Features

We'd be hard-pressed to find any jurisdiction more in need of strict, clear guidelines on what is right and what is wrong when it comes to politics than the NWT.

Even in Yellowknife, everyone is either related to, friends with, or does business with someone who knows someone who knows you.

It's understandably difficult for politicians to divide the personal from the professional.

So what happens when a minister or a premier resigns and goes to work in the private sector?

Once out of office, former MLAs are free to exploit all they like.

There is only one restriction. Under the Executive Council and Legislative Assembly Act, former ministers cannot get involved with departments they had responsibility over for one year after leaving office.

MLA Dave Ramsay doesn't think this is enough, and neither do we. Ministers and premiers are privy to information from all departments, not just those for which they have responsibility.

Also, recently departed ministers and premiers still have personal influence with their former colleagues.

Many Northern citizens have become cynical when it comes to politics and politicians.

Some assume their leaders to be biased, greedy and corrupt - some even have criminal convictions.

We should hold our elected representatives to a higher standard of behaviour, and that includes what they do after leaving office.

The current members of the legislative assembly should support more extensive guidelines and restrictions on the lobbying activities of their former colleagues as a way of helping to restore public confidence in government.

Perhaps something along the line of the federal two-year, no-contact "cooling-off" period is in order.

After all, our MLAs are there to serve the citizens of the NWT, not for their own profit.

Yellowknife Education District No. 1 is investigating grading systems similar to one the Catholic school board recently approved - a grading system that doesn't penalize bad behaviour or incomplete work.

Superintendent Metro Huculak said there are no current plans for changes, but Yk1 may consult Rick Stiggins, the American educator whose research is behind the Catholic system, as well as communicating with parents. It sounds like Yk1 intends to do its homework. Here are a few suggestions for extra credit assignments:

History - Consider the controversy raised when the Catholic school board implemented its new grading system. Maybe holding public consultations and initiating an open dialogue with parents earlier in the process would prevent a similar situation from occurring with Yk1.

Geography - Where else has a grading system like this been successfully implemented? Are the demographics similar? Is there evidence that suggests such a system would work here?

Math - Show us the numbers. Have any studies been done that demonstrate the success of a grading system that doesn't hand out zeros for late or incomplete assignments or poor behaviour? Are students' grade point averages going up? What are the graduation rates? Are grads succeeding in post-secondary institutions and the workforce?

Language arts - The board should hone its writing and public speaking skills by communicating with parents about the available options.

And most importantly, political science - School trustees are elected officials acting on behalf of parents. They need to listen and respond to the questions and concerns of parents. Whichever system Yk1 goes with, it's bound to be more successful if it's a system parents support.

At the Liidlii Kue First Nation's office in Fort Simpson a project that could have a positive impact on the community and the region is underway.

Working together, band staff Jermaine Gargan, Dennis Nelner and Dieter Cazon along with community member Ryan Good are laying the groundwork for a community radio station.

With a clever working title of the LKFM project, the group's goal is to get a community-based radio station off the ground before next April.

The numerous benefits of this project cannot be overlooked.

The most obvious and immediate benefit is that the station will give audiences in Fort Simpson, and maybe farther afield in the Deh Cho as the station expands, another option on their radio dials. Unless you have satellite radio, the choices for radio listeners are rather slim in many Deh Cho communities including Fort Simpson.

Although CBC and CKLB have their charm and place there is nothing quite like having a radio station based in the community it's serving. Tuning into that station, listeners have the opportunity to hear the familiar voices of people they see daily in their community. This brings a sense of ownership and connection to a station.

When members of the listening audience know announcers personally it can also make them seem more approachable. It can be easier to share opinions with a community member rather than someone living in another location.

As both Jermaine Gargan and Chief Keyna Norwegian have pointed out, having local announcers will also create opportunities for community members.

People will have to chance to take training to fill the positions of both technicians and announcers for the station. LKFM could prove to be a springboard that will launch careers.

Other equally important benefits include the cultural programming that could be run on the station.

There are plans for programs run in Slavey along with on-air Slavey language classes.

To keep a language alive, it must be used. Having a radio station where the local dialect is spoken could be just the thing that is needed.

Added to the language component is the fact that LKFM could be used as a medium to broadcast stories from elders. Pre-recorded sessions could serve to share knowledge before it is forgotten or lost.

For all these reasons and more, a local radio station would be a welcome and useful edition to Fort Simpson and the Deh Cho and should be supported. Hopefully funding applications will be successful and the project will soon be off the ground and on the airwaves.

