Editorial

The recent legal threats from Behchoko chief Leon Lafferty contesting the legitimacy of the Metis Nation Local 64's claim to have input on how to spend $1.2 million in community development funding is just the latest fight that goes against the very spirit of the grant.

The territorial government received more than $35 million to dole out to communities on behalf of the federal government under the Community Capacity Building Fund, designed to help strengthen community infrastructure by improving or building facilities such as libraries and recreation centres. It should have brought people groups closer together for the betterment of the community. It did the opposite in some places.

In Fort Smith a deal between the town council, Metis Alliance, and Salt River First Nation took more than a year and put the three organizations at odds. There was a tug of war over the money in Hay River, too.

When the government waves millions of dollars in the air and yells out "who wants some?" the obvious response is a mad stampede to the handout, with organizations stomping on each other trying to the be the first in line.

The history of this grant has been mired in greed. Organizations applying seem to forget it is designed to make the whole community better . For Lafferty to be telling Metis members of the community they have no right to help decide how such money is spent goes against the federal mandate of the funding.

Behchoko is the first jurisdiction to challenge consultation with any other groups, arguing the Tlicho government is the only entity with legitimate power in the region. While no minority group should have a veto over how the money will benefit the majority, a minority's input has to be protected. It must be remembered that the Metis local is a member of the North Slave Metis Alliance, a First Nation group recognized by the federal government as having aboriginal rights.

Lafferty says he will go to mediation to resolve the dispute, but if that doesn't work, he will seek arbitration. If arbitration doesn't give him the answer he wants, he says the Behchoko community council will go to court.

Instead of wasting time and money on expensive, divisive court action, Lafferty should accept the fact this particular, one-time funding comes with Metis strings. He should reach out to the Metis local and explain that improvements to Behchoko's community centre will benefit everyone. Otherwise, this rift will widen and relations only get worse.

With all the in-fighting, the federal government may be reluctant to repeat its efforts to spend millions building communities. Northerners have behaved badly this time and should strive to work together.

Secrecy stalled, not stopped

Regular MLAs had a chance to make a change for the better in the Nunavut legislative assembly. They blew it, opting instead for a symbolic slap on the wrist.

The issue is serious. The government of Nunavut renewed a lease for an office building in Cambridge Bay without putting it out to public tender.

For a government with a shaky history of financial mismanagement - according to every report by the Auditor General of Canada since 1999 - this should have been an alarm bell. Instead, it was a chance to score cheap political points without engaging the issue.

The fact that they didn't see the need to go public about the lease is an example of the problem. The government of Nunavut is not transparent; it is secretive by design.

The scuffle in the legislature between Cambridge Bay MLA Keith Peterson and department of finance comptroller Mike Rafter showed how strong the shroud of secrecy really is.

When faced with a specific question about the lease, Rafter responded that it was privileged information. If Peterson can't get a straight answer in the legislature, what about the voters? They don't stand a chance.

Peterson was rightly outraged and the regular members stalled the progress of the Community and Government Services budget. Sadly, that is where the serious business ended.

Instead of demanding accountability in all government dealings, or even bringing down the government for hiding the public purse, the regular members voted to censure the government.

Where was the call for a serious investigation into the government tendering process? Instead, we got a meaningless motion with no teeth.

This is a government addicted to secrecy. The regular members played the role of enabler, allowing the addict to continue on a self-destructive path. The voters are the ones who suffer, and no amount of meaningless finger-wagging at the cabinet can change that.

Go to people over taxation powers

Cambridge Bay Mayor Michelle Gillis wants council to have control over tax revenues generated in her community.

This is a hamlet that submitted itself to the voluntary supervision of Community and Government Services, after the council fired the SAO. Cambridge Bay is in deficit, but Mayor Gillis admits she doesn't know how large the deficit is.

The goal is honourable; Cambridge Bay hamlet council wants to be able to provide for the hamlet's needs.

The problem is this council went forward with a motion calling for these powers without considering what would happen if they got their way.

Do the people in Cambridge Bay want to take the next step in municipal evolution? Would the people of Cambridge Bay just be exchanging their problems with the government of Nunavut for problems with the local council?

Cambridge Bay shouldn't be collecting tax dollars until it's ready for it, and that the people want it, preferably in a referendum.

CBC scores with new deal

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Score one for the hockey fans over those who would rather see the CBC broadcast nothing other than news and arts programming.

And, score another for those who were afraid they would lose their regional CBC programming in rural areas if the network lost its flagship broadcast.

Despite the voice of contention in the Canadian Senate, the CBC and the NHL inked a new six-year deal this past month that will see Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) remain with the federally funded national network.

The deal is believed to be worth between $80 to $100 million.

The NHL also extended its partnership south of the border with NBC through next season, with an option for the 2008-09 season.

On the surface, some might wonder what all the kerfuffle was about.

After all, TV shows come and go and in this day of the dollar loyalty is only as thick as the ink on the cheque.

But HNIC on the CBC has become an institution in this country.

There can be little doubt the backlash from millions of viewers would have been significant had the CBC opted not to pursue the agreement due its cost.

The Kivalliq, being a predominately hockey-crazed region, is no different than many other Canadian locales when it comes to the broadcast.

The HNIC crew has developed its broadcast of NHL games into an art form, and Kivalliq hockey fans join the millions of other Canadian puck lovers in looking forward to that perfection every Saturday night and throughout the playoffs.

What other sports show (or any show, period) can you name that knocks Peter Mansbridge and The National to second-banana status?

In fact, the power the broadcast has over so many Canadians almost defies logic, especially during the first intermission when the Coach's Corner segment airs and Don Cherry clears his throat.

The time Cherry is afforded to relay his over-the-top viewpoint to Canadians represents the five quietest minutes of the week in this country.

