Hay River education leaders want to split from the South Slave District Education Council. That's no secret.

They believe their students, who make up nearly half the South Slave's approximately 1,700 students, would be better off under Hay River's sole control.

Back in 2001, the relationship between the SSDEC and Hay River's DEA was described as a "marriage made in hell." Still, Education Minister Jake Ootes refused to grant Hay River's request for a separate board.

Now that marriage is more acrimonious than ever.

Hay River DEA chair Andrew Butler has been booted from the district board over comments he made during a recent meeting.

Those comments violated the council's code of conduct.

Among other things, it requires members to "represent the interests of the students of the entire South Slave region and not just the special interests or partisan politics of my community or DEA."

In protest, the Hay River DEA has refused to name a new representative and didn't send someone to attend the meeting last Friday in Fort Smith.

In typical GNWT hands-off style, Ootes has declined to get involved in this dispute, instead sending a letter hoping everyone will kiss and make up.

How can they if the two sides aren't even talking?

Even the most loving marriages go through rough times, and the only way to resolve a problem is to seek counselling.

Ootes can write all the wishful letters he wants, but without his guiding hand, the bad blood between these feuding partners will only get worse.

If the minister doesn't bring the two sides to the table together, the ones to suffer will be the students.

Fort McPherson, Inuvik, Tuktoyaktuk and elsewhere across the North: winter carnivals are inventive, popular and pack a lot in several days.

It must be a point of pride that hamlets of a couple thousand people -- or fewer -- can organize a multi-day winter festival. The "big city" of Yellowknife, by comparison, can only come up with a half-day event on half a parking lot.

Some of these festivals -- the Tuktoyaktuk Beluga Jamboree comes to mind -- have so much going on they run past the weekend and into Monday.

Winter is long and cold and hard enough to deal with in any year. People look forward to a chance to bust loose, meet old friends they haven't seen in a long time.

Northern communities are able to meet that demand by putting on events unique to each community and a joy for everyone.

Enthusiasm and solid planning: these are the hallmarks that make the North's winter weekends of fun a success year after year.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

Let the people have the final say.

That's our take on the recent meetings of the Nunavut Liquor Licensing Board held in Rankin Inlet.

A number of people voiced their opinion at the meetings over the local Legion's application for a club licence.

Those who spoke expressed concern that, although they realized the people of Rankin Inlet do not want to live in a dry hamlet, to make alcohol more readily available would ultimately cause harm to the community.

The usual undertones were there, of course -- more alcohol leads to more abuse, leads to more neglect, leads to more violence, leads to more poverty, etc., etc.

These are all valid concerns, for a very small percentage of the population. The fact remains, most people in our community can go to a Legion function, have a few drinks while cutting a rug or two, and make their way home without causing harm to family members or running afoul of the law.

If the club licence were to be granted, Legion members claim they would be able to get a permit for the entire year and not have to worry about obtaining a special licence every other week to hold their functions.

They would also be able to hold weekly dances, rather than bi-weekly events.

Those who oppose the move wonder aloud how long it will be before the Legion, local hotel and eating establishments are all serving alcohol on a daily basis.

Historically, plebiscites have been held at the same time as municipal elections to allow the community to have the final say on such matters. And, at the risk of undermining any of the Liquor Licensing Board's power or influence, we don't see why this should be any different.

The board says it should have a decision on the application within two

months. That's a full six months before municipal election time.

Surely, should the board decide a plebiscite is the way to go, we can be ready to let the community have its say by Christmas.

While we remain dubious over community members who voice their opinions in a public forum by repeating what they claim to "hear around town" without giving specific examples or citing proven facts -- democracy dictates the people should have the final say on what happens in their community.

A plebiscite should be held and both sides in the debate should be prepared to live with the result.

If nothing else, it would be a nice change of pace for the people to speak and our government to listen.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

It looks like the smoking bylaw is a done deal. It wasn't the cakewalk council thought it would be, but it did happen without the debate I thought it would inspire, considering the number of smokers here.

There wasn't so much as a cough or a wheeze from the smoker's lobby, with not a single smoker showing up in opposition at any of the council meetings or the public meeting.

Some of the passion exhibited by the in the anti-smoking councillors at these meetings has been outright inspiring. I sure hope they will be equally inspired when the dust starts to fly.

