Friday, June 19, 1998
It is near impossible to argue against a common economic strategy for Northern businesses. At last week's meeting in Yellowknife, aboriginal and non-aboriginal interests made significant progress toward just that, and good thing, too.
Our problem is with who was at the conference, or more precisely, who wasn't. The Dogrib Group of Companies, the Kitikmeot Corporation and the NWT Chamber of Commerce sponsored the meeting, with the financial support of both territorial and federal governments.
Where was the city? Surely Yellowknife should have either helped organize or fund such an important gathering. It's absence from both lists was only made more ironic by the consensus on the need for co-operation that emerged from the gathering.
Yellowknife, for better or for worse, is the capital of the NWT and home to almost a third of the population. Though some communities don't like to admit it, what's good for Yellowknife is almost certainly good for the NWT, and vice versa.
Yellowknife's political and business leaders must work to ensure the city stays in the loop in the coming years of transition -- from gold to diamonds, from one territory to two.
For example, with all the mineral exploration under way in the western Kitikmeot, several new mines in the region look likely. That will be to Cambridge Bay and Kugtuktuk's benefit, but Yellowknife can also share in the spoils, so long as we maintain our role as the supply centre for the region.
You can bet Iqaluit, as the capital of Nunavut, and perhaps even Rankin Inlet, will be looking for a piece of that action. Yellowknife remains the closest and most logical choice, but we will have to fight to keep the choice that is made.
So the next time Northern businesses get together to talk shop, let's make sure the city is intimately involved. We can't afford not to be.
Ravens may like to have fun, but for a few hours tonight humans are going to show them how it's done.
From early evening to midnight, downtown streets will closed to traffic and taken over by about 10,000 raven-mad revellers all spending money wildly, eating rich foods, dodging excited kids and listening to live music.
It's a tradition that goes back over 25 years and each year gets better. This year there will also be a hot air balloon and a monster cigarette. Is there a connection there?
But the most exciting part about Raven Mad Daze has to do with the merchants, the ones who started it all. Who's cutting their prices most and who's going to get the best deal? Warning: Raven Mad Daze makes garage sailing look safe.
The success and popularity of dry graduation celebrations demonstrates that many of our teenagers understand that fun is possible without lurching around in a chemically-induced haze.
They are setting a good example for the rest of us. By their actions they are showing us that programs advocating responsible use of alcohol are having some effect.
And credit goes to the many businesses and individuals in town that lent their support. When kids know they have the support of the community, a project like a successful dry grad becomes all the more likely. It was a worthy cause for a worthy group.
Editorial comment
Arthur Milnes
Deh Cho Drum
Rains and winds being the order of the day most mornings last week, I spent a lot of time in front of the computer surfing the world now available on the Internet.
For me, this past year has been the first time I've had daily access to the Net (and as Ivan and my colleagues in Yellowknife can attest, that in itself has led to more than a few challenges over the year as some of my Luddite tendencies have been revealed). However, that is another story, for another time and place...)
And while I'm getting used to it -- I often wonder how I ever lived without it in the past -- I still marvel at the staggering amount of information that is now available with a simple push of the button.
Thanks to this technology, the world is indeed becoming a smaller place. I get to read my home-town paper each morning, order the latest books for delivery up here and keep in contact with a host of friends from across Canada and into the United States.
It has also proven to be an unbelievable research tool, allowing a small paper like this to reach far beyond the North's borders when seeking information.
(It's also allowed me to engage in some of my stranger vices -- political autograph collecting -- for example, at new levels. From somewhere in cyberspace someone outbid me during an auction for a Harry S. Truman autograph on Sunday. The person took me to the last moment's of the auction, blowing my bid out of the water with only a minute or so to go Sunday evening. It was painful...)
And, as area businesses are learning, the Net can often be one's best friend, a high-tech marketing tool if you like.
Village community economic development officer, Sean Whelly, for one, has been busy thus far in tourist season learning this fact "hands on."
Two weeks ago, two American veterans tracked down their Second World War NWT "home" and came for a visit, thanks to the Net and Whelly's friendly cyberspace welcome over the past few months. Community outfitter Ken Brown has been receiving bookings from afar thanks to his e-mail listing and airlines get regular hits thanks to their listings.
Another group right in the thick of the Internet is D'Arcy Moses and his staff at Nats'enelu. People can now sit in the sunny south, in front of their terminals, and order locally produced goods and crafts to their heart's content.
All will surely benefit.
Those who ignore the Net, in any sector, risk being left behind in this, the Internet age.
Of course, there will be a few modern-day "book burners" out there who fear the information now available to all. Let them wallow in their fear while the rest move on.
The world is changing and it is high time we all hopped aboard.
Editorial comment
Glen Korstrom
Inuvik Drum
I could take the easy way out and write about Inuvik likely getting a co-op store: how it will provide needed competition to spur lower prices and how, as a double-edged sword, it might have an ominous downside.
But since Samuel Hearne just finished their grad festivities and Fort McPherson's Chief Julius school and Inuvik's NWT Training Centre each host their banquets tomorrow night, I felt I would share a glimpse back in time to accent the need for dry grad parties.
I loved high school.
I made the honor roll, edited the school paper one semester, acted in a school play and spent a lot of time with my girlfriend throughout Grade 12.
But on grad night I self-destructed.
I went to a pre-grad party where there was a free-flowing champagne fountain.
I was not a big drinker in high school but on grad night I made up for it -- recklessly at that party.
I still remember flashes of arriving at the dinner and dance with my date.
No one drunk was allowed in and to the embarrassment of my date, and later to myself, that meant I was barred.
(The same policy was in effect at Samuel Hearne this year, without incident.)
Showing the persistence and tenacity I sometimes exhibit, I snuck back in the dinner and dance a few times, finding innovative entrances.
With a 1,000-student grad class along with the same number of dates, blending into the 2,000-plus throng was not difficult.
But the principal called the police.
Dressed in my rented grey tuxedo, police escorted me to a van and took me to the drunk tank in the seen-better-days downtown east side Vancouver police station -- along with some regulars.
That quickly sobered me up.
I had planned parties for after the dance which I never did experience.
The next school day, I braved ridicule for my stupidity.
Today, dry grad parties are more popular than they were in 1987. Grad organizer Cliff King said he knew of no official dry grad party outside the school-sponsored dinner and dance, which went off without incident. The grad ceremony was held immediately beforehand to help eliminate pre-grad parties, but to go a full grad weekend without incident is a testament to the maturity of this year's grad class as no unfortunate memories will persist.