It took the death of 36-year-old Scott Toohey on Dec. 11, 1992 to spur city council to impose tough rules on snowmobile use in the city.

Toohey was walking home from work across Frame Lake at 5:15 p.m. when he was hit and killed by a snow machine.

The 16-year-old driver was charged with dangerous driving causing death, and sentenced to two years probation and 200 hours community service. Back then, the city didn't even own snowmobiles to go after offenders.

Despite that tragedy and injuries to others in the 10 years since, some riders think a snow machine is a licence to forget common sense.

Former Alderman Mike Byrne said when council debated a snowmobile bylaw in May 1993, "we can't legislate against stupidity."

No, you can't, but bylaw officers and courts can.

Just ask the 23-year-old Yellowknifer who was fined $1,000 and had his driver's licence suspended for six months. He was clocked at 76 km/h across Frame Lake and up to 120 km/h in the resulting chase -- while driving an unlicenced snowmobile.

That chase went right through Northlands Trailer Park.

It's divers like that who give all snowmobilers a bad name.

And there are others -- like those who risk their lives by speeding across open water in front of Jackfish power plant.

And what of the lives of firefighters who may have to rescue them?

According to the municipal bylaw office, there seem to be fewer problems this snowmobile season. That's thanks to lack of snow and warm weather in late 2002, and bone-numbing cold to start off 2003.

Most of their tickets are for speeding or for youths who drive snow machines unsupervised.

But now that warmer weather and longer days are upon us, the number of snowmobilers on lakes, trails and streets will rise dramatically.

Bylaw officers need to remain vigilant in enforcing the laws.

They can't be everywhere at all times and need the public, especially law-abiding snowmobilers to be their eyes and ears. Report those who take risks and jeopardize their lives and those of others.

We all owe that to Scott Toohey and his two daughters.

They were aged 9 and 10 when he was cut down, and grew up without their father.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

Rankin Inlet hamlet council's decision to go in-camera to discuss the mayor and SAO's talks with Premier Paul Okalik concerning the PPD's move to Baker Lake was a slap in the face to both local media and hamlet residents.

For the past two months council has been a media-mongering machine concerning the PPD, issuing press releases and actively seeking interviews to rant on the injustice of it all.

To council's credit, the move worked as the intense media scrutiny brought the two sides together and opened the lines of communication.

Rankin Mayor Lorne Kusugak openly acknowledges the fact the media coverage played a large role in opening dialogue between the hamlet and the Nunavut government.

So, why the decision to go in-camera when a piece of good news finally comes down the pipe for Rankin on the subject?

Kusugak's explanation was that he didn't want the actual numbers being discussed in public for fear of undoing the productive talks with the premier.

The good mayor vastly underestimated the local media if he truly believed he was the only one who could release the number of jobs discussed in their conversation.

In fact, this reporter went to the March 3 council meeting already knowing the premier had assured Kusugak that at least five current PPD positions would remain in Rankin Inlet. The odds on favourite for three of those positions is the three-person operations department, which has the most hands-on responsibilities of any of the 16 PPD jobs in Rankin.

Equally disappointing was Coun. Justin Merritt supporting the mayor's motion to go in-camera on the subject. Merritt, whose wife is employed with the Rankin PPD, has been on a letter-writing campaign to Northern media for the past six months criticizing the GN's decision to relocate the PPD to Baker.

Council knows best?

The Municipal Act gives council the right to go in-camera when it deems it in the public's best interest to do so.

We fail to see how not letting the community know it will be holding onto at least five of the current positions is in its best interest. Releasing the numbers puts the premier's assurances on the record, which can weigh heavily in the hamlet's favour should the day ever come when the GN decides to change its mind concerning the issue.

Kusugak's statement that the hamlet plans to "eventually" go to the media because the people have a right to know is as self-serving and paternalistic as it gets for a municipal council.

Properly put, the message sent is that council will decide when it's in the best interests for people to know about decisions affecting their community. It's more than a little ironic that council adopted the same secretive approach it was previously blasting the Nunavut government for employing in making the decision to relocate the PPD in the first place.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

You have to sympathize with the plight of Laura Moses and her family as they are faced with re-living a violent and disturbing part of their past.

Dealing with the horrific loss of a loved one cannot be easy, but their plight is further compounded by living in a small town.

It's inevitable that the victim and offender will meet in a town this size and the justice system should have been more sympathetic to that.

