The recent visit by the Honourable Flora MacDonald should give us all something to think about.
MacDonald, a long-time federal cabinet minister and parliamentarian, came to town to raise awareness for the International Year of Older Persons.
The energetic 73-year-old not only took time to break bread with fellow seniors but also made a stop at St. Patrick's high school.
MacDonald dropped by the school to talk with students about a new program called Time Keepers, an effort launched to build bridges between the country's young people and the burgeoning elderly population.
MacDonald, who is Canada's co-ordinating committee co-chair for the International Year, said it was time to realize that 25 per cent of the Canadian population will soon be in the elderly bracket.
It is vital, she said, that our elders' wisdom does not get tossed into a closet as we enter the millenium.
We agree and think that MacDonald's wake-up call shouldn't be ignored. Especially when you look outside at two in the morning and see all the kids roaming our streets with nothing to do, and nothing but trouble to get into.
The high suicide rate, the growing number of young offenders in the North and the horrendous social problems plaguing our families is an indication that we are still a long ways from building bridges between the young and old.
It's time we all realized that older people are an important resource. They have made all the mistakes we are about to make and know how to avoid them. Advice like that can't be bought on the shelf. It is literally priceless.
So City Hall has knuckled under and agreed to pay Seamus Henry $50,000 to build his new Dairy Queen.
We can't blame Henry, the man's a tenacious profiteer. He doesn't care if his next fifty grand comes from subsidized burgers or from the municipal taxes of his Frame Lake constituents.
Who knows? Perhaps the taxpayers in Frame Lake think $50,000 is a small price to pay for a ready supply of iced milk products. They'll let him know with their votes.
Come the next election, he will likely be sporting a goofy paper hat, slinging softserve and brazier burgers to the suburbanites near the lake.
Doubtless Henry is hoping the voters have short memories and a penchant for fast food.
Last week's story on Viagra sales in Yellowknife drew some criticism from readers.
They objected to the front page headline, the story subhead and the choice of words used to characterize information gathered from area pharmacies, all of which were an attempt at humor.
Viagra is a serious drug for a serious medical condition, they further argued, adding that while the reporter had gathered important information, the frivolous manner in which it was presented diminished the story's value. They asked: You wouldn't make fun of Prozac sales would you?
The answer is no we wouldn't. We stand corrected on the subject of Viagra and thank those who took the time to educate us.
Editorial Comment
Paula White
Inuvik Drum
OK. By now you've probably noticed there's a new Drum editor.
Yep. It's me.
I've been here just over a week now. And already I've met more people than I can count. Some have introduced themselves, some I have introduced myself to and some automatically knew who I was.
Of course, carrying around a camera bag is a great hint. But still, I've been surprised more than once by someone saying, "Hey. You're the new Drum editor aren't you?"
I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I was, after all, brought up in a small town, so I know how quickly news spreads around (most of the time, it beats the local paper by miles). But it can still catch you off guard.
Of the people I've met so far, some have been here for years, such as Mayor George Roach (who, as it turns out, knew an uncle of mine who lived here in the early 1980s), and some have been here, like me, for just a few days, such as new director of finance Jerry Veltman. Either way, everyone has been extremely helpful and nice, and I appreciate it very much.
It's never easy to move to a new place. Especially when you don't know anyone in town. It is especially difficult, I think, moving to a small town as opposed to a large city.
In a city, most of the population are strangers. In a small town, most everyone knows everyone else. The new guy keeps the title of "new" until the next new guy comes along.
No. It's not easy to leave behind family and friends. Incidentally, this isn't the first time I've picked up and moved to a new town. So far, though, it is shaping up to be one of the easier moves I've made. Like I said, people have been especially helpful and nice. Already I'm adjusting and am quickly settling in here, getting to know the people and the workings of the town. There's only one thing I've had trouble with so far. In fact, it's keeping me up nights. What is it, you ask?
You guessed it. It's the sun.
I can't sleep. At midnight it feels like it's 8 p.m. Come 2 or 3 a.m., I'm still wide awake, or just getting to sleep. And then I'm waking up about five or six hours later, because the sun is quite strong at that time of the morning. So I'd appreciate any tips that anyone might have that will help me get to sleep earlier.
I'd really, really appreciate it.
Another thing that has made it easier for me to move North, and this is probably true for countless other newcomers as well, is the fact that the North seems to be a fairly transient place, with people leaving town all the time or just arriving.
This means that most everybody knows what it's like to be the "new guy" and as a result, they go easy on you.
Aside from that, people tell me I couldn't have come at a better time, with spring right around the corner and break-up about to take place. I hear Inuvik is breathtaking in the summer time. I can't wait to get my first glimpse of the Mackenzie River (de-iced, I mean).
So what's in store for the Drum, you ask? You likely won't notice too much of a difference. One thing I would love to see is more columnists. There are so many things to write about -- sports, computers, education, health, gardening. Feel free, either way, to stop in and chat. I'm always open to new ideas.
