At least tell them to let us live ours. Life is full of risks: anything can happen to anyone at any time of day, from bumping into something that makes us go "ouch," to the possibility of an alien spaceship wiping out Yellowknife tonight.
Somehow we have lost control of the sensibility that ruled our lives: things can happen.
Unfortunately, the insurance industry has us convinced we must pay monster premiums to cover the most benign of activities.
It is killing our community's public service groups and just about any organized event that makes life fun.
First we heard of Big Buddies of Yellowknife's having to cancel group activities because an insurance company wasn't going to cover them any more. Big Buddies pairs children with adult mentors. They get involved in some fun: Bowling! Sailing!
Today we hear that a paintball organization can't hold an event because it can't find an insurance company to cover the liabilities.
What nonsense.
Risks are all around us. Let people who want to participate sign a waiver acknowledging this. If someone gets hurt, well that's why we have universal health coverage.
If it's coverage in case an evil adult attacks someone, then let the courts handle that. Why should we live in a false fear?
How stupid is this crying need to get coverage?
"It's not required by law," says an insurance broker we interviewed recently. So why have it?
Take back our lives. Tell insurance companies to get lost so we can have fun.
While life is risky, there is certainly no need to foolishly court its dangers.
Kudos to Paul Falvo, Krista Domchek and Todd Burlingame for saving three teens from drowning in Yellowknife Bay last week.
Without them and their marine radios, those teens might not have been so lucky.
So now we find it necessary to once again remind Yellowknifers young and old that our lakes can be dangerous for boaters.
With lots of ice still hanging around on Great Slave Lake, it wouldn't take longer than 30 minutes to die from hypothermia in the icy waters, warns Deputy Fire Chief Clem St. Croix. That's why each and every person who heads out on the water must be prepared. They must know their boat and its limits. They should carry safety gear and everyone on board should have a lifejacket, to ensure they don't become another drowning statistic.
Play it safe.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
The Oxford Canadian Dictionary defines apathy as "lack of interest or feeling; indifference."
What it doesn't say -- but something we're quite comfortable in adding -- is that rarely, if ever, does anything good evolve from apathy.
We give Liberal MP Nancy Karetak-Lindell full marks for her third straight win in the recent federal election.
However, we are growing increasingly alarmed at the continuing downward spiral of the number of Nunavummiut who bother to exercise their civic right.
The number of Nunavut voters who cast their ballots on election day was a staggering 17 per cent lower than the national average.
The national turnout hovered around 60 per cent, while, here in Nunavut, only 43 per cent of the territory's 16,900 eligible voters took the time to have their say.
Yeah, sure, the weather's starting to get a little nicer and people want to go to their cabins or do some fishing.
But, when you step back and look at it objectively, ranking the urge to land a few fish (which, we will hazard a guess, would still have been there later in the day) ahead of having a say in who will be your voice in the nation's capital is downright laughable.
People in parts of the world where freedom and democracy are only words, must shake their collective heads at the indifference shown in our little universe.
It is quite alarming that the number of Nunavut voters has slipped well below the 50 per cent mark in just about every level of politics.
From who sits on our hamlet councils, through Iqaluit, and on to Ottawa, less than half our eligible voters are bothering to take an interest in what is happening in Nunavut -- and those numbers are continuing to drop.
So what must we do to encourage voter participation?
The answer is quite simple: give away hot dogs and plenty of cash prizes at the polling stations.
A bingo game and the sale of Nevada tickets in an adjoining room also wouldn't hurt.
It's bewildering to see more people show up to slide a curling rock across the pavement than to exercise their democratic right.
It's easy, on one day a year, to show up waving your little flag, stuff yourself with free pop and hot dogs, have your face painted and tell everyone within earshot how proud you are to be Canadian.
The problem is, proud Canadians take the time to exercise the right so many died to bestow upon them.
In Nunavut, almost 60 per cent of our eligible voters take it all for granted -- the dark side of the term, silent majority!
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
Working together. Enhancing the role of Western Canada in the federation.
This is the working title for discussion between the seven western premiers gathered in the region for the next two days.
