The good news is the issue of a tax freeze for Yellowknife taxpayers was raised at a city council committee meeting last Monday night.

The bad news is council and mayor scurried behind closed doors to get "educated" by administration before making a decision. When council came out, four councillors voted against a tax freeze, saying it "would tie administration's hands."

Do we think a tax freeze is a good idea? Why not?

Well, we'll never know because city administration didn't see fit to "educate" the public at the same time as the councillors.

It brings to mind former Yellowknife city administrator Doug Lagore, who held weak city councils in the palm of his hand all through the 1990s.

Lagore ruled so completely behind closed doors, council was convinced to ignore staff conflicts of interest, launch costly and losing legal battles against citizens and to break the law by having secret meetings.

The mayor at the time, Dave Lovell, staunchly defended city administration and the voters kicked him out of office in the last election.

Their choice was Gord Van Tighem, who was elected to do the opposite of Lovell, to make city hall a transparent democratic institution that inspires confidence. Issues would be discussed in council, nothing but the most confidential personnel and legal matters would go behind closed doors.

By agreeing to go behind closed doors to discuss a proposed tax freeze -- at administration's request -- Van Tighem has signalled he is losing his democratic backbone and so are councillors once again.

If this trend continues, they will pay the price, as will ratepayers, as administration begins to dominate the future of this city without regard for either efficiency or prudent spending.

The news that Miramar Mining Corp. won't be contributing anything to the astronomical cost of cleaning up Giant Mine isn't particularly good news, but nor should it surprise too many observers. We have to keep in mind what it was we expected when Miramar agreed to take over the property.

Whether or not Miramar is making any profit at all from keeping a handful of Giant miners employed, the truth is those jobs are all anyone realistically hoped to salvage from the deal.

Giant Mine is on its last legs. It's not viable in the long term, at least not without massive investments that would makes no economic sense. Then there's the hundreds of millions it will cost to clean it up when it finally closes for good. Miramar knew this, and so did the government.

If you tune in to an unexpected signal on your FM radio dial, it's likely being broadcast by the newest addition to the city's broadcast spectrum.

Radio Taiga is a community station run by and for Yellowknife's francophone community. Relatively small at 850 members, but strong in voice and presence, they add a distinctive flavour to our multicultural city.

The new radio station amplifies that flavour and follows hot on the heels of their own school board and school, Ecole Allain St-Cyr. It could be the springboard to even more good things for a community that adds so much to our city.

And to top it all off, they play some pretty good music that even we anglophones enjoy.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

We all have a tendency to get totally absorbed in our own little universe from time to time. It's a perfectly natural occurrence.

It doesn't matter if it revolves around a person's work environment, family concerns or getting out on the land and ensuring enough country food is harvested for the pounding Kivalliq winter.

We all go through periods of time when our own needs, and those of our families, are paramount to our existence.

Invariably, something usually happens to snap us out of our tunnel vision and broaden our perspective. Sometimes, it's a horrific event like this past week's terrorist attacks on the United States, an event so catastrophic in its nature, it brings the precarious uncertainty of life itself into view.

However, it can also be something much less traumatizing and closer to home that opens your eyes to the struggle for a better quality of life -- one that's going on around you.

So it was for me this past week visiting James Howard at the school breakfast program at Maani Ulujuk middle school. A total of 67 kids showed up that morning to have breakfast with Howard and his helpers.

Watching the faces of so many of those young students as they ate their breakfasts sent a torrent of emotions through me.

Yes, the looks of gratitude as their bowls were filled and their plates topped up warmed my heart. And, yes, a smile crossed my face as I watched a young boy struggle to fit a very large apple into his very small pocket.

But feelings of hurt, compassion and anger also welled up inside me as I saw the genuine looks of hunger on the faces of so many of these kids as they stood in line waiting to be served.

Yet as I left the school that morning, the strongest emotion inside me was one of hope.

Hope that as long as we have James Howard and people like him in our community the quality of life will improve for all our children as time goes by.

It's not going to happen overnight and it's not going to happen without the caring and effort of the entire community. Try as they may, Howard and the group of other caring leaders who call our community home can't do it alone.

Oh, something else happened as I left the school that morning -- my eyes were wide open!

