Editorial page

Wednesday, January 20, 1999

Deja Vu all over again

Secret meetings were one of the issues that surfaced during the last city election in Yellowknife.

The majority of successful candidates rejected behind-closed-door decision making and the courts confirmed such meetings contravened the law.

So what was going on at city hall Monday?

A representative of DIAND, meeting with city council, asked that discussion of the Diavik environmental review process be held in secret or 'in camera'. The subjects on the table were the review's timetable, the involvement of native organizations, the withdrawal from the review process of the

two environmental organizations and a letter from an interested Inuit group.

City council's prerequisite for an in camera meeting is that it is "in the public interest" to keep the discussion confidential.

One has to wonder what in the agenda met the criteria.

To begin with, DIAND, using a comprehensive rather than a panel review process, steadfastly maintained the process would be transparent. Except, of course, when it's not.

While a DIAND official later admitted that there was no need for a private meeting, we must question city council's judgment in voting to go in camera.

In the words of Yogi Berra, it's just like deja vu all over again.

Councillor Peggy Near said that, in retrospect, she should have voted against an in camera meeting. They all should have.

It's enough councillors are sending six of themselves off to Halifax for a junket in June. Starting up secret meetings again rings the second alarm the fuzzy thinking of the old guard is seeping back in.


Trailers for sale or rent

The $10,000 giveaway by the NWT Housing Corporation is helping revive Yellowknife's real estate market.

The corporation's home buyer grant program has been instrumental in reducing the number of homes for sale from 300 to about 175 and counting.

Ken Pearman, president of the city's real estate board, admits the timing of this program couldn't have been better, falling on the heels of the worst year he has ever seen for the housing market.

But even with the excitement this recent real estate frenzy is generating, it remains to be seen what the future holds for the market.

One only need look at the number of empty storefronts lining the streets and the 11 per cent apartment vacancy rate to realize this program alone won't be able to rescue the market.

There is also the dismal finances of the owners of Giant Mine and the mothballed Con Mine where 160 men wait out a strike.

While the airport developments seem promising, as does the whole diamond industry, new housing projects like the one at Niven Lake -- one that carries a huge investment by our city -- is on hold due to lack of buyers.

That brings us to the worst of the disturbing realities -- the city's population hasn't risen in the last few years. In fact it's dropped.

While this housing program may be a great short-term boost, it will take lower rents and bigger incentives to encourage people to give living here a second thought.

So, even though the housing corporation deserves a big round of applause, so too do all those new homeowners giving Yellowknife a chance.

They now join the rest of Yellowknife home owners who, until further notice, are left buying time until we find out what's ahead.


You can learn a lot from pets
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

Another person has just walked by outside my window and, once again, the family pooch, Princess, races to the window and barks her furry face off. Although I must confess it can be somewhat annoying at times, there is more humour involved than anything else.

To hear the way her royal canine goes on, you'd think she was an absolute terror when, in fact, the most you might have to worry about when meeting our yappy pooch is not being able to give her enough attention as she immediately flips over on her back and expects her favourite doggie pastime -- the belly rub.

Princess was about three years old when we adopted her from an animal protectionist group in Timmins, Ont., almost two years ago. She had been an abused dog at the hands of h er original owner and came with some emotional baggage.

To compound the problem, she had been kept tied up outside almost constantly, only being left off her restraining rope to go hunting. Good rabbit dog we were told. It took the better part of her first year with our family to adapt to being an inside dog, but, at the time, we were dreaded city dwellers and keeping her barking to a minimum in our apartment (s) and keeping her happy inside were full-time jobs.

Our dog has come a long way during the past 18 months. She no longer cowers in the corner at the drop of a hat, nor does she take up a safe point of refuge and stare at us suspiciously anymore. She will, however, on the odd time when she must be verbally scolded, go into uncontrollable fits of shaking which are hard to bring under control and calm her down.

To look at our somewhat "porky" Princess now, you'd have a hard time picturing the skinny little runt doing its best to impress us the first time we met. I like to think our dog wants for very little and the evidence speaks for itself in how much she enjoys the love and attention she receives from her new family.

While most of her emotional problems have healed, some are still evident from the days of her abuse. Although she packs away her share of grub and receives more than her share of "treats," she still approaches every bowl full of grub like it's going to be her last meal.

She wolfs her suppers down so quick it's almost scary and can sniff out a crumb of food buried in a chair or carpet shag 100 feet away. It is, perhaps, a scar that will never heal, but such is the way with many forms of abuse.

The scars rarely show outward, at least not in the sense of black eyes or broken limbs, but the psychological damage can last a lifetime.