Monday, April 20, 1998
Something is clearly amiss in Enterprise. So much so that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs dismissed the settlement's elected council and appointed an official to oversee the business of running the town.
This abrupt gesture has split the town in two, those supporting the move and those opposed.
But aside from the tension in the town, there are some disturbing aspects to this situation.
MACA alleges that the settlement council has contravened the Settlement Act 23 times in the last 10 years.
These allegations appear in a report that MACA has on the settlement's affairs.
Now, one might wonder why, if these acts warranted firing the council, it wasn't done 10 years ago, with the first infraction.
One might also wonder why the current council was dimissed for things that happened before they were elected.
While two of the six councillors have a list of complaints about the way the administration of the settlement carried out its business, it is by no means certain that the list led to the dismissal of the settlement council.
All this could be answered if MACA would simply show the people of Enterprise the report that brought about the dismissals. But they won't.
MACA minister Manitok Thompson felt that releasing the report might be detrimental in some way to the well-being of the community.
Without seeing the report, one has to wonder if it isn't equally detrimental to unilaterally dismiss a duly-elected settlement council without telling either the councillors or the voters why.
MLA Jane Groenewegen suggests that recently Enterprise has been under a lot of pressure. Add suspension of democratic rights to the list.
As the Iqaluit court scene gears up to process the 30 suspects charged with conspiracy to traffic narcotics, relieved Nunavut leaders must also be prepared for what remains to do.
While the RCMP deserve a lot of credit for a two-year investigation that blew a hole in the Nunavut drug trade, someone will no doubt step into the breach to take the dealers' place.
The solution lies in destroying the need people feel to wander around so impaired they don't know what day it is.
Drug and alcohol abuse, while devastating, is only a symptom. The problem lies much deeper.
Thanks to a recent Canadian Press report, much of the country has heard about the squabble over who gets the world's only non-rectangular licence plate: Nunavut or the Western Arctic.
But there really is not reason for argument. Why can't both sides of the treeline hang onto the bear? After all, polar bears are found not only in Nunavut, but in the Western Arctic, Alaska, Greenland and Russia. No monopoly up here.
In the interests of distinctiveness, however, there is a good compromise available. The West can adopt a brown plate and the Nunavut can keep the white one. There are more than enough species of good old Ursus to go around.