If your child has a problem in school, his or her teacher is easily reached. When family pets run away, they are often found and returned home again. Charities and community organizations receive countless hours of free labour courtesy of those rightly bent on a neighbours-helping-neighbours approach to problems.
The downside to this, however, is that our politicians and public administrators often follow the same path when running our fair city.
Such was the case with the survey line cut last week beside the Niven Lake Trail.
There is too much physical and economic growth in Yellowknife for our leaders -- elected or otherwise -- to conduct business with only a phone call.
Deals with developers and survey firms, especially in areas as sensitive as Niven Lake where commitments were long ago made to home buyers and nature lovers, must be transparent and have a solid foundation of signed, dated and stamped city letterhead.
It's time for Yellowknife to grow-up and play by the rules.
If there are still folks at City Hall intent on doing business with nothing more than a handshake, maybe they should go sell insurance or used cars where such actions are viewed with a little higher regard.
There was some fast-paced, awesome hockey in Yellowknife two weeks ago, as 26 teams went head-to-head in the Labatt Hockey tournament -- but hardly anyone saw it.
Yellowknifers should be heading out to exciting sporting events like this one. It's fun, it gives us something different to do for a change, and it shows we support local sports.
Labatt tournament organizers said they had a poor turnout compared to previous years, although the calibre of play was exceptional.
From now until Sunday, 18 local and visiting 35-and-over hockey teams will battle it out at the Yellowknife Community Arena and the Multiplex in the 21st Balsillie Cup. Make sure you get out and show your support for them. Be a part of our community.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Far be it for us here at Kivalliq News to cast any shadows of apprehension on the long-awaited arrival of high speed Internet services into our community.
However, there is concern that if the new service is overseen by the same Internet service provider (ISP) we have now, it won't be long before fists are pounding on computer desks all over the hamlet once again.
The current Internet system in Rankin Inlet is an overpriced, under-performing vehicle which, to many people (yours truly included), is a necessary evil and a constant source of stress and frustration.
Such is the nature of the beast when it comes to monopolies.
And our situation is further darkened by an ISP that convinces regulatory bodies that it has the best interests of its clients at heart, and is far better suited to meeting their needs than some faceless corporation.
A taxing weekend
My latest exercise in futility with our local Internet was trying to download my tax-preparation program from the retailer's Web site.
At a mind-boggling speed of about 900 bytes per second, my download time was estimated to be about seven hours, give or take an early morning sitcom.
My first three attempts during the weekend afternoon hours got me to about 30 per cent of my goal before the system booted me off -- a rare occurrence, I've been told, and one our server is incapable of.
So, it was off to Plan B -- start the download shortly after midnight.
By about 7 a.m., my download was 92 per cent complete when it happened; a subtle click followed by the connection reset by your peer's message.
Aaurrghhh!!!
Even my Fresh Download program couldn't save the day by going back and picking the download up from where it was severed.
Paying through the nose
What makes similar experiences even more frustrating for many users is the extra "time charges" they incur at mid-month.
What should take 15 minutes lasts an hour. When that ratio is averaged out over a month, many users are dinged big bucks simply because the quality of the service is so poor.
The target date for broadband coming to Rankin is August and the average home user can expect to pay $59.95 a month.
"Power" home users or small business owners can expect to pay $100 per month, while larger users will be looking at $150 to $395 per month.
When all is said and done, we're sure we'll be offered the best deal possible and service second to none with our new broadband.
After all, the ISP will have our best interests at heart.
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
If a tree falls in the forest, does anybody hear?
If an event happens and a scant amount of people turn out, does it still qualify as an event?
While the first question has gone through the ages without a definitive answer, the latter is a question that can be addressed in my humble editorial.
The person who inspired me to write this will probably give me heck when she reads it, but for what it's worth, here goes.
Once upon a time...
...there was this lady who was kind, thoughtful and who had a big heart.
The lady loved where she lived and in between caring for her own brood, she tried to better the lives of others around her with a selfless donation of her time, energy and ideas.
She had all kinds of ideas and each time she wanted to share them, the same people would come to hear her ideas. Together, the lady and those same people would use their energy thinking of ways to get other people interested in their ideas, because they were good ideas.
And so when the group of them finally figured out the time, place and manner in which to share their ideas, they waited. And waited.
