Friday, December 15, 2000
Panning for gold, you have to sift through a lot of gravel to find the nuggets.
When you load up the city's pan, the yield from the 20 ways administration proposed as potential budget savings don't look promising.
There are bits of fool's gold, like saving $53,000 by dropping out of the NWT Association of Municipalities or $10,000 by not producing Yellowknife pins.
Swish the pan. Oops, there's another lump of pyrite: eliminating plans to build a boat launch at Giant mine or beginning design on a waterfront trail system, key components of one of the city's stated priorities -- waterfront development.
Raising parking meter rates is a lump of rock but not spending $50,000 to determine library needs is a nugget. Eliminating $20,000 in printing the city's Skyline newsletter could be considered a nugget but cutting overflow buses? We're told that would mean 50-70 people waiting half an hour longer during rush hour mornings. Might as well cut the whole service. Time to swish the pan some more.
Spending $12,500 to spruce up the city's financial report is another waste. That cut is a keeper, as is charging for parking at Petitot Park. New school signs aren't needed for four more years. There's another $20,000. The real motherlode is council's rediscovered cost consciousness, especially Coun. Woytuik, Bisaro and McCann.
They and the rest of council must keep searching for more gold. However, city administration should be directed to look more toward finding nickle and silver, namely shaving nickels and dimes off operating costs. That's where true savings are.
Can we save thousands of dollar by delaying snow removal an hour to avoid double overtime? Only city administration knows. Catered lunches for committee meetings? There are no free lunches.
Between now and the time to draft the 2002 budget, nickels and dimes must be found if we are ever going to get to the gold.
For too long, the city's panning has been limited to Yellowknifers' pockets. It's time for that gold rush to end.
The new Canadian Tire will look great. It will feature a landscaped lot framed by 21 trees with parking for almost 200 vehicles.
And it's not the only big box retailer on Old Airport Road. Beaver Lumber was expanded to the tune of $2.5 million. There's also Extra Foods and Wal-Mart, offering free parking and more stock than can be found in all of the stores that remain downtown.
The Canadian Tire move is another loss for downtown, once the retail heart of Yellowknife.
It's a trend that's not likely to change unless someone applies the brakes. Consumers go where the parking is free and selection is sweeter.
Is this part of a plan? Or is the almighty car driving retailers to Frame Lake South.
If the territorial government is serious about changing the way alcohol is sold, it need only look south to Alberta for ideas about what to do and what to avoid.
Privatization there brought much grief to small investors who thought that a liquor store was a license to print money. Greater availability also didn't help problem drinkers. There is no need for a liquor store in every neighbourhood.
But there is no reason to preserve a near monopoly for a single operator in Yellowknife or any NWT community where population, demand and convenience warrant greater choice.
The government's only interest should be in licensing and tax revenue. Hours of operation, selection and pricing belong to the marketplace.
Homes come in all shapes and sizes. They range from standard one or two storey houses to brick apartment units, and to teepees, motorhomes, trailers, cottages, iglus and houseboats.
The materials used in construction vary widely as well. Concrete, wood, straw, steel, brick, bones, hide and clay are just some of the options available.
Members of Mrs. MacFadyen's Grade 1 class at Sir Alexander Mackenzie school have been studying homes and even made models. The wide range of models was silent testimony not only to local kids' imaginations, but also the diversity of cultures here.
Town that cares
Communities can be thought of as homes as well, especially in the North, where everybody knows everybody and looks out for each other.
Leaving one's community to live somewhere else can be difficult, and especially so if the move is not by choice. Tuktoyaktuk mayor Ernest Pokiak is seeking funding to hire local people to provide level 2 care at an elders facility to be constructed in that community next year.
Pokiak says up to now there hasn't been a proper facility for elders requiring care, and that therefore some have had to live elsewhere. He argues this is not all that different from when children used to be taken away from the community to live in residential schools.
Though governments can't fulfil every funding request or please everyone, the GNWT would do well to remember that for many people, there's no place like home.
Open again
Staying with the home theme, Inuvik young people can again hang out in a spot that is their home-away-from-home.
The Inuvik Youth Centre has re-opened after being shut down for more than a month due to staffing problems and other issues.
Organizers say that centres such as this one serve an important role in the community by providing a safe haven for those wanting to get away from the pressures of school and home. It's also a good place to hang out with friends, shoot some pool or watch a movie.
Hopefully this time the board and staff, along with the youth committee, can ensure that the centre runs smoothly.
Strong showing
Congratulations are in order for Chris Lennie, who recently placed fourth in the junior male category at the Alberta Cup speed skating meet in Edmonton.
Lennie, a member of the Inuvik Speed Skating Club for the past three years, will soon be going to the Ability Meet in Yellowknife and is looking forward to other competitions.
Lennie has worked hard to get to this level. In addition to his practices, he spends time in the weight room at Samuel Hearne as well. It's good to see his dedication paying off.
The Jean Marie River and Liidlii Kue First Nations are upset with DIAND for defying their wishes, and issuing a land-use permit despite their opposition.
Apparently, the bands could not prove conclusively to DIAND the detriments of an Ottawa woman's proposal to drill a dozen, four-centimetre test holes in search of minerals on their traditional lands. The bands have issued sternly worded press releases. A few weeks ago, JMR chief Stanley Sanguez made the following point:
"You (DIAND) also say that it is inappropriate to view the drilling in the context of a mine. However, if the intent is not in consideration of a future mine ... then why are they drilling? We believe it to be very appropriate to consider the site of the proposed drilling area as a potential mine site."