Editorial Comment
Malcolm Gorrill
Inuvik Drum

A hot topic in the Delta recently is the territorial government's proposal to establish a highway toll to fund an increase in highway maintenance.

Transportation Minister Vince Steen appeared before Inuvik Town Council last week, faced with the unenviable task of trying to justify imposing a permit fee, which many people consider another tax.

When it came time to decide upon what position the town would take on the issue, Coun. Denny Rodgers made a motion in support of the toll -- a motion which was defeated in a 5-3 vote.

Interestingly, Rodgers argued that the main reason he supports the toll concept is that something has to be done to allow for more highway maintenance -- not exactly a ringing endorsement of permit fees.

Members of the public are speaking against the toll as well, with at least 400 people expressing their displeasure via a petition.

Nevertheless, few people are arguing that NWT highways need more work done on them than has been done, especially if oil and gas and mining activities increase. Immediately thumbing down the toll concept, which the public at large tends to do with anything that even resembles a new tax, will not make the highway issue go away.

A toll would make goods more expensive, and presumably these costs would be passed on to consumers. Many have pointed out it's already expensive enough living in the territory.

But these costs have to be measured against costs incurred from poor highways, such as damage to vehicles, and more likelihood of accidents. The possibility of road bans at some point in the future has also been raised.

The government is arguing they don't have much choice if they want to fund more highway maintenance. But perhaps alternatives to the toll could be looked at, and examined more closely, in the months ahead, as the toll debate continues.

Available alternatives was certainly one thing several members of council want to know more about.

The toll would take effect Jan. 1, 2002. If members of the public do not wish for it to pass, they should tell the government so.

However, people should also stay involved in the debate, and if they want the government to come up with alternatives, they should help come up with some alternatives worthy of closer study.

Otherwise the "I survived the Dempster Highway" bumper sticker might take on a lot more meaning in the years ahead.

Correction

An error occurred in "Friends mourn death of Elkadry" (Inuvik Drum, Sept. 13). Business owner Mohamed Elkadry did not die outside his home above The Roost, as was stated. He was found in the front entrance of the restaurant.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum, Fort Simpson

Although MLA Bill Braden, a member of the standing committee on the proposed highway toll, admitted last Thursday that he's not in favour of the bill in its current form, he does believe there is a need to improve the roads.

For his family of four living in Yellowknife, the road toll would amount to nearly $500 per year in extra expenses. Is that too much, he asked. What if they were only to pay $200 per year in extra expenses? He wanted to know what other ideas people had to raise funds. Mayor Tom Wilson noted that the federal government is reaping the benefits from Northern resources, while the North struggles to meet its infrastructure needs. That argument has been made many times but nobody seems to know how to get the federal government in an armlock to wrestle the money away from it.

Wilson also suggested that too many companies are doing work in the North, but are based in the south. Therefore they aren't paying the taxes to the GNWT that they should be. Taxes are what should be paying for infrastructure, Wilson argued.

Anyone else who feels they can enlighten the territorial government can do so by writing a letter over the next few weeks. Written submissions will be accepted and reviewed before the legislature resumes.

MLA Floyd Roland was right in pointing out that an outcry from the public helped eliminate the proposed hotel tax earlier this year. The curious part of all this is how the GNWT intends to pass any form of tax or a toll if they're relying on public support to do it. Sending out a standing committee, which tours the NWT at substantial expense, to hear people state the obvious (that they don't want to pay more for goods and services) doesn't seem to be a very prudent way to spend their current funding.

Cuts will hurt

It was a very disheartening financial message that was conveyed at Monday night's village council meeting. If MACA's proposed funding cuts take effect next year, residents of Fort Simpson will surely notice. The village will have no choice but to charge more for practically all services. Worse yet, there's a strong possibility that the recreation centre will be forced to close temporarily if not permanently. As senior administrative officer Bernice Swanson noted, the primary expenses for running the rec centre are lights, heat and water. If the building is open at all, each of those elements are absolutely necessary.

Yes, there are many areas of the village's budget that stand to be slashed (especially legal fees), but recreation will still be a major target.

If the GNWT can't be convinced to re-evaluate its position, the residents of Fort Simpson will pay dearly.