Sometimes many people would come out, but usually because of some reason apart from the idea itself, rather, to bask in the atmosphere that certain idea created around it.
Often few, if any, would come because the idea in itself was not enough.
And the moral of the story is...
I can already hear the peanut gallery shouting in unison, "get a better idea then already!"
Frankly, part of me agrees with them. That said, it would be nice for the peanut gallery to pitch in once in a while or just come out and listen to a "good idea."
Nevertheless, it is difficult not to feel for the lady and her good ideas and her good heart, etc. Despite it all, she carries on hoping that one day somebody will see the light.
You can often catch the same sense of passion when you look into the eyes of a dedicated musician, athlete or anyone struggling -- some for years -- to get that first break.
That is why it was frustrating for me last week to attend an event -- a great idea no less -- only to see more volunteers than actual people in seats.
If I had planned that same event and received the same response, I would have probably sworn off of event planning for life.
Not our hero. With a big smile on her face, Inuvik's lady of victory soldiered on and I'm quite certain is in the throes of planning her next event.
So if I can be so bold as to offer a rallying cry of support for the next Family Fun Time event in Inuvik, I know there are families out there who want to get out and have a good time.
Since we're blessed with such a solid contingent of volunteers, it's time to put some onus on the community to come out and show its support.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
They may have been lackluster in Norman Wells and Inuvik, but the Mackenzie Valley pipeline hearings heated up in Fort Simpson last week.
Nick Sibbeston made an impassioned speech. He and Jim Antoine joined forces to rebuke an Imperial Oil representative who suggested that Deh Cho lands belong to the Crown. Technically, that Imperial Oil official was correct. His company has no choice but to recognize federal jurisdiction at this point in time.
However, Sibbeston and Antoine's point was that the First Nations and Metis people have to be recognized as the true landholders. It's all about respect, Sibbeston said, and business opportunities too, of course.
While the oil and gas companies have made some overtures -- opening a Mackenzie Gas Project office in Fort Simpson, hiring people from several communities, allowing the Aboriginal Pipeline Group one-third ownership of the pipeline -- that's not going to cut it, said Sibbeston.
Although his example of Jean Marie River exclusively producing the hundreds of thousands of wooden skids needed for the pipeline is a tall order, Sibbeston's point still stands.
There have to be innovative ways to engage the communities in this project if it's going to go smoothly.
Naturally, the hearings also included environmental concerns.
Several people expressed misgivings over the potential for wildlife to be displaced and possible contamination of lakes, rivers and creeks.
Despite constant reassurances from industry officials and all the technological advances to vastly reduce the risk of environmental disaster, this fear persists.
Here are a few other observations from the hearings:
-- Mackenzie Gas Project's overview of the pipeline looked very professional on paper, as you might expect. The hand-out had each of the oil and gas companies' names and logos across the top of the front page.
But none of the front-page pictures were of pipelines, compressor stations, equipment or workers. No, the photos were of a moose, a bear, flowers and log cabins. Apparently nothing speaks of Mother Nature more than a pipeline.
-- Close to 50 people turned out for the opening hours of the hearings, but nobody was given a chance to speak because that's when the board members and representatives of industry droned on about their roles and objectives.
It's a procedural thing, but after they were done explaining EIAs, EIRs, EISs (and other technical processes), they took a break. About a third of the audience wandered off and didn't return. Fortunately it seems that most people who had something to say made a point of coming back to say it, despite the fact that the hearings took place primarily during work hours.
Since nearly everything the board and proponents explained was repeated in response to questions from the audience over the next two days, why bother with such a potential momentum-killing elaborate introduction?
-- Although board members are supposed to be objective, Sahtu elder Charlie Snowshoe let some opinion slip. He advised the audience that close to 7,000 people will be working on the pipeline.
Even though the workers may have restricted access to communities, "It's still pretty scary," Snowshoe said. Asked about the influential remark afterwards, board chair Todd Burlingame -- who did an admirable job of directing the meetings and making audience members feel their input was appreciated -- said the board members are all human.
Board decisions, he noted, are made by the collective, not individuals.
A communication problem with coaches resulted in the misidentification of the hockey player on the front page of Wednesday's Yellowknifer. The player was Robert Reddick, not Randy White.