So, the question is no longer if theCity of Yellowknife will build the skateboard park, but where the park will be built. Things are moving along quite nicely for the skateboarders, who have convinced the city to spend at least $80,000 on their favorite way to kill their free time.

We hope that the issue of just where this money is going to come from hasn't been settled once and for all. Among our top concerns is the precedent that it will set for aficionados of other youthful forms of recreation.

Already we are seeing troubling signs of preferential treatment for the another group. The Yellowknife Tennis Club recently convinced the city to build a new set of courts, despite any real evidence that the existing courts weren't adequate for the needs of a sporting community that isn't exactly growing by leaps and bounds.

Some reports suggest paying members of the club will be given preferential treatment for peak court time even though everyone in the city, through tax dollars, paid for it.

Is that fair? Similarly shouldn't the skateboarders be expected to supply some of the $80,000 (we suspect that number will continue to grow since the park will be the first of its kind in the NWT) the park will cost?

Raising tens of thousands of dollars might be beyond the abilities of Yellowknife's teens, but even a token among of fundraising would prove there is a real demand for a skateboard park.

As it stands, only a tiny group of skateboarders, including the child of a city hall staffer, have made any noise. Though they have proved effective lobbyists, we see no evidence they are any more deserving of the money than are the city's mountain-bikers or whitewater kayakers.

Perhaps the skateboarders should take a page from the Ski Club's manual, raise a few dollars themselves, and then ask for a little help from the public at large.

Cannes, New York, Toronto and now Yellowknife. These are the film festivals that everyone's talking about.

Last weekend Yellowknifers got a taste of what to expect at this year's Far North Film Festival - quirky, eccentric, engaging entertainment. It is always interesting to see how our comrades around the pole are coping with life in the North.

This town is fortunate to have the kind of people who are willing to put in the time and effort to organize this festival. It is a welcome part of Yellowknife's winter cultural season.