With any violent crimes, the family should be notified of upcoming hearings and possible release dates of the offender. The request for notification should not have to fall on the victim or their survivors, it should be an automatic part of the parole process.

In violent crimes, the Crown often requests a victim impact statement to present to the court before sentencing.

Perhaps the Crown could also ask the judge to recommend corrections notify victims of crime when the offender is up for release.

That way victims and their families might avoid the situation that's now before this Inuvik family.

Surely the offender has rights and it's true the man has served his time, but that's little comfort to the family whose forced into standing on line with him at the bank or grocery store.

Fuelling new centre

The plans for the new leisure centre look pretty good and if you're at all curious, you should get down to town hall for a peek.

Looking at the plans and watching the price of fuel skyrocket, I can't help but wonder how much it's going to cost to keep that hot tub hot all winter long.

Although we're sitting on huge lakes of natural gas here, the cost of our gas is tied to the equivalent cost of diesel fuel.

As George Bush threatens war to drive up the cost of oil to make he and his cronies rich, here we are a world away bearing the brunt of his policies.

I think it's time to re-evaluate the cost of our energy here and get off the oil standard.

Floyd Roland was quite right to bring this up in the legislature Monday, because I don't know of one person who has realized any savings since the natural gas conversion happened here.

As the world price of oil edges higher and higher, so will our natural gas costs. If the utility providers can't see their way clear to charge us the real cost of our energy here, perhaps under the new regional government we can set up our own utility that will.

Cause and effect

Kudos to the IRC for taking the lead on the up-coming conference on fetal alcohol syndrome.

The information on diagnosing and treating FAS and FAE is a black hole in the medical world and there is no reason why we can't take the lead research right here.

Far too long this was an issue that wasn't talked about, so it's no surprise that we still know very little about it.

Conferences like this on a small scale will make life easier for caregivers in our communities, but in the big picture, they help fill the world-wide void that exists in FAS/E research.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum

It's time to take stock of some rather remarkable happenings in Fort Simpson.

First off, kudos to Thomas Simpson school's student council (and to the equally thoughtful staff members) who have given their time to raise money for the unfortunate souls in Badger, Nfld. Fort Simpson, a community of similar size, is equally susceptible to flooding. It had to be evacuated in the 1960s and experienced another close call in the late 1980s.

It must be heart-wrenching to find one's home practically destroyed by water-cum-ice. Hopefully the outpouring of support from across the country, including a contribution from Fort Simpson, will provide the boost Badger's residents need to get through this distressing time.

The Fort Simpson Darts Society also deserves a round of applause for successfully hosting the territorial championships this past weekend. Walking into the gymnasium (which was a fairly harsh environment for a non-smoker), the set of 2.5-metre, double-sided darts cabinets immediately caught one's eye. Many of the players commented on how impressive the cabinets were, including Danny Clouston, president of the Territorial Darts Association. The interlocking cabinets were sturdy, well-constructed and allowed the players to throw darts without distraction, according to Clouston. Not bad for a design that Fort Simpson's John Moreau jotted on a restaurant napkin. Moreau, Larry Campbell, Steve Gooderham, Wally Watson and Clayton Moreau combined efforts on construction.

Despite the fundraising efforts, the territorial darts tournament was unfortunately a financial drain. The Fort Simpson Darts Society must now try to recoup close to $5,000 in losses and help raise enough money to send up to four players to the national tournament in New Brunswick in June.

Congratulations to Chris Stipdonk, the only Deh Cho athlete to compete at the Canada Winter Games in Bathurst-Campbellton, N.B. People who know Stipdonk are getting accustomed to him bringing back a fistful of medals from competitions. It wasn't meant to be this time, as he was pitted against some of the best badminton players in the country. However, it was a good learning experience and a significant achievement for someone who only took up the sport two years ago.

Parks Canada employee Sophie Borcoman did return to Fort Simpson with some hardware, an award known as The Flame. It came quite unexpectedly, but was much-deserved. She has been instrumental in incorporating a Dene perspective and she has done a great deal to promote Nahanni National Park Reserve's image.

Finally, Fort Simpson should be proud of having the Beavertail Jamboree to indulge in this week. The hard work of the organizing committee and the volunteers shouldn't be taken for granted. Yellowknife's Caribou Carnival has been faltering and was almost cancelled this year.