On the agenda is health care, energy and trade relations with the US, Mad Cow, securities regulation, and of course, strengthening the federation.
Of particular interest to the North is the agenda item regarding delivery of services to rural and remote regions.
Though energy ranks third on the Western Premiers' Conference Agenda, the location for this year's gathering gives an inkling as to which topic will be the talks' centerpiece for discussion.
If all goes according to the plans of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group and Mackenzie Valley Producers Group (as well as to the hopes of other vested interests), construction of a Mackenzie Valley pipeline would begin in 2007.
Thirty years ago, Thomas Berger released his two volume inquiry into a Mackenzie Valley pipeline entitled Northern Frontier, Northern Homeland, which recommended a 10-year moratorium on any such development.
It is interesting that the same issues -- environment and social impact -- remain at the forefront of the current processes geared towards making the pipeline a reality.
The one thing that has changed since Berger's style ushered in an era of public consultation with media participation has been the rise in political power of First Nations in the territory.
Questioning Kakfwi's support
Fred Carmichael of the APG is questioning former premier Stephen Kakfwi's support of the K'asho Got'ine Dene's revenue sharing plan.
Add to that Deh Cho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian's rumblings about court injunctions if he doesn't get his way -- two seats on the pipeline's joint review panel.
That's a lot of grumbling.
Unlike the premiers' bold conference theme, it would hardly seem that aboriginal leadership is working together.
As governors from several western American states, including Alaska, have been invited to the premiers' conference, it is a sure bet that the Alaskan pipeline is going to be discussed in the smaller, more informal gatherings.
While Carmichael sees the writing on the wall, warning Kakfwi that if he pushes too hard all of us "can kiss the pipeline goodbye," one wonders if there's anybody else out there in the wilderness who wants this project realized.
(At least on weekends Carmichael knows there is; somebody out in the wilderness, that is).
When Carmichael says that Northern leaders must recognize the cultural change in the North, perhaps he should add that though there was a time when grandstanding grabbed people's attention, these days it could well chase away billion dollar deals rather than seal them with a kiss.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
If someone doesn't agree with the Dehcho First Nations' position on an issue, the assumption is usually that the position must have come from "an advisor."
Advisor is a code word for lawyer. It's no secret that the Dehcho has two of them working on the self-government negotiations file: Georges Erasmus and Chris Reid.
Last week in Kakisa, MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew made an appearance and told the delegates that they are quite capable of doing things for themselves, they don't need advisors.
Perhaps Blondin-Andrew meant well, but that's poor advice. After all, Blondin-Andrew and every other federal and territorial politician have their own advisors. From executive assistants to legal teams to senior bureaucrats, they can get direction on any given issue at any time. Why should be Dehcho First Nation be any different?
It's true that nobody knows better what the Deh Cho Dene and Metis want to achieve through self-government than the Deh Cho Dene and Metis themselves. But there's nobody more qualified to achieve that on their behalf than a good advisor -- someone well schooled and experienced in the art of complex and tedious negotiations with the federal government. The process is laced with legal terminology and concepts.
As "outsiders," the lawyers are prone to attack, Reid in particular as he resides in Toronto. When Stephen Kakfwi was premier and he disagreed with the Dehcho First Nation on the pipeline, Kakfwi impugned the role of "this guy from Ontario."
Reid later moved over from chief negotiator to legal counsel, and his former position was advertised. If there was a Deh Cho Dene or Metis candidate best suited for the job, he or she must not have been available because it went to Erasmus, who has an impressive track record.
There are those who accuse the well-compensated advisors of dragging out the process for self-gain.
"The only ones who get rich from self-government are the lawyers," it has often been said.
To refute that, let's look at last week as a case in point. Chief negotiator Georges Erasmus asked the delegates at the Kakisa assembly to support the draft constitution so he could pursue an agreement-in-principle.
It was the delegates who said, "Whoa, not so fast."
You see, the advisors are only laying out options and providing expert advice. It's still the Dehcho delegates who rule the roost, and that's the way it should be.
Yes, advisors are costly, but if they are trusted and kept within their bounds, then they should be welcome guides in what ought to be an historic period in the Deh Cho.