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Guy Quenneville
Monday, March 03, 2008
Cold weather heats up business
Ikaluktutiak/Cambridge Bay
Chilly winter weather has been keeping the folks at Jago Services hopping over the past few weeks.
"It's been so cold, lots of sewer lines have been freezing up," said Ronald Wilcox, an apprentice plumber with the company.
"The cold is what's keeping us busy."
Jago has about a dozen employees on staff that do plumbing, heating and electrical services throughout the Kitikmeot region.
- Jennifer Obleman
Breaking borders
Yellowknife-based Life Care Planning has teamed up with Communication Care Speech & Language Services, also based in Yellowknife, to offer the first independently operated telehealth service in the North.
Marion Hutton, an occupational therapist, purchased the video conference equipment last year, allowing patients in remote NWT communities to converse privately with a pathologist.
Wendy MacDonald, a speech-language pathologist and the owner of Communication Care, has been providing speech-language therapy via telehealth since October.
"Clients who are using these services have been very happy and we have seen some excellent progress," said MacDonald.
Expenditures down
The Northwest Territories is the only territory or province in Canada whose overall capital expenditures will decrease in 2008 - and it's a significant dip, according to information recently released by Statistics Canada. Expenditures in the NWT will decrease this year by 17.4 per cent and total $1.5 billion.
The release said the hit could be attributed in large part to the fact that the Snap Lake Diamond Mine's construction is essentially completed.
The province to make the highest gain was Manitoba.
Not quite retired
Arviat
Homer Obszarski has a funny idea of "semi-retirement," as he calls it.
The 62-year-old works 35 to 40 hours a week at Padlei Co-op in Arviat, tending to fresh produce and deli meats. He said he couldn't imagine quitting work cold turkey; he likes to stay busy.
"I like dealing with the people and seeing them look satisfied when they leave," said Obszarski.