Most of the economic fallout of the division of the territories has produced extra costs for the taxpayers. Two territorial governments where one used to be will be expensive, particularly as political leaders and bureaucrats explore innovations in running Nunavut.

Folding two levels of the territorial court system into one, then, would seem to be an ingenious method of saving money. With only 22,000 people to oversee, both a territorial and Supreme Court may be a bit of an overkill.

There will be numerous objections raised by the legal establishment trained on and accustomed to the existing system, which divides the most serious crimes from the lesser ones. But the truth is the existing system is as abritrary as any other, and there is no fundamental reason why one court can't do the job.

Among the logical consequences of a unified court is the transfer of increased responsibility to the justices of the peace, which are often considered the frontline of the judicial process.

Justices of the peace are usually members of the community who know their homes well, not southern-born-and-bred judges who can only do their best to be sensitive to the unique demands of the North. Indeed, in a perfect world, justices of the peace would make for ideal candidates for the bench.

Of course, justices of the peace are not judges, and for good reason. They have neither the training nor the authority to interpret the law. But that doesn't mean that, with appropriate education, they can't handle more responsibility.

That's just what JPs at a recent conference on the future of Nunavut's justice said. Many appear to be ready to assume a larger role in the judicial system, handling the minor cases that tend to bog down territorial courts.

We agree. Provided that the training is good enough, Nunavut's JPs could find themselves involved in a fascinating experiment in tearing down some of the barriers between our people and our courts.

More than a few Northern students are probably sleeping a lot sounder these days after learning that the NWT student aid forum came out against the idea of cutting back on the amount of money the government spends on their education.

It would have been an easy solution, but the forum wisely chose to recommend tightening up the rules of eligibility instead. Without guaranteed universal access to post-secondary education, the future of the North would be a grim one.

Asking students to take their studies seriously is not an unreasonable request. For just as we cannot afford to deny anyone an education, neither can we afford to allow anyone to waste our money if they can't stick to the books.