Numbers released by the Government of the NWT last week suggest nursing wages here are competitive with the rest of Canada.

The GNWT hired the Economic Research Institute in Redmond, Wash., to survey salaries and the cost of living across Canada.

The institute compared what a senior, experienced nurse at Stanton Territorial Hospital earns to similar nursing positions in Iqaluit, Halifax, Regina, Toronto, Victoria, etc. The cost of living is included in the calculations.

The numbers show the maximum salary for NWT nurses to be 5.8 per cent higher than the Canadian average -- in select capital cities -- when adjusted for cost of living.

We would be wise to heed the wisdom offered by Benjamin Disraeli, British prime minister in the late 1800s, when he observed, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

We're not saying the GNWT's numbers are cooked. We are saying a consulting chef hired by the nurses may have served up quite different figures. What is indisputable is this: there is currently a shortage of nurses at Stanton, which is not just Yellowknife's local hospital, but also the referral hospital for the entire Western Arctic and Western Nunavut.

The intensive care unit has been closed since last June. Obstetrics has teetered on the brink of closure and the operating room has had staffing problems.

The GNWT may be bound by its collective agreement covering Stanton nurses. The recent resolution of a 13-year-old pay equity complaint may be a factor. The fact remains we must compete in a global marketplace for nurses and doctors.

Minister of Health Michael Miltenberger can shell out cash to buy all the figures he wants, but for what?

An experienced nurse earning maximum salary in Yellowknife still makes about $64,500. A nurse doing comparable work in Edmonton still earns about $74,500. These are the government's own figures and include an adjustment for a 17.9 per cent cost of living difference.

The Northwest Territories spends about $200 million per year on health care. Stanton has an annual budget of about $46 million, with approximately 118 nursing positions.

It should cost no more than $1.18 million annually to match those Edmonton maximum nursing salaries here at Stanton -- $10,000 per nurse.

Is $1.18 million more annually too much in a territory with a $200 million annual health care tab and a hospital with a $46 million operating budget?

We think not. More money alone won't solve nursing recruitment and retention problems, but it is an important part of the solution. Money still talks.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

It has been interesting during the past few weeks to listen to Health Minister Ed Picco react over the local airwaves to the story broken in the Kivalliq News on the plan to open a private clinic in Rankin Inlet (Rankin aims at world's first, Oct. 9).

If things go the Piruqsaijit Ltd.'s way, this would be no ordinary private clinic.

Rankin would be home to the first computer tomography laser mammography system to be put into general use worldwide.

The system has the ability to detect breast cancer by identifying breast tumours at a very early stage.

Picco says the clinic being open early in the new year is overly optimistic, and we tend to agree.

However, we're having trouble with some of the minister's other statements.

Picco says he's against private clinics because (a) everyone has the right to the same level of health care and (b) no one should have to pay for health care.

Both may be valid points on a level playing field, but that's far from the case here should the clinic open its doors as planned.

With the Nunavut government unable to provide the same technology, we can only surmise that Picco equates an uncomfortable traditional mammogram to the same level of care for Nunavut women as the painless new treatment promises to deliver.

Maybe the minister should talk to a few women who have had a traditional mammogram before finishing his equation.

Better yet, let's make sure one or two can relay to the minister the emotional suffering and physical pain associated with false biopsies.

On the paying-for- health care side, Picco's concerns seem to rest more with picking up the tab for Inuit women 35 and older to have laser mammography included as part of an annual examination, than Nunavummiut paying for the service themselves.

It is common knowledge that a traditional mammogram often doesn't detect malignant tumours until they've reached a point requiring major surgery.

We can't help but wonder if that was also figured into the minister's equation.

In Picco's defence, he has said the government would have to examine all aspects of the treatment before coming to a decision, if, and when, the clinic becomes a reality.

