Editorial page

Friday, December 11, 1998

Recycling is no longer an option

Recycle. Reuse. Reduce. In a world increasingly sensitive to the care and feeding of the environment, these words have become the three Rs of the 90s.

The North has been slower to jump on this bandwagon than the rest of the country. There are a couple of reasons for this: a general disinclination among Northerners to jump on bandwagons and a sense that there is enough space up here to accommodate our garbage.

Here in Yellowknife, recycling has a foothold. Large blue bins with separate compartments for different kinds of refuse are placed around town. The onus is on the civic minded recycler to clean, sort and deliver used tins, empty cans, read newspapers and drained bottles to the appropriate slots in the bins.

The city complains recyclers are making too many mistakes in their washing and sorting practices, causing untold headaches down at the baling facility. No wonder people just throw cans in the garbage.

The city needs to take a leadership role. The best way to solve problems at the bins, which are a purely voluntary gesture to waste management, is to get rid of them and start picking the stuff up in the same manner that other household refuse is.

Recycling is a waste management issue, it is an environmental issue and can be argued as a health issue.

Let's make recycling a regular feature of living in Yellowknife rather than splitting hairs about who's putting tin cans into the aluminum bin. The environment is too important to bicker over.


Rules protect honest people

With hardly a week under his belt as an ordinary MLA, Don Morin was on the attack Wednesday, badgering RWED Minister Stephen Kakfwi.

Morin asked about a media contract Kakfwi's department had given to the husband of Kakfwi's executive assistant. It was a perfectly appropriate question, exactly the kind of scrutiny that was absent during the former premier's own administration.

Unfortunately, Kakfwi's response to Morin was too much like Morin's responses to Hay River MLA Jane Groenewegen in the early days of Lahm Ridge Tower.

Rather than take Morin's question seriously, Kakfwi dismissed it based upon his view that Morin was out to get him. Dismissing it is a mistake.

Regardless of Morin's motives, if the question has to do with government business, it must be answered. Had that been the practice of the assembly all along, there never would have been any million dollar conflict of interest inquiry.

What Morin and his former cabinet colleague John Todd still refuse to acknowledge is the reason we have conflict rules in the first place. It's to protect honest people from getting into trouble. MLAs are starting to realize they must avoid even the appearance of conflict.

Todd may feel justified giving contracts to a former cabinet secretary without following the rules on a letter of waiver from post employment restrictions. But can he say in all confidence no civil servant has ever been tempted to leave the government only to return to do the same work for far more money on contract? Could not a minister less honest than Todd abuse his power by giving his friends lucrative contracts?

Obviously it could happen and probably has too many times. That must change and a good start is answering all legitimate questions fully and truthfully without regard to the motives behind the asking.

Our new premier, Jim Antoine, has the duty to impose higher standards on this legislative assembly. Consensus government should not mean corrupt government where hard questions are considered rude. Millions of dollars are at stake and there are pressures.

If bureaucrats and ministers believe they will have to answer for all of their actions publicly, there will be no more Lahm Ridge Towers.


Joy of giving
Editorial Comment
Glen Korstrum
Inuvik Drum

Each year when Christmas approaches, people act differently.

Usual friendliness and general good will increases and people take the opportunity to feel the joy of giving.

At least that's the theory.

In practice, Christmas can increase stress and increase feelings of inadequacy among those who are less well off but share the same desire to give what they have.

Now, I'm not one to hang out in bars around town, but some people who do tell me they see people both limiting themselves more and staying away so they can better afford to spend on their children.

Money is tight in many homes, but Christmas is a time for children.

Much anticipation for the big day, excitement when it comes and thrills when opening gifts.

When parents lack the means to provide a happy Christmas for their children, gloom can set in.

But it need not be like that.

And the wonderful thing about Christmas is that there are so many opportunities to help others.

Many residents from groups such as the RCMP, the volunteer fire fighters, the Legion, the Lions Club and several businesses are now involved in a project called Santa's Elves.

The aim is to help provide happy Christmases for kids while allowing residents to adopt a child for the season and put weight behind the phrase, "It takes a whole community to raise a child."

For example, Northern Store manager Brian Gladys says a Christmas tree has been put up in the store bearing more than 50 "angels" complete with the age and sex of a child written on them.

If someone picks an angel off the tree with "four-year-old boy" written on it, that person can buy a gift with a four-year-old boy in mind and then give the gift to the Northern Store cashier.

The angel will be taped to the gift for Santa's elves to wrap and then distribute to children named by social services as deserving.

Many other stores in town will similarly have trees with the angels.

Losing a sun

One woman greeted me last week with the news, "We've lost our sun."

Hearing this, I immediately thought something tragic had happened and wondered what kind of accident had befallen her family.

Then she clarified things -- that the sun had dipped below the horizon for what will be about a month.

But despite the darkness, Inuvik is beautiful this time of year. A reddish sky slowly appears and then fades during midday and Christmas lights often remain bright throughout.

