The city should keep its doors open to talks with the Elks Lodge over its hope to construct a convention centre at the site of the Gerry Murphy Arena.

The Elks propose to build a 95,000 square foot community centre, a project they say they can get off the ground by next spring.

The building plan includes an indoor shooting range, an 80-seat lecture theatre, Yellowknife Sports Hall of Fame, meeting rooms as well as offices to house cadets headquarters and an indoor running track and weight room. They're also proposing the four-storey building house the city's library, a guild of crafts workshop and an outdoor amphitheatre.

They say the driving force behind their proposal is the lack of a convention centre in Yellowknife. This is certainly true.

With the Department of National Defence already online -- they would have a 10-per cent stake in the building -- the building would eventually pay for itself through convention centre fees.

The Elks have done a lot for our community and having the insight to include several community groups in their plan is commendable.

The site sits next to Pettitot Park, the Frame Lake Trail and city hall, which would complement the centre.

The city, which plans to demolish the arena in May of 2003, has a standing motion to decide the future use for the site by May 31 of this year.

While talks are definitely at the preliminary stage, the Elks' request that the city extend that deadline to a year from now makes sense.

That would allow enough time to work out the details on the land transfer and taxation.

A healthy service industry is critical to any city. It's especially important here in Yellowknife where we want to develop the tourism industry.

Unfortunately, a restaurant is going to have a difficult time competing with multi-national mining companies. The lure of high-paying jobs that come at billion-dollar mines and remote oil and gas camps is almost impossible to resist for hospitality workers.

Serving staff, cooks, and housekeeping staff are jumping for the big bucks -- that's understandable.

Is there a solution? Likely not. But Government and businesses can do some things to help stem the bleeding.

Restaurants and hotels have to offer attractive wages and benefits to compete.

They have to offer a workplace that gives employees something more than just a fat paycheque.

It has to be a fun place to work, where people are challenged to develop skills and have opportunities to advance.

Restaurants must also do all they can to satisfy their customers.

Good service brings good tips. More tips mean higher pay for servers and cooks.

Good service will keep people coming back.

Government can help by increasing the number of spaces available in hospitality training courses to meet the demand. Perhaps on-the-job training where people can earn a wage and learn at the same time.

And it must beef up promotional efforts to lure southern and overseas tourists to Yellowknife. Although tourists alone won't fill every empty seat in city eateries and hotels. They may generate more money to help the city's hospitality industry cope.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

Listening to Alex McClelland talk about being HIV positive (please see story page 11), there were a number of emotions tugging at my heart as he spoke.

Surprisingly to me, as the articulate young man spoke candidly about his situation, pity was not among them.

In fact, the further along the interview went, the stronger the feeling of hope built up inside of me.

McClelland has the ability to get his message across to a large number of young people.

With that message comes understanding. And, with that understanding comes the hope the vast majority of our youth won't find themselves in his situation.

Hopefully, his point of not all people infected with HIV are gay men, drug users and prostitutes was well taken by local youth.

With McClelland still close to their age, his experiences should have hit close to home in the minds of those who heard him speak.

At the age when hormones and testosterone are running wild within the teenage body, we can only cheer for common sense to prevail over primal urges.

The truth of these modern times, however, is that one solitary lapse in judgement can change a life forever.

As our Kivalliq youth continue to get better informed about HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, hopefully that knowledge will lead to the majority of them taking precautions when they decide to enter into a sexual relationship.

Better yet, maybe that knowledge will lead to more of them practising abstinence until they finish their educations, find the right person, and ready themselves to raise a family.

Don't change a thing There were more than a few male hockey players overheard bemoaning the fact females are allowed to play in the annual Arviat Cup hockey tournament earlier this month.

We can only hope the tournament's committee members give this complaint the proper attention it deserves -- in one ear and quickly out the other.

The inclusion of female players gives the Arviat Cup a sense of uniqueness and helps develop women's hockey in the hamlet.

The annual tourney is also something for younger female players to look forward to at a local level, regardless of whether they ever reach the point of playing in the Western Shield or Arctic Winter Games.

Rather than get the gals out of the Arviat tournament, this corner would rather see one or two more communities follow Arviat's lead and set up a co-ed tourney in their own hamlets.

It all helps the game grow and throws down the welcome mat for everyone who loves hockey, no matter the gender.

