Southerners are always surprised when you talk about communities of 300 or 400 people with no way in or out except by air, snowmachine or boat.
They can't fathom how a town doesn't have a doctor or a dentist.
Nellie Cournoyea, the former NWT premier and CEO of the Inuvialuit Regional Corp., is equally at home in Inuvik or the meeting rooms of Calgary or Ottawa.
"It's very difficult to explain the needs of the Arctic," she said to News/North recently.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) understands that, too, so instead of bringing the usual suspects -- politicians -- North to tour the Beaufort Delta region, ITK brought a gaggle of southern federal bureaucrats.
"You have no sense if you haven't been here and seen the geography and the way people think," said Guy Bujold, an official with Infrastructure Canada.
This is what all bureaucrats who can decide how the federal government spends money have to understand.
They have to look past the sparse population, and understand the real costs of living here and doing work in the North.
This isn't rural Alberta. The more bureaucrats who understand that, the better.
The only politician who should spend more time in the North is Prime Minister Paul Martin.
The Mounties have a lot of history front and center of everything they do.
The red serge tunic and stetson hat, worn for any proper occasion from regal visits to celebrating new-minted Canadian citizenships, is the most visible evidence of the heritage of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Their vehicles have a horse and rider logo, the Mountie crest features a Prairie bison and even the word "Royal" connotes a past rich in history. But there's always a chance some bits and pieces of RCMP tradition can be eroded.
The Mounties, for example, almost lost their muskrat hats.
Some efficiency wizard somewhere thought a better hat would be one of materials not found in nature. We suspect there was some pushing from the anti-fur forces, too.
But in the end, we think it came down to tradition, more than anything scientific, to determine that the muskrat hat would stay on top of Mountie heads.
It's a decision we applaud. There's not much wrong with maintaining traditions... and certainly nothing wrong with wearing fur hats -- muskrat or any other kind.
Health Minister Levinia Brown's recent show of emotion during a press conference about a report on women abuse in Nunavut is just the beginning of a long road to a brighter day.
Tears are one thing. Money, for emergency shelters, improved housing, better education, training of counsellors and a position within government specifically for women's issues, is quite another.
There is a crisis in Nunavut stemming from abuse that is out of control and unacceptable.
Women are not the only victims of abuse. Men get beaten by other men. There are too many children caught in the crossfire of domestic violence they cannot understand right now. But it will affect them down the road.
Violence will tear Nunavut apart if government leaders do not take action soon to stop the violence that has gone unchecked for too long.
Women interviewed in the report titled: "What Inuit Women Need in Order to Deal with Abuse and Violence," said there is an urgent need for trained counsellors with "experience."
They also said that there is literally nowhere for them to go once the abuse starts. Housing, social services, community and government services can all play a role in this.
There was another point made by many women interviewed for the report: services for women have gone downhill since 1999 and the separation from the NWT government. This is a problem Nunavut leaders should be doing everything in their power to remedy.
In April of last year, Cambridge Bay was worried its crisis shelter was going to have to close because the territorial government wasn't paying the full cost of running the facility. According to police, 56 cases of spousal assault were reported during 2002 -- more than one a week in a community of 1,500 people.
One leader who is in a position to make a difference and rise to the occasion is Levinia Brown.
She knows all too well the impact of violence against women: her neighbour's daughter was killed in Rankin Inlet just days before the report was issued. Leanne Irkootee, 22, was an apparent victim of domestic abuse.
Her tears are a start. But women are waiting to see what, if anything, her department will do next.
This report, with quotes from just 14 women, is packed full of emotion, but few facts.
Brown must work with her cabinet colleagues, regular MLAs, women's groups and police to come up with a strategy to deal with violence and its aftermath.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Every year I attend the newspaper awards hoping for the best and fearing the worst.
I'm not one of those in the ink industry who honestly doesn't care about awards, nor am I one of those folks who pretend not to care one way or the other.
I've always found those who talk a lot about not caring if they win awards are a lot like those who talk constantly about all the amazing sex they have -- both rarely get any.
Newspaper awards have always meant a great deal to me.
After all, let's be honest, the awards are an affirmation of what I do for a living.
And, more importantly, they are the embodiment of setting goals and striving to achieve them.
Special significance
Having said all that, at no time in my career have the awards been as important to me as during my time with the Kivalliq News.
So many people in the region take the time to highlight their communities by sending me pictures and information, that the finished product invariably becomes a community newspaper in the truest sense of the term.
I have thanked longtime contributors in this space before, people like Leonie Aissaoui in Repulse Bay, Glen Brocklebank in Chesterfield Inlet and Noel Kaludjak and Bruce McKitrick in Coral Harbour.
During the past year, more have stepped forward to help highlight the accomplishments of people in their communities, including, but not limited to, Lyall Ford in Baker Lake, Gord Billard in Arviat, Elroy Grandy in Coral Harbour and Francis Wooby in Whale Cove.
Number one in our books
Maybe it's the sports nut in me and a lifetime of being exposed to the team concept, but, when so many people take it upon themselves to promote the accomplishments of others, you just can't help but give it everything you've got in telling their stories to the best of your abilities.
