Monday, January 17, 2000
The latest process for choosing a premier is sad evidence the tradition of backroom wheeling and dealing will persist in the next sitting of the NWT legislative assembly.
The charade is so silly that while no one is officially in the running for premier, in fact it is well known who is!
What is not known is what the candidates for premier intend to do if successful and more importantly, what do the people of the NWT want their premier to do.
Had the candidates declared their intentions immediately upon being elected, and declared as well their vision for the new NWT, MLAs would have had the opportunity to consult with their constituents to see who they favoured.
Instead, MLAs hustle for support amongst other MLAs, pandering to petty politics and ignoring the biggest challenge since division -- How to get money from the federal government.
Who is up to that job?
As for who should choose cabinet, we doubt it's much of an issue outside of Yellowknife. The two Yellowknife MLAs pushing for the proposal that the premier choose the cabinet obviously want a premiership with more power along the lines of party politics.
Outside of Yellowknife, party politics, with all its faults, is little more than a southern evil while the Northern tradition of consensus, for all its faults, is the devil they know.
Why would the ordinary MLAs give up their choice of who should be in cabinet?
Nellie Cournoyea, as government leader in the early 1990s, brought in the concept of cabinet ministers voluntarily submitting an unsigned letter of resignation.
Should a minister not perform to the cabinet standards or do something stupid, the government leader, or now premier, would simply sign the letter and they would be gone.
Do the premier and the people of the NWT really need any more control than that?
A little bit of technology can go a long way to making our lives better. In the North, small populations and remote communities make everyday services common in the south as distant as the big cities themselves.
That's why electronic services like toll-free telephone lines, Internet banking, Interac machines, and the ability to trade stocks and buy and sell other goods and services on-line are a boon.
But as much as these new high-tech conveniences make our lives easier, it's important to ensure people remain an important part of the equation. An ATM will never fully replace a bank teller. An on-line toy store doesn't let you touch and test to make sure the item is what you want.
Sometimes we need a "real" person, and not a recording on the end of a telephone line. Some questions must be answered the old-fashioned way, face to face.
As the Dogrib come closer to finalizing a land claim and self-government agreement with the federal government, the terms being negotiated will benefit all Canadians on the presently murky definition of aboriginal self-government.
The Dogrib are going after subsurface rights on 39,000 square kilometres to ensure economic viability - jobs, royalties, regional commerce. They also want self-government in the area of health, education, welfare, family and other social programs, hunting and public governments.
Out of the principles agreed to will come the process by which self-government will be carries out. That means that the Dogrib deal, once finalized, could well be the historic foundation for aboriginal self-government in Canada.
The second Nunavut-wide RCMP recruitment drive is under way and officers say they are pleased with the response to date.
More than 30 applications -- several of which were from women and Inuit -- have been received with weeks to go before testing was scheduled to begin.
Rigorous testing narrows the pool down to a much smaller number and intensive training at the RCMP academy in Regina, Sask. further thins out the number of prospective officers.
But those who successfully keep themselves together mentally and physically in times of great challenges make Nunavummiut proud and give them confidence in the RCMP and their drive for new officers.
The hamlet of Kangiqsualujjuaq in Nunavik has spent the last year rebuilding, both in the physical sense and on a more emotional level.
Since the 1999 New Year's avalanche claimed the lives of nine community members and left almost two dozen more injured, residents have seen a temporary school built and a healthy start made on the other permanent structures that were damaged by snow.
Just minutes into the new millennium, residents continued with their emotional reconstruction by acknowledging their year-old loss with a memorial service.
While it was indeed painful, it surely provided surviving family members and friends with the means to continue putting their lives back together and at the same time, allowed them to move towards their future.
Voting could be listed among Nunavut's favourite recreations.
In less than a year, the people of Nunavut have voted for their first legislature, the leadership of Nunavut Tunngavik and, most recently, for mayors and community councillors.
If there was any doubt that Nunavut was ready to take responsibility for itself and its future, the statistics from these elections will erase the skepticism.
The number of candidates that stood for election to the legislature was impressive and the voter turn out was strong. Last spring, 71 people ran for a seat in the legislature. 88% of the eligible voters turned out to exercise their franchise.
Those are figures that are astounding when compared to other jurisdictions in the country, where voter turn-out is usually between 50 to 60%.
For the elections for the executive of NTI, 70% of those eligible cast their ballots. Again, a strong showing.
For the recent community elections, 270 people put their names forward to be candidates for either mayor or councillor in one of Nunavut's 24 communities.
Voter turn-out varied from place to place but was, in every case, strong.
What the numbers show is a healthy enthusiasm and respect for the democratic process. A full range of candidates and a high voter turn-out mean that people are making themselves heard, both as candidates and electors.
In an era where the democratic system is plagued with an unhealthy cynicism and a general unhappiness with politicians and the mechanics of politics, Nunavut stands out as the happy exception. The numbers show that the people have faith in the system, and, as long as they do, the system will serve them.
Democracy only works if the voters are willing to do their part. Without the participation of the voters and without candidates, the system can be hijacked by special interest groups. It is the voters that keep the system open and honest.
The rest of the country could learn a few lessons from the people of Nunavut.