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Monday, July 7, 1997 Flyer beware
First Air, the new principal carrier in the North, is off to a flying start with its servicing of a captive market.
It seems that in order to expedite First Air's purchase of NWT Air, former owner Air Canada agreed to raise the number of frequent-flyer points needed to make short-haul flights originating in the North.
That will considerably reduce First Air's financial liability on future travel.
While the change was by no means illegal -- airlines reserve the right to change the air-miles award system at any time -- it certainly sticks in the throats of Northern consumers, whose air travel options have just been reduced by the First Air-NWT Air buyout.
First it was dentistry. Four dental therapists, employed by the Keewatin Regional Health Board and serving the Eastern Arctic for decades, were told their services were no longer required.
They were replaced by three private dentists, who took over not only fixing and checking Northern teeth, but also running preventative tooth-decay school programs
That was in May.
In late June the J.A. Hildes Northern Medical Unit was told to pack up and go back south after 30 years of supplying medical services to the East, under contract with the Keewatin Regional Health Board.
In both cases, the health board said it could cut costs while continuing to provide adequate meet residents' needs. Certainly, in this era of cuts, such action is commendable.
But we have to wonder if that means government health-care dollars were being wasted and extravagant services used all this time. That seems unlikely. But then, what expenses are being trimmed that won't affect the standard of care in the Keewatin?
While we applaud any board, agency or department that can find areas of their budget that can be trimmed without injuring the quality of their programs, we wonder if the Keewatin Regional Health Board is telling the whole story about its recent decisions.
If services will be depleted to anything lower than what Keewatin residents are used to, the board should be up front about it. If money was being wasted over the decades, again the board should come clean with that information.
We believe that honesty is the best policy and that the public is more likely to understand and even forgive any agency that is honest about how it will save money.
Serving the people is the ultimate goal. Knowing more about how and why decisions are made will never hurt the people being served.
One or another government subsidizes the cost of doing business in the modern world. Truckers get free road service, for example. Even we in the media benefit from tax-payer funded government media relations personnel.
So it only seems fair that the more traditional means of earning your keep also enjoy some financial help. Fortunately, Northern land claims have made that possible, with Inuvialuit recently joining Nunavut and the Gwich'in with a hunters and trappers harvest assistance program.
Too much support would undermine the whole purpose -- living off the land -- but a modest amount to help buy fuel and other supplies makes more than a little sense. Let's hope the programs enjoy a long future.
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