Features

There's been much talk about the "downtown problem" over the years, but not much action.

To be blunt, the "downtown problem" is people with mental health problems or who are drunk, stoned, or high on crack, loitering on street corners, in doorways and in other public places.

People who live or work downtown don't like being cursed at when walking down the street, or having to dodge pools of vomit or urine to enter a business. It's an everyday occurrence that affects our quality of life and visitors leave with a less than stellar impression of the city.

We applaud Coun. Paul Falvo for organizing a town hall meeting where residents could share their concerns about downtown and discuss solutions, such as longer shelter hours, more RCMP foot patrols, and more "eyes on the street." Some suggested responsibility for dealing with the downtown problem falls upon the territorial and federal governments, which look after social services.

But it's the responsibility of our councillors and mayor to lobby the higher levels of government for the services our city needs.

To shrug shoulders with the attitude that "it's not our problem," and play jurisdictional hot potato helps no one.

If there were somewhere more inviting to be than a windy street corner during a Yellowknife winter, some of these people with problems wouldn't be there.

If shelters had the funding and staffing to remain open during the day, there would be a place for such people to go.

If there were more police foot patrols, these same people might consider the options above more seriously.

If our councillors make enough noise about the city's social services needs, maybe our Yellowknife MLAs would hear it.

And they will have to speak loudly too because judging by the absence of any new or veteran MLAs at the meeting, the MLAs aren't listening.

A dog mushing race along Highway 3 to Yellowknife from Fort Providence?

A fantastic idea for sure. The big knock against other dog racing events is that there is usually little for spectators to see except for the start and finish.

The Great Slave 200 race coming this December follows Highway 3 for its entire 320 kilometre course to Yellowknife. Tourists and residents alike can come out and enjoy the race anywhere along its route. It's bound to draw greater media interest because filming it won't require a harrowing trip on a snowmobile through frozen wastes to meet up with the racers. It's also likely to attract more racers and sponsors for that very reason.

For a territorial government that wants to increase the NWT's tourism and investment potential, it is a win-win situation. There is no need for costly trips abroad to places like China to drum up tourism interest here. If all goes well, the race should be interesting enough on its own to bring people in droves, provided it's given enough support and time to grow.

The government, city, and business community should throw their full weight behind this race. The Great Slave 200 is something worth getting excited about.

Daily life is filled with decisions.

From the moment a person wakes up they have decisions to make. Hit the snooze button another time or get out of bed? Two cups of coffee or one?

Many people want advice from others when there is a decision to be made, whether on personal or work-related matters. On other occasions, people just want to be reassured they are making the right choice.

While most people are willing to give advice to friends, family members or coworkers so they can make a decision, matters change when it's a larger entity that's looking for help.

Consultation is a term that has been getting a lot of use over the past few years.

Technically, a consultation is a conference between two or more people to consider a particular question. Really all this means is that someone is asking advice on a decision.

It seems that almost any project of notable size needs to involve consultation. The Joint Review Panel is a perfect example of a consultation.

But everything from the construction of a new bridge to revising a community plan seems to require a meeting to ask members of the public for their opinion or thoughts on the matter.

The list of organizations needing to hold consultations can get overwhelming and probably as a coping method the average citizen has become immune to the pleas for public input. It's hard to blame anyone for not wanting to give up their free time to arrive at a meeting, sit on uncomfortable chairs, eat snacks if they're lucky and listen to a presentation on something that likely won't have an impact on their daily life.

The result of numbness to consultation, however, is that projects that really want public input can't get it from a broad range of community members. Sure one or two people are bound to come out but how can a handful of people represent a community?

Chief Keyna Norwegian asked this question while raising concerns about the consultation process involved with making a decision on a boundary for the expanded Nahanni National Park Reserve.

Norwegian said that although meetings were recently held in Nahanni Butte, Fort Liard and Fort Simpson, the average attendance of 15 people wasn't enough to be called proper public consultation. Her suggestion was for people to go door-to- door in a community if that's what it takes to get input.

While this is certainly an idea, the same problem is bound to be reached in the end. People will get just as tired of giving their opinions on their doorstep as they did in public meetings.

Unfortunately there's no magic answer for this one.

If community members don't feel the need to have a say in a decision, there's nothing that anyone can do to force them. All the tastiest doughnuts in the world, a common incentive at public meetings, aren't enough to draw out people who don't want to participate. Decisions that have public consultation as part of their equations are simply going to continue to be made with the voice of the few or perhaps, increasingly, with no public voice at all.

Our community is about to see a big change in the social scene. Those who suffered through years of residential school and living in hostels will be getting their reparation money soon.

A lot of people in our community are on the verge of a big change in their lives. Residential school payments are coming and those who are getting them have waited a long time for this gesture of closure.

