Hay River Mayor Jack Rowe seems to have declared war on Yellowknife. A recent edition of News/North contained a half-page advertisement that featured a cartoon showing Yellowknife grabbing all the economic opportunities that come North.
The ad was paid for by the Town of Hay River and was approved by the town's council.
According to Rowe, the ad cost a lot less than the $25,000 that Yellowknife donated to the Friends of Democracy.
While Rowe's arithmetic is accurate, his thinking is a little less acute. The City of Yellowknife is supporting Friends of Democracy in their pursuit of fair and equal representation in the legislative assembly.
The cartoon ad does nothing more than overstate the already obvious, that there are certain advantages to living in the capital.
The capital of any jurisdiction is, by definition, the centre of power. With that power comes the economic levers.
Rowe's indignation over the subject is unwarranted but not particularly surprising. Bashing the centres of power is a time-honoured tradition in Canada. The communities mistrust Yellowknife, Yellowknife bashes Ottawa and everybody hates Toronto.
The tactic is usually employed to either deflect blame or rally the constituents around a sure-fire popular issue in the absence of anything more progressive to debate.
Here in Yellowknife, we might as well get used to it. As the court case over the number of ridings draws closer, we can expect more flak.
Councillor Robert Slaven might want to re-think his over-reaction to the advertisement. It is a stretch to equate one town's resentment over the allocation of resources to the unimaginable horrors of Kosovo.
A reasoned discussion over transferring some government services to the communities is always welcome. The anticipated influx of federal employees to the North also merits examination.
Mayor Rowe's participation is welcome.
It's good news to hear organizers of this year's Caribou Carnival cleared their hurdle with the city over where to hold this year's snowmobile races.
The Great Slave Snowmobile Association was surprised to learn that the city, concerned over the safety of holding the races on Frame Lake, had tentatively set them to take place on Vee Lake.
No doubt, organizers were a little put off with this new location, especially when the carnival itself, including the concession operators and crowds, will all be over at the main Frame Lake site.
It's good to see the city and the snowmobile association worked together to find a better solution. Now, with the snowmobile club agreeing to increase its insurance policy, the races are back to where they should be.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
We're now just five short days from the big election and, as the time grows ever closer, as a journalist who has covered elections at the municipal, provincial and federal levels, I'm troubled by some of what I see in the Keewatin.
In the months leading up to the election, there have been some occasions, albeit few in a public forum styled setting, for residents to take the opportunity to really grill candidates on their platforms and where they stand on specific issues.
However, this has not been the case throughout most of the Keewatin, at least not to the level it should have been. Although a worthy topic to some degree, there are far more important issues to be dealt with than that of artificial ice -- and this comes from a hockey playing fanatic.
Health care, schooling, housing, decentralization, proper training and, oh yes, a little matter of a $30 million slush fund the new MLAs will be deciding what to do with, are all issues of grave importance, which the vast majority of candidates have danced around without really addressing the issues and where they stand on them.
How many of the election hopefuls are really 100 per cent behind the Nunavut government's plan for decentralization and know the costs involved? How many know the statistics on other government's attempts at decentralization and how they worked out?
Take a moment to think about the candidates in your riding and what they've really told you they'd like to accomplish if elected. Forget if Sam (a name picked entirely out of thin air and in no way is meant to represent any of the candidates either by name of nickname) grew up in your neighbourhood and you've known he or she a really long time.
Is Sam really the right person for the job? Which candidate's position do you understand the most and which candidate do you believe can do your community the most good?
It's tough on election day, separating one's personal feelings from one's logic and common sense. However, too many people still vote with their hearts in this country, rather than their minds.
While every election across the land is important in its own right, the first to elect Nunavut's leaders is of extreme importance and destined to be of historical significance. Will the history books tell us the people of Nunavut elected a strong, determined government which led the territory confidently, yet cautiously, into a new century?
Or, will they tell us those elected were done so through popularity and proximity and doomed to fail at their task?
The success of our upcoming election is made even more important by the eyes of literally thousands of onlookers whose own paths will be made all the more smoother or rockier by Nunavut's ultimate success or failure.
Come next Monday, hopefully, the vast majority of Nunavut's residents will exercise their right to vote. And, hopefully, they will exercise that right with their minds, not their hearts. After all, the hearts have already spoken. Nunavut has become a reality. And, while the heart must always have a voice, the mind must always have the final say.