 |
What an insult to one of the North's most revered symbols.
The fuss raised by 120 people about John and Lauri Evanitski's mushing business going into 108 Talthelie Drive is mind boggling. Fortunately, the development appeal board denied a petition to reject the kennel.
The board had no choice. Under the industrial zoning bylaw's permitted uses, the first item is 'animal services.'
Kam Lake is already home to the Great Slave Animal Hospital and other mushers' kennels.
The dog noise and smell may not be pleasant, but Kam Lake is an industrial zone. People who choose to live there must accept that.
It's home to a fibreglass manufacturer, auto wrecker, bulk fuel tanks, ready-mix concrete supplier and other businesses. Huge transport trucks roll down those streets every day.
What's next on the banning list because it smells or makes too much noise? In a perfect world, dog kennels would be located in a specially-zoned area. Unfortunately in Yellowknife, with its scarcity of developed land, Kam Lake is the only place they can go.
If city council wants to address these concerns, they must start looking for a special place for mushers, away from everyone else.
We have been dazzled by the successes of our Northern diamond mines for quite a while.
It keeps getting better. A news item came across our desk just this week noting that Canada is about to become the world's third-largest producer of rough diamonds.
All that glitters may not be gold, but has become something better in the form of the hardest of all rocks.
But before we get carried away with diamonds, we should step back to note that one of the glittering things in Yellowknife is the brilliance of Karen Hollett and her Arctic Wild Harvest business.
Small businesses like hers need to be applauded, too, for their success in our community.
In Hollett's case, she's taken a thriving home-based specialty foods enterprise and -- using ingenuity and unflagging entrepreneurship (she sold a rock to an American) -- built it to the point where she can open a shop in Centre Square Mall.
Along the way she won an Industry Canada award for her e-commerce marketing and was invited to join a prime minister's trade mission to Russia.
Indeed, Hollett has made the Internet a success at a time when pundits are still saying the Internet continues to be an unpopular marketplace among buyers.
We know Hollett is not alone among small business success stories in Yellowknife.
But through her we can applaud them all.
Editorial Comment
Chris Puglia
Kivalliq News
You may have seen it -- a new commercial designed to instill national pride in Canadians.
Similar to the 'I Am Canadian' beer commercial (my personal favourite) it has supposedly normal Canadians stating what they love about their country.
This commercial looks at the freedoms Canadians enjoy. But are all Canadians afforded the same rights and freedoms regardless of race, colour and gender?
In theory, perhaps they are, but in practice I would say no.
Northern Canadians for years have struggled because they are not treated equally by the federal government compared to the rest of Canada.
On paper it may seem the North is treated the same way as the rest of the country, but in reality the truth is much the opposite.
Northerners struggle with access to health care, education, affordable housing and food. Those struggles can be attributed to poor government funding and isolation.
The results are horrendous social issues that are devastating not only to Inuit culture, but Canada's reputation.
It's outrageous that anywhere in what is supposedly one of the wealthiest and most prosperous countries world-wide that there are regions which, by definition, could be classified as third world.
Two bedroom homes are bursting at the seams trying to accommodate, at times, more than 10 people. Unemployment, suicide and alcohol and drug abuse rates are double and triple those of national averages.
Yet, still the Canadian government is hesitant to invest in the people of the North and every new federal dollar obtained is fought for. Meanwhile larger provinces, where the voting majorities live, are flourishing.
The question is: Why are the feds so reluctant to invest in the North, aside from a sparse population?
The population argument is an effective one for the Canadian government. How can they justify spending billions of dollars to not only improve, but create a Northern transportation system, improve health care, advance education and increase social programs?
The wealth of natural resources here that feed federal government coffers should be enough justification. If not, then the desire to ensure a quality, equal and healthy lifestyle for all Canadians should be.
Northerners deserve the luxuries Southern Canadians take for granted. I am proud to be Canadian and I love this country. Lets hope the feds help ensure we can all say that.
- Note: Darrell Greer is on holidays and will return when the birds fly south.
Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum
The Canada Day Parade has just ended and as I type here I can hear the Vimy Ridge Pipe Band playing across the field behind me and I'm stuck inside, wrestling with thoughts of what defines us as Canadians.
Our government has gone to great expense mailing out flags and shoveling money in a feverish attempt to establish a national identity without much result.
Even with the millions spent on a cultural cognizance that sets us apart from the Americans, any efforts made by Sheila Copps and Heritage Canada have been over-shadowed by one 30 second beer commercial.
