That's why Sunday's inaugural service to honour emergency workers who died on the job is so important.

This year the names of parole officer Louise Pargeter, and firefighters Cyril Fyfe and Kevin Olson were read aloud.

The rest of us are lucky if we're up to the task should a dire situation confront us only once in our lives, but for emergency services personnel, it can be a daily challenge.

Police, fire crew, search and rescue teams, ambulance and other front-line health professionals are trained to resolve scenarios that require putting themselves in harm's way.

For police, that might be facing down a crazed drunk with a rifle, for other emergency crew that might mean hiking or flying through awful winter weather to rescue a stranded shivering camper, or entering a burning building on the rumour that someone is there. In these days of strange epidemics, even nurses and doctors may put themselves on the line to comfort the severely ill.

A formal memorial reminds us how, through the supreme sacrifice of a few, we can appreciate the heroics of the North's emergency services people.

Trips to leadership conferences at Lake Tahoe are not essential. They're luxuries, to be attended when the time is right, if the funding is available and only if approval is given in advance.

The Sept. 12-16 trip to the Invitational Leadership Academy by Yk Education District No. 1 Superintendent Metro Huculak and Trustee Dale Thompson may have cost less than $3,000 but it was not necessary and should not have happened.

The chance to attend the conference came up during the summer and there wasn't time to get the board together for a debate, yet it happened anyway. But instead of sending a message that they are in control of public purse-strings, all trustees except Terry Brookes sat quietly and approved a motion to cover the cost of attending.

Was the conference beneficial? That's not clear because neither Huculak nor Thompson reported to the board last week what they learned. Brookes is right to call on the board to examine travel spending policies to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Their policy retreat this weekend is a great chance to do that.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

The Oct. 3 regular meeting of Rankin Inlet hamlet council promises to have a few heated moments due to serious accusations leveled against it by a local MLA.

Kivalliq News has obtained a copy of a letter addressed to Justice Minister Paul Okalik, in which Rankin Inlet North MLA Tagak Curley raises a number of concerns about a June 1 accident which saw a young boy suffer a broken leg.

The boy, years from being a teenager, was a passenger on an ATV driven by a 10-year-old when it collided with a hamlet vehicle shortly before 6 p.m.

In his letter, Curley accuses the RCMP and the hamlet of failing to properly investigate the accident and raises damning questions about the vehicle driver's behaviour and the hamlet's subsequent actions.

If Kivalliq News was to repeat some of the unproven allegations, this newspaper could be subject to legal action.

Curley would be well advised to take his own advice in checking the facts of the accident before dashing off a letter to the territory's top justice official.

The MLA left out the fact police were investigating the death of a young boy at the time of the incident.

This would go a long way in explaining why it took them about 15 minutes to respond to the scene.

It will be interesting to see how council responds to Curley's accusations.

It has become open season for unfounded allegations against staff members lately, and it's time for council to make a stand and start protecting its employees.

Nobody likes to see a child hurt, but when preteens are allowed to get behind the controls of motor vehicles, it is a recipe for disaster.

Make no mistake about it, this story could have had a much sadder ending.

As for Curley, he's been around long enough to know unfounded accusations are a risky business.

In fact, we wouldn't be a bit surprised to see the next letter in this saga being delivered to the MLA's desk demanding an apology or threatening legal action.

Curley has made serious accusations against an individual, a municipal council and a police force which, at this time, only he knows if he has the tangible proof required to back up such claims.

If so, let justice run its course.

If not, only time will tell if an apology will be enough to end the matter.

Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum

Attending the Twin Lakes MLA's constituency meeting last Thursday, I was reminded once again of how interesting it is to live in the Northwest Terrritories.

I mean, name another territory or province in the country where the deputy minister will listen to the plight of curlers in his or her constituency?

Credit must go out to Floyd Roland for listening patiently to their concerns before turning to more pressing matters, such as the state of pipeline negotiations between Imperial Oil and the aboriginal groups on the proposed right-of-way.

I've been scanning the various news items that have come in since the two forces came together in Calgary earlier this month and it started me thinking that at this year's career fair for secondary students, a consultant's booth should most definitely be included.

It's probably the most lucrative career choice out there these days and in relatively high demand in the NWT, what with all the high-level meetings taking place everywhere and giant pools of money brimming over for such endeavours.

And I'm not just talking about the pipeline.

Take, for instance, the new elementary school the government is planning to build in Inuvik.

The budget is $20 million with 12 per cent of that set aside for planning alone. That's roughly the same amount that early childhood education/daycare will have to throw into the pot if it wants space to operate from at the new school.

Granted, policies and procedures must be followed when spending from the public purse and gone are the days when the government would just come in, make a decision and throw up a building.

I suppose the updated version of government planning we find ourselves in these days is what's known as progress.

Enter the consultant. Earlier this year, Education, Culture and Employment dispatched one to these parts to get a bead on what people wanted in the new elementary school. Early childhood education amenities surely appeared on the list but alas, that kind of thing is not in the education ministry's mandate. "Softer toilet paper," (one student's suggestion) probably didn't make the minister's list, either.

Take solace in the fact that classrooms, a staff room, library and office space will indeed be included in a new school, thank goodness!

We wouldn't want our tax dollars going to waste on just any old consultancy exercise.

So the next time you hear of some consultant saying that the people's interests are in good hands or that they'll go to the wall to ensure the people get what they want, remember that the consultant's interests are already well in hand.

Because without a school or a pipeline to speak of, the only people bringing home the bacon on your behalf are the beloved consultants.

God bless them. Send in the lawyers!

Editorial Comment
Andrew Raven
Deh Cho Drum

Climate change and mounting fossil fuel prices are two of the most challenging problems facing Northerners right now.

With that in mind, the territorial government has taken a $15,000 gamble on solar-power project in Jean Marie River.

Photo-voltaic cells, which convert sunlight into electrical energy, will be installed on the band office and one home in the 250-person community.

The government hopes the solar panels will help lower the tremendously high cost of generating electricity in Jean Marie River. Residents there pay 20 times what Calgarians do.

While the $15,000 may seem expensive, the return could be tremendous.

The diesel plants which supply most remote Northern settlements with power are inefficient and expensive to maintain.

Solar power could be the cost-effective solution to the territories' energy needs. Kudos to officials for some forward thinking.

The panels also have the added benefit of reducing greenhouse gasses, perhaps a happy coincidence for a government that supports the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline.

Fort Providence is a great community, but it could be one of the unluckiest towns in the Northwest Territories.

Not only do residents have to contend with plagues of mosquitoes and black flies but also pests of the larger, hoofed variety: bison.

Nearly 75 animals marched through the Mackenzie River hamlet last week, happily grazing on lawns, knocking down fences and trampling flower beds.

The free-roaming bison have been a nuisance in Fort Providence for decades and some residents say the problem is getting worse.

They have called on the territorial government to intervene, but there are few options.

Building a fence is not practical. Few seem inclined to allow limited hunting around the town, which could re-instill a fear of humans in the animals.

The community has tried cutting the grass, but the beasts still find it appetizing.

The reality is simple: Fort Providence is smack dab in the middle of a sanctuary that is home to about 2,000 bison and the animals will probably be denting cars for years to come.

Faced with that inescapable reality, residents will have to remain vigilant to avoid accidents. That and buy a good hoe.

A photo caption in Friday's Yellowknifer referred to Boy Scout uniforms. In fact, all Scouts Canada programs are co-ed. Yellowknifer apologizes for the error.