It was not so long ago that the Yellowknife Gymnastics Club was in deep trouble.
With the construction going on at Weledeh Catholic school for the coming year, the club was forced to move out of their old home - - the school's gym - - and find a new place to run their programs.
The problem was, the club could not find that place. With no facility, you can't run any programs and with no programs there can be no club.
However, that won't be happening thanks to an arrangement worked out with the City of Yellowknife.
The deal allows the club to use a 6,000 square foot warehouse located at 333 Old Airport Road. The club will pay rent and be responsible for operations and maintenance of the building. They will also be responsible for bringing the warehouse up to present building codes.
It's a good deal but not a perfect one for the club because the city is still trying to sell the building. For that reason, the club is only guaranteed they will have the building on a month-to-month basis. But indications are the club is pretty secure for this season.
If that turns out to be the case, the city will have done the club a big favour. And in a way, the city will have done Yellowknifers a big favour as well.
With the Giant mine layoffs, the city doesn't need to deal with close to 200 kids who normally join the club every year to be disappointed.
The warehouse deal has solved that problem for the present. Thankfully, it looks like this is one potential loss Yellowknife won't have to endure.
Our six-figure skateboard park is just for exhibition - not for competition.
The city has poured over $100,000 worth of concrete into the facility, but local skaters found out recently they can't hold competitions in the park.
In order to hold any "special event," like a skateboard competition, a special insurance rider is required and that costs $2,500, money they didn't have.
That didn't stop the 100 local sidewalk surfers from making a day of it in the park.
Kudos to these kids who took it upon themselves to bring in their own ramps and local business kicked in for helmets and prizes to make the day for the skaters.
Yellowknife gardeners who are now enjoying the fruits of their labour from the Yellowknife Community Garden Collective should be commended for going that extra mile.
The garden, which allows dozens of local gardening fanatics the chance to grow their own produce, also saw half of the crops produced going to supper tables of the community's needy.
With winter well on its way, it's a sure thing that the potatoes, beets, cabbage, turnips, chard and other offerings donated to the Yellowknife Women's Centre and the Salvation Army will be well received.
Now, if we could just find the idiot who stole the collective's scarecrow, we would remove the only blight on this year's crop.
Editorial Comment
Daniel MacIsaac
Inuvik Drum
The spirit of co-operation with which the Beaufort Sea 2000 conference took place was truly inspiring.
While it can sometimes be difficult to see immediate results from such conventions, it can't be denied the level of co-operation between the communities, Inuvialuit organizations and Canada's scientists appears to be alive and well. It makes one realize how far these relationships have evolved over the last few decades and continue to evolve.
Organizers said this conference represented a breakthrough, in that half the delegates -- both adult and student -- came from the six settlement communities.
One thing I've noticed in my relatively short time in the North is the level of comfort among aboriginal groups and non-aboriginals when it comes to discussing and implementing resource management strategies. I'm sure there's a long way to go, but Beaufort 2000 looks like it will only enhance that willingness to co-operate.
Inuvik appears to be attracting more scientific projects and expeditions that ever, both from within this country and from abroad, so that there'll only be a greater need for co-operation is the direction we're headed in. Of course, politics will play its part -- and in Inuvik there are multiple levels of government to contend with -- but they've all indicated they're aware of the need for a greater voice from the communities in deciding how natural resources are to be utilized.
Many conference-goers spoke of the impressive performance of the youth delegates. And while they, too, have a long way to go in perfecting their knowledge and techniques, at least they're being exposed to this spirit of sharing among different interest groups.
In a closing address to the conference, Steve Blasco, an engineer with Natural Resources Canada out of Dartmouth, N.S., said he first came to the Arctic three decades ago and found himself working alongside Freeman Kimiksana from Tuktoyaktuk.
Returning North last week, Blasco said he was pleasantly surprised that Aaron Kimiksana, Freeman's grandson, was part of the youth delegation from Holman he would be working alongside at Beaufort 2000.
That may be just one small example of the state of co-operation in resource management, but it's a good one.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
In a journey of a thousand miles, another step was taken over the weekend.
There's a long way to go in the Deh Cho First Nations (DCFN) self- government negotiations process. Despite the years of preparation leading up to this point, the DCFN and federal officials have barely scratched the surface in terms of direct talks. However, Deh Cho leaders and elders communicated in person with the federal negotiations team on Friday and Saturday in Fort Simpson -- certainly a step in the right direction.
