It's no surprise to any parent that there are more than 100 children awaiting day care spaces in Yellowknife.

Spots for infants and after-school kids are in especially high demand. This has been a persistent problem for years and the territorial government has yet to do much about it.

Education Minister Charles Dent acknowledges that there is a shortage of spaces and workers to staff the day cares, so why hasn't he taken more action?

True, the department does provide funding per child enroled in day care, and start-up grants for people interested in starting up a new centre, but it's just not enough.

Parents, especially those with infants, are exasperated with the nearly impossible mission of finding quality child care.

As a result, they are turning to licensed and unlicensed day homes - the latter choice being potentially risky, considering they are not regulated.

Dent says he has drafted a letter to Diane Finley, federal minister of human resources and social development, asking the feds to consider partnering with the territorial government on providing day care funding. So what? That means nothing at this point.

Our education minister needs to get aggressive, lobbying cabinet and looking within his own department for long-term solutions to the Northern day care crisis.

It's a matter of priorities, not a lack of resources.

Orphans in Manzini, Swaziland would likely have marvelled at some of the goods sold at Ecole St. Joseph school in a May 20 garage sale.

There were piles of clothes, VCRs, books, toys, furnishings and more. It was stuff that the organizing families didn't want. But inspired by tales of the extreme poverty shared by Allyson Stroeder, whose daughter Jennifer spent six months volunteering at the orphanage, they pooled their belongings to help.

The garage sale by teachers, parents and other members of the St. Joe's school community raised $2,300. Students in the school contributed more and when all was said and done, $3,000 was collected to buy a much-needed plow.

The plow will be used to clear the thick jungle brush covering the path the orphans must walk along each day to attend school.

While the amount raised is small by Canadian standards, the good work it does in that small African country will be noticed and remembered.

Yellowknife and Manzini may be worlds apart but it's great knowing a caring school helped bridge the gap by extending a helping hand.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

There are numerous issues in the Kivalliq that vary wildly from the south in how they're handled.

Some are steeped in culture and tradition, while others rest on the shoulders of history or language.

Infrastructure, or the lack thereof, can affect the way some standards are enforced and programs implemented.

If all of Nunavut's recreational facilities had to be held to the strict standards of many southern locales, many would sit empty.

Even our weather prompts us to do many things quite a bit differently than our southern counterparts.

For all those differences, however, there are many things that should stay consistent across the country, not the least of which is how we treat those who cannot always help themselves.

Unfortunately, there are still too many among us who will not accept the fact that sentiment does not apply strictly to human beings.

Because of their neglect, animals and children are suffering in Rankin Inlet.

You can no more compare a fox terrier to a sled dog than a qamutik to a Ski-Doo.

They are totally different, with precious little in common other than they both get you where you want to go, most of the time.

The vast majority of the dog problem in Rankin does not rest with those who own sled dogs.

The problem stems from irresponsible pet owners and it's time for the hamlet to start getting tough with this particular breed of person.

There have been 11 dogs shot in Rankin during the past few weeks.

That's 11 animals that died because someone decided they weren't worth the effort to feed or house.

Kind of makes you wonder why they wanted a dog in the first place, doesn't it?

Rankin SAO John Hodgson estimates only 30 per cent of the dogs that end up in the pound are claimed by their owners.

We all know what happens to the rest.

We've had one child seriously mauled by a rabid dog this past year and at least two more barely escaped attacks, one at the cost of her shoes to get away.

The time to think about whether you want to own a dog is before you get one.

The trick to making the decision is to realize responsibility, and lots of it comes with being a dog owner.

Your animal is going to need supervision, training, caring, walking and playtime, bathroom breaks if it's an indoor animal, feeding, vaccinations and other medical care, and lots of attention.

If you give your animal all these things, it will give you a lifetime of loyalty, companionship and love.

If you neglect your animal, the community inherits your problem and the animal, ultimately, inherits a bullet to the brain.

A bullet you provided!

Editorial Comment
Dez Loreen
Inuvik Drum

After spending some time at our humble skatepark on Sunday afternoon, it became apparent to me that our youth have a dilemma.

Please bear with me as I try to get my point across to some of the older people in town who don't use the park.

