Friday, June 10, 2005
Coun. Dave McCann is leading the charge, trying to stir up interest in a downtown public market, one of the proposals in a revitalization plan.
This is the third or fourth or maybe even fifth run at establishing a city-organized public market in Yellowknife and it will likely go the same way as previous efforts.
The reasons for the failure of the idea to take hold in Yellowknife should be obvious to anyone.
Markets are an opportunity for artisans and weekend entrepreneurs; they are cornucopia of organic produce, free range eggs, hand-made preserves, and clever crafts that draw crowds to shop and mingle.
Given the length of Yellowknife winters, there is probably no end of crafts to be sold - if willing buyers could be found. But card tables laden with bricabrac don't make a market.
Successful markets run on public appetites for food experiences that can't be satisfied at the supermarket. The nearest commercial garden, chicken ranch, and beef herd are on the far side of Great Slave Lake.
It also depends on like-minded people with the desire to work together on such a venture. It's not something that can be driven by political will.
If the city wants another reason to keep out of the public market business, it's the fact Karen's General Store is trying to do a market of its own out at Kam Lake.
Here's an entrepreneur with the energy to try to make it happen. Not downtown? Too bad for downtown, but who's lining up alongside Coun. McCann?
Let's give Karen a chance to make it work.
Ahhh spring. The sounds of birds singing. The sweet smell of flowers blooming. The scream of sirens...
With the warm weather comes tinder-dry bush. Just ask the Yellowknife Fire Department. They've been busy lately with brush fires, including ones caused by a carelessly discarded cigarette and an abandoned campfire. It's worth reminding folks who love to walk through the trees and rocks around the city to take care.
Make sure your smokes are out and don't leave your campfire smouldering. We've been lucky so far, but luck only lasts so long.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Like all Kivallimmiut who still give a damn, I was outraged by the comments made by an unnamed First Air "base manager" in the May 30 edition of Nunavut News/North (Mad about mail).
The flippant, condescending attitude of this person defies logic.
Imagine! "When you can send a letter from Halifax to Resolute Bay in a week for 50 cents..."
Well, that statement certainly gives away the base manager's community of residence - that would be the planet Mars!
Regular mail with a 50 cent stamp rarely, if ever, makes it to any community from outside Nunavut within a week.
Who does this person think they're kidding?
I'm lucky to get a $20 Express Post package delivered from Toronto to Rankin Inlet in a week.
But, of course, like the small print says, between major centres, and Rankin is only a major centre to those of us who call it home.
Apathy rules
Which brings us to this official's other statement, "People are quick to complain about snail mail, but they should think about where the hell they are."
So there you have it. The next time you mail a letter, think about where the hell you are and ask for the special discounted second-class-citizen postage.
Regardless of what this First Air official may think, in this day and age, there is no reason for a simple letter to take upwards of two weeks to travel from Toronto to Nunavut, except for apathy.
And, judging by the remarks made by this individual, we now have a pretty good idea where this apathy rests.
I've said it before in this space and I'll say it again: the only good thing about the postal service in Nunavut is the courteous and friendly service we receive in our local post offices or postal outlets from employees who just happen to be our neighbours.
No right to complain
Basically, this First Air employee's attitude is because we choose to live in the North, we should simply accept whatever level of service is provided to us - no matter how sub-par, apparently - and we have no right to complain.
The example the person gives when explaining the situations in which First Air can bump mail is another prime example of how we're held for ransom in Nunavut.
Shopping by mail via Sears is the example the base manager uses when illustrating how a company will ship goods "the cheapest way they can."
This, in effect, gives the airline the right to hold the package upwards of a full week, if everything in the airline universe doesn't go exactly as planned.
Of course, anyone who shops via mail with Sears, and we all do, has the receipts to show the company certainly doesn't charge Northern residents for the cheapest way possible to ship their items.
Not all good luck
There's at least one part of the statements made in the article by the First Air employee that we tend to agree with, "... we're lucky to have Canada Post."
Yes, we are.
However, based on the comments of this individual, First Air just might be another matter all together.
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
Last week an MLA suggested that consumers from the NWT, and perhaps even those from all three territories, should be exempt from paying the GST.
Which brings to mind the old saying about life's certainties amounting to nothing more than "death and taxes."
Add another one to the list: there will always be those who complain about the unfairness of those inevitabilities.