That being said, the prospect of women from across Canada receiving a medical treatment in Rankin that Nunavummiut don't have access to hardly strikes us as the same level of health care for everyone.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

Every once in a while, this line of work gets me into a really special place. This week, it was the funeral and memorial service for the late Agnes Semmler. Although I never had the privilege of meeting Agnes, it was an honour to attend this celebration of her long and accomplished life.

Old friends embraced, ate and laughed, recalling story after story of her acerbic wit and many adventures.

Judging from the tales I heard, she wasn't one to mince words, and she always seemed to be able to treat people like people, whatever their nationality or station in life.

I hope those who didn't know her will at least get to read about her, and learn like I did, about her remarkable way of being in this world.

Electoral apathy

It was a pretty dismal turnout for Monday's municipal election.

Perhaps I just spend too much time at town hall, but I happen to think municipal politics is a pretty important thing and seeing only 35 per cent of voters turn out came as a bit of a shock to me.

I always feel good after voting and it's not so much that I've made a huge difference, but that I've exercised the right that so many millions don't have; that, and the fact that it earns me the right to bitch.

After the polls closed on election night, I popped 'round to one of the local watering holes and was taken aside by a couple patrons who appeared as though they'd been there a while.

"Aren't you the guy who writes that newspaper column," one asked.

I pleaded guilty and the table railed on about what was wrong with the town and what I should write about, until I asked if they voted. Then things got quiet.

That's the whole deal with this democracy thing. If you don't vote, you can't affect change and really, you forfeit your opportunity to bitch.

I think they should post the list of non-voters in the coffee shops and watering holes around town, just to keep tabs on who's earned the right to complain.

Power play

The recent actions of cabinet over the power rates has most of us wondering if the powers that be have suffered a short-circuit.

For months, everyone in cabinet thought taking a look at a one-rate system would be good for the territory, but all of a sudden it was a bad idea.

So bad, in fact, the government yanked the rug out from under democracy.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum

A mock disaster exercise held in Fort Simpson Saturday proved that local agencies are quite capable of responding to a tragic accident.

But it also brought to light a number of deficiencies, such as communications problems, co-ordinating multiple medevacs and a shortage of certain supplies, namely blankets.

The fact that these shortcomings exist shouldn't be the primary concern. The aim of the exercise was to expose these very flaws. It's now imperative that follow-up meetings take place to ensure these problems are eliminated in the event of a real disaster.

Having a community-generated list of key people, places and equipment would be invaluable. As it has been pointed out, not all numbers are listed in the phone book. The revamped blue pages in the latest edition of the phone book are widely considered as nothing short of shoddy, especially when time is of the essence.

The mock disaster exercise -- the first of its kind to be held in Fort Simpson in winter conditions -- was meant to overburden the community's medical staff, firefighters, police, transportation employees and emergency measures personnel. Some of these groups found themselves short-staffed on Saturday. The firefighters, for instance, had nine of 16 members available and the fire chief was out of town. The RCMP had three members in uniform, one volunteering as a victim and another assisting the fire department. They are seven strong at full force. In a sense, those are ideal circumstances for such an exercise, as disasters always seem to strike at the worst possible time.

A doctor and a full complement of nurses would not necessarily be on hand in the midst of a crisis either.

It was made clear Saturday that, sometimes, even the most efficient of responses will not save all lives. The local health centre is not the University of Alberta hospital. There is neither an intensive care unit nor is there a surgeon on staff in Fort Simpson. This is a region of 3,000 people, not a city of millions. That's just the reality of the situation.

Also worth noting, the exercise was originally scheduled to be held in September. Delays resulted in it being held on the heels of a memorial service in Fort Liard.

Last week, people in that community gathered to remember three people who perished in a tragic plane crash last October. The exercise was certainly not intended to disrespect surviving family members nor the memory of those who passed away. On the contrary, the purpose was to improve the odds of survival when another disaster occurs.

Nobody wants a tragedy, but it's in everybody's best interest to be prepared for one.

The benevolent fund has donated $13,800 to the hospital in the past three years, not "well over $10,000," as reported in "Mainly because of the meat" (Yellowknifer, Oct. 23).