And that's what the game is all about.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

The taxi bylaw situation has festered for two weeks and now has degenerated to council clamming-up due to a pending legal challenge.

Clearly, the situation will not improve without reasonable discussion from both sides. Lawyers can hammer away at the issue in court, but the fix will only be temporary and the Band Aid solution won't come cheap.

It's a shame to squander good money after bad and someone's going to get stuck with a hefty legal bill when this round of the fight ends.

Historically, the business has proven it couldn't be run without government intervention, but with council and cabbies both dug in behind lawyers, even a court challenge won't settle this debate.

If the town wins, we'll have 20 cabs on the road until somebody freezes in a ditch.

If the drivers win, we'll have cabs fighting over fares again and nothing will be gained.

What's needed here is an open dialogue between the drivers and the town.

The town needs to tear down the Taxi Commission, repeal this bylaw and rework both to reflect the dynamic needs of the public and the industry.

Without expertise, the commission is a paper tiger and the bylaw is so rigid that a broken down car means another unemployed driver.

The cabbies need to do what they should have done long ago -- form an association to lobby as one voice, rather than squabble amongst each other over who gets what fare.

Music in the air

Coun. Clarence Wood suggested the town look into hosting a summer music festival and he's surely to find a lot of support.

Fort Smith and Yellowknife enjoy a huge influx of cash from these annual events and the tourists and townsfolk also get the benefit of some great entertainment.

To lesser degrees, Enterprise and Fort Good Hope also highlight their summers with festivals.

There are rumblings out of Hay River, where some would like to start a festival there too, so perhaps some organization through the NWT Arts Council could arrange something of a tour for bands to start in Smith and wind-up in Inuvik.

With more dates available it might prove more attractive luring big name acts into the north, while giving Northern musicians some exposure and experience along the way.

Going for gold

Good luck to the 35 Beaufort Delta athletes who are on their way to the Arctic Winter Games in Iqaluit and Nuuk.

We're all hoping you'll bring back gold ulus and know you'll do your best to make the folks back home proud.

Good luck and, more importantly, enjoy the experience! It'll be one you'll never forget.

Pick up next week's Drum for coverage from the Games with NNSL's veteran sports guy, Darren "Feel the Burn" Campbell and ace photographer, Robert "The Commander" Dall.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum, Fort Simpson

Travelling broadens one's horizons, just ask Derek Erasmus and Felix Isiah.

The two Fort Simpson high-school graduates have a whole lot to say about their travels to Sri Lanka and Uruguay, respectively. They are culturally enriched and have a much better sense of world affairs due to their globetrotting.

Although they were on opposite sides of the world, there were some similarities in their situations. It seems that western pop culture has a definite influence in both Sri Lanka and Uruguay. Canadians can hear the familiar melodies of the American Top-40 band Backstreet Boys in the village of Devamulla just as they could in Fort Simpson or Toronto, according to Erasmus.

While that may have been striking, it was no more extraordinary than the crowded streets and packed buses, dirty city air and unforgiving climate. Despite the hardships, they still described a sense of community and a sense of family.

While it is a small world in some respects, there is much to be discovered. Of course, risk is inherent in travel, particularly in countries with unstable governments and crumbling economies. Travel plans must be well laid out to minimize any chance of harm.

Lessons at home

For youth who haven't graduated high school and who aren't yet ready to travel abroad, there are valuable lessons to be learned at home.

Beyond the basic curriculum, workshops and conferences are offered to students on a fairly regular basis. For instance, a regional youth conference was held in Fort Providence last week. Sessions dealt with topics such as drugs and alcohol, career planning, recreation, arts and peer pressure. Also last week, a suicide prevention workshop was held in Fort Simpson. There are important messages being delivered through these forums. Not every student will take heed. Some will learn only by their own mistakes, sometimes costly mistakes. Nevertheless, others may be influenced by what they see and hear, however subtly. These conferences and workshops are a worthy investment and a gamble that will inevitably pay off, at least for some, but that's all one realistically can ask.

Fiddle and bow

In Wrigley, students have been learning the fiddle and made quite an impression with their public performance in Fort Simpson over the weekend. It has brought them a sense of pride and accomplishment. Playing an instrument requires patience and dedication, attributes that will serve them well for the rest of their lives.