Editorial

According to the 2007 edition of Opportunities North, exploration is worth $337 million in the NWT and Nunavut. In 2006, operating mines in the NWT produced $1.6 billion in diamonds, tungsten, sand, gravel and stone.

Operating mines provide more than 2,300 jobs and hundreds more are expected as new mines open. First Nations people hold many of the jobs at these mines.

Indeed, besides the millions of dollars spent to buy goods and services from communities, many millions more go to First Nations in impact benefit payments. All money spent in the North.

From that perspective, no one fails to appreciate the value mining and exploration brings to the NWT.

Diamonds have fueled most of the boom in the past decade, but demand for uranium is also growing, resulting in exploration companies looking North for new deposits. Ur Energy is one of those companies and had hoped to drill in the Thelon River area.

Ur's application was denied by the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review board, which said the development would have a "significant" impact on an environmentally and culturally sensitive area. Most of the opposition to Ur's proposal came from Lutsel K'e, which is in the Akaitcho territory.

In response to the exploration permit being denied, mining associations in the North and across the country are lining up against the review board, suggesting it has overstepped its mandate by considering cultural issues. That's a strange position given the Mackenzie Resource Management Act says the board "shall seek and consider the advice" of any First Nation whose "heritage resources" could be affected.

While Ur may say its drilling will have a low impact on the land, the people of Lutsel K'e rightly conclude the company will want to mine whatever is found.

Ur president Bill Boberg wants to see the project go ahead and is deciding how to do that. A court challenge is one option that would further divide First Nations from exploration companies.

Why not learn from the diamond companies and come up with a deal acceptable to both parties? While Ur doesn't have the deep pockets of BHP or Rio Tinto, it does believe there is wealth under the surface of Akaitcho lands. Only a deal that commits to share that wealth with the Akaitcho people will work.

A similar uranium scenario is playing out in Baker Lake, Nunavut with far different results. In the 1980s, there was much opposition in the Kivalliq region to all things nuclear. Now Inuit leaders are supporting the industry. Why? Because the development promises to benefit everyone.

So the equation is clear - exploration on aboriginal lands without economic benefits for aboriginal governments increases environmental and cultural resistance among the people. Time for the mining industry to do their math over and figure out a more mutually beneficial formula.

Short circuiting quality education

Bureaucratic bungling is robbing Cambridge Bay youth of a full year of training in important trade skills.

At Kiilinik high school, 80 per cent of the new equipment bought for the shop class last fall sits unused because it can't be hooked up to the power supply.

When questioned in the legislative assembly by Cambridge Bay MLA Keith Peterson, Education Minister Ed Picco said the shop needs to be rewired to bring it "up to snuff."

The first question was why was a shop built on 208-volt power and why wasn't that noted when the shop equipment was ordered?

According to Nunavut News/North research, 208-volt is three-phase power that's common in commercial buildings. You can buy shop equipment that runs on that kind of power.

So either the building was wired incorrectly, which should be laid at the feet of the contractor to fix, or the wrong shop equipment was ordered.

Whatever created the situation, once that mistake was noticed, there should have been a better effort to get the equipment running.

The shop teacher tried to do that but got shot down. Instead, the proper channels had to be followed.

That meant sending an order from the education department to Community and Government Services, the department that handles work like wiring upgrades in government buildings. In the past eight months, CGS has "hired a consultant" and Picco promises the work will be done in time for classes in the fall.

The shop teacher is so frustrated, he's leaving at the end of the school year.

By then, a full year will have gone by and while the politicians fill the minutes of the legislative assembly debates with their words, kids are losing out. Neither Picco nor Peterson say they want to blame anyone, but there seems no urgency to fix the problem.

Maybe it's time to hold people accountable for mistakes that cost thousands of dollars and rob youth of valuable education time.

There are job opportunities in communities and in mines that call for the training that should have been provided in the Kiilinik shop. Instead, while politicians hire consultants and talk, it takes months to accomplish anything. Unfortunately, this kind of mixup is all too common.

It's especially important that Picco fix what went wrong and make sure it doesn't happen again.