After years of not addressing the issue, the federal government is stepping up and opening its purse to the aboriginal groups of Canada.

For too long, the people of our region have been in the dark. Decades of pain and anguish have led to social issues.

Alcoholism, drug abuse, self esteem and trust issues are now rampant in the North.

I feel bad for those young kids who were taken from home and grouped in large facilities such as Grollier Hall, or Stringer Hall.

Children from any walk of life need to be raised by a family, not by a group of people who use fear to control them.

Many people who grew up this way are now sharing their stories and being open with others around them. Some say they were damaged by their childhood and it still affects their everyday life.

Whether or not you agree that money is the answer to the pain suffered through the experiences at those schools, the groups who went through it deserve something far more important than money.

Those aboriginal people who feel they lost their sense of self through that process need our respect and support.

Money will help them rebuild their lives and aid them with their responsibilities, but as their friends and family, we should stay where we have been: by their side.

Weeks ago people in our community sent back their claims forms and are now waiting on their payments.

The money that is given out needs to be used responsibly and kept safe.

Twin Lakes MLA Robert McLeod made his stance clear last month, when he spoke out against elder abuse.

There might be people out looking to benefit from someone else's money.

Since I'm too young to get any payment from any childhood experiences, I don't have any money coming to me and I don't have any place to tell someone else what to do, but moderation is important

As I said earlier, there are many addictions in our community. A lot of people are weak to their vices and might be inclined to spend their payments on negative things.

It would play into negative stereotypes if the money was wasted and not properly invested. I've heard some close-minded arguments that a lot of money would only mean a lot of liquor purchases.

I think people deserve a chance to prove the nay-sayers wrong.

There is so much opportunity in the North for those who work for it and maybe a financial windfall is just what someone needs to start their own business.

As a community, we should look for ways to make the most of the money that is coming to town.

With more money comes a sense of equality. There may be households that will be better off from the payments. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the biggest Christmas season since the first oil boom.

Despite pending lawsuits and a rather lengthy (and still growing) list of disappointments, the majority of Nunavut's leaders still say publicly that they can work with the federal government to bring substantial improvements to the North.

However, those voices have lowered to an unconvincing whisper from their previous bold statements of claim which, in actuality, were no more than audible snippets of wishful thinking.

The release of federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's stop-gap budget this past week prompted even more of those same snippets, as Nunavut politicians covered their disappointment by taking a wait-and-see approach to Flaherty's main budget coming to a TV near you in 2008.

It was almost comical to hear Flaherty announce a one-per-cent cut to the GST and nominal improvements to the income tax rate and basic personal exemption just a week after Nunavummiut were hit by a 10-cent retail hike in the price of gas (20 cents for aviation fuel) and a six-per-cent raise in the price of an airline ticket.

Nowhere in Flaherty's financial tidings was there an increase to the 20-year-old Northern residents tax deduction, nor was there anything else to benefit those of us who call Nunavut home.

Yet, the plea to wait and see prevails.

Maybe Flaherty will drop us a list of his initiatives to improve the quality of life in the North from one of those unmanned patrol planes the Canadian Forces plans to put into operation in the North?

We have yet to see any evidence contrary to our original claim that this government is not going to be friendly to the North.

We are seeing nickel-and-dime initiatives coming from the feds when it cost big bucks to carve out a life in the North, let alone make improvements.

Hopefully, Flaherty will make some substantial announcements for Northern residents in his full budget this coming year, but we're still not holding our collective breath.

Just as alarming in this scenario, is our leaders' seeming inability to impress upon Parliament Hill just how expensive the cost of living remains in the North.

They don't seem to realize they can be watching a new home-entertainment system on their leather couch for what it costs most of us to fly to Winnipeg twice a year.

And that, in itself, is an unfair comparison because many folks in the North simply can't afford to fly to Winnipeg once a year for a break.

It's time for Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his gang of Prairie oysters to realize Northern Canada needs a lot more than 60-minute visits, flowery lip-service speeches and unmanned planes flying around.

Maybe there's simply too much attention being paid to all the big fish Ottawa and Iqaluit want to see landed in Nunavut in the future and not enough to the here and now.

It's fine for our leaders and the federal government to discuss and argue over ways to bring new money into Nunavut, but, right now, we need to come up with ways to stop it from leaving.

And, that $3 we're going to save on our next five-bag, $300-grocery purchase at our local retailers just isn't going to cut it.

Due to an editing error, wrong information appeared in a letter to the editor by Pete Mount ("Idling bylaw should address cold not time," Yellowknifer, Nov. 7. The letter should have stated: "Raw gas or soot from incomplete combustion that exits the combustion chamber destroys both the oxygen sensor and catalytic plates over time." Yellowknifer apologizes for any embarrassment or confusion caused by the error.