In preparation, all of the residents out there who think they have what it takes to be the next Gerry Antoine should start polishing their radio voice and personality now. There's an eager audience waiting.

The young people of today are fighting a losing battle against reality.

The war started many years ago and is only being fuelled by a flawed education system.

Basic education needs are not being met and the only ones to blame are the people in charge of leading us.

Oh, it gets ridiculous at times, seeing how our flaky government reacts to concerns about our learning needs.

We hear about dollars being spent and new programs and initiatives in place, but we aren't seeing any results.

We have the highest levels of our elected government sounding off about promises and increased budgets, but at the ground level we still have youth who are suffering.

When I was young, I was promised that after Grade 12 I would be done with school and free to make my own choices in life. It sounded fair enough. Go to school, learn a few things and then make my impact on the world.

Nobody told me that we weren't going to be given a fair shot.

I remember standardized testing in school. Every year we did a booklet of orange-coloured multiple choice questions.

All that seemed to do was supply reasons for our government to sip more funding from the already-tight federal straw.

Our poor results garnered more money, but what happened to it?

It's probably difficult to get teachers to stay in the North. I can imagine that teaching here can be frustrating as well. Many thanks to those who spend their time working with the needs of our young people.

But good people doing good things still can't hide the musk of our government.

I'd say that our education system is a joke, and we're the punch line.

Generations of people have been fed through the school system and spit out the other side.

We have Grade 12 graduates that can't win a spelling bee.

The backbone of any society is the education they provide to their own people.

I scoff at the reports of higher and higher graduation rates in the North, not because I want to mock those youth who complete their schooling, but because of the crooked piles the government builds our achievement standards on.

I know some of the blame can be put on the shoulders of the students because they didn't want to do the real work, so they were given passes, based on their age.

Social passing.

Yup, nothing better for the self esteem of a student than being rejected from their college of choice because they weren't prepared.

A lot of high school grads are not prepared for the path ahead and end up spending another two years upgrading.

Some bright-eyed students are able to trek south to continue learning.

I know that a lot of my classmates quickly matured out of Samuel Hearne. They moved to Edmonton and stayed there.

A regular contributor to News/North said the youth are frustrated with their education system and that is why they drop out.

The writer also said that the youth of today aren't stupid.

I agree, we have a good batch of young learners. All we need to do is keep them motivated.

It has long been my contention that when it comes to mail delivery in the Kivalliq, we're either the most happy-go-lucky folks in the country, have resigned ourselves to the fact we'll get our mail when Canada Post is good and ready to deliver it, or we simply don't know any better.

Many people have told me during the past decade that they don't complain about poor service because they're afraid their mail would stop altogether if they did.

Whether that line of thinking has any credence or is simply a case of paranoia gone wild is something I'll probably never know for certain.

That's not to say I don't understand it, because people here often tend to keep their complaints to themselves due to Nunavut's small, but quite intimidating, power base.

Reprisals in many areas of Northern life can be all too real, so it's only natural that fear would manifest itself in areas such as mail delivery.

The problem is, of course, if people don't speak up, nothing ever changes for the better.

Those who need to spew a company line to gloss over their inadequacies, simply keep repeating the same tired old rhetoric until the problem, or complainant, simply goes away.

That makes up a part of Canada Post's rather thin excuse for the ridiculous level of service we've been receiving for the past few months.

Those of us who actually live here are left to scratch our heads in wonder when we hear the corporation blaming weather woes for a good part of our ongoing mail-delivery problems.

Now, I'm not suggesting for one stamp-licking moment that Canada Post would ever register an excuse that was less than accurate and send it special delivery to we happy-go-lucky folks in the Kivalliq.

However, considering this winter, so far, has been one of our best in recent memory for our weather not interfering with air traffic, we're left to do a little extra head scratching to understand just where the heck Canada Post is coming from.

Anyone with a tad of common sense knows it's not fair to nag endlessly at the folks who work in our local outlets, as they simply can't put out what they don't have.

But, considering the rates we Northerners pay for Canada Post services and the time we wait to receive our mail, is it really too much to ask for an explanation that makes sense as to why our mail is so slow?

Should we really have to listen to the same old tired excuses Canada Post trots out that make little or no sense to those of us who live here?

If Canada Post's media people and top executives don't know what's causing the problems in the North, should they not make the effort to find out?

Do we not deserve the same level of courtesy other Canadians not only expect, but demand?

Of course we do, but we have to make it known we're not willing to accept dog-sled speed in our space-age times.

If not, both the excuses and second-class-citizen mail delivery will continue.

Remember, that's not sunshine streaming in your window, it's jet diverting radiation!