The government is spending millions on school renovations this year and is building a trades training school in Rankin Inlet. We don't want to waste more precious time not training Nunavummiut for the jobs they need.

Tootoo versus the caboose

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Well, valued readers, as you're reading this I'm enjoying a little rest and relaxation on the East Coast as my wife and I charge up the batteries on our vacation.

The combination of my wife taking a new job and a June wedding in the family had us on a plane a little earlier this year. But, that only means we'll get to enjoy a bit of more of our Kivalliq summer upon our return.

I leave you in the more-than-capable hands of Christine Grimard during my absence, and I'm sure you'll be quite happy with Christine's work for the next little while. A growing number of sports writers seem to think they're writing for some Hollywood gossip tabloid these days and it's getting old.

To be honest, I've had either the Hockey News or Hockey Digest on my coffee table since I was kid, but, for the first time in my life, I'm seriously thinking about not renewing my subscription when it expires this time around.

For the past two years, writers for the Hockey News don't seem to like too much about the game and their constant criticizing and lobbying for unending change has passed beyond annoyance.

These guys make a darn good living from writing about the greatest game on Earth, and their constant bashing often has me wondering just what earned them their spot as supposed experts in the field.

Most professional athletes accept the fact their life is lived in a goldfish bowl as long as they're in the show. But too many hacks are filling space with cheap insults, and seem to take great delight in throwing out garbage that serves no other purpose than to embarrass people.

Our own Jordin Tootoo has been the target of some of this written diarrhoea during the past year because he continues to play the game with a (gasp) physical edge.

Some of the articles have been down-right laughable, like those that claimed the Tootoo Train only smacks little red cabooses from behind and never drops the gloves when someone else wants to try a derailing.

I'm not really sure if those "writers" ever watch an NHL game, but I digress. There was absolutely nothing funny this past week about Adam Proteau's little column (Eskimos and Igloos) on Jordin and his romantic interest, Kellie Pickler.

The piece had absolutely no point but to personally insult Pickler and question the couple's intellect - trash journalism at its best.

If this is the best writing the Hockey News can come up with these days, it's not the game that needs a major overhaul of its content.

While we won't waste space responding to Proteau's mean-spirited piece (written for no other reason than to take a cheap shot at a player whose style he doesn't like), we can't help but wonder how much about the person, Jordin Tootoo, this "writer" actually knows?

It's too bad guys like Proteau can't be made to play just one shift against the guys they direct such trash towards. Proteau's little caboose meeting the Tootoo Train on the trolley tracks of an NHL arena.

Now that would be funny!!

See you next month.

A trashy sendoff

Editorial Comment
Dez Loreen
Inuvik Drum
Friday, June 8, 2007

Smashing bottles and blacking out -- the way that Inuvik celebrates a high school graduation -- yep, the annual bash known as the grad party has come and gone and has left people picking up the pieces.

Early reports said the shindig would be happening at the Boot Lake park. It's a great location for a gathering: Lots of sun, a playground and access to the water. I guess the convenient location is just icing on the already sweet cake.

So after the graduates had finished their banquet, they dispersed to their respective corners and came out swinging, ready to party. How would they top other parties? What would become of the newest flock of graduates?

Well, the evidence shows that we've sent a group of destructive drinkers into the world, to accept the responsibilities of a new life outside the walls of Samuel Hearne.

I think it's too bad that the people who went out to party had to trash their venue. I didn't check it out, but I hear it was one banging bash.

A few of my friends called me and it sounded like a lot of people were having a good time. Oh yes, I'm sure someone had their truck doors open and music was blaring.

On behalf of we who missed out on "Black-out fest 2007" I want to apologize to the graduates and to anyone else who celebrated that night. I don't want to come down on you too hard, but I am fresh off the heels from writing about littering and parties. This editorial seemed like a logical next step for me.

I know almost every one of the graduates and I'm surprised that there was a mess at all. I thought that we had a responsible group of teens who were willing to pick up after themselves. Or at least they would curb the impulse to smash empty bottles against playground equipment.

