The Rotary Club and the city have teamed up to landscape the shoreline of Yellowknife Bay by the Dettah ice road entrance.
The result is groomed grass and paths, rocks and shrubs, and lots of parking so people can enjoy the view.
Great Slave is the second largest lake in Canada and the deepest lake in North America. This effort represents the most progress to date in exploiting an incredibly valuable renewable resource.
The immediate effect is to give Yellowknifers a place to take visiting relatives for some sightseeing, and an excellent tourist stop. A greater good may come in a growing realization throughout the city of the potential of more such development.
City council seems sold on opening up the waterfront, but it faces huge resistance from residents who don't want their present water front property privileges disrupted.
The tendency in Yellowknife has always been to let existing arrangements stand where possible. This is still a small enough town where individuals count. That's not a bad thing.
But the waterfront belongs to us all. As the Rotary-inspired park shows, a public waterfront makes a major improvement to the quality of life in this city.
City council must be encouraged to find ways to do more. If they think they have the support of the majority of Yellowknifers, they will.
We don't know if you've noticed, but Yellowknife is the place for the unusual.
It started in June with a 500-pound missile falling from a jet fighter onto the golf course. The missile didn't explode, but it caused lots of excitement.
If that wasn't strange enough, last week a Second World War-era grenade was discovered in a Bigelow Crescent yard. Bring on the bomb experts again.
Less strange but still highly coincidental, an undetonated dynamite charge was found in a rock face along the Ingraham Trail last week.
Yellowknifers take it in stride, but don't be surprised when you tell friends and relatives South of 60 that Yellowknife is an explosive little town. They'll think you're talking about the economy.
That's true, but it's best to watch where you walk all the same.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
The Government of Nunavut would be well advised to proceed cautiously with language commissioner Eva Aariak's request to extend her office's jurisdiction to the private sector.
Aariak insists that businesses operating in Nunavut and non-government groups should be forced to develop Inuktitut names.
Nunavut doesn't have a great track record in ensuring the rights granted people in this country are adhered to, most specifically rights granted under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Aariak seems to want to move towards implementing a made-in-Nunavut form of Quebec's Bill 101 (The Charter of the French Language), which has been in existence in various forms since 1977.
The road taken by Bill 101 was a rocky one, even though French is one of Canada's two official languages.
Nunavut has already stumbled twice with its first attempt at revamping the Education Act. And let's not forget the anti-gay sentiment that crept out of the capital during Premier Paul Okalik's determined, just and successful bid to implement a Human Rights Act.
Wants more control
Aariak would ultimately like to see a language authority put in place to control the use of Inuktitut in Nunavut.
The necessity of such a move has to be questioned at a time when Inuktitut is viewed as the strongest aboriginal language in the country.
Maybe Aariak wasn't paying attention to a recent Statistics Canada report in which Inuit parents said their children turn to them first for language instruction.
Or, maybe, the commissioner honestly believes store signs are just as effective in preserving Inuktitut as encouragement at home and the development of a strong educational system.
Regardless, at a time when Nunavut needs every economic vehicle available to it, Aariak's sniping at private enterprise is disturbing.
No time for alienation
While her off-the-wall musings on whether the CBC should be changed to something that translates into Inuktitut are somewhat amusing, her desire to force established Nunavut businesses to change their names is not.
Even the vaunted Bill 101 was modified in 1993 to allow English on signs posted outside Quebec establishments, provided the French letters were more prominent.
The last thing Nunavut needs right now is to alienate a private sector that, the odd name aside, has demonstrated its sensitivity to Inuit language and culture time and time again -- not to mention the jobs it supplies and the goods it provides.
And, with a full 76 per cent of Inuit children able to speak Inuktitut, the Nunavut government, our educational system and, most importantly, parents must be doing something right -- whether they're being monitored by the Commish or not!
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
The recent news of our Twin Lakes MLA's questionable statutory declaration of residence to the Legislative Assembly, as well as his noticeable absence from Inuvik, is all the more reason for the territorial government and voters to demand a higher standard from their elected officials.
While voters can scream and shout from the rooftops for accountability, it is the elected MLAs who should be demanding a higher standard from their colleagues. It is their duty to legislate compliance, if necessary.
When a person is caught cheating on his or her taxes, there are consequences, and so should there be for MLAs who make bogus claims to the GNWT in order to pad their wallets.
