Wednesday, March 15, 2000
Yellowknife sits beside one of the world's greatest freshwater lakes.
Great Slave is dramatic in the summer and winter, but we have done little to make the most of this tremendous resource.
Old Town is a unique jumble of mixed uses. Latham Island is a close packed community of residences and limited commercial development.
Most of the rest of the city's 23 kilometres of waterfront is undeveloped. The city wants to change that and has drafted a management plan that will go before the public next week in the first of a series of meetings.
What the plan contains is the city's vision of what should happen. It talks about community access, preservation and control. There's talk of trails and viewpoints, campgrounds and parks, docks and boat launches.
But only in passing does the plan mention the possibility of commercial development.
Public access and improving people's ability to utilize the lake, in the form of additional boat launch facilities, parks and trails is important. Not only will it bring Yellowknifers down to the waterfront, but it will appeal to tourists as well.
But without improved commercial amenities, the waterfront will be little more than a place to stroll and relax.
While we don't want to hurt other commercial areas of the city, the waterfront could become an important tourist centre. Imagine a boardwalk marketplace where you can buy fish fresh from the lake, listen to a busker, browse through aboriginal art, enjoy a meal on a deck looking out over the lake or purchase a unique Yellowknife souvenir. How about a waterfront hotel complete with marina?
The city's waterfront is an area that represents tremendous potential for the future. This is the time to decide how we want it to develop. What we decide today will determine well into the future how the lake fits into Yellowknife's future growth.
In the drive to build a modern municipal model over the past three decades, preserving Yellowknife's heritage has taken a back seat.
Were it not for the volunteer groups such as the Old Stope Society which maintains the Wildcat Cafe, and Spirit Yk, which salvaged old equipment for a mining display at the airport, there would be even less.
As Johnny Rocher and Marcel Bourget clean up the Rocking Horse Ranch site at the entrance of town, lugging away even more of the city's history, Yellowknifers should ponder a future without such tangible reminders of the past.
And while much of Rocher's and Bourget's salvaged pieces have been declared junk, the stories behind each item are priceless. Yellowknife needs a heritage policy that recognizes as much.
Every two years we in the North are treated to a competition of the highest fastest and strongest.
Along with determining the best of the best in the sports of the North, the audience and participants are given a glimpse of language, culture and personalities from all over the Arctic. Equally important as the pursuit of sporting excellence, is the exchange and immersion of our youth to the rich heritage and diverse people who populate the top of the world.
While our athletes return home with the immediate memories of the individual competitions, the most lasting impressions of the Arctic Winter Games 2000 will stem from the experience and celebration of our people.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
A big thumbs up to Whale Cove Mayor Stanley Adjuk and the rest of hamlet council for jumping in and saving the Inuglak School Breakfast program.
It has been well documented in a number of creditable studies that hungry students have trouble concentrating on their studies.
Adjuk and council members showed good judgement in donating the $6,000 to keep the breakfast program running and at least 35 kids fed in the mornings.
The decision also sent a strong message to the youth of Whale Cove that the adults in their hamlet do care about their well-being and the level of education they receive.
Secrecy bad idea
The Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA) receives a thumbs down for the shroud of secrecy it's placed around its recent financial problems.
If, as KIA president Paul Kaludjak says, the 15 board members replaced at Sakku Investments Ltd. and Kivalliq Partners in Development was business as usual, we can't understand why the KIA has been so slow in releasing the names of outgoing members, despite assurances to the contrary.And if the financial situation is nothing serious, why the refusal to release any numbers or show how the current deficit occurred?
The KIA has to realize it's using beneficiary money in its dealings. The beneficiaries have the right to know where the organization ran into financial problems and the media has the right to ask and receive a proper reply.
Give them a break
A big thumbs down to our territorial sporting organizations for not being able to find a way to help the Whale Cove old-timers hockey club get to the Kivalliq Cup.
The cup is a big event in the Kivalliq, eagerly anticipated by the host community and players in all seven hamlets.
Not only did travel costs of more than $300 per player keep the team away, but by not participating this month, Whale Cove is not allowed to host the event next year.
Surely, the local airlines and sports organizations could have worked out something to allow Whale to participate. Take a back seat to the almighty dollar gentlemen.
Parents praised
A huge thumbs up to the hockey parents across the Kivalliq for taking the time to help out minor hockey organizers.
Whether it be coaching, refereeing, helping lace up skates and equipment or just offering moral support, your efforts don't go unnoticed or unappreciated.
More parents should be encouraged to take part in helping their children develop as athletes and grow as people at local arenas.
You won't be disappointed and you just might find your time spent there to be a whole lot of fun.