I can understand that you might not have been in control or maybe you were just caught in the moment, but come on. There are children who want to use those slides. Why should anyone have to deal with the aftermath of your "good time"?

I want to personally thank every RCMP officer who went down and spilled the bottles of those unlucky partiers.

I did laugh a few times at the saddened stories my friends told me about how brutal it was, watching a full 40-ouncer of tequila spill onto the ground.

I'm glad I wasn't at the party, because it sounded like the cops had a good lock on the situation once they arrived.

I have a few questions though, about why they allowed the party to continue. I thought it was illegal for under-aged people to drink.

But hey, I must congratulate the class of 2007 on their ability to host a party so wild that the bar-goers crashed it after last call.

Nothing like hitting on young drunk girls after striking out at the Trapper, I tell ya.

Here is a toast, to a society where we celebrate the accomplishments of our youth with wild parties. I don't want to come across like a jerk, but after talking with a family of kayakers who had to pick up five large bags of your garbage, I sympathize with the cleaners, not the partiers.

I enjoy a drink as much as the next guy in line at the bank, but really.

There are garbage bins to collect trash for good reasons. Even if your excuse is that the bins were full, don't be a fool. Littering is for tools.

Celebration of achievement

Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum
Friday, June 8, 2007

Graduation ceremonies are events worth attending even if you aren't related to any of the students.

The ceremony held for 11 students from Thomas Simpson school on June 2 was a case in point. Although it was called a graduand ceremony, because officially the students haven't passed their final tests, the results were still the same.

To begin with, a graduation ceremony can be a walk down memory lane. It provides a chance for people to reflect back on their own high school graduation.

You can question whether or not your time in high school really was some of the best years of your life and wonder where your classmates ended up. Attending a graduation is a free ticket for nostalgia.

Graduation ceremonies are also great events to attend because of the positive emotions that surge from them. At the ceremonies there are seldom any unhappy faces in the crowd. Some people may be crying, but generally it's because they are overwhelmed with happy emotions.

The whole ceremony is designed to be a recognition of positive accomplishments. The students have put in years behind desks, bent over piles of notes and have emerged victorious, ready to face the next step in their lives.

It's hard not to smile and cheer as graduates parade into a hall. Family members are beaming and the graduates smile right along as they try to maintain some degree of composure.

For parents and other caregivers, graduations are a tangible acknowledgment that their children have reached an important milestone.

All those early morning wake-up calls and struggles to help their children with homework questions that sometimes even parents don't understand have paid off. Parents are able to breathe a sigh of relief that their child has made it this far before worrying what the next step will bring.

For students, the graduation ceremony is a time to celebrate their hard work and party with the friends from whom they might soon be parted.

Graduation ceremonies are also well worth a visit for the speeches.

Almost all speeches given by officials at graduations are pep talks in disguise.

Students are praised for their accomplishments and given nuggets of advice for how to continue on with the rest of their lives.Speeches given here in the Deh Cho usually touch on one or more of a series of set topics that bear repeating no matter how many times they've been said.

Each graduate is precious. Students face many challenges to reach a high school level of education. Getting to that point is not a given for all students and is worthy of praise.

No matter where graduates end up travelling to and creating their home, they should never forget where they came from and that they are always welcome to return.

The Deh Cho needs as many graduates as it can produce. There are openings in many communities in a variety of fields from professionals to trades people. It would be ideal to have these jobs filled by locals.

If the Deh Cho is going to continue to move forward, it will be the local graduates who make it happen.

Corrections

A photo caption in the June 4 News/North contained an incomplete description of luminaries - the special bags containing candles at the May 25 Relay for Life in Fort Smith. In addition to honouring the memory of people who have died from cancer, the luminaries also honour those who have survived or are currently battling cancer.

In the same edition, a headline incorrectly identified Fort Smith grads instead of Fort Resolution grads. As well, in Jack Sigvaldason's column, Not the same old NWT, Abe Okpik's last name was misspelled..

News/North apologizes for any embarrassment or confusion caused by the errors.