Ever since Molson first aired their "I Am Canadian" ad campaign, the rant was indelibly etched on our minds that we really DO have an identity, but did we really need a beer company to point that out to us?
We don't wrap ourselves in the flag, in blind faith patriotism the way our American cousins do; we are independent thinkers and workers who carry our national pride in our hip pocket.
We are Stompin' Tom, Hockey Night in Canada, Shania Twain, Bob and Doug Mackenzie, Don Cherry, but we are also so much more. This vast expanse of land is rich with cultural diversity from ocean to ocean to ocean and we celebrate that every day in a quiet and unassuming way, that our southern friends will never understand.
Identity is not something that you get from waving a flag, singing a song or fighting a war, but in our actions; it lies in the simple pride of purpose that built national rail and highways as well as the simple small town challenges that we meet shoulder to shoulder each day.
These achievements both small and large, have spun us a thread of national unity that cannot be unravelled by politics or embellished by tax dollars.
We don't need spin doctors or ad execs to tell us who we are, we just are -- Canadians.
Hot spot heroes
I think we all owe a debt of deep gratitude to the men and women who fought the flames back from our town last week.
I flew over the burn and saw how close it came and it would have been much, much worse if not for the efforts of the pilots in the air and the crews on the ground. From the war room to the EFFs on the end of the hose, these people do an outstanding job in some of the worst conditions imaginable.
I know first-hand, because I spent a summer fighting some of the biggest blazes that ever swept through B.C. From out of the chopper and into the choking smoke, blowing ash, stifling heat, and sometimes frantic chaos, fighting fires is easily the scariest thing I've ever done.
Fighting fire is war during peacetime and while most firefighters brush it off as work, it's much more than that. The ability to keep your head while the whole world fall apart around you is a rare trait, but in very good firefighter, you'll find that trait.
I saw that look last Friday for the first time since 1985, when I was talking with Mike Gravel at fire headquarters at Shell Lake. Behind the cool exterior, I could see that fear, but he carried it like a soldier. Juggling eight fires at once, he was making life and death decisions, but he was in control enough to even be courteous to a bothersome media type.
We all owe them a big thanks for a job well done.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
A clash of cultures is how Chief Roy Fabian described a refusal by Deh Cho delegates to outright accept the elders' recommendation for grand chief.
It is an apt description.
A majority of delegates insisted on an election despite the elders' endorsement of Herb Norwegian.
To see the elders rebuffed, even in a respectful manner, is a rare event in a Deh Cho political forum (elder abuse in the communities is another topic for another day).
When Norwegian was elected on the first ballot, it confirmed that the elders' recommendation was wise. Yet it also spoke to the principle of the matter -- many Deh Cho delegates want the right to their own say. One person, one vote doesn't reflect Dene custom, but in today's changing society it seems to be what the majority wants.
So Herb Norwegian has been confirmed twice as grand chief, once by the elders and once by the delegates. There should be no dispute over his entitlement to the position.
Fortunately, Norwegian has shown indications of possessing a quality that outgoing grand chief held in spades -- the ability to build consensus. Nadli, as he did on his final day in office, repeatedly came to the leadership table and helped the jousting delegates find a solution or reach a compromise. There are, as one might expect, a number of quarrelsome issues among the 10 Deh Cho communities (13 organizations).
Nadli leaves his post with his integrity intact. He stood steadfastly by his principles over the past six years and accomplished much for the Deh Cho in a slow-moving political process.
He'd surely be welcomed with open arms should decide to re-enter the political arena in the coming years.
Pause for thought
While in conversation with Joachim Bonnetrouge in Kakisa last week, he suggested that the common band election format should be revamped. He pointed out that too many valuable candidates for chief are relegated to political oblivion when they fail to get elected. A prime example occurred in Fort Simpson a few weeks ago when seven contenders for chief were unsuccessful in their bids.
Bonnetrouge's proposed alternative is one that was used in his home community of Fort Providence in the 1980s. Every candidate ran under one broad category. The person with the most votes became chief. The other top vote-getters were named to council.
Granted if there are numerous candidates some of them will still not get elected. But the point is that the ones who are truly the people's choice will be representing the people.
Apparently that election format was shunned when the issue of a salary for the chief arose. Maybe it's time to take another look at that system and make some minor adjustments to it if necessary. It sounds better than what exists now.