A glimpse of our Northern landscape for air travellers will soon disappear as a result of poor planning by airport management.

A six-sided display of geological samples, which was only erected late last summer, is being removed to make way for expansion of the terminal building at the airport.

Spirit Yellowknife, a non-profit Yellowknife organization, spent a lot of time and effort gathering the collection of minerals to be showcased. It would be an injustice to this group and to every airline passenger who touches down in Yellowknife if management does not allow the expansion plans to include the display.

The attacks of Sept. 11 put security high on the list of priorities. Safety should come first but we can't sacrifice character. If we do, every airport will look the same, and many already seem to. The total number of take-offs and landings in 1999 in the NWT was 127,297. That's an average of about 348 flight daily.

Hundreds of passengers land at the Yellowknife airport each day, and that may be our only chance to show them our Northern treasures. Our chest may soon be a little emptier.

The current hot spot for community development is the site of the Yellowknife Correctional Centre.

Already under construction is a new twin-pad arena, a gymnasium and a gymnastics facility. Others are lining up in hopes of securing their piece of the site.

Yellowknife Catholic Schools has announced its desire to build a new school on the YCC site. This week artist Francois Thibault began his lobby to have the city set aside land for a new arts centre. The Aurora Minor Soccer League has also expressed interest in building an indoor soccer facility there.

All three proposals are a perfect fit for the site.

If we go by projected enrolments for Yellowknife, the city's student body is poised to grow by 750 over the next eight years, making it clear a new school will be needed. The plan to turn massive steel tanks abandoned at Giant mine into a centre for the arts is an innovative idea and must be explored. Indoor soccer is a major sport in Yellowknife; it deserves its place by the city's premier sports complex.

The entire site is 77,352 square metres. While not all of that can be used for building, the arena only takes up 9,600 square metres.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem said council has yet to decide what to do with the correctional centre site, which will be vacant in two years. Our only question is what is the city waiting for?

Now is the time to start planning what to do with the property.

It took years and years of debate to get to where we are with the new arena. Let's not make the same mistake twice.

Strike a committee and start planning.

Hey, city council, don't you know it's a jungle out here for us outside cats?

We already have enough to worry about without keeping an eye out for city bylaw officers or traps in the neighbour's flower garden. There are cars and trucks, kids with sticks, stray dogs and foxes. Nine lives aren't nearly enough.

And besides, doesn't the city have enough to take care of without hassling a few friendly felines? What about filling potholes, catching speeders and making sure the stray dog that keeps chasing me up a tree gets caught and its owner dealt with?

I just want to go about my business: fertilizing gardens, snacking on squirrels and sparrows and snoozing under the sun.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

More than a few people in Rankin Inlet noticed a stronger sense of community spirit at this year's Pakallak Tyme celebrations. It just seemed like people were having more fun at the community hall and on Williamson Lake than during years past. Smiling faces were everywhere as participants competed against each other in games and skill events.

So, what could be behind this sudden display of community spirit and good natured competition? The fact of the matter is, many of the games this year offered material prizes rather than cash awards. And, the events that did offer cash did not offer excessive amounts.

Like it or not, the absence of large cash prizes at most events makes Pakallak Tyme more enjoyable for everyone.

Let's be honest. It's difficult to cheer on your neighbour during the harpoon toss if you stand to lose $500 when they hit the target. It's simple human nature.

Large prizes ignite the super competitive powder kegs in all of us. The events lose their innocence when there's a large pot of gold waiting for the victor.

In such cases, families tend to become bitter rivals trying to outdo each other for the big bucks.

The sense of community spirit the games are intended to instill gets lost in the process.

Think about it. Put four families out on the ice playing a game for big money and watch the take-no-prisoners attitude that encompasses the event.

Pit those same four families against each other when the top prize is a four-slice toaster and the game becomes all about fun and friendly interaction.

There are plenty of top prizes available during Pakallak Tyme in the form of draws for free airline tickets, super giant bingos and the big money snowmobile races.

The snowmobile races are for a select group of superior drivers, while the random draws and bingo games are just plain luck.

Smaller prizes for the numerous games allows the participants to focus on simply having a great time. Not that there's anything wrong with a brand new four-slice toaster!!

If the organizers planned it that way for this year's Pakallak Tyme, they are to be commended.

If not, here's hoping they noticed the positive results of the way things turned out, and winning prizes forever takes a back seat to having a fun family outing.

That, after all, is the true spirit of Pakallak Tyme.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

The nurses of the North sure deserve a big thanks from all of us who count on the work they do.

With staff shortages rampant throughout the profession, our nurses have been doing more with less for far too long.

