Wednesday, September 23, 1998
If residents need another illustration, the city's new skateboard park is serving as a fine example of the cost of simplistic solutions to city problems. Last year the city reacted to presentations from two teens and of sk
ateboarders using business parking lots by deciding to build the skateboard park.
The park was ill-planned from the start. It falls far short of the vague but impressive vision city administration painted when the last council authorized spending $70,000 to build the park.
The company that submitted the winning bid on the project, backed out when it realized it could not do the work for the price it gave.
Then Urbco, which owns the condominium complex next to the park, expressed concerns about the effect the park would have on property values at Diamond Point. A compromise was struck in which the city agreed to construct noise barriers to protect the peace of residents there.
Clearly, the skateboard park was something that was invented as it went along, rather than planned.
What has the city gained by this inventive, money-throwing approach to problem solving?
Not much, it seems.
The scaled back version of the park, at last check, cost $10,000 more than was budgeted for the project. Apparently, more money needs to be spent on noise control, because Diamond Park residents are complaining of noise from the park.
All of this would be tolerable if the park had solved the one problem it had been designed to address.
This year skateboarders trying their luck and skill on public steps, driveways and parking lots is as common a sight as it was last year or the year before.
City council and Mayor Dave Lovell were scolded last week for criticizing First Air's cheap rates for BHP's southern employees.
First Air has a right to make a profit but if their business has a negative effect on the city then people, including politicians, have a right to say so.
Council's role is to help Yellowknife grow. By encouraging fly-in/fly-out workers, First Air is undermining that goal. The same would be true for Canadian North had they won the contract.
Now, if council is to be faulted, it would be the failure to devise a strategy to lure BHP employees to live in Yellowknife. That way we all benefit, even First Air.
A huge portion of our lives are consumed by either our jobs or looking for one. While this isn't always a happy situation, it is a necessary one.
So, as one of our South of 20 correspondents points out, you may as well pick a career you enjoy. Wise words, indeed.
Often, however, there is no choice. Sometimes circumstances dictate the job you end up doing for the next 35 years. That is all the more reason for kids to get as much schooling and training as possible.
By volunteering, they can get exposure to a variety of vocations as well as build up some marketable experience.
The job market can be tough to crack. Getting the job you want is even harder. Making the effort now can get you where you want to go.
Editorial comment
Jennifer Pritchett
Kivalliq News
Nunavut voters may not go to the polls until Feb. 15, 1999, but they have to start thinking now about the territory's historic first election.
Enumeration for the election of Nunavut's first MLAs is set to take place Oct. 1 to 9 and this means voters have to be sure they get their names on the list of electors or they may not be able to exercise their democratic right come February.
And their choices have real potential to have an impact on their lives. Nunavut's first MLAs will be laying the foundation for all those who follow in the governing of Canada's newest territory.
There will be a fresh set of faces, many of whom will likely have little or no experience in politics.
It's an exciting time for politics here in the Keewatin and across Nunavut. It's time for voters to take to the polls to ensure the new government represents what the majority of people want.
While voter turnout has, in recent years, been relatively high in the North, this election will likely attract a lot more voters than usual.
To be eligible to vote, individuals have to be a Canadian citizen, 18 years of age or older and have resided in Nunavut or the Western Arctic for at least 12 months immediately prior to polling day as well as be a resident of Nunavut on polling day. This means that those who have been living in the West and are moving to the East will have the opportunity to vote.
Enumerators will be going door-to-door to collect this information for the preliminary voters' list. Once on the list, voters will be able to vote on polling day even if they aren't in the region.
Enumerators will also be leaving with residents in each region a copy of the chief electoral officer's A Guide for Voters in Nunavut to explain the voting process and eligibility requirements. For those who want more information about enumeration and the voting process, Elections NWT will be delivering a brochure called "Get on the List" to every post office in Nunavut in the coming weeks.
Let's hope that voters get themselves enumerated so they can vote in Nunavut's first election this winter.