With the arrival of the first prospectors, Yellowknife was transformed from Dene hunting grounds to a melting pot of Dene and Canadian city dwellers.

Now there are other nationalities -- Italian, Greek, French, Filipino, Chinese, and many more from all over the world.

Immigration to the North has remained fairly constant at 0.1 per cent of total Canadian immigration over the last thirty years but the 104 newcomers in 2000 indicate more people are prone to look upon the NWT as their new home.

On Canada Day, 32 of the newcomers celebrated their Canadian citizenship in a ceremony at Sombek'e Family Park, which should serve to remind Yellowknifers why our city is such a desirable place to live.

While our health-care system appears to be in a state of turmoil, it's mainly because of our collective determination to have only the best staff and facilities in place. What we do have is far superior to 90 per cent of the rest of the planet.

The same can be said for our police force, municipal services, schools and transportation system, with the possible exception of the road between here and Rae-Edzo, but that's for another hundred editorials.

This all means, as one of the new Canadians pointed out, education, health care, police protection, access to a good and comfortable lifestyle are undisputable features of the North and Yellowknife in particular.

Tourists often comment on the multicultural influences at work in Yellowknife, where caribou is served with cappuccino, muskox offered aside Mandarin cuisine.

At the risk of generalizing, it's obvious immigrants bring energy, skills and a willingness to adapt to our Northern climate and culture.

Canada Day offers Yellowknifers an opportunity to welcome them.

At first glance the recent ruling by the Federal Court of Canada against the GNWT's attempts to stop Sirius Diamonds from inscribing the polar bear on its gems would seem a victory for corporations at the public expense.

A closer reading of the case suggests otherwise. In fact, the decision means everyone is a winner. First, Sirius gets to use its version of the polar bear, which the judge says is different enough from the GNWT trademark.

Second, the judge recognized that consumers want some mechanism to guarantee diamonds come from Canada, and not war-torn regions of Africa. It's just that no one, not even the government, can control all uses of polar bear imagery. We agree. You can't copyright nature.

Editorial Comment
Jorge Barrera
Kivalliq News

Grizzly bears all over Baker Lake, breaking into cabins, eating all the dried meat, residents afraid to go out to their spring camps, one bear shot and last Friday the hamlet called a state of emergency, martial law imposed on the bears.

Heady times in Baker Lake. According to the president of the local Hunters and Trappers Association, this is the first time in his 50-year residence in the community that something like this has happened.

What's happening with these bears? Obviously hunger has driven them to the outskirts of the community, but why are they so hungry? No one has immediate answers to these questions, but it's something the Department of Sustainable Development better take a hard look at.

The North prides itself with being one of the last pristine environments remaining on the globe, but obviously things are amiss and Baker Lake's recent bear problems are one in a string of natural aberrations occurring in the North.

Last summer it was skinny polar bears. Global climate change is real. Only quacks would dispute that fact and the North is taking the brunt of it.

Despite the North's outwardly hash climate, it, too, teeters on fragile relationships which sustain it's ecology. A culture that depends so strongly on the natural world cannot take threats to the environment lightly.

It's time for the Department of Sustainable Development to declare a state of emergency on the environment.

Sure the odd study happens here and there and the North's voice has been heard in the recent past on climate change. But it's not enough. A sustained lobby needs to emerge.

The Nunavut government should be pounding on federal Environment Minister David Anderson's door. "Listen Dave," they should shout, "our ecology is deteriorating fast, get out of your comfortable cabinet seat and do something."

The federal government has played patsy with the U.S. over the environment despite George Bush's agenda of pollution exemplified by pulling out of the Kyoto agreement on climate change.

Someone has to push Canada to take a stronger stance on the environment. Someone has to make what's at stake clear to them and there are few in a better position than the Inuit of Nunavut.

How much longer can we stand by and allow nature, desperate and hungry, to claw at our doors?