Some of the new nursing programs through Aurora College will soon start showing some results for the profession and bring some more homegrown help into our hospitals and health centres.

Elegant Inuvik

The Firefighter's Ball sure opened my eyes to what a classy bunch you Inuvikites are!

Just before the ball, I was talking to a friend in Ontario who asked what I was wearing to the soiree.

When I answered a sweater, canvas pants and my best hat, she suggested since it was a ball, I might consider a suit.

"This is the North," I said. "Things are a little more casual here than in the Big Smoke." But when I got to the event, I saw the gowns, suits, ties and even tuxes and tails, I quickly did an about face to dust off the old suit.

Not that I would have felt out of place in my usual work clothes, but it's a rare occasion I get to use those fancy duds. It was indeed a classy affair and a real treat to see everyone dressed-up.

For most of us, it's not something we'd like to do everyday, but it is fun once in a while.

Trade wars

It was refreshing to see someone from the federal government finally taking a stand for Canada against our largest trading partner.

Our federal natural resources minister made his thoughts very clear last Thursday at the meeting with his G-8 counterparts and his tough talk brought about a quick and hasty retreat from the Americans. Herb Dhaliwal threatened to fight subsidy with subsidy over the Alaskan gas tax credit proposed by U.S. Alaskan Republican Senator Frank Murkowski.

Likely fearing reprisals from the World Trade Organization rather than the Canadian threat, the American energy boss announced the next day that the Bush administration would not support the amendment.

The Americans have been stomping Canada hard lately over softwood lumber and now a farmer's subsidy and it's about time a Canadian politician stood up to the big bully.

This is just the kind of tough talk we'd love to hear from our Prime Minister, but he's too concerned over losing some votes for his Liberal buddies in the Yukon.

The Alaskan pipeline means a few jobs for a few years in the Yukon, but in the grander scheme, what's best for Canada is the Mackenzie Valley route.

Despite pleading, prodding and poking from our ministers and premier's recent visit to Capital City, the Prime Minister has remained quiet on the whole pipeline issue.

Granted, trying to trade Twinkies for Ding-Dongs with the biggest bully in school doesn't come easy when you're a little guy from Shawinigan, but what's at stake here is worth the risk of a black eye or a few lost votes for the Yukon's Pat Duncan.

Editorial Comment
Mike W. Bryant
Deh Cho Drum, Fort Simpson

Growing up in the North means never being surprised with the richness it has to offer.

I stepped off the plane last week, leaving the hustle and bustle of "big city" Yellowknife behind, where diamond dreams and government schemes abound, into the heart of the Deh Cho. A world, despite my aforementioned upbringing, I'm scarcely familiar with.

It only goes to show how vast this territory really is.

Attending last Monday's village council meeting, where Mayor Tom Wilson and council pointed out to Nahendeh MLA Jim Antoine the disparity between Fort Simpson and that gilded castle built on bedrock on the shores of Great Slave Lake -- that little Camelot we call Yellowknife -- brings a now popular cinema quote to mind. Although, I must say, I'm loathe to give Hollywood credit for anything.

"Show me the money," Cuba Gooding Jr.'s character, Rod Tidwell, tells his agent in the film Jerry Maguire.

Earlier this year the territorial cabinet was in the throes of one big, happy love-in. And why not? The purse was full. The NWT thumped the rest of Canada last year with a 20 per cent GDP growth rate.

In Yellowknife, one school board is clamouring for a new school to be built. The chamber of commerce wants to see 600 new homes built to accommodate all the mining personnel expecting to arrive on the crest of good fortune the diamond industry promises to offer.

To top it off, a new twin pad arena -- to go along the other two already there -- is being constructed as we speak.

Yellowknife's a biiger town, of course, but from what I gather, Fort Simpson council would be happy to simply have some of their capital funding revamped -- after taking a $500,000 hit last year -- so they can fix the roads.

And of course, a few more government jobs in the area wouldn't hurt either.

Christmas may have past, but I am told it didn't come here this year. One has to wonder if Santa Claus is still licking his wounds after the mugging he suffered upon climbing down the chimney at Yellowknife City Hall.

Anyway, I am here for the rest of the month, and I am looking forward to meeting as many of you as I can while I am here. I am anxious to learn as much as I can about the Deh Cho, so drop me a line any time.

One more thing. My birthday was last Friday, and while goodwill may be in short supply in the territorial capital, it certainly wasn't here.

Thank you Randy, Stephanie, Glen, Sue, Janis, Tim, John, Arthur, Karen, Vera, Crystal and the kids for the party and your most gracious welcome.

I love moose steaks.