Friday, May 04, 2001
The empty stools at the Gallery Neighbourhood Pub in Yellowknife that collected dust during the bar's seven-day suspension are once again filling up with regulars.
With 12 people laid off, the pub was ordered closed until yesterday after a 16-year-old was found on the premises on Oct. 14 and an 18-year-old on Jan 14.
The Raven, too, was ordered closed for three days after a 16-year-old was caught drinking there in December.
Aside from these measures being bad for business and the suppliers that keep the popular pubs flowing, these shutdowns only reinforce something we already know. Teenaged drinking isn't going away any time soon.
The fact that teenagers are sneaking into bars in hopes of hanging with the 'in crowd' is nothing new.
In reality, very few of us of legal drinking age can deny we weren't doing the same thing in our late teens.
As for the police, they're too busy dealing with the adult drinkers staggering the streets and other offenders to drop everything and come running every time a pub calls to say there's a teenager caught inside.
And if you want know where the parents are, just ask Lisa Tesar, the manager of the Gallery. She told Yellowknifer parents have told her time and time again that they would much rather have their kids inside the safe confines of a bar than out hanging around the street corners.
As long as kids can get their hands on fake ID cards and go undisciplined this problem will continue. So while the problem isn't new, what is somewhat refreshing is that the NWT Liquor Commission is getting more involved.
But if it's going to enforce zero tolerance, it must go further than punishing the bars. Surely these inspectors, in combination with the police and parents, with the law on their side, can punish the real culprit here, the kids that are breaking the law.
Editorial Comment
Maria Canton
Inuvik Drum
The Inuvik Alcohol Committee's decision to solicit oil and gas companies for support in re-starting the 30-day alcohol treatment program is a smart move. Now it's just a matter of the waiting for the petroleum giants to decide whether or not they will come on board.
The issue is a sensitive one that must be handled with finesse. No one wants the oil and gas companies to feel as though they are being targeted as the sole cause of substance abuse and alcoholism.
However, long-time residents haven't forgotten what happened last time Inuvik and surrounding communities celebrated the discovery of oil and gas in the region. The good times rolled with fat paycheques and jobs for everyone.
And then the good times dried up and the money stopped flowing, but the alcohol didn't.
We all know alcohol abuse exists on its own, without mass exploration for resources, but we certainly can't turn a blind eye to the fact that the problems here are fueled by booms in the oil and gas sector. The alcohol committee is only asking for "collaboration and partnering" from the companies in their endeavour to put programs in place before the good times hit again in earnest.
And even if the companies firmly believe they have nothing to do with the problems, it wouldn't hurt for them to kick a few dollars into community programs, after all, they do reside up here for half of the year.
Clear ideas
Congratulations to the Inuvik Recycling Society for putting together a master plan and successfully securing funding to begin a recycling program in Inuvik.
Door-to-door pick up of recyclables goes hand-in-hand with the local beautification projects.
The society couldn't have made recycling any easier, even for those who have never considered it before. The clear bags will be sent in the mail with an information brochure, people will simply have to throw recyclables into the bag and put it out with the trash. Voila, a piece a cake.
Now let's have everyone give it fair shake and fill their clear bags instead of their trash cans.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum, Fort Simpson
The Deh Cho region is, essentially, withstanding an economic drought.
First Nations hold the authority to permit economic development projects, but do they hold that authority individually as communities?
The Nahanni Butte seismic project has thrown the spotlight on that very issue.
Nahanni Butte Chief Leon Konisenta and his council have endorsed the project. Yet Deh Cho First Nations grand chief Michael Nadli has spoken in negative terms about the circumstances of the deal.
Nadli's comments are based on the political mandate he has been given at previous leadership assemblies. His role, he said, is to look out for the best interests of the entire Deh Cho region, even if that means he must, at times, oppose a decision made by a particular chief and council.
In reference to the Nahanni Butte seismic project, he asked, "At what point do you weigh 10 jobs (against) opening up 20,000 hectares of land?"
Granted, Nahanni Butte's deal includes other benefits such as a cash contribution to a community development trust fund and a percentage of profit from seismic data sales. Yet Nadli maintained that only resource development agreements with the federal government will truly guarantee meaningful benefits for the region's First Nations.
Nadli said he feels the Deh Cho does not presently possess the capacity or expertise to properly take on oil and gas projects. However, he said DCFN leadership has made economic development a priority. Therefore a regional economic development committee has been formed. The prospect of a Deh Cho development corporation and the bidding process for oil and gas will be among the items for discussion at June's Deh Cho Assembly in Kakisa. The committee will be looking beyond just oil and gas initiatives to such things as tourism, agriculture and hydro-electricity, according to Nadli. A diversified economy, with an eye on the environment, is imperative, he said.
This is all being done in conjunction with the region's political goal of attaining self-government. It's all dependent on the rate at which the federal government moves.
Nadli contends that all of this is consistent with the course set by the region's First Nations as a collective, a course renewed or altered accordingly during every leadership assembly. Unless leaders and elders decide otherwise, it must be concluded that Michael Nadli is indeed reflecting the wishes of the majority.
In 1993, a strong-willed Harry Deneron sought support from a different DCFN regime for oil and gas exploration and development in Fort Liard. At that time, the fledgling DCFN organization was still fighting for recognition from the federal government. The political scene has changed dramatically since then.
Nevertheless, the DCFN's implied threat of impeding a Mackenzie Valley pipeline as leverage in self-government negotiations is a bold move. If the pipeline is delayed, it is likely to draw intense pressure from other groups itching to prosper from the project. That will test the solidarity of the First Nations in the Deh Cho, who want to benefit from the pipeline - but on their own terms.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
With the amount of planning that's gone into the project during the past few years, Rankin Inlet should have one of the best little health centres ever constructed if, and when, the facility ever is completed.
So, we find out from Health Minister Ed Picco there were a few minor oversights in the original functional program, no big deal.
We're sure they're going to be overcome.
And, of course, there's the minor inconvenience of having the Sakku Investment Corp. as a major player in the project.
Sakku hasn't been able to get its financial books done on time to meet the deadline for either of the past two Kivalliq Inuit Association annual general meetings.
And, when those books were finally ready, their biggest impact was to bring a tear to the eyes of KIA president Paul Kaludjak and secretary/treasurer Robert Seeteenak as they watched helplessly while the KIA's surplus turned into a deficit in record time.
But, after numerous board changes and flip flops in the ranks of upper management -- anyone remember when Warwick Wilkinson was Sakku's answer to bad business decisions? -- we're sure the Sakku family is much less dysfunctional these days.
Who knows? Maybe the players in the multi-partnered approach to getting a new health centre built in Rankin Inlet were actually paying attention while the new Arviat Health Centre was being constructed.
Better yet, maybe they were taking notes.
Looking back from a Rankin perspective, it's almost humorous recalling the late Mayor Ralph King and SAO Darren Flynn's worries over the local hire numbers in the early days of construction.
They thought they had problems.
The new Rankin Inlet Health Centre (regional or otherwise) has been on life support since the day it was conceived.
Yet Picco seized the opportunity of the Arviat success to reassure those of us who call Rankin home that we have nothing to worry about.
Site work is going to start on our new health centre this summer. At least that's what he's hoping for.
And construction will start no later than the summer of 2002. At least, that's what he's shooting for.
We here at Kivalliq News are sticking to our guns that we won't see one square foot of our health centre built until the expansion of the Iqaluit hospital is complete.
Go ahead, prove us wrong Ed. We dare you!