Editorial

Mining companies hoping to explore the North must understand what it takes to do business here: direct consultation with First Nations that own the land.

That hasn't appeared to have happened in the case of the firms hoping to drill suspected kimberlite sites around Drybones Bay, about 50 km southeast of Yellowknife.

To them, consultation appears to be a regulatory board hearing with the future of their project at stake. That's not good enough, so it's not surprising that elders, lawyers and land managers representing Yellowknives Dene said no to the proposal during a Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board hearing last week.

They are worried about the effect exploratory drilling will have on hunting and ancestral burial grounds around the bay.

The Dene say they don't know enough about what's planned.

BHP Billiton and Diavik have learned how to work with First Nations and they do it well. The successful Rock and Ice Ultra marathon race was in trouble until organizer Scott Smith met face-to-face with Yellowknifes chief Fred Sangris.

What impact could 80 people on skis and snowshoes really have on the land? Certainly far less than drill rigs and an exploration camp.

This land is owned by the "Crown" in name only. It is Dene territory and companies must work with the rightful owners.

Bottom line is that if a business isn't prepared to invest time and money into developing a relationship with First Nations, they're not welcome in the NWT.

Big voice, huge talent

It comes as no surprise to Yellowknifers that Leela Gilday took home a Juno award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year.

Anyone who has ever heard her perform knows she has a special talent. It's about time the national music industry sat up and took notice.

Driven by her powerful voice, her songs draw equally on her Northern roots and her individual spirit. Her music resonates far beyond the 60th parallel. She is no overnight success. Leela put in years of hard work, faced many difficult decisions and credits the continual support of her family for helping her stick with her dream through all of her struggles.

But to achieve national success, Leela had to leave Yellowknife for Vancouver.

It was a decision which, though vital to her career, she fought for years.

Her move south left a big hole in Yellowknife's music community, maybe because it's so small and tightly-knit, or maybe because her talent is so large.

But as much as we would have liked to hold onto her, talent like hers deserves to be shared with the rest of the country.

Congratulations, Leela. We miss you, and we wish you all the best.

Time to slam lid on sex crime loophole

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Wednesday, April 11, 2007

With the high rate of sexual activity among teenagers in Nunavut, we should all be concerned with a recent ruling in a Saskatchewan court.

The case saw Jeffrey Kindrat acquitted by a jury in a sexual-assault case involving a 12 year old Aboriginal girl who accepted a ride with three men in a truck, leading to a sexual encounter.

One of the three men was found guilty in 2003 and given two years house arrest.

The third will be retried in October after being found not guilty with Kindrat in a 2003 trial.

An appeals court overturned that decision and ordered both re-tried.

The jury deliberated for 150 minutes before acquitting Kindrat based on his honest-and-reasonable-belief defence, which left the jurors with a reasonable doubt as to whether the man realized the girl was only 12 at the time.

There are many who fear the verdict could have a serious impact on future cases.

The matter was further fuelled by defence attorney Morris Bodnar's statement that he never gets demonstrations when he has an aboriginal client and a white victim, only when his client is white and the victim is aboriginal.

Although our legal system is one of the best in the world, it's not perfect and we accept that.

Sometimes innocent people get convicted and guilty people walk away free.

However we find it strange for a jury to be convinced that a man could not tell that a 12-year-old girl was not old enough to give her consent to sex, even if it would be unreasonable to expect him to know her exact age.

And, despite Bodnar's remarks, this issue has nothing to do with the colour of one's skin.

This is about trying to protect our youth from the sexual predators who are out there and, in the case of those too promiscuous for their own good, from themselves.

The Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) is calling on the honest-and-reasonable-belief defence to be stricken from the Criminal Code and we support the group's stance.

We find it nothing short of incredulous that the onus of ascertaining the age of someone buying cigarettes in a corner store or ordering alcohol at a restaurant falls squarely on the shoulders of the proprietor.

Yet, in a time when sexually-transmitted diseases are rampant and often deadly, one can have a sexual encounter with a pre-teen under some sort of honest-and-reasonable belief as to their age and consent?

One does not have to be a member of the NWAC or any other organization to be outraged by that logic, simply having morals and/or being a parent will do that.

In an age when so much emphasis is placed on physical attractiveness and youth often appear older than they truly are, it should be paramount within the law for anyone about to engage in sexuality activity to know the person they're with is old enough to give their consent.

The NWAC has correctly referred to the honest-and-reasonable-belief defence as a loophole.

It's a loophole our justice system should move quickly to close in all communities; Inuit, First Nation, caucasian and all shades in-between.

A time to be with family

Editorial Comment
Dez Loreen
Inuvik Drum
Friday, April 13, 2007

I have a message for people in town who indulge in binge drinking.

Please, all of you adults out there who wish to spend hard-earned money at the bar, keep it reasonable. Have some restraint when you go drinking.