Make no mistake about it, pride has rushed through me like a runaway freight train every time I've heard the Kivalliq News called out at these awards during the past five-plus years.
Pride in my newspaper, yes, but also pride in the great sense of community the people in our region demonstrate year in and year out.
While the Kivalliq News gets to enjoy a year of having the best-in-its-class distinction, the real winners are the people who accomplish so much in our region and those who take the time to let the rest of us know about it.
And, for that, you will always be the best in your class to us.
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
With the mountains of news releases and glossy information packages regarding the Mackenzie Gas Project piling up, perhaps concern for our woodlands could be added to the list of environmental impacts.
As more than a dozen government agencies (federal and territorial), review boards and aboriginal bureaucracies come together to attempt to wade through the hearings, assessments, meetings and office openings it is a wonder things have come this far. Or have they?
According to National Energy Board chairman Kenneth Vollman, without an application from the producers there is no project.
It has been nearly two years since the Co-operation Plan outlining the assessment and regulatory review process for the pipeline was released. Since then, project-related offices have sprung up around town and with or without a pipeline, Inuvik has enjoyed the economic benefits of merely thinking about building it.
And certainly Vollman's comment was not intended to be negative, simply a statement of fact. A rather simple reminder of the mountains of money at play in the arena of world-scale projects that, in the pipeline's case, remain tentative.
Finance Minister Floyd Roland reiterated the importance of the GNWT and the feds to come to some kind of a more equitable revenue sharing agreement and ultimately devolution.
With these key pieces in place, the NWT and, in turn, its residents would have a much easier time of controlling its destiny and not be at the mercy of bureaucrats in Ottawa.
GNWT doesn't see a dime
Roland says as things stand the GNWT doesn't see a dime of resource royalties, while aboriginal governments
with settled land claims get a negligible percentage. So at the end of the day, it is the GNWT that has to go begging in Ottawa each time the current formula financing mechanism didn't quite cut it.
In the meantime, government spending has increased and some of this can be attributed to pipeline "costing," what Roland calls any burden on the coffers related to pipeline activity.
It reminds me of the last time the power corporation wanted to (once again) introduce a flat rate in the NWT. I was living in Fort Smith at the time, a place that enjoyed relatively cheap electricity due to its proximity to the Taltson Hydroelectric Dam. With the introduction of a flat rate, however, the cost of electricity was going to increase almost 30 per cent there.
"Fort Smith shouldered the burden of building the dam so we should reap the benefits, not subsidize other community's power," seemed to be the unanimous sentiment.
The Mackenzie pipeline is a similar scenario for the territory at large. The territory and its residents are going to absorb the lion's share of the project's impact, yet only reap a fraction of the reward with the rest going to right back to Ottawa.
Certainly there will be a bounty of jobs created here if and when the pipeline goes into construction. However, most of these jobs will be limited to the two or three years it takes to build it. Then where will the territory be?
It's time that Ottawa loosened its leash on the NWT and put the power in the hands of its people, rather than smother us under its wing.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
A step-by-step approach to lifting liquor rationing in Fort Simpson seems reasonable.
The effects of easing alcohol purchase limits can be gauged over a year's time. Local and territorial governments can adjust accordingly. The strengthening of social programs, which would be prudent in preparation for a Mackenzie Valley pipeline and subsequent development, could be given a nudge in advance of a boom.
But is the loosening of alcohol purchase limits what the majority wants?
Rationing was imposed in Fort Simpson by a Commissioner's decree more than a quarter century ago. Hardly democratic.
The Liidlii Kue First Nation held a poll on the issue in conjunction with its election last June. The outcome was 183-103 in favour of removing rationing. That's a 64 per cent majority, although the result was non-binding.
The Liidlii Kue First Nation's chief and council chose to overrule the wishes of most voters by requesting that some form of liquor restrictions be retained. It could be argued that their decision flies in the face of democracy.
It can also be argued that the chief and council have a duty to do what they perceive to be in the best interest of their electorate. After all, the chief and band councillor were elected by a majority of voters. That too is democracy at work.
If enough feathers have been ruffled by band council's actions on liquor rationing, then there will be repercussions come the next election.
Dirty beings
There are many ways one can look at the hazardous spills data released through the GNWT's environmental protection service last week.
The numbers can be broken down by size of spills, the type of material spilled, by the party responsible or by location.
What is painfully obvious is that where there is industry, there is an increase in spills. Even though oil and gas activity has slowed in Fort Liard, there were numerous spills in that area.
Hazardous waste also made its way into places it shouldn't have been several times at the CanTung mine site. But there were also spills at Trout Lake's diesel tanks and along the Nahanni Butte winter road. A significant spill occurred in Fort Simpson just this past weekend when an oil tank ruptured.
Wherever humans venture these days with our machines and their tanks, barrels and drums, there's a chance of fuel, oil or antifreeze seeping into the ground or the water.
It's not a reassuring thought, but neither is seeing the snow melt in the spring to reveal oodles of discarded plastic wrappers, bags, styrofoam, cans and bottles. While not as great an immediate threat to the environment, it sure is a repulsive sight.