"So we're into it. That was really the first session," federal negotiator Robin Aitken said Saturday afternoon after the informal meeting wrapped up.
It was an exchange of information between the two sides, he said. They discussed the funding for the negotiations as well as an interim measures agreement. The promising part was that everyone emerged from the meetings cheerfully, describing the dialogue as "positive" and "cordial."
The DCFN now has to go back to its membership and find out if any of the preliminary proposals from the federal government are acceptable as a basis upon which to delve into negotiations. There's much left to sort out -- even terminology, for example. The federal government will be trying to avoid simply falling back on its standard reference to comprehensive claims, Aitken said. It's clear that comprehensive claims involves the extinguishment of aboriginal title, and that's not an option here, he acknowledged. The federal , he contended, are seeking alternatives to extinguishment and he said he hopes the DCFN trusts that. Self government is a fairly new concept to the federal government, so creativity and flexibility will be the key, he added.
Admitting that the negotiations process will be lengthy, Aitken said he fully intends to stick with it for as long as possible. He said he has seen processes collapse due, in part, to changes in government negotiators. He said he doesn't want that to occur here.
It may be time to give the federal government some credit here in the Deh Cho. They chose a capable ministerial envoy who was able to work with the Deh Cho Working Team to establish the 21 Common Ground Principles. Now, in Robin Aitken, they appear to have picked an adept individual for the job of federal negotiator. Aitken has 15 years experience in the field of aboriginal rights and working with the government.
"I would hope I know a little bit of what I'm talking about, and if I don't the Deh Cho will tell me," he said candidly.
No one wants to pre-judge this negotiations process, but at least the ground has been laid for the beginning of formal talks. Fort Liard, it should be noted, remains a wild card in all this, not having participated in last week's leadership conference.
The DCFN has their chief negotiator, Chris Reid, in place. They have a grand chief who has been at the forefront of this issue for close to two years. The chiefs, elders and the rest of the DCFN staff are also well steeped in the details of this process, the Deh Cho Process.
They will now decide if it's time for another step.
Editorial Comment
Dane Gibson
Kivalliq News
There's a growing consensus in a number of Kivalliq hamlets that the terms of Article 24, the Land Claims Agreement and the government's Northern Preference Policy are not being adhered to in the spirit they were meant.
There's also a growing sentiment that our Inuit associations are doing precious little to correct the situation.
Baker Lake MLA Glen McLean has expressed his discontent to Public Works Minister Manitok Thompson over the awarding of a $2.5-million contract in his community to upgrade a fuel facility.
Arviat Mayor Ralph King has also added his voice to the discontent, unhappy with the manner in which the Nunavut Construction Corp. (NCC) is conducting business in his hamlet (See next week's Kivalliq News for full story).
McLean and King share more than one important concern with their complaints.
Neither is happy with the number of jobs being provided local Inuit beneficiaries on work projects tendered in their communities.
McLean contends that although the 10 per cent Inuit labour content set out in the Nunavut Final agreement has been met theoretically, there is absolutely no local Inuit content.
King says during the first two years of construction in Arviat, NCC never met the two local hires for every tradesperson on site it originally agreed to, although there was a high percentage of local Inuit hired on.
This year, however, he complains NCC haven't even tried to meet the ratio, with only six local people working.
Both McLean and King also say there are absolutely no local commercial accommodations being utilized by the out-of-town workers.
The crux of this problem is simple, what is the benefit of having work in Baker Lake or Arviat if the vast majority of everyone working is from somewhere else?
Imagine how, for example, the people of Repulse Bay would feel if 100 Inuit were hired as part of a 1,000-member construction team in their community -- and they were all from Rankin Inlet.
The key to this problem may very well rest with ascertaining what, if any, role Inuit associations such as NTI and the KIA are playing in these work projects.
Surely stimulating local economies and working to strengthen local Inuit firms falls under the umbrella of their mandates.
If our Inuit associations are not prepared, or able, to look after the concerns of local Inuit interests, just what are their roles in the development of Nunavut, especially at the regional level?
The answers to the questions being raised now, may go a long way in determining what develops in our region in the future.