On the agenda is a recommendation to fire board superintendent Judith Knapp.
Under the Education Act, they remain in power until the first Monday of the month following the election.
And while the new board isn't sworn in until Nov. 12, the outgoing trustees lack the moral authority to fire anybody but themselves.
Ramifications for incoming trustees are enormous.
They could be handcuffed by an expensive severance package or headed to court to face a wrongful dismissal suit that could drag on for years.
We don't know what grounds the outgoing board has for ending Knapp's contract, but the electorate has spoken. The four trustees believed at the centre of the effort to oust Knapp -- Roy Desjarlais, Maureen Miller, Dan Schofield and Rob Meckling -- won't be around much longer.
They must cancel the meeting or table the motion until they can meet with incoming trustees to go over Knapp's file.
The superintendent's fate is best left to the new trustees.
To fire her now would be unethical.
Tired regulations pulled the plug on the Yellowknife Figure Skating Club's plan to stage a competition for amateur wine makers at its Oct. 25 fundraiser.
Territorial liquor regulations permit amateurs to make wine, but they can serve it only at home and can't sell it.
The intent is to make sure that all alcohol sold in the Territories is taxed. Wine is not being sold at the fundraiser, but admission is being charged, so the event fails the regulatory test -- but only on a technicality.
There are times when laws should be challenged. This is one of them. Money is being raised for an organization that does good work. It's being done for fun, not for profit.
The NWT Liquor Commission should allow the wine tasting to go ahead. While they're at it, the commission should bring all its regulations in line with contemporary values.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
The joke (and we use the term lightly) going around Rankin Inlet and Baker Lake this past week is that government workers in those two hamlets better have their suitcases packed, just in case.
Rankin and Baker have a track record of finding themselves in the middle of decentralization controversy.
With the latest political black eye Premier Paul Okalik has received with the grand design of decentralization, government workers in the two Kivalliq hamlets are feeling a little uneasy these days.
The joke could turn sour in a hurry if the premier does, indeed, decide to play spin the community wheel once again.
Okalik wants to decentralize 23 jobs to Panniqtuuq.
They were supposed to come from wildlife and the evaluation-and-statistics division but the employees told the Nunavut government what it could do with its decentralization plan.
To date, the majority of the 15 wildlife personnel have refused to relocate and have handed in their resignations.
The number of stats employees to accept the transfer is zilch, zip, zero.
The premier is vowing behind closed doors he's not going to let this turn into another Petroleum Products Division fiasco.
We'll adopt a wait-and-see approach on that one.
Cost keeps climbing
The almost deafening roar the premier is hearing is the sound of the decentralization cost metre spiralling out of control.
The best spin the GN could put on this latest development was to hold the stats-and-evaluation positions up as an example of jobs people in Panniqtuuq could strive to someday obtain.
Good plan, for sometime in the next decade.
For now, the metre will kick into high gear as the GN scrambles to hire more staff from abroad, while finding the wherewithal to absorb the costs associated with the latest band of merry mutineers.
Build from within
What the GN sorely lacks in both its decentralization and 85 per cent Inuit staffing plan is a realistic time table and a vigorous commitment to training.
The government seems determined to find out the hard way that you can't make people leave their homes and families.
Even those they do entice will only be on a short-term basis, whether they openly admit it or not.
For now, the government should concentrate on staffing the positions it needs to run effectively.
From there, the focus can shift to training people in the smaller communities to one day assume these jobs.
And, while we're at it, let's lay to rest the argument that we have too many people who can't leave home to gain an education.
If we can't get people in any given community to leave home long enough to gain the education required to put high-paying jobs in their hamlet -- why would we think others would so willingly toss aside their lives to go live there?
Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum
From the outside looking in, Delta Daze seemed to go off without a hitch -- as it always does -- but looking from the inside out this time, I saw a bit of the immense effort put in by the volunteers.
Hit with the loss of about half their full-time members, the Lions are left with a handful of now very weary members, as are most of the service clubs in town.
While we rarely see the work these clubs do to raise the money that funds everything from computers to hearing aids, we sure would miss it if it was gone.
As funding is cut to programs across the board and across the country, it's these clubs which pick up the slack with their bingos and bake sales, but they don't just happen. They really need help out there.
We all live better from the work they do, but we all tend to take it for granted too.
Time for volunteering, not TV
Granted, our lives are busy ones. Most households have two working parents and single moms and dads struggle just to get by.
It's not easy to get out to regular meetings, but we can all seem to find time to waste in front of the TV.
Rolling off the couch has never been easy for me at the end of a work day, but I've managed to make the effort lately to get to a couple Lions meetings and hope to make it to a few more.
I never feel very good about changing the channel 200 times, but with volunteering, I've always been able to walk away feeling like I put a little back into something that I normally just take from.
In this job I've seen a lot of volunteers. They're usually hidden behind an over-sized novelty cheque, washing cars or sitting on a committee of some sort that would go un-noticed to most of the general public, but not to me.
I've grown to rely on the work these folks to help fill these pages with good news -- something we're often criticized of never having enough of.
The way I see it, if people want more good news in this paper, they should get out there and make some.
Whether it's with Scouts, the Legion or the Ladies' Auxiliary, there are people like you needed out there and they'll make you feel a lot better for your spare time than Oprah or Red Green ever has.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
Ten candidates for mayor and council submitted responses to some topical questions in this newspaper. Six others are conspicuous by their absence.
A candidates' forum seems unlikely. It would have to be hastily arranged because the election is Monday. That is unfortunate because such a forum is an ideal way for residents to interact with candidates.
It's too bad there was no opportunity for public discourse in Fort Simpson's municipal election, other than citizens approaching candidates individually.
The questions posed in the Drum are by no means exhaustive, but timely. Those running for mayor and council would have had to set aside some time to compose their responses thoughtfully. It's OK to admit one doesn't have all the answers; nobody expects candidates to know it all.
Obviously some of the contenders forgot or couldn't be bothered with the interrogative exercise. Regardless, any of them could have drafted their own pamphlets or flyers introducing themselves and their stance on the issues. They could have mailed them out to everyone, gone door to door and delivered them in person, or dropped them off in key locations around town.
So it appears some council hopefuls did nothing other than allow their names to stand upon nomination. That lack of initiative doesn't instill confidence that they will devote the extra time demanded of responsible councillors.
Maybe those people are banking on their reputation or the support of family and friends to push them over the top in the vote count.
In a small community like Fort Simpson, they are probably right, that's quite possibly all they will have to do to be elected.
That's too bad.
It doesn't give unfamiliar voters a chance to hear their opinions on municipal issues.
Some people in Fort Simpson will be standing at the ballot box on Monday marking X's next to the names of those they know best. In other cases, they will avoid voting for incumbents who they do not want returned to council.
If there was a failing of the past council, it was that they didn't communicate well with citizens. There were few public meetings, few chances for the average person to ask questions or state concerns. There were few mail-outs explaining why policy was set as it was.
The new assemblage of councillors -- some of whom may earn a seat without even having publicly outlined their stance on issues -- must be cautious not to repeat that same mistake.
Keeping the public as informed and as engaged as possible is essential.
The Crown prosecutor in charge of the Salamonie Jaw murder trial is Judith Hartling of Whitehorse, contrary to information in 'Jaw will finally go to trial' (News/North Nunavut, Oct. 13, A15). The Crown made an application to change the venue of the trial. News/North apologizes for this inaccuracy.