Editorial Comment
Malcolm Gorrill
Inuvik Drum

Best wishes are bestowed upon the 1st Inuvik Scouts, who are in Prince Edward Island for the 10th Canadian Scout Jamboree. The group has been planning for this trip over the past year, and has sold a lot of popcorn and rounded up many bottles to raise funds.

It's good to see their hard work and dedication pay off. Dave Tyler, Alan Fehr and others who have helped make the trip possible -- and the scouts themselves, of course -- should be congratulated.

Certainly the scouts seemed excited enough about their trip when I last saw them. As well they might be, considering they'll be sharing the site with more than 12,000 other people. And having grown up in P.E.I., I can attest to the fact it is beautiful this time of year.

This may also serve as a reminder of the value of the scout program, with its emphasis on teamwork, discipline and self reliance. These are traits that come in handy later in life.

Quite a celebration

The trip by the scouts is actually a timely reminder of just how vast this country is. They are going to a place literally thousands of miles from home, yet they'll still be within Canada. There's not many other countries where such a situation could occur.

Earlier this week Canada turned 134 years old, and people celebrated that fact within the Mackenzie Delta and across this great land. Here in Inuvik the celebrations went well, even if the temperature was a little on the nippy side.

Lots of people took part in or viewed the parade, as well as the games and festivities afterwards.

The cake was good, too, as I can personally attest to.

Quite a journey

Another indication of the vastness of this country, as well as the character shown by its residents, was an event which got under way Tuesday. Arvid Loewen of Winnipeg set off from Inuvik on his 18-day, 7,200-kilometre bicycle trip to Point Pelee, Ont., the most southerly part of Canada.

Loewen is raising funds for charity, but this ultra-marathoner also confesses he loves a challenge and likes having to push himself. The event holds special meaning for Loewen because one of the groups he is benefiting, the Mennonite Central Committee, helped his own parents decades ago. Loewen said it was nice to be able to give something back to MCC. May Loewen have a safe journey.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum, Fort Simpson

First Nations, other local governments in the Deh Cho and the Fort Simpson Chamber of Commerce should hold North American Tungsten Corporation to its word on providing economic development opportunities. With the mine site located on the NWT side of the border, but the road supplying the mine routed through the Yukon, local leaders must see to it that a sufficient number of jobs and contracts are put on the table, rather than quietly allowing them to waltz down the road to the Yukon. The GNWT should be prepared to step in and asserts its influence as well.

Although the CanTung mine had been in operation from the 1960s through the 1980s, a different political and business dynamic exists today. The Acho Dene Koe group of companies, for example, has plenty more to offer than the Fort Liard band ever could have 20 or 30 years ago. They are seeking catering, heavy equipment and air charter deals with North American Tungsten. They should be given every chance to reach an equitable agreement to provide those services, nothing less.

Shortages hurt us all

It's promising to see that a decision has been made to add another member to the RCMP detachment in Fort Liard, bolstering the staff to four. What Mayor Joanne Deneron says is true, even though it was supposed to have been a three-member detachment it is rarely at full capacity. Someone is usually on a course or taking some time off. That's not just the case in Fort Liard, but with practically every detachment.

We rely greatly on the RCMP's presence. These men and women can be called upon to make life and death decisions at a moment's notice. With such gravity involved, we'd be much better off having someone rested making those decisions rather than someone who has been run ragged for weeks on end.

Dave's filling in

If you've noticed that I'm travelling in tandem this week it's because Northern News Services reporter Dave Sullivan is in town. Dave, who arrived in Yellowknife on Monday, will be taking the reins here at the Drum while Val and I are on vacation.

He had only been here a few hours when he jumped on the details of the lightning strike that occurred in Fort Simpson last week. Mother Nature's power is simply awesome. We can only be grateful that nobody was killed or injured by the intense charge. Please feel free to stop by the office, say hello to Dave, and pass along any story ideas you may have.

We'll see you again in August.