The city expects to rake in more than half a million dollars next year from the $5 infrastructure levy that is now applied to each water bill.

That's a fair bit of money, but then, the money is supposed to pay for replacing water and sewer lines, which are expensive items in any city.

Council has kicked this one around every once a while since the fee's inception three years ago. Inevitably, the decision is made to keep the levy on the books for another year, usually because alderman have trouble coming up with an alternative source for the revenue it brings in.

But rookie Ald. Kevin O'Reilly did bring a viable option to the table last week, and although it was dismissed by the majority of council, his proposal deserves more study.

O'Reilly wants to see the utility taxation system encourage water conservation, rather than consumption.

As it stands, all the flat taxes and surcharges mean there is precious little incentive to cut back on water consumption. And yet, water doesn't come cheap. Heating water is expensive, both economically and environmentally, and even the cold variety needs a little boost in our climate.

Conserving water makes sense, involves only marginal investment in home technological fixes such as low-flow shower heads and toilet water dams -- fixes that pay for themselves in a matter of months -- and would save the city money in the long run by avoiding future network expansion.

Perhaps the city should consider replacing the infrastructure replacement levy itself with higher basic rates, possibly even a progressive rate that rises for heavy users.

If the rate were carefully calculated to bring in the same revenue even after city users reduced their consumption, we'd still be able to afford the replacements needed now.

Yes, Goo Arlooktoo followed the wishes of Keewatin residents in the end, but at what cost?

Taxpayers still don't know why the GNWT tried to ram through the pipeline. It's likely they will never know why. They will also likely never know why it was necessary for a barrage of GNWT officials to travel to at least three Keewatin communities in recent weeks at the expense of the taxpayers. The wishes of Keewatin residents were already clear in the $100,000 report commissioned by the GNWT last year. That report recommended maintaining the status quo.

Ironically, Arlooktoo referred to this finding in a press release on Thursday when he announced that the pipeline project was off until 1999.

The resupply strategy recommended by the Keewatin Marine Resupply Steering Committee called for government to "work towards implementing a direct delivery system beginning in 1999 and to eliminate NTCL as carrier of choice designation for delivering government freight." So, if the GNWT already spent $100,000 to find that taxpayers didn't want a change to the system until after 1999, why try to push the project through this fall?

Is this really how a responsible government does business?

It seems that the original report was regarded with little credence -- as useful as a bookend.

Yes, the important thing is they got what they wanted in the end, but it was only after what can only be called a public outcry.

If nothing else, the Keewatin pipeline controversy has brought a very important issue to the forefront -- the need for public involvement in the decision-making process.

And judging from the goings-on in the Eastern Arctic in recent months and NTI's establishment of a shadow cabinet, it would seem that public input has never been more necessary.

The people of the Keewatin who wouldn't accept the pipeline proposal at face value and demanded answers, stands as an example for other members of the electorate who far too often trust the government with acting in their best interests. (From NNSL's Kivalliq News)

Teetering on the brink of extinction, Caribou Carnival has been saved for another year.

A handful of Yellowknifers showed up at an eleventh-hour meeting and from there enough volunteers came forward to make another Carnival possible.

Now is the time for all those Yellowknifers who howled in outrage at the thought that one of the city's great traditions was in jeopardy to come forward.

With the Arctic Winter Games in town, Yellowknifers will have to dig deep to keep Caribou Carnival alive.