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Wednesday, July 16, 1997 Fee makes sense
If anything, the new $10 fee territorial parks now charge for use of boat launches and overnight parking is not enough.
Given that a recent survey determined that frequent users would pay as much as $50, we think park afficionados got off easy. As well, the government showed unexpected restraint in not over-taxing Northern residents and tourists for use of some of the most beautiful parkland anywhere.
But in order for the new fee-for-use system to work, people who use the launches and parking stalls must know the fee exists.
The government, perhaps, would be better off increasing the fee slightly in order to purchase some advertising and signage that would alert users to the new fee.
These days the people of Yellowknife are reminded just how fragile a grip they have on their own future. Once again the price of gold has taken a nosedive -- the deepest in 12 years -- and there is no sign of relief on the horizon.
Faith in the law of economic gravity -- what goes down must come up -- will get us through.
In the meantime, we can contemplate the vagaries of life in a single-engine economy and the problem of living at the mercy of the mining industry. Just remember: we've made it through this before and we'll make it again.
Ask anyone. It didn't matter whether you agreed with his politics. Jim Evoy commanded respect because, unlike so many of today's leaders, he believed what he said. He stood for what he believed. And he always knew where to stand.
Such clarity of vision is rare today in part because of the confusion that comes with changing times, particularly in the political realm. Everywhere we turn, the cry of "think globally" is heard. But only a few, Evoy among them, bothered to act locally.
It hasn't been easy for those who still believe in the worth of the common man. They rail against the forces of transnational corporatism, a steamroller that cares only about free trade and efficiency, not the ordinary workers who must pay the price of transition, only to be ignored by an apathetic public.
While the corporate agenda has brought many benefits to some, and seems to have finally halted the deficit-driven fiscal madness of the last 20 years, it has also left labor and social movements with precious little support. And now, in the North, those movements have also lost one of the most committed and capable of leaders.
The Jim Evoys of this world haven't been winning too many battles of late. But Evoy never seemed to lose faith. He ran, unsuccessfully, for a seat in the legislative assembly in the last election, and was disappointed by his defeat. But he went on to lead the unofficial opposition outside the legislature.
Just days before his death, he was rallying public opposition to the MLAs' clothing allowance proposal, yet more evidence, he said, that the MLAs have lost touch with the people they represent.
Agree or disagree with his politics. Just don't accuse him of being out of touch. Evoy was a man of the people, and it was that connection that kept him on course, even in the face of defeat.
We greatly fear the North will never see another man like him.
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