Anyway, I guess I should end by telling you a bit about myself. This is my first time North, as many of you have probably already guessed. I was in Yellowknife for five months before coming to Inuvik. Originally, I am from Saint John, N.B., and I'm told I am joining quite a large number of fellow Maritimers already living here in Inuvik.
That's about it. Not much to tell. Once again, my thanks for making my first week a good one.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
Can the Acho Dene Koe and the Deh Cho First Nations come to terms in order to go into self-government negotiations as a cohesive region?
It seems that Acho Dene Koe Chief Harry Deneron left the door open, if only just a crack, on that possibility, at the Territorial Leadership Meeting last week. Yet, it would have to occur on his terms and those of Acho Dene Koe leadership. Those conditions will not be met easily.
Deneron circulated a memorandum with a list of conditions upon which re-unification would have to be based. The Deh Cho First Nations will be examining them in the near future, but to ratify them verbatim would put them under extreme pressure.
At the outset, Deneron's frustration seems justified. His reasons: having training funding terminated, not receiving assistance in traditional land disputes, and the DCFN achieving quorum and making decisions without representation from the Acho Dene Koe.
He also wants to see the territorial government included in self-government negotiations whereas the DCFN had been reluctant to do so. However, they are now re-examining that issue.
Deneron said the two sides have been trying to accommodate each other since he was elected chief in 1975.
"We try not to step on each others toes and that's getting us nowhere," he said. "Nowadays when a community does something different, there's a negative impact."
He was quite defensive of Fort Liard's venture into the oil and gas industry. There seemed no need to be. Most of the other leaders praised the community's choice to exploit its resources, benefit economically and create numerous jobs. No one was openly critical of it, with the possible exception of Chief Pat Martel of the Hay River Reserve. Like many others, he emphasized that it's essential to listen to the elders -- in this case how they used the land rather than how to extract dollars from it. With no elders from Fort Liard at the table to voice their opinions, no one could be sure of their perspective on local affairs.
Regardless, DCFN Grand Chief Michael Nadli said abortion of the oil and gas activity was not an ultimatum for the Acho Dene Koe if they wanted to return to full status with the DCFN.
As for negotiations for a land claim or self-government, Deneron seems determined to make headway where nobody else ever has. He's vows that he will make the federal government change its mind about dealing with his community individually. He said they have the Delgamuukw court case as precedent. Yet at one point during the discussions, he had also advised the DCFN not to be too reliant upon Delgamuukw because such decisions can be overturned in court.
He also said they could choose to shut down the oil and gas industry in the Fort Liard area and the federal government would thereby lose its royalties. Yet he also acknowledged that his own people would suffer because all of their training in the oil and gas industry and its spin-off fields would be rendered pointless. Not only that, but the oil and gas companies would undoubtedly be furious after having spent millions of dollars in exploration and be forced to go home empty-handed. They may chose to never return.
There are some difficult decisions to be made. For everyone to be working as a collective, both the DCFN and the Acho Dene Koe will have to make compromises.
In the end, it may come down to who needs who more.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Anyone familiar with Footprints One or Two, was, no doubt, not the least bit surprised by the Nunavut government's decision to dissolve the regional health and education boards.
It is a unanimous opinion that the writing was on the wall for the territorial government to assume control of these departments, arguably the two most important departments in the territorial structure.
However, there has been surprise expressed at the timing of the announcement. The majority of informed health and education workers figured the announcement would come during, or shortly after, the legislative assembly's next sitting, not before.
And, if there's been surprise at the timing of the announcement, there's been even more surprise at the content -- which, basically, offered precious little more than the announcement that the axe is going to fall on the regional boards in the summer of 2000.
There was a quick referral to a combined savings of about $4 million, but absolutely no explanation as to how government bean counters came up with this figure, especially in view of the promise of no job loss.
The regional heads of state were, apparently, briefed in Iqaluit last week as to some of the particulars, but nobody's talking too loudly about those details.
There has also been no indication out of Iqaluit of what exactly is going to replace the boards, other than the designation of the two territorial departments, which is more than a little broad in its nature.
The key motivator in the decision was the lack of accountability the regional boards enjoyed, which was raised in Footprints. Accountability or not, the common perception is the regional boards were a product of the GNWT and now have no role to play in the grand scheme of all things Nunavut.
It came as no surprise when Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Jose Kusugak was quick to issue a statement regaling the move as fine governing.
"It allows the people of Nunavut at the community level an opportunity to start with a clean slate," he said.
That may well prove to be true in the future, but, for now, it looks like that clean slate will have to be started from Iqaluit.
Also unknown at this point is what will happen to regional projects that have proven themselves to be successful in their own right, such as the Kivalliq Regional Science Fair? One success story from the education field already experiencing trouble having its voice carry from Baker Lake to Iqaluit to secure funding is the Nunavut Youth Abroad Program.
Kusugak was also quick to say, "I think we'll be seeing a lot more of these kinds of large scale changes taking place from the creation of Nunavut."
Let's hope these large scale changes are well thought out and implemented strategies aimed at improving our quality of life in the Keewatin, as well as the rest of Nunavut, and not just changes for change's sake.