See, I feel that the skatepark is like a flower. Years ago, the powers that be decided that the voices of Inuvik's youth could not be ignored any longer, and a few large ramps were built.

I see that as a seed being planted and I am sure everyone out there with a green thumb knows what that’s all about.

Those ramps were then supposed to blossom into a beautiful flower, a park, that would deter kids from thrashing decks outside the drug store and other downtown locales.

Just planting the seed is not enough, though. Water and care are also needed. Once a plant grows out of its pot, you need to move it into a bigger pot.

Since moving the skatepark is not an option, why not improve on it?

I talked to some skaters who were about to head over to the park. They had a bright green metal rail in tow, and said it was to “trick off of.”

Making their own rail was necessary because currently there is nothing adequate to grind on. They suggested that the town put in a simple concrete fun box, or pyramid, to allow them to pull some radical tricks. A concrete fun box wouldn't be too expensive or hard to install.

I responded to their idea with cynicism in my voice. I reminded them that a similar box had already been made out of wood.

They pointed at the deteriorating box, which was partially smashed and looked unstable. It was no wonder they made their own rail.

I understand what you might be thinking, about how the youth are going to vandalize anything good in this town. You may ask: "Why should we give them something else to break?"

Well, I think adding new and fun elements to the skatepark would increase its usage.

I see kids that are bored with the ramps we have now. I also see that we have some very unskilled kids in this town who consider themselves “taggers” - spraypainting their names and numbers all over the park in a dull red paint.

It's kids like those that need the wake-up call, not the future role models who are out there getting active and teaching younger kids new tricks.

But if you must, here are a few pointers to the kids who choose to paint their logos all over the park: Don't write your name. It makes you look bad, and your parents even worse; Learn how to spell. For the sake of those of us who have to live with your stupid tag, we should at least be able to read it; Get colour co-ordinated. If you need to paint your name and favourite number on the park ramp, do it multi-coloured. It will look a lot better; Use some style, and get a plan first. Paint like that is permanent until the art class paints over it.

I bet if your tag looked cool, they would keep it there.

Just use your head and if you see anyone painting the park, tell them to make sure it looks nice.

Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum

Have you heard about too many proposed projects lately?

Are you having a hard time keeping facts and numbers straight in your head?

Do you find yourself dreading announcements stating that yet another group is coming into your community to give a presentation or an information session?

If you are exhibiting one of more of these symptoms, you may be coming down with a nasty case of consultation overload.

The concept of consultation overload, as the name suggests, is rather self- explanatory. It's used to describe the idea that people are being asked to consider and give input on too many projects and developments.

It's easy to see how people could catch the symptoms of overload.

Calendars quickly become full if you write down all the groups who are making presentations. Some weeks it reaches a point where a person could probably get a free, but not very nutritious supper, every weeknight because most groups provide snacks.

And the term consultation overload is not just a layman's concept. It was actually used by one of the presenters at the mineral exploration session held during the week in Fort Simpson. The session, oddly enough, was only attended by two people.

But is there a cure for consultation overload?

Maybe not and it's likely that more and more of the population will contract it over time.

Just imagine, if the future development boom that people keep alluding to actually occurs there may not be enough time for all the necessary consultations. Some day we may look back fondly and long for this time.

An interesting part of human behaviour was illustrated in Fort Providence during the visit of a young black bear.

Although accounts may be slightly exaggerated, allegedly everyone in the community came out to watch the bear that was in a field in town.

The renewable resources officer had to use her loud speaker to warn people to stay back from the animal. Similar situations have happened in the past in Fort Simpson where wandering bears have attracted too much human attention.

The attraction of joining a crowd that is watching a bear is probably closely linked to the same factors that make people slow down and gawk at accident scenes or come out to watch buildings on fire.

Almost everyone has been guilty of this behaviour at one point. You know it's probably not the right thing to do, but it's almost impossible to stop yourself. There is something about humans and their curiosity which draws them to accidents and things like bears that might actually prove to be dangerous.

If people stopped to think about it long enough, they might realize sometimes their curiosity puts them in a degree of danger.

Let's just hope that no one ever gets hurt or killed like the proverbial cat, from the human instinct to be curious.

We should try to remember to give professionals the room they need to do their jobs in these situations.