Sadly, the instances of politicians gorging themselves at the trough has become such an everyday occurrence that when it does happen, people generally shrug their shoulders while the government makes a press release.
After it was reported that Twin Lakes MLA Roger Allen keeps a home in Grimshaw, Alta., it was a surprise to many to learn that MLAs are not even required to live in the Northwest Territories when serving out their terms.
As Allen is entitled to own property anywhere he pleases, it is difficult to understand how he can stay in touch with the issues affecting his Inuvik riding from Alberta.
Allen's behaviour sets a dangerous precedent and NWT residents should be demanding the GNWT to introduce legislation that would require its MLAs to reside in the NWT. Premier Ralph Klein doesn't govern Alberta from Moose Jaw, Sask.
One would think that with all of the issues affecting Inuvik and the region on the cusp of absorbing large-scale development, Allen would be a more visible figure in town.
Instead, his constituents are resorting to approaching town hall and the Boot Lake MLA's office with their concerns. Twin Lakes constituents deserve better.
And now for something different...
After the big-business Petroleum Show blowout and the recent Premiers Conference, it was a nice change of pace to see the recreation complex filled with artworks and artists immersed in their respective crafts.
While it's true that politics and business help to make the world go round -- and the region wealthier when those elements converge on Inuvik -- art is something all people can appreciate and take part in.
The array of artists assembled for the festival and the great line-up of events have made for an impressive festival.
When asked, most of the artists will say that it is seeing old friends, making new ones and sharing their talent with visitors and other artists alike that makes events such as the GNAF a pleasure to be involved with. And it's always easier to let one's hair down in a roomful of artists than in a roomful of politicians!
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
Can Canadian Zinc Corporation get in the Dehcho First Nations' good graces?
For a company that is into exploring declines, Canadian Zinc is facing an uphill battle in this region. The mining proponents have taken a new tack, however, by opening an office in Fort Simpson and granting three scholarships to students in Fort Simpson, Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte.
Although the company is still headquartered in Vancouver, it has a local presence at long last. So what took them so long? John Kearney, Canadian Zinc's chairperson, said if his company had received its underground exploration permit soon after applying two-and-a-half years ago, it would have opened the Fort Simpson office sooner.
The scholarships, he conceded, should have been offered long ago. It's a goodwill gesture from a company that hopes to win local hearts and minds.
Kearney, it should be noted, only took over as chair of the board in June, 2003. He was, however, a director with Canadian Zinc for two years prior to that.
The upside to Prairie Creek is long-term employment and contract opportunities for Deh Cho businesses ready and willing to supply the site and provide transportation to and from the mine.
The disadvantage is potential environmental liabilities, as exist with any mine. Chemical and petroleum spills are the biggest fear -- one that may be limited by more stringent regulatory measures, but can never be completely eradicated.
Visiting Prairie Creek can make a difference, as Chief Keyna Norwegian affirmed. There are indeed many horror stories about the mine site. As with any rumours, some are legitimate, others don't hold water.
Ensuring Prairie Creek will ultimately be cleaned up by Canadian Zinc when the resource is exhausted should be another priority. Forcing the company to post a large bond seems reasonable in light of the circumstances at CanTung, Giant and Colomac mines.
But that may be an academic argument. Will the mine ever reach the start-up stage? Outside of Fort Liard, industry has made little headway in the Deh Cho. Over the past few years, seismic companies Arcis and Western-Geco were essentially sent packing by Dehcho First Nations, an aspiring Dene public government that covets control of land and resource development and, ostensibly, already wields great influence. Mineral exploration attempts by individuals have been met with equal wrath.
On the other hand, the Prairie Creek mine is more established and won't be so easily pushed out the door.
Canadian Zinc Corporation has taken a few positive steps, but how long until its corporate legs are severed? If there is an air of pessimism about its prospects, it's primarily because precedents in the Deh Cho don't make things look very promising for the company.
Joanne Kokak and Lenny Hikomak of Kugluktuk have a daughter named Cassie, not Cathy, as was reported in the July 12 edition of Nunavut News/North. We apologize for the error.
In the July 19 edition of Nunavut News/North, it was incorrectly reported in the story 'Clyde residents fear bootlegger backlash' that the monthly alcohol allotment in Clyde River is two six-ounce containers a person per month. In fact, the allotment is one 26-ounce bottle a person per month. We apologize for any confusion this error may have caused.