Friday, December 01, 2000
The recent suggestion by a Yellowknife taxpayer that city council consider privatizing some services is getting the attention it deserves.
Lauren McKiel's eight-part proposal argues that "the city is not in the employment business, nor should it be in competition with private enterprise."
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In "Taxes may go up", warns councillor, (Yellowknifer, Nov. 22) we wrote that the Yellowknife Senior's Society was requesting a boost to their core funding "to keep lunches free and to cover soaring fuel costs." In fact, the seniors' are requesting the additional funding solely because their fuel costs at the Baker Centre have almost doubled. Seniors pay $3 for their lunches at the Baker Centre every Friday. Yellowknifer apologize to the seniors for any inconvenience this error may have caused. Liberal Expenses In "MP returns" (Yellowknifer, Nov. 29, it should have been noted that the deficit facing the Western Arctic Liberal Association is due to travel expenses endured during the campaign. The association did not exceed the $64,955.79 expense limit set by Elections Canada for its actual campaign. Smart Communities Yellowknifer editorials have referred to $250,000 in the City of Yellowknife's draft 2001 budget set aside for the Smart Communities project. Of that funding, $125,000 is from city funds, including $75,000 of block funding and $50,000 from the information technology reserve and the rest is a grant from Industry Canada. We apologize for any confusion that may have resulted.
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The city is grappling with spending priorities at a time revenue and expenditures are growing. As readers learn in today's Yellowknifer (page A3), councillors are taking their time in reviewing McKiel's request. So they should.
What they must consider are realities like those described by public works director Gary Craig. He says privatizing some aspects of public works could hurt the department because services complement each other.
"The guys who plows the snow also use the back-hoe in case of a water break," he said.
According to Craig, contracting to the private sector could also restrict the department's response time to emergencies and also limit the department's flexibility.
Could that be overcome by performance guarantees? Councillors must also consider the less-than-enthusiastic response from the private sector.
Janet Robinson, risk manager for Yellowknife contracting firm RTL Robinson Enterprises Ltd., a likely candidate to take on some public works projects, said they would have to weigh the pros and cons of taking on city work before getting too excited.
But she adds that it works in other areas.
So, while we're encouraged the city is at least debating the idea of privatization, we agree more research is needed before any big move is made.
Never shy about showing their generosity, Yellowknifers once again did themselves proud at the Celebrity Auction.
About 350 turned out to for the friendly competition. They bid on diamonds, holidays, and works of art and when the evening ended, they went deep into their pockets.
The 21st annual auction grossed more than $50,000 for the Northwest Territories Council for Disabled Persons. When expenses are covered, almost $40,000 will be available for programs that the government does not fund, such as placards and designated parking spaces for disabled drivers.
When players from St. Patrick and Sir John Franklin high schools hit the ice recently, there was as much action in the stands as there was on the ice.
It was the annual Wade Hamer Challenge Cup -- pitting teams of boys, girls and teachers from each school against each other for Yellowknife hockey supremacy.
But more than just a fun sporting event, it was a show of school and community spirit by both schools.
There were noisemakers and mascots, painted faces and cheerleaders. It was a scene that brought smiles to many faces and probably sent many parents scrambling through their memories of their own high school days when their team faced off against crosstown rivals.
And not only did the Challenge Cup tournament keep Wade Hamer's memory alive, but it gave everyone who watched and played a memory of their own, of one grand night in Yellowknife.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
It's an old argument, and Mayor Peter Clarkson argues the Inuvik campus of Aurora College is in a similar predicament.
Clarkson, who met last week with Department of Education officials, says that it's difficult to establish new core programs at the current campus, as students aren't attracted by it. This in turn makes it harder to justify going ahead with construction of the new campus here -- which is scheduled to begin in 2004.
The mayor is hardly alone in raising concerns about the college's future. This fall, campus director Miki O'Kane raised concerns about the overcrowding there. As well, the need to ensure a new campus gets built was a hot topic during the municipal election campaign.
The issue came up again at town council last week, with the apparent consensus being that pressure must continue to be put on the GNWT on the issue.
The college is a valuable part of the community. It provides an important financial boost to the town, through the jobs on campus, as well as spin-offs from money spent in the area by staff and students.
The campus also provides training opportunities at a time when education is becoming more and more important everywhere. The oil and gas activity in this area is just one example of the opportunities residents can take advantage of, provided they have the proper training.
In discussions about current overcrowding and the need for a new, larger facility, it may be forgotten that regular size classrooms are not all that's needed at Aurora College. Many students literally have hands on experience as part of their courses. This often means they need a lot of room to manoeuvre in.