I was out for a drive on Sunday afternoon, just after 12 noon. I drove past the bank and noticed two people staggering drunk in the street. Then a little farther down the road were two more people walking funny.

At first I laughed, thinking about how sad it was, resorting to drinking on a sunny afternoon. Then it dawned on me. This was Easter Sunday!

I had always thought of Easter as a time to be with the family and to share the gifts we have been given.

Some may think I am being harsh to people under the grip of the bottle, but I think I'm on the right path.

The situation in this town regarding alcohol needs to be re-examined carefully.

Liquor has a tight grip on people in the North. For as long as I have known this world, alcohol has been a part of it. Family members, friends and complete strangers have all affected me while they were drunk.

It seems that now we live in an age where it's politically incorrect to make fun of someone's ailments, even if they are self-inflicted.

I thought it worked though, because after being humiliated in a public place, maybe people would take cabs home from the bar.

Drinking isn't the problem. Drinking to excess is. I know. I have been to the other side of the pool and have gone overboard, but I don't have kids to go home to.

Youth look up to older people; role models are important. Come on, people, keep some things under wraps. We all know you drink, but we don't want to see you drunk all the time.

I saw that a local pub was open on Easter Sunday.

Great for business, I'm sure. I drove by a few times and saw a lot of people in the front of the bar. I chuckled to a friend in the vehicle with me, because the bar crowd could rival both the church-goers and the jamboree river crowd.

I also noticed a lot of police activity outside the bar over the weekend.

Good to see that our jamboree could bring in so many more people to party. I think the liquor store should have been closed all weekend as well as the bars.I do understand that alcoholism is serious and that people struggle with their demons. I hope they make it through and can find some control in their lives.

It sounds cliche, but I found some pretty good answers in the church.

Yeah, I said church.

After spending Tuesday morning with Minister Parsons of the Anglican church, I can say that my eyes have been opened a little wider into a life I know nothing about.

I don't want to get preachy and no, I did not get on the religious bandwagon. I just admire what the church is doing now and the message they spread to people in the region.

Be with your families, learn to curb some temptation and move along. Life is too short to spend it stumbling across Mackenzie Road.

Spring traditions

Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum
Friday, April 13, 2007

With temperatures breaking records in Fort Simpson on Easter Day, water has been running down the streets as piles of snow disappear like retreating glaciers.

Streets that were once icy and white are now grey and brown and dotted with large puddles that I've seen a number of children with and without rubber boots taking advantage of.

Spring is a great time of the year.

With the warmer temperatures, people shake off the lethargy of the winter and can be seen strolling up and down the streets of many communities or coming out to take part in events.

Spring is also a time when you can catch up on news, with all the people it seems like you haven't seen since the snow started to fall.

Of course there's a chance that you may have seen these people and just didn't recognize them thanks to the layers of clothes they were wearing. Bundle a person in a large parka, some snow pants, a pair of Sorel boots, a scarf, a furry hat and thick gloves and it's hard to tell who you are looking at some days. Throw in some watery eyes caused by a biting wind or driving snow and you could walk past your best friend and not realize it.

Spring has arrived, hopefully for good, to take care of all this.

Spring in the Deh Cho brings with it a number of things: wet footwear, lighter coats, returning birds and a rise in betting tendencies.

If there is one topic that is sure to start up a conversation at this time of year. it's breakup. All the communities in the Deh Cho live by some body of water that people can keep a close eye on and spend quality time discussing.

Who can resist putting in their two cents about when breakup is likely to happen?

This is where the rise of betting comes in. You don't necessarily have to lay money down, but lots of people use the phrase "I bet" to state when they think the river will start to move.

Making an informed statement on this matter takes a complex series of calculations. You need to be able to factor in a wide range of variables from the weather patterns farther upstream to the local conditions.

Serious thought also has to be given to the type of winter it was. Did the ice form a thick layer to begin with? Was ice formation hampered by any factors like a heavy, insulating layer of snow or a number of thawing periods?

If you want to sound like you're savvy with the latest hot topics you also need to factor in global warming. Are temperatures getting warmer and will this lead to an earlier breakup?

Of course, a lot of the calculation involves guesswork and factoring in personal knowledge from past years. Weather patterns may change leading to a cold snap that could delay breakup or a warm spell could do just the opposite. Conditions might mirror a breakup that happened a few years ago.

Forget about betting on horse races, sports games or online gambling sites, betting on breakup is more challenging and also a fair bit more wholesome.

For added difficulty, side bets can be wagered on when the ice crossings will close and when the ferries will open. If you really want to tempt fate you can add in whether or not this will be the year that a serious flood occurs.

Gazing out at the Mackenzie from Fort Simpson the river's ice is still looking pretty solid, but don't be shy about being among the first to state your predictions.

Let the spring tradition begin.