It seems no matter what's going on in any given home, or at any gathering with a TV within earshot, everything comes to a silent standstill when Cherry begins to speak.

In addition to millions of contented Canadian hockey fans, more than a few CBC employees also breathed a sigh of relief with this past month's announcement and only a few of them work with the HNIC crew.

As much as the idealists among us hate to admit it, public broadcasting cannot survive on arts alone, even when connected to purse strings that originate on Parliament Hill.

But, Kivalliq hockey fans aren't concerning themselves with mundane topics such as advertising revenue, rebroadcast rights and target audiences these days.

Like so many other fans across the nation, they are content in the knowledge that when they turn on their TV every Saturday evening for the next six years, their favourite sports program will be right where they left it.

For them, life is, once again, a big bowl of cherries.

In search of spring

Editorial Comment
Dez Loreen
Inuvik Drum
Friday, April 06, 2007

There I was, standing on top of the sliding hill on Boot Lake, looking far over the Mackenzie River when it dawned on me. This is spring time in the delta.

The sun was rolling over the Richardson Mountains and the sky had an orange glow to it. For that one moment, I was lost in my own thoughts. I felt at peace and really relaxed.

My friends quickly snapped me back to reality with a well-packed snowball to the back. Oh yeah, we were there with a purpose: to bomb down the hill head first without bailing out before reaching the bottom.

Now I will admit that I am not the bravest of souls, especially when it means plowing down this slope. At first I was afraid to jump on the sled, until some little kids ran past me and dove down the hill on their toboggan.

Mind you it was a plastic toboggan that looked like a good safe ride. I remember asking someone next to me about the old toboggans. You know the ones, wooden sleds with strings to hold onto. Those were the days when you could really do some damage.

Another group of kids hit the hill shortly after the first girl had made it all the way to the bottom. These boys seemed more interested in hanging out with the older kids than actually sliding.

Of course we were willing to spend some time wrestling around in the snow and taking turns going down the hill, packed two by two on sleds meant for one person.

One of the kids brought his G.T. racer with him, which was tricked out and modified for what he called "killer fast" speeds. The plastic skis were taken off and only the metal frame touched the snow. This definitely was a machine to be respected. I don't even remember the last time I saw a G.T. that was still intact.

Seeing those kids all playing together with my friends and just letting go for a few hours to laugh and enjoy the sun was nice.

A few days after the sledding adventure I went for a short walk to see the sun. I saw a group of youth playing street hockey in a driveway.

There was a group of 10 kids there. I think some of them may have been sitting out as substitute players. That made the make shift game seem more legitimate and organized. There was no adult in sight, just a bunch of youth out doing what they love, being outdoors.

There must be something in the air during this time of year. The thought of snow melting enough to reveal pavement on the streets and seeing grass growing is enough to thaw the coldest of hearts.

The warm weather can only mean one thing: it's Jamboree time. Ah yes, the sweetest time of the year in our community. The time of year when everyone gathers at the river site to smile and eat doughnuts.

I know I'll be out on a Ski-doo some time during the weekend. I just hope that everyone else will also be responsible enough to stay safe and keep others in mind when you're out bombing around on your snow machine.

This past weekend, someone had a pretty bad spill when their Ski-doo crashed on the river. The fire department was on site, along with many other curious people in vehicles. All that remains of the snowmobile is the hollowed-out metal shell of the frame and engine. It turned the snow a dark colour of brown.

I have confidence that we can make this Jamboree weekend one to remember, so get your big boots on and join the fun!

Edible knowledge

Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum
Friday, April 06, 2007

While graduations are always a reason to celebrate, the recent graduation of eight women in Nahanni Butte from the Aurora College camp cook program was an especially festive occasion.

Hosting a large community feast with specially-prepared delectable food does a lot to liven up any occasion.

A long line formed as community members came out to enjoy the occasion and the food. People with heavily-laden plates filled all the chairs surrounding the tables that were set up in the meeting room at the band office and spilled out onto the floors of the band office halls and countertops, any place that was available to set a plate of food on.

The feast was a tangible and edible sign of the students' success.

Although the end product seemed simple, the process to get there involved many steps.

The women worked in the kitchen for a week to prepare the wide variety of food that was laid out on tables in the meeting room. Baked goods that could be frozen were made first followed by pies.

The assortment of meat was prepared and cooked ahead of time, ready to be reheated on the big day. Parts of the hors d'oeuvres were also made in advance and later assembled.

In the kitchen during the morning and afternoon before the feast, the students were working together like a well-oiled machine. Everyone had their own tasks to complete and everything seemed to fall into place perfectly, a testament to the planning involved.

The food items prepared spoke to both the roots of the women's cooking experiences and the new avenues they explored. Traditional favourites such as moose roast and bannock shared the same table as orange and pecan stuffed pork loin and peanut chicken curry in wonton cups.

If the merit of any community feast can be partially gauged by the number of people taking home plates of food, the graduation feast was a success. People were taking advantage of the leftovers by making up one or two plates of food covered with tinfoil to snack on later.

These eight women have a lot to be proud of.

The three-month course, like the preparation for the feast, wasn't always easy. Early in the process, staff at the band office were sending out encouragement in Community Clips to support the students who were struggling with converting measurements. Two of the original 10 students weren't able to complete the course.

It's never too late to learn new skills or build on existing ones, as the students in the course have shown. By graduating they've joined the ranks of people in Fort Simpson, Fort Providence and Trout Lake who have taken the course.

Hopefully these women will find continued support in whatever they choose to do. There are many options. Maybe some will find work in a camp kitchen, others might start a baked goods business and others may just make even better meals for their families.

The important thing is that these women started a program and saw it through to completion, learning useful skills in the process.

These eight women should stand as examples for anyone who is thinking about furthering their education. You never know what you might learn.