Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 30/05) - Finance Minister Floyd Roland said Thursday he will seriously consider banning the sale of overproof alcohol in the territory.

Roland made the comment after Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya called on the government to take immediate steps to curtail its sale.

Yakeleya said overproof booze, which contains more than 50 per cent alcohol by volume, has a devastating effect on communities in the Sahtu.

The territorial government sold more than $36 million dollars worth of alcohol in 2004 according an annual report from the Liquor Commission, though specific figures were not available for overproof.

Hawkins goes east

Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins suggested the territorial government establish a tourism office in Tokyo to capitalize on a religious proclamation that commands the Japanese to view the Northern Lights.

"I think we have totally misunderstood the importance of the aurora on the Japanese people," Hawkins said Wednesday, after returning from a sojourn in Japan.

Hawkins said the Shinto religion compels Japanese to complete three important tasks during the course of their lives: visit their ancestral village, make a pilgrimage to Mount Fuji and see the aurora.

"That is beyond profound," Hawkins said.

Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment Brendan Bell called the idea "interesting" and said he would discuss it further with Hawkins.

"We can do more in terms of destination marketing," Bell said.

Pipeline held hostage

Inuvik Twin Lakes MLA Robert McLeod caught the attention of several colleagues when he accused an unnamed group of holding the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline "hostage."

McLeod said Thursday the competing agendas of various aboriginal governments threaten the future of the pipeline. In April, the companies behind the $7 billion project announced they were stopping technical work, in part because of demands from First Nations.

While McLeod did not mention the Deh Cho First Nation by name, it has launched a pair of lawsuits against the federal government seeking more representation on the panel overseeing the environmental assessment for pipeline.

McLeod's comments drew raised eyebrows and an open-mouthed guffaw from Nahendeh MLA Kevin Menicoche, who represents the Deh Cho.

Heterosexual pride day 'vexatious'

Range Lake MLA Sandy Lee said she was embarrassed with a recent decision by Yellowknife city council to proclaim June 9 Heterosexual Pride Day.

"This was extremely frivolous and vexatious," Lee said Thursday in the legislative assembly. "Every day is heterosexual pride day."

Yellowknife mayor Gord Van Tighem made the proclamation Tuesday evening following a request from councillor Alan Woytuik.

Lee, who immigrated to Canada from Korea, accused the city of "practising discrimination" and likened the proclamation to racism she experienced as a child.