When then finance minister John Todd threatened in 1998 to introduce a mineral tax that would "choke a mule" if the diamond industry didn't ensure some gems remained in the North, he grabbed headlines as an NWT champion.

Trying to figure out now if the house-that-Todd-built is what politicians envisioned five years ago is not an easy task.

Diamonds are a highly competitive, extremely secretive business. The cutting and polishing that takes place along 'Diamond Row' happens in high-security, nondescript facilities.

We do know the much ballyhooed 10 per cent set-aside of rough diamonds by BHP Billiton and Diavik for local cutting and polishing houses is only a target suggested by BHP. It is not carved in stone as a quota, says Martin Irving, director of diamond projects at RWED.

In 2001, BHP made $85 million in rough diamonds available. That would have met the 10 per cent figure, but cutting plants were not able to purchase all of the stones.

We also know that the federal competition bureau holds fast to its definition that a diamond can be mined in Canada but cut and polished offshore and still qualify as Canadian, much to the chagrin of the NWT.

It's also important to note that fewer than 100 people are working at Diamond Row.

At the moment only Sirius Diamonds and Arslanian Cutting Works are open. Sirius workers, members of the Union of Northern Workers, voted last month to reject a first contract offer, but are still on the job.

Two other diamond houses are in limbo. Canadian Dene Diamonds in Ndilo, which suffered myriad problems as Deton'Cho Diamonds and laid off its employees last fall, is supposed to re-open when it can find a sufficient supply of skilled workers. Federal Immigration Minister Denis Coderre has said he'll speed approval of work permits to help facilitate that. Tiffany & Co., which was supposed to open by the end of last year, also needs skilled workers to get up and running.

Aurora College, which offered a jewelry-making program for several years in Rae-Edzo, pulled the plug on it.

It's time we take stock again of where we are with the secondary diamond industry, which is clearly operating way under capacity.

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

Here we go back into the fray over the rising costs of living in the North.

The latest rate application from NTPC was, at best, a Band-Aid solution to a problem that's easily solved -- unless you're an elected official.

The blatant pandering of our government over this issue is so hypocritical and would be laughable it were in any other democracy but here.

How is it that the GNWT can rant and rave about special considerations for Northern health care and turn around and eat their own when it comes to a fair energy cost?

Last month, Kakfwi and his Northern counterparts turned their backs on what was offered by the feds on health care, because of the high cost of delivering care up here.

But when the small communities ask for the same consideration on electricity, our government turned its back on us.

The firing of the power corp's board of directors was something akin to third world politics that still has me reeling. The board was doing what was right for the territory and what they were told to do by the minister, but when he remembered it was an election year, he pulled the plug.

A level rate is the only fair thing for the territory, but it won't happen, because the minister responsible -- Joe Handley -- is a Yellowknife MLA.

To level rates in the territory would mean raising the rates in Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith and some points in between. It would also mean political suicide for all those MLAs.

While we all paid for the cheap power those people are enjoying, at the Snare and Talston hydro dams, only those residents get the cheap rates.

Not fair, you may say. Forget fair -- this is isn't about fair, this is about politics.

When cabinet fired the board last year, they did so to save their political butts at the expense of all of us and all the other folks who don't live on the hydro grid.

The CRTC can allow NorthwesTel a subsidy to provide reasonable long distance rates to remote communities, the federal government can pay higher health-care transfers for the same reason, surely the GNWT can realize the same logic applies to electricity.

To think otherwise is hypocritical.

I'd like to hope the Public Utilities Board has enough pull to rule against the political prodding of our government, but I'm not that naive.

These are the pratfalls of Crown corporations that have been learned and re-learned by governments down through the ages, but ours is having a hard time learning the lesson.

Call and write your MLA, attend the PUB meetings and let the wags in Yellowknife know that we count for something here too and we will remember this at the ballot box in November.

Smoke and mirrors

I was a bit surprised to see town council bend on the amendment to the smoking bylaw last week and I sense that they will bend again next week too.

The smoking bylaw came about as a protection issue to keep children away from secondhand smoke, but the bylaw goes further than that.

To say the town can order what goes on inside private clubs, is a bit far-fetched and more than a little domineering.

If I open Terry's Black Lung Club tomorrow, myself and my membership will decide what goes on inside that building because that is our freedom of association.

Town council may be able to regulate the curling club, because it owns the building, but if I held that lease I would look at the fine print.

If the club leased a smoking building, that building should remain that way until that lease expires.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum

By all expectations, one enormous pipeline project is going to be a reality within the next few years. So it's no coincidence that in recent weeks there have been calls and pleas in the Deh Cho for badly needed preparations.

Last week's social development conference was a case in point. The consensus among the delegates was that a concerted regional effort is needed to address the anticipated impacts from a pipeline -- not just First Nations, not just Metis Locals, not just municipalities, not just businesses, not just government departments, not just federal offices, but all of them together.

As it stands, each of these entities is plotting its own pipeline strategy. Some of the groups have done thorough groundwork, others have only scratched the surface.

As the delegates at last week's social development forum advocated, it is possible to marshal the stakeholders and get a better grasp of the bigger picture. It is possible to arrive at some common goals in the best interest of the Deh Cho region and its people.

No, it's not realistic to think that everyone in the region will be on board. Not every group will agree on every issue or every principle. But by bringing the stakeholders together we will at least find out where those differences lie and what, if anything, can be done about them.

There's too much at stake to let time fritter away, to allow fragmented political bodies to vie for small scraps from the larger pie, to see local governments tripping over themselves in a last-minute scramble.

A co-ordinated approach that would bring the greatest benefits to the greatest number of people isn't yet out of the question.

But we must act very soon.

The First Nations seeking compensation from Paramount Resources Ltd. have no clear parameters for determining a fair deal. The oil and gas company was entrenched in the Cameron Hills prior to the Deh Cho First Nations' Interim Measures Agreement and, of course, the Interim Resource Development

Agreement due to be signed on April 17.

Therefore the parties have to improvise.

Paramount, in its own long-term corporate interest, should not be too tight-fisted with the First Nations. The company, in all likelihood, will want the best possible relationship with First Nations to improve its chances of working elsewhere within the Deh Cho in the future.

On the other hand, the First Nations, at least when it comes to accusations of disturbing the land and wildlife, should have solid proof that changes in the ecology are linked to Paramount's activities and not caused by other factors.

Remember to set your clocks ahead one hour when you retire on Saturday evening. Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) officially begins on Sunday at 2 a.m., bringing us brighter evenings.