Sure it costs more to live here - as the MLA in question argued - but as every politician, public servant and professional working in the territory should know, the earning potential is also much higher here than anywhere else.
That said, the seven per cent surcharge on goods and services is really a small price to pay, especially if that money (and then some) ultimately comes back to the region.
For the amount of money it costs to run the territories each year, it could be argued that its citizens should be paying more in taxes.
If the annual national budget is roughly $165 billion, divided amongst the country's 30 million people, that works out to $5,500 for every man, woman and child.
Then consider the billion-or-so in federal dollars spent on operating the territory each year and it amounts to nearly five times the money Ottawa spends on everybody else.
So suggesting that exempting the territories' consumers from the GST would help level the playing field is just plain ridiculous.
From a beancounter's perspective, the field is already tilted so heavily in the NWT's favour, it's amazing we don't roll over ourselves trying to get to work in the morning.
The GNWT would be better off focusing its attention on getting an improved revenue sharing deal from Ottawa rather than trying to push this nickel-and-dime stuff through.
In other GNWT news...
After returning from Japan, the boss of the newly-minted Industry, Tourism and Investment ministry thinks it would be a good idea to lease some office space in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world.
Why?
To promote the Northern Lights to practitioners of the Shinto faith, who hold the natural phenomenon in high mystical regard.
Basically, Shinto is an ancient animistic religion, born in Japan, that attaches spiritual significance to rocks, trees, shrubbery and the like.
To make a long story short, Japanese people believe that it is good luck to conceive children under the aurora borealis' glow.
After spending time in Tokyo, perhaps a more important point should have dawned on the tourism minister - the remarkably clean and litter-free atmosphere of a city that houses more than 10 million people. No trash blowing around the laneways or greenspaces.
Instead of spending money the government doesn't really have for office space in Tokyo, why not try and do something about the litter problem in our own backyards, for tourism's sake?
Maybe NWT residents have become numb to it, but for visitors to our community, the tin cans and broken port bottles don't really make a good first impression.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
Do you suffer from pipeline fatigue?
This isn't a commercial pitch offering a quick and easy fix to the dizzying volume of concerns based on the proposed Mackenzie Valley mega-project. It's more of a rhetorical question.
Yet another pipeline workshop was held in Fort Simpson last week. This time the focus was on social problems that the project may instigate or inflame.
There is no simple way to deal with the myriad issues. Avoidance is the route some people are taking, but that won't help in the long run.
This industrial behemoth requires an unbelievable amount of planning. In addition to talking about it, we need the government to do something in response. The $40 million in Northern Strategy funding is a drop in the bucket, but a start. As much as $100 million more may be handed over by the federal government to deal with social and economic issues.
One of the over-arching themes to emerge from the Deh Cho social impacts workshop in Fort Simpson was that the GNWT shouldn't impose its strategies, no matter how well intended. Instead, the communities should set their own priorities.
That's fine, so long as residents remember that there's only so much money to go around.
Places where there are 50-200 people, which remarkably have their own schools, aren't likely going to get their own nurse and police presence, too. If they do, then there will be a shortfall elsewhere. The North is a vast place with relatively few people spread out over more than 30 communities. We can't have it all, so we must make sure we get what we need most.
Respecting the culture
It's sometimes terribly difficult for someone of a particular heritage to explain another culture's beliefs, especially when the residential school experience has cut a swath through Dene traditions.
The notion that some people don't want to mix baby's excrement with other waste seems to resonate. I have yet to ascertain the exact reason for that. From talking to elders, it's clear that there are baby-related practices that remain strong, such as the treatment of the umbilical cord and placenta, which are considered sacred.
As for the diapers, it's easy to shake one's head and wonder what could possess others to do something seemingly so thoughtless, something that's definitely not environmentally sound.
But as one scratches the surface, one sometimes finds beliefs, however vague, that are different - not wrong, just different. The practice of tossing diapers into the bush wasn't a problem when cloth and moss were used on a baby's bottom. It's the "disposable" plastic diaper that has changed the equation.
There are ways to work around this dilemma, such as the solution found in Fort Providence where designated bins are erected for diapers. They are then disposed of separately.
It's a lesson learned. But the larger lesson is to keep one's mind open to different cultural perspectives. They are all around us. Sometimes one just fails to see and understand them.
Richard Hardisty's first home, which was destroyed by an electrical fire in 1984, was a family home, not one purchased through the Housing Corporation. The Deh Cho Drum regrets the error.