It's becoming increasingly frustrating to find that our own MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew appears to have dropped out of sight when it comes to her commitment to helping laid off Giant mine workers with their pension problems.

All we need to do is go by her own past comments in Yellowknifer on the issue to substantiate our claim.

Blondin-Andrew has gone from "I think it's reprehensible. I'm sickened over it." (March 1, 2000) to "We're working on the pension, and we're not there yet," (March 29) to now not only failing to return our phone calls, but worse calls from the pensioners themselves.

It's too bad. We thought she may have been on to something.

A pay hike of $30,000 is extraordinary -- but so is a salary that hasn't risen in 15 years while responsibilities have.

That's what people should keep in mind regarding the Ndilo and Dettah Chiefs' salaries which jumped from $40,000 to $70,000 with the apparent blessing of the band council. We suspect the Chiefs had a good case.

The two communities have long had their voices drowned out by the hustle and bustle of their much larger neighbours -- Yellowknife and the Dogrib Nation.

There is much to be done not only on the basics of housing and services, but also securing a land base from the federal government. Dealing with the legal and resource issues of a land claim takes much time, patience and energy for the endless meetings and frequent travelling.

A salary of $40,000 falls short of attracting the talent and experience necessary for sitting across the table from lawyers and federal bureaucrats as well as hiring the consultants needed to bring in skills not available in the community.

While chiefs should bring a dedication to public service to the job, it's unreasonable they or their families should suffer due to a lack of income because if they do, ultimately, the whole band will suffer.

As for a pay raise for councillors, that should be determined by the amount of time spent on band business. Public money must always be tied to public service if corruption and abuse of privilege is to be kept away.

When Foday Dumbuya came to Canada nine years ago, he was looking for a better life.

He found what he sought, but the civil war that has torn apart his native Sierra Leone has left him feeling alone and unable to help his family who remain in the small African nation.

Yellowknifer brought you Foday's story last week. Today, we dig further.

He has raised $5,000 toward the $27,000 needed to bring members of his family to Canada.

He needs more.

It's as easy as not drinking a beer after the ball game or brown-bagging your lunch and giving what you would have paid.

Don't buy that extra pack of smokes or roll up those pennies that clutter your counter.

It's so easy to help. All you have to do is give.

Arviat senior administration officer Darren Flynn should be feeling pretty good about things right now.

Despite the hamlet's recent disagreement with the Nunavut Housing Corp.'s decision to offer a regional tender for housing units being constructed in Arviat, the hamlet's economy continues to grow.

Other Kivalliq communities should be keeping an eye on Arviat and learn from the results being gained there.

With Sustainable Development Minister Peter Kilabuk's economic development award already sitting on the hamlet mantle and the land camp in operation, Flynn and Mayor David Alagalak are free to see what other opportunities may be available.

Arviat continues to accomplish a great deal with precious few resources at its disposable.

If nothing else, the community leaders are showing the rest of the region what successes can be achieved.

Clean generation

At Kivalliq News we seize every opportunity to trumpet the value of positive role models for youth -- and we gained a new band member this past week.

Baker Lake RCMP Const. Jennifer Ebert hit the nail on the head when she spoke of the impact high school students, who prefer a "clean" lifestyle, had on their younger counterparts during the recent DARE program in that community.

Ebert said there was a real connection between the Grade 5 and 6 students in the program and the high school students who visited them.

This grassroots role approach works as somewhat of a foil to peer pressure.

As easily led toward bad habits by other kids in the community as our youth sometimes tend to be, they can be just as easily move in a positive direction when influenced by fellow youth who practise a positive lifestyle.

Hopefully, Ebert's words will prove to be prophetic in nature, and the DARE program, and others like it, will eventually have a profound affect on the Kivalliq Region.

If so, it may not be all that long before future generations of youth are living a much cleaner lifestyle.

We agree with the constable that Nunavut needs its youth to be the next wave of teachers, business people, nurses and, ultimately, leaders.