area.
This year the main portion of the project
started in April with the installation of a
factory-built, single-story annex at the south
end of the existing terminal designed to
contain administration offices and the nonsecure
departure lounge. As well, an addition
will be built to the north end of the terminal
to house the checked-baggage screening
system.
Passengers will see a second, inbound
baggage claim, new passenger
check-in counters, airline office space
and an expansion of the main departure
lounge, which, for the first time, will
have washrooms and food and beverage
services for passengers who have already
cleared security. For fans of Dennis and
Vivian Squires’ food – don’t worry! The
Navigator will stay where it is, with minor
enhancements.
Plans also call for energy conservation
upgrades such as revolving doors at the
public entrances and air curtains on the
overhead doors in the outbound baggage
area designed to keep warm air inside and
cold air out. These measures are expected to
not only save energy, but also significantly
reduce current operating costs.
While the work to the vehicle parking
area was completed last fall, parking
considerations in a project like this aren’t
just for the automobiles. On April 2, First
Air and Canadian North converted their jet
aircraft parking operations from power-in,
power-out to power-in, push-out. Combined
with turbo-prop aircraft parking relocations,
parking positions for aircraft will increase
from seven to 10. Additionally, the north
apron will be increased in size to relieve
congestion at peak periods and provide an
area for aircraft de-icing operations.
Projects of this magnitude need time to
be completed. “We’re very excited,” says
Michel Lafrance, Airport Manager.
“We know renovations will likely cause some
occasional inconvenience for passengers,
employees and other airport users, but
efforts are being made to ensure work will
happen in phases and during off-peak hours
as much as possible to keep the impact on
normal operations to a minimum.”
continued on
Birthday’s panel...

Carole Tetlow, an architect employed with
Public Works and Services from 1986, discovered
her passion for glass while viewing the stained
glass windows of the Agia Sofia in Istanbul. This
sparked a long-term love affair with glass that
today has resulted in a two-kiln formed glass
operation for this talented artist.
Carole left the North briefly to follow her
passion and study kiln formed glass and glass
blowing in New Zealand and Toronto. Her
dedication to creativity and art was recognized
during this time by winning numerous awards. She
then returned to both the GNWT and to bring her
creativity back North.
Her immaculate creations begin as foggy ideas
that are loosely transformed into sketches. From
there, Carole turns the two-dimensional concept
into a three-dimensional wax sculpture embalmed
in plaster. The wax is then melted away to have a
plaster mould remain. A carefully chosen palette of
glass is laid with the mould in the kiln where the
pieces can remain for up to a week as the glass is
melted with temperatures around 500°C.
During the next week, the temperature slowly
comes back down to about 25°C to allow the glass
to cool. Too great a variance in glass temperatures
throughout the piece and the resulting stress may
cause the whole piece to shatter – and then she’s
back to square one. It’s not unusual for weeks
and weeks of intensive work to produce just one
perfect work of art.
Carole’s intricate sculptures are a strong
representation of her inner playful essence
OF OUR OWN
Carole Tetlow –
Architect and Artist Extraordinaire
combined with northern legends and global
mythology. This combination often results in new
legends that, while they maintain strong ties to
the North and its people, they have added twist
and turns courtesy of Carole’s imagination.
Her work has been showcased in Seattle,
Toronto, Montreal, and in the Northern Frontier
Visitors’ Centre and the Yellowknife ArtsWalk.
While we’re glad Carole works during the
day using her sense of flair to plan and develop
community facilities in towns and hamlets across
the NWT, it’s nice to know that she also shines
outside of her office bringing her intricate art
form for all to appreciate.
Contributed by Caitlin Cleveland
Photo credit Caitlin Cleveland
Keeping Tracks Keeping Tracks Keeping Track
Justice
Community Justice would like to bid a fond
farewell to Darcy Fleury, who is going back to
the RCMP detachment in Yellowknife after a
three-year secondment as Acting Director of
Community Justice. Darcy, you’ll be missed!
Welcome back Shirley Kemeys-Jones as the
Director of Community Justice. After a three
year absence from the division, it’s wonderful to
have her back. Finally, we say a sad goodbye to
Kim Walker, who is leaving her position as the
Victim’s Program Intern with Community Justice
on April 22 to have a baby. We wish her all the
best with her new ‘lil Squawker Walker.
HSS
HSS is pleased to announce the following
appointments and welcome the following
employees: Graeme Woods, Policy Analyst;
Robert Hopkins, Manager of Family Services in
Yellowknife; and welcoming over from Stanton,
Geela Qaqqasiq, Human Resources Officer.
Fond farewells and all the best to Deanna
Twissel as she moves on to the private sector.
Carol Walsh is moving on to Calgary and
is wished well, as is Audrey Enge and Tara
Johnstone in their new positions! Farewell to
Angela Messier – but she’s not going too far.
Angela rejoins Stanton Territorial Hospital and is
wished all the best in her new position.
And sadly, HSS would like to announce,
that our very dear colleague, Cathy Praamsma,
is leaving us for the “lure” of Ottawa, after a
lifetime of living in Yellowknife. We will all miss
her very much.
The only consolation is that she will be
working with the Northern Secretariat and
will be travelling across the North in her new
position, so we may catch a few moments with
her now and again. Thank you, Cathy. Enjoy
your new position!
April 4, 2005, while Mark Warren is on leave to
travel the world! Welcome!
ENR
A new employee for a new department!
Environment and Natural Resources would
like to welcome Doug Villeneuve, Renewable
Resource Officer II in Fort Liard.
