Friday, March 02, 2001
Yellowknife City council seems determined not to build an arena in this city even though they voted in favour of a twin-pad arena at Sir John Franklin.
They went ahead, as councils before, and made a decision based on poor planning and lack of information.
We know the architects who drew the $463,000 blueprints for a phased twin-pad arena believe the site at Sir John is "constrained and not suitable for a facility of this size."
We know there's a possibility that the questionable geology at the site could put costs through the roof.
Councillor Ben McDonald even said the city won't be going in blind and building at all cost. But yet he voted yes, as did three of his colleagues, when experts said there are still too many unknowns.
What happens if we can't build on that site? Will council then go to the GNWT and establish, in writing, that the YCC site is available?
What happens if that site is not available for three years?
Back to the drawing board? No thank you.
If council caves into pressure, partially generated by the misinformation that Gerry Murphy arena was closed forever, we may well face what Councillor Robert Hawkins called another Niven Lake. But councillors have a tough road ahead.
They are haunted by the mistakes of their predecessors and angry Yellowknifers who want results, not more talk.
Yes, Yellowknifers want an arena, but council needs the facts and a clear plan before throwing good money after bad.
To act prudently, councillors need more time to figure out what they don't know before finding the experts who can tell them what they must know. Then they can come back to the table and say to everyone: Here are the various sites, their suitability, their availability, here are the projected costs of various designs, GST included.
It's something they should have done before, but it's not to late to do it now.
He's no wild and crazy guy.
No sir, NWT finance minister Joe Handley's not about to raise territorial income taxes two years from now just because he can.
Come 2003, territorial tax will no longer be a percentage of the federal rate. That will give the GNWT more flexibility and to some that means a free hand to charge what it wants.
Mr. Handley has given a politicians' promise that the government doesn't plan "to do any wild or crazy things with our rates."
We'll take him at his word -- with a few words of caution.
Economic growth is fragile and governments at all levels must be careful to not stifle it with repressive tax regimes.
It began the day before with whispers: "Did you know it's going to be plus-two tomorrow?"
When the weather forecast actually came true on Wednesday and the temperature busted through the freezing mark, the whispers became cries of joy: "Can you believe the weather!"
For lifers and neophyte Northerners alike, the one-day reprieve from sub-zero temperatures was welcome. Kids shed their jackets, people traded cold-weather frowns for spring-time smiles and we all gleefully slipped on the ice formed from melting snow.
There may have been a few fender benders from the sudden thaw, but it could have been worse.
So with a smile on our face and a bounce in our step, Yellowknifers enjoyed the spring-like day while it was here, knowing full well that -40 is just an Arctic cold front away.
Winter has not yet given up its grip on the great white North but at least we know Spring is on its way.
Editorial Comment
Malcolm Gorrill
Inuvik Drum
Doctors, it would seem, are in short supply in rural areas across the nation.
The local hospital is struggling with that issue right now. The Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services Board would like to attract two doctors here, and would like to have them stay on for some time.
But the board maintains this is not an easy task, though for a different reason than the difficulties they are having in attracting nurses.
There's a shortage of nurses in Canada, and across the world. In contrast, in Canada there are enough doctors to go around, they're just distributed wrong.
It seems that more and more doctors want to practise in cities.
This is a problem without an easy solution, but it would seem efforts will need to be made by many groups.
One thing that's