It does seem clear that someone who is drilling test holes has at least contemplated a mining operation. We don't yet know if the drilling will be successful. Perhaps no minerals will be located. Even if there were, most attempts to establish mines fail due to financial or regulatory constraints.
If, against the odds, a mining operation were to be commence, the First Nations would surely challenge it. Taking into account precedent from other court cases, they would likely be successful in preventing a mine or at least securing an equitable share of the profits.
The permit was initially sought two years ago, prior to the headway being made in self-government negotiations today. That fact doesn't make granting the permit right or wrong, but the future promises a different approach, one where First Nations have a much greater say.
Taking direct action on the land to prevent test drilling would be perilous. Physical resistance on the waters near Burnt Church, N.B., resulted in a great deal of media attention but little in the way of real progress. Lives were threatened and arrests were made.
Why would we want a similar scene here?
It's really close to Christmas and it's probably a bad time to whine and complain about anything, but sometimes it's cathartic to write about nagging states of affairs.
Don't you just hate it when someone mistakenly dials your phone number while trying to send a fax? It results in a call every five minutes that beeps in your ear. The worst part is that when you are expecting other calls you can't simply ignore the plague or switch off the ringer on your telephone. Just grin and bear it.
Also in praise of technology, there should be some sort of e-mail protocol which requires the recipient's permission to send an e-mail that takes longer than five minutes to download. There's nothing worse than checking your e-mail only to discover that you have a message with an enormous attachment and a subsequent half-hour wait while that little progress bar slowly works its way from left to right.
Unwanted jokes, solicitations and forwarded chain mail are also an nuisance. Yes, Christmas is just around the corner. If only Santa Claus could work out these little bugs...
Pet Peeves
The Jean Marie River and Liidlii Kue First Nations are upset with DIAND for defying their wishes, and issuing a land-use permit despite their opposition.
Apparently, the bands could not prove conclusively to DIAND the detriments of an Ottawa woman's proposal to drill a dozen, four-centimetre test holes in search of minerals on their traditional lands. The bands have issued sternly worded press releases. A few weeks ago, JMR chief Stanley Sanguez made the following point:
"You (DIAND) also say that it is inappropriate to view the drilling in the context of a mine. However, if the intent is not in consideration of a future mine ... then why are they drilling? We believe it to be very appropriate to consider the site of the proposed drilling area as a potential mine site."
It does seem clear that someone who is drilling test holes has at least contemplated a mining operation. We don't yet know if the drilling will be successful. Perhaps no minerals will be located. Even if there were, most attempts to establish mines fail due to financial or regulatory constraints.
If, against the odds, a mining operation were to be commence, the First Nations would surely challenge it. Taking into account precedent from other court cases, they would likely be successful in preventing a mine or at least securing an equitable share of the profits.
The permit was initially sought two years ago, prior to the headway being made in self-government negotiations today. That fact doesn't make granting the permit right or wrong, but the future promises a different approach, one where First Nations have a much greater say.
Taking direct action on the land to prevent test drilling would be perilous. Physical resistance on the waters near Burnt Church, N.B., resulted in a great deal of media attention but little in the way of real progress. Lives were threatened and arrests were made.
Why would we want a similar scene here?
It's really close to Christmas and it's probably a bad time to whine and complain about anything, but sometimes it's cathartic to write about nagging states of affairs.
Don't you just hate it when someone mistakenly dials your phone number while trying to send a fax? It results in a call every five minutes that beeps in your ear. The worst part is that when you are expecting other calls you can't simply ignore the plague or switch off the ringer on your telephone. Just grin and bear it.
Also in praise of technology, there should be some sort of e-mail protocol which requires the recipient's permission to send an e-mail that takes longer than five minutes to download. There's nothing worse than checking your e-mail only to discover that you have a message with an enormous attachment and a subsequent half-hour wait while that little progress bar slowly works its way from left to right.
Unwanted jokes, solicitations and forwarded chain mail are also an nuisance. Yes, Christmas is just around the corner. If only Santa Claus could work out these little bugs...peeves
Jim Ramsay and the Hockey North staff should be commended for their efforts in improving the Nunavut hockey scene.
If the Stanley Cup does arrive in Rankin Inlet, that alone would be accomplishment enough to warrant this space.
But as glorious as having Lord Stanley visit our region would be, it takes a back seat to the real accomplishments of Hockey North -- improving the hockey environment for our youth and showing what can be done through effort and determination.
The creation of a junior C program in the North is of tremendous value to our hockey playing youth.
Not only will it increase the level of competition, it will also attract scouts to our region.
And with scouts comes opportunity, both athletic and academic.
Another valuable plus to the program is that it gives bantam- and midget-aged players something to strive for.
No longer are they restricted to the recreation leagues of their various communities.
The biggest plus of them all, however, transcends sports into overall accomplishment.
Hockey North is showing what can be done with courage and dedication to a specific goal.
Lacking even the basics of artificial ice in any Nunavut community, save the capital, Hockey North is initiating a program which shows the sky is often the limit when action and conviction replace words.
We wish them well in their endeavour.
Life and death
The fatality in Baker Lake during last week's blizzard was a tragic event, but it was also another needless death in Kivalliq annals.
When living in one of the most unforgiving climates in the world, being properly prepared is often the difference between life and death.
Even the most menial of tasks can have grave consequences when proper care and caution are not taken.
We urge residents to exercise caution this winter.
Take nothing for granted when venturing out into inclement weather, or when bad weather has been forecast for your area.
If you must go out, dress properly, and tell someone where you're going, when you are leaving, the route you're taking and when you expect to arrive.
The few minutes it takes to exercise caution may save your life.
One death is too many.