ITI
Not to be outdone, the other new kid on
the block, Industry, Tourism and Investment
would like to welcome new employees Mike
Watson, Business Loans Officer, and Joseph
Nayally, Regional Petroelum Advisor in Fort
Simpson.
WCB
Goodbye to Tanya Klein, Sarah Scott and
Patricia Austin from the crew at WCB. Tanya
is moving on to BC, Sarah to the Housing
Corp. and Pat joins Stanton Territorial Hospital
as Pay and Benefits Officer. All the best you
three!
Nancy Gardiner joins the WCB Appeals
Tribunal staff from MAA. Welcome.
PWS
Welcome to Jeff Wowk (an old Sir John
Franklin alumni) as Intern Web Developer. Jeff
recently graduated from NAIT with a diploma
in Computer Engineering in 2004, having
worked the previous two summers with Justice
as a Systems Officer.
Grin and Bear It Reveal!
We stumped many of you with
either one or the other of these
gals! They are none other than
Charlotte Babicki, now with PWS, and
Mary Savas, ITI. Congratulations to
Debbora Buck-Colburn, who was the
first to correctly guess both!
Cathy Praamsma
MAA
Amy O’Neill has moved on from the
Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs to seek futher
challenges working for Aurora College in
Fort Smith. We wish her well!
A special warm welcome from the staff
at MAA and the Executive to Jake Heron,
who has agreed to act as ADM effective
Ted Karanka
After over 15 years of service with the
GNWT, Ted Karanka has retired!
Ted started with the GNWT in 1990
working with PWS in Iqaluit as Project Officer
for four years, then moved to the Fort Smith
Region and took on the role of Senior Project
Officer for the next seven years.
Ted moved to Hay River in May 2001 to
work with Public Works and Services on a
temporary basis, which lasted four years.
During this time Ted acted in the Regional
Project Manager position and held the
position of Senior Project Officer.
PWS is sure that they will not be the only
ones who will miss Ted. Join them as they wish
him well on his retirement to his houseboat in
BC. All the best Ted. We’ll certainly miss you!
The Bear Facts – It’s your newsletter! Questions? Comments? Suggestions? We’d love to hear from you. Send us a fax us @ (867) 873-0629 or drop us a line at bearfacts@gov.nt.ca

Welcome our Newest Professionals
Although midwifery is certainly not a new
vocation, the GNWT officially passed the
Midwifery Profession Act in October 2003
to establish a licensing process to formally
recognize these dedicated professionals to
practice in the Northwest Territories.
Through the rebirth of community-based
midwifery in Fort Smith, two individuals, Lesley
Paulette and Gisele Becker, played key roles,
along with the Midwifery Implementation
Committee, in developing the current
legislation.
Offering comprehensive care during
pregnancy, birth and post-partum, midwifery
combines an understanding of the social,
emotional, cultural, spiritual, psychological and
physical aspects of a woman’s reproductive
experience. Traditionally, midwives promote
wellness in women, babies and families
in collaboration with other health care
professionals.
Gisela Becker and Fort Smith family celebrate
their newest edition.
Wendy Baker,
currently Manager of
Obstetrics and Pediatrics
at Stanton Territorial
Hospital, is the first
registered midwife in
the NWT. She is pleased
that midwives will now
be part of the team
caring for women
in the childbearing
year. Wendy told us,
Lesley Paulette and
Mackenzie Villeneuve
in Fort Smith.
“I am really looking forward to having
registered midwives as a part of our OBS
team.”
Midwives Gisela Becker and Lesley
Paulette, currently the only other registered
midwives in the NWT, are employed by
the Fort Smith Health and Social Services
Authority.
Both Gisela and Lesley have been in
the Fort Smith area for years, working
passionately on behalf of families in
their community. Currently they are both
working to develop a new program to
introduce midwifery services at the Fort
Smith Health Centre. They’re excited about
the opportunity to make midwifery services
accessible to women in the community.
We welcome these latest professionals
to our health care teams here in the NWT.
It’s one more step to be sure the right care
is provided by the right professional at the
right time.
Yellowknife Airport Improvements (continued from front panel)
Chances are that sometime during the next nine months or so, whether travelling on GNWT
business, for volunteer work, or just for the fun of it, you’ll get an opportunity to view this work in
progress. Remember, the end result will be a safer, more enjoyable experience for everyone using
this important link in the NWT transportation system.
FAST FACTS and STATISTICS Yellowknife Airport
Fact
Statistics
Airport gross land area
Runways
Air carriers (using the Passenger Terminal Building)
Air carriers (not using the Passenger Terminal Building)
Expeditors
560 ha
Two
Four
Seven
Two
Airport employees (GNWT and others) 1,200
Annual total airport passengers ~380,000 in 2003
Number of certified airports in Canada 726
Rank of some other airports
(*Rank of airports is in comparison to the 100 busiest
airports in Canada by Statistics Canada)
Freight/mail traffic by air carriers at YZF
(4) Calgary, AB (18) Yellowknife Airport
(5) Edmonton, AB (20) London, ON
(14) Saskatoon, SK (23) Fort McMurray, AB
(17) Thunder Bay, ON (29) Grande Prairie, AB
~23,000 tonnes in 2003 (Ranked 10th in Canada)
Last renovation project to Yellowknife (YZF) 1988
Number of passengers at Yellowknife Airport ~190,000 in 1988
~350,000 in 2002
Number of airports in Top 20 in Canada that have
undergone major expansions or renovations since 1988
18 of 20
Exceptions are Montreal (Mirabel) and Yellowknife