Some are already raising money to buy fireworks for the annual sunrise festival either Jan. 5 or 6 -- an event likely to dramatically mark the start of a new cycle for all of us.


At a critical juncture
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum

When a muscle isn't used it atrophies, withers away. The same thing could be said of languages.

Last week, a group of people convened in Fort Providence to see to it that the South Slavey language receives a thorough work-out in the near future to ensure it not only survives, but proliferates.

It's a challenge that must be taken up soon. Judy Tutcho, the languages commissioner for the NWT, said only three aboriginal languages are expected to survive over the next few decades -- those being Inuktitut, Cree and Ojibwa. Some languages are in dire straits, such as certain Gwich'in dialects which have only about 15 elders remaining who speak them fluently, she noted.

"Some of the languages are in their 11th hour. For some it's closer to quarter-to-12," she said.

Fortunately, South Slavey, which is predominant in the Deh Cho region, hasn't yet reached such a critical stage. Hopefully, it never will.

The delegates discussed ways to make the Dene language a key component of every day life. It has virtually been eliminated in most workplaces, they agreed. So, how can it be revived? Well, the idea of using modern technology is a step in the right direction. Kids today live in a visually-stimulating environment. Television, video games and computers have become a prevalent part of their daily lives. It has been proven that education can be incorporated into these mediums and it can hold their interest. That is crucial because learning another language requires great resolve and desire. Getting them started early just might cultivate the desire they'll need to pursue learning the South Slavey language.

Joachim Bonnetrouge questioned the language commissioner about how Dogrib communities have retained the Dene language to such a strong degree. He said she told him that some of those communities are still relatively isolated, and the young people are exposed to the language through drumming and sports. There are an abundance of Dogrib teachers in their schools and the leadership is committed to using the language in meetings, she added.

The conference's subsequent resolution to have Deh Cho leadership communicate through the Dene language will make an impact as well. Youth are quite impressionable. Introducing them in traditional camps where they are immersed in the language would also be constructive.

The conference delegates touched on the past -- the trials and tribulations of their peers and elders who were treated with blatant indignity by government officials and clergy for conversing in the Dene language.

"If you speak your language, your a heathen. If you come from out in the bush and you're not like us, you're almost like an animal," Herb Norwegian said. "Those kinds of things we were labelled with and we had a hard time coming out of those shackles. Many of us have shaken ourselves loose from that... The healing aspect is a major, major barrier."

Bonnetrouge concurred. While the past should never be forgotten, it shouldn't be permitted to condemn the future.

"We have to get beyond blaming and take it on like we should," he said.


Times have changed
Editorial Comment
Marty Brown
Kivalliq News

Christmas is coming, ready or not. Now that the kids are grown and live far away,Christmas isn't as much fun as it used to be. It's a bit of a bother mailing presents all around the world, but I wouldn't miss it.

Funny thing, I still want to buy presents for my kids. So I still do. I was brought up with the attitude that unless it was your birthday or Christmas, giving presents "just because" wasn't done. So, I still give Christmas stockings even if some of the kids are over 30 and one of them is a father of two.

I don't want to buy presents for people who have everything or people who are downsizing. I love giving donations in their names, but must admit they aren't very exciting to get under the tree. But boy, it makes sense.

Christmas was a big deal when the kids were little. We decorated the house the first week of December and left the tree up until the first week of January, although the gingerbread house could be smashed and eaten New Year's Day. The Christmas lights were put up Grey Cup day, usually when it was icy and windy. Then we got smart and left them up all year-round. Saved wear and tear on the marriage, and probably a slight case of hypothermia.

It used to be so much fun when the kids were little. Games and dolls, trains and the year we all remember -- the year of The Hockey Game. An all-day tournament with uncles, grandfathers and dad, and only one kid cried and he wasn't the youngest. Who'd let him forget.

It's not as much fun now, but the grown-up kids are easy to buy for. One wants a ladder and another wants a state-of-the-art medicine cabinet. Maybe a gift certificate at a paint store. No one wants tickets to the symphony, except me.

My sister will be in Africa for Christmas with her husband this year. He was going on business, so she tagged along. And since they probably wouldn't be that way again, they are staying an extra few weeks. They aren't worrying about Christmas -- everyone was e-mailed a card with sound effects. And that's the end of that. That takes guts I'd say.

The man who loves me and helped close up our apartment nearly two years ago and store our treasures, bought a 20-foot recreational vehicle -- complete with shower and oven. (Not together. It's small but not that small.) Last year, we spent four months on the road. Do we need more things? Not likely. Maybe sunscreen for this year's adventure in Mexico. Maybe new shorts and one new T-shirt, but nothing big or useless no matter how much fun. No quilted housecoats, bulky fur coats and no home tools. Small we say to each other -- small and cheap. I must say I have been thinking rollerblades though. They'll fit in the RV, under the couch, I know it.

This year I'll be in Yellowknife, my daughter in Hong Kong with my niece and my brother.

The boys will be in British Columbia.

Excuse me while I leave the office early to wrap and mail some presents. Do you know how much it costs to send presents to Hong Kong?