A case in point is the move this week by the college jewelry program from the campus into the old RWED research laboratory. Instructor Gail Hodder explained the students were excited by their new location, as they had needed their own space.
The need for a new campus is clear here. What is needed is to make sure people outside the area understand that as well.
Learning about Canadian methods
Inuvik had a rather unique visitor recently.
Afanassi Bylgaev of Yakutsk, Russia, spent about a week in town as part of the Yeltsin Democracy Fellowship Program.
The program's aim is to enable Russians to spend time abroad to study how market economies operate, so that they can return home and pass along some of the things they've learned.
Bylgaev said one thing he'd been studying during his visit to Canada was the different approaches companies here take to management and structure. He noted that workers here are allowed more freedom when going about their business.
The Deh Cho First Nations is in quite a predicament with an interim measures agreement that keeps being delayed, thereby putting off development and jobs that would theoretically result.
Among those who have spoken openly about the frustration of waiting is Hay River Reserve chief Pat Martell.
At an oil and gas conference on the reserve earlier this month, Martell said his people need jobs. The Deh Cho Process is hindering job creation, he said.
That same feeling was expressed by three band members in Nahanni Butte last week. They said they want the Prairie Creek mine to go into production, so Nahanni Butte residents can reap some benefits.
Band member Morris Vital rejected the prospect of having Nahanni National Park Reserve expand to almost seven times its current size.
He said residents are rarely employed by Parks and most of the related contracts go to other communities. Nahanni Park superintendent Chuck Blyth listed several people from the community who have worked for Parks.
Although the park does create some spin-off jobs, such as river tours, Blyth said the park isn't so much about creating employment as it is about protecting the land.
The deciding factor in this case may be the fact that the Nahanni Butte band signed a co-operative development agreement with Canadian Zinc in 1996. If this contract proves to be binding, those who want jobs may very well get them.
Election reflection
The post-election period, like the campaign itself, is full of political spin. Whether defeated by a few votes or thousands of votes, whether down a single seat or a dozen, politicians always try to emphasize the positive.
My favourite excuse is "Our supporters didn't come out to the polls." What? We're supposed to believe that the winning party's supporters were all motivated to cast ballots, but the opposition, the disenchanted (always the most vocal during the campaign) simply couldn't be bothered to mark their X when the time came?
What ever happened to losing gracefully?
When it comes to election coverage, Joanne Deneron of Fort Liard, made a point that others echoed over and over again -- local coverage was definitely lacking.
From television and radio broadcasts that focused almost exclusively on the south to Web sites that were either down or never updated, it was a most disappointing evening for those who wanted to know what was happening in the NWT.
Several people said they waited until near midnight before they finally heard who won the Western Arctic riding.
Ethel, do you plan to restore funding to the CBC too?
We hope Kivalliq Student Services has its public meeting in Whale Cove before the Dec. 11 election.
The point must be made, and accepted, during the meeting that Kivalliq teachers must be able to provide a safe and comfortable learning environment for both their students and themselves.
It's hard to understand why District Education Authority (DEA) members in Whale Cove would contest suspending a student who was physically aggressive to teachers and/or other students.
Surely these members realize violence in our classrooms is totally unacceptable -- no matter who the child or the parents involved!
Many positive initiatives at Inuglak school stand to be overshadowed by the unacceptable acts of a few.
Hopefully, candidates for the upcoming DEA election will attend the meeting and voice their support for teachers.
It's hard enough to entice good teachers without running the risk of losing them to intolerable acts and a lack of support at the local level.
Not only do the teachers deserve the support, but each and every student at Inuglak school has the right to a safe, comfortable, and orderly learning environment.
Just a suggestion
Regular readers of Kivalliq News may not have been surprised to learn the promised phone call from Community Government Minister Jack Anawak never arrived.
The silver lining in Anawak's dark cloud was that the person appointed as the "official spokesperson" for artificial ice in Rankin Inlet is highly regarded as a straight- shooter throughout Kivalliq.
We would, however, like to make a small suggestion to Premier Paul Okalik this week, if we may.
It might be in the best interests of Kivalliq residents -- all Nunavummiut in fact -- if our premier were to photocopy the pages in the dictionary containing the words: open, accountable and accessible.
Okalik could pass the pages out during the next legislative assembly and conduct a question period on the parts our honourable members don't comprehend.
We're sure the same words can be found in an Inuktitut dictionary, and the meanings don't lose much in the translation.
But, then again, they'd still be just words. Maybe we should add "action" to the list.