Last year, I walked into my living room to see a cloud of what I thought was smoke, billowing through my sliding door. Closer inspection revealed that it wasn't Home Hardware burning down next door, but the dust rising from Franklin Street. With each passing car or truck, thick dust came wafting in to settle on my TV screen, CD racks and all over the once clean dishes in the rack.

We all spend an inordinate amount of time dusting our homes, but imagine the dust we breath in each day?

Council brought up the dangers of smoking in parts per million and the toxic effects over extended period of time, but just imagine the parts per million in dirt we breath in every summer here.

Walking on the street is likely more harmful than sitting in the smokiest bar. A bike ride along the overpass feels like the equivalent to smoking three cigarettes.

If cigarette smoke was as thick as the dust in this town, I would be just as passionate as councillors Alfred Moses and Arlene Hansen. But it's not.

The town bought a beautiful street sweeper last year and we all appreciate that, but the paving and dust abatement needs to be bumped way up.

The smoking bylaw thing is a good step; it's easy, it's trendy and it's cheap. Dust isn't so easy, it's hardly trendy and it ain't cheap.

Rather than dumping down gallons of water and chemicals, the real solution is paving. The town currently spends $400,000 a year on paving.

Most of that money was spent last year on cold mix plopped into pot holes that falls out after a few cars pass over it.

This summer, there will be a hot mix paving machine in town and I'd like to see that baby laying it down hot and thick, around the clock and all around town.

It would take millions and more than a few summers of paving, but the longer we leave it, the more it will cost.

New subdivisions are going in and council is rubbing their hands together over the new revenue. The town is debt-free and every spare cent from bingo and lotteries is going right into the deep end of our new pool.

If we can afford to go millions into debt so we can go for a swim, shouldn't we be able to go into debt to save our lungs?

If council is truly dedicated to a healthier town, lets see them put some money where their mouths are -- and where our lungs are.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum

It's looking more and more like it's time to part ways.

The relationship between the Deh Cho First Nations (DCFN) and the Acho Dene Koe (ADK) has always been tenuous.

Things have taken another bad turn with the ADK's mistrust of the Interim Resource Development Agreement, which is due to be signed on April 17. The Fort Liard First Nation is worried the agreement will cede authority over its traditional lands to the DCFN.

The same sense of apprehension existed prior to the signing of the Interim Measures Agreement and Draft Framework Agreement last year.

It could be argued that the real turning point came in 1993 when then Chief Harry Deneron and his council decided to go forward with oil and gas exploration. If that wasn't the defining moment, then it happened on May 16, 2001, at the Deh Cho spring leadership assembly in Fort Simpson. The tension was palpable in the Deh Cho First Nations boardroom that day as former Chief Judy Kotchea insisted on a resolution stating that interim self-government agreements "will apply to ADK traditional lands at ADK's discretion." Another clause gave ADK "sole ownership, authority and jurisdiction over its territory during and after negotiations."

In the meantime there have been other flare-ups between the DCFN and the ADK. There were hard feelings over a National Post feature that included negative comments about Fort Liard from DCFN representatives. Last fall's leadership assembly was pulled from Fort Liard after Chief Floyd Bertrand wrote a letter to Trout Lake and Nahanni Butte that DCFN Grand Chief Michael Nadli found offensive.

These are just the tensions that have been made public. There could be others simmering behind the scenes.

This shouldn't be viewed as a good guy, bad guy situation. It's just two sides that can't find enough common ground. They can't agree, and there doesn't seem to be much will to work through the problems.

The Fort Liard band has at least twice approached the Department of Indian Affairs with requests to have its own land claim. It's time the federal government to acquiesce and dissolve this sham of a union.

As for the other First Nations within the Deh Cho, they have managed to maintain an alliance, sometimes rocky, sometimes harmonious. Even outside of Fort Liard, there are those who have their misgivings over what they perceive as the DCFN's motives or hidden agenda. What is this organization if not representational of the aboriginal groups in this region?

There are four major political assemblies and numerous strategic planning sessions each year. If the DCFN is not fully accountable, it's the failing of each of the chiefs and Metis presidents and their respective delegates.

Bruce Rattray is the deputy minister of Public Works and Services, not the deputy minister of Municipal and Community Affairs as was reported in a story headlined '$1 M computer contract awarded to Southern firm' in News/North last week. News/North apologizes for the error.