The newly formed Yellowknife Health and Social Services board has its work cut out in taking over health and social services programs.
With an initial budget of $12 million, the new board will be responsible for all health and social service programs offered in Yellowknife, Ndilo and Dettah. This means everything from home care, public health, health promotion to child protection.
Board chairman Ruth Spence is experienced enough to head the new board and we couldn't think of a more committed person for the job. The founder of Yellowknife's YWCA, Spence, a registered nurse, was instrumental in developing the organization's day care and now flourishing housing program.
Board CEO Al Woods is also well-equipped to oversee the budget. Woods spent 10 years as director of operations at Stanton Regional Hospital, the board of which will be working closely with the new health board.
The new board is quick to admit this takeover is going to be far from easy. We just have to look back at the disintegration of the health care system in the Keewatin after the region assumed control to realize what's at stake.
Spence is concerned the board will be expected to carry on programs while the purse strings are still controlled by the GNWT. While this is a potential problem, it also ensures the GNWT will ultimately be responsible for this extremely important transfer of power even after it happens.
But the real yard stick we'll be looking for is in the quality of care.
If the quality of care doesn't change, that will signal a successful transfer. Any drop in quality will indicate something has gone wrong. It will be up to Spence, Woods and the board to raise the alarm well before any heal care crisis occurs.
When the territorial cabinet rejected the call from a handful of MLAs to appeal the ruling in the electoral boundaries case, they said they would be happy to fund someone else's appeal.
As government lawyers advised there were no solid grounds for a successful appeal -- obviously the offer of legal funding was a way cabinet members could save face by expressing sympathy for the goals of aboriginal groups opposed to more MLAs for Yellowknife.
While the likelihood of throwing good money after bad seems not to be a worry to cabinet, we trust that should such an appeal go forward, the Friends of Democracy would receive an equal level of funding.
Financing one side at the expense of the other again, would be a bigger blunder than appealing the ruling in the first place.
More and more, women are learning trades which have been traditionally dominated by men.
Carpentry and electronics are professions that aren't ordinarily associated with the female gender. Most women don't bother to learn these skills.
But this will change if programs such as the Construction Technology for Women continue. This program, a national pilot, has been ongoing at both Yellowknife high schools for the past two years. It provides training for female students in many trades.
More female students should look into this program. First of all, money is traditionally very good in these trades. Most carpenters and electricians make big bucks.
Secondly, these skills will be more in demand in the coming years as different industries in the North grow.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
While both sides are to be commended for reaching a compromise in an unfortunate situation between a Rankin Inlet mother and her son's elementary school this past week, there are lessons to be learned from the incident which we hope will not go unnoticed by educators and parents alike across the Keewatin.
The boy had been moved back and forth between the English and Inuktitut streams for most of his schooling and as a result, the child did not receive a second-term report card this year and his mother is seeking a progress evaluation from the school.
The first thing to grab our attention about this situation is the danger of any public institution, especially one as instrumental in our future development as education, not having its official policies in writing.
Unwritten rules or procedures may work for awhile, but, invariably, a time will come when someone is unhappy enough with a situation to ask an administrator where the policy is written and then the problems start.
Another point which leaps from this unfortunate incident is that it is never a good idea to wait until a bad situation arises before addressing a potential problem. Had the Keewatin District Education Authority had its policy about switching language streams etched in stone before this problem arose, much of the ill-feeling could have been avoided.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the situation shed some much-needed light on just how important the decision is about which language stream your child is educated in.
This is a decision which, ultimately, rests with the parents and deserves a great deal of time and consideration. Once that decision is made, parents should make every attempt to stay the course unless it becomes obvious the child is having too much trouble in the particular stream in which they are immersed.
The policy to make a child go through the grade again in the language he or she is
switching to is a good one and should not be perceived by anyone as failing or being put back. After all, it's our children's education and future well-being we're talking about.
Above everything else, this decision should always -- with absolutely no exceptions -- be made with the child's best interests at heart. It is the child who will benefit from receiving a proper education and who will suffer in the long-term if deprived of that education.
While cultural values must remain a high priority, education is the key to the future success and happiness of our children. After all, the kids of today are our leaders of tomorrow.