Premier Joe Handley has a lot of nerve criticizing a federal government employee over racist e-mails.

In a Feb. 5 press release, Handley took issue with an e-mail containing pictures of three young blonde models alongside another of an older aboriginal woman baring her breasts, with the headline: "Pick Miss Northwest Territories."

The e-mail was sent by Michael Hurst, the Yellowknife manager of Industry Canada, to a bunch of his hockey buddies.

Handley called the e-mail "extremely offensive," and "completely unacceptable."

While this particular e-mail surely warrants a rebuke, we have to wonder where Handley was when the territorial government had its own racist e-mail scandal.

Between Oct. 2003 and Nov. 2005, an employee with the South Slave Divisional Education Council in Fort Smith sent out "jokes of the day," poking fun at alcohol addiction and the sex habits of aboriginal women, Catholics and seniors.

Some of the e-mails were sent to employees of the territorial Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, plus senior school administrators.

Handley said nothing then. The only territorial government official to respond was then deputy education minister Mark Cleveland.

As far as we know, all that happened in the Fort Smith case was that the offending e-mailer volunteered an apology.

Instead of criticizing the feds, the premier should make a much belated condemnation of the racist e-mails that circulated through his own government's e-mail system.

Last week, Yellowknifer published a story on a family's narrow escape from fire. It was pure luck that one member of a family was awake early Sunday morning, Feb. 4 and was able to rouse others in the home when he saw smoke. The smoke detector in their home was not working.

Had they all been asleep, that story could easily have read "Family dies in house fire."Smoke detectors don't save lives if they're not working.

A $10 smoke alarm, a nine-volt battery, and five minutes of your time could be all that stands between your family and tragedy. Every homeowner and renter in the city should take the precaution of checking their smoke detectors regularly. Install a new battery and test your smoke alarms twice a year.

Your life is worth far more than the price of a battery.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

If ever there was a glaring example of how much the almighty dollar dictates many of the decisions made in today's society, it came courtesy of the boob tube earlier this month.

The stage had been set for a proud moment for aboriginal people in Canada on the evening of Feb. 3.

Akina Shirt, a 13-year-old originally from Saddle Lake First Nation and now living in Edmonton, was scheduled to sing our national anthem at a NHL game in Calgary pitting the Flames against the Canucks.

It was, in fact, history in the making as Shirt was to become the first person in NHL history to sing O Canada in her native Cree language.

The network carrying Hockey Night in Canada had been advertising the significance of Shirt's appearance on its website, and many an aboriginal was in front of the TV to witness the historic moment.

Given the proud aboriginal history in Canada and the importance placed upon hockey in this nation, this was the type of event where, many years from now, people could proudly proclaim that they watched as Shirt sang the anthem in her native tongue.

But, unfortunately, the earlier game matching the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Ottawa Senators went to a shootout and put the network behind with its commercials.

So, someone in a position of authority - no doubt making a salary most of us can only dream about - decided Shirt's appearance was of such minor interest that it could be skipped over for an extended run of commercials.

Hey, people who watch hockey would probably rather watch a bunch of ads than history in the making.

Besides, hockey fans even know the words to all the jingles and wouldn't understand a word in Cree anyway, right?

All together now: "Hands in my pockets, hands in my pockets, hands in my pockets."

Simply put, Canadians should be more than a little embarrassed by the network's decision.

The vast majority of hockey fans would gladly have foregone a few minutes of play for the network to get caught up on its commercials after Shirt had her historic moment on national TV.

In fact, many of us were looking forward to her appearance and that giddy feeling we get when we're proud to be Canadians.

Instead, I was left to feel embarrassed and, even though I had nothing to do with the decision, more than a little guilty.

The call to cut Shirt from the show was but another example of why so many aboriginals continue to distrust corporate (read white) Canada.

Even more disturbing was the slap in the face to our fellow Canadians by our supposedly national network.

The network did air a taped segment of Shirt's performance later in the show, but it was too little too late.

An apology should be issued and the network should show the good sense to bring the teenager back for an encore performance.

It may no longer be a first, but it could be done right to give Shirt - and the millions of us who would be honoured to have her sing our national anthem in Cree - the proud moment on the national stage that she was promised.

Editorial Comment
Dez Loreen
Inuvik Drum
Friday, February 9, 2007

Traditionally, people were taught new things by older members of their family, or other people close to them.

From what I gather from listening to elders, an older person would take you out in the bush and show you how to live off the land.

I have always believed that learning something first-hand is the best method and gives the best results.

I can only daydream of days past, the time before government settlements and canned food. Before the aid of libraries, Internet and encyclopedias.

The only way to learn new things was to follow your uncle Jimmy out to the lake and watch and try to learn as much as possible.

There are still people among us who wish to teach their young ones and other youth about the ways of the land and how the people of this region used to survive.

Sam Lennie is one of the people of whom I speak. He has spent a long time in this region and knows a lot about how things work.

He has also been at Sir Alexander Mackenzie school recently, teaching students about traditional tools and how they are used.

Last year I watched as he helped a large class assemble and carve their own harpoons. Sure, some of the kids in that room might not use the harpoon, but now they know how to build one.

Who knows, maybe they will spread that information to others in their age group.

Last week Lennie was back in the shop class making ice-fishing hooks for jiggling.

I didn't think so much effort went into shaping and carving the muskox horn to make the hook. A nail is driven into the horn and then it's sharpened and bent.

I wonder how much easier the work has gotten, with the help of power drills and saws. I'm sure it has helped considerably.

It doesn't even take an elder to pass on traditional knowledge. Just find someone who knows about cultural life and ask them questions.

Brighter days mean more time to spend outdoors. That could mean more people going on the land to their cabins or even just on a brief snowmobile ride.

I see the river between the younger and older generations shrinking and a bridge is being constructed. The older people have their half of the bridge planned out and have started to make their way across, with the lessons of life.

Now the challenge lies in the hands of the youth. We have to get off our asses and start building. I don't think we as youth should wait for the older people to come over, we should meet them halfway.

This should be where the younger generation smartens up. So hey junior, put down the brick and pick up your snares.

Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum
Friday, February 9, 2007

When people decide to live in the North they make a decision, conscious or unconscious, to give up a number of things that are more easily accessible in "the south."

This process is likely the same regardless of whether you have lived in the North your whole life or have just arrived.

At the top of the list are consumer goods. Sure, many people who have lived in the North for a while can tell stories about how things are much better than what they once were -- like when fresh vegetables were never their right colour when they arrived, if they arrived at all. But we still aren't on equal footing with large southern cities with their giant grocery stores and malls.

But people learn to adapt to life without some items or develop a variety of means to obtain their favourite novelty foods or products, such as resupply trips to the south, online shopping or obliging relatives.

There are, however, some things that residents of the North shouldn't have to compromise.

Access to public services such as citizenship tests and ceremonies, which are provided by the federal government, are two of the things that should be offered equally across the country.

Having potential citizens wait more than two years with no word about their application and then giving them under a month's notice to travel to a community located on the far side of the territory for the test and ceremony they need to become citizens seems like poor planning on some official's part.

Yet, this is exactly what happened to five residents of Fort Simpson who were asked to travel to Inuvik in August.

Although these five people are eager to become full Canadian citizens after years of living in Canada and the North, spending $2,500 or more for the trip, accommodations and food proved to be just too much for all of them. Each of the five had to decline and are now back in a state of limbo waiting for the next letter.

Something is wrong with this picture.

In a state of frustration, one of the people involved in the situation suggested that the citizenship officers themselves should be asked to take the citizenship test, which has a geography component, to help them understand the distance between communities in the North such as Fort Simpson and Inuvik.

According to a senior official with Citizenship and Immigration the problem is resources. The office only has two citizenship officers for the NWT, northern Alberta and Edmonton. Two people for such a vast area is, clearly, a problem.

Yet according to MP Dennis Bevington, the government officials with the power have no intentions of rectifying the system, which creates hassles such as suggesting people travel across a territory for service.

If the federal government is serious about immigration and helping to find skilled workers for places like the NWT, more resources must be devoted to the department.

Residents of the NWT may be far removed from the rest of Canada, and there might be fewer of us, but that doesn't make us second-class citizens who deserve reduced federal services.

An error appeared in an article in Friday's Yellowknifer, ("Stanton updates call system," Feb. 9). Steve Schaub's named was incorrectly spelled. Also, the wrong caption appeared in the stand-alone photo A Role Reversal. The boy taking the picture is James Nowdlak. He was taking pictures of his grandmother Debra Buggins. Yellowknifer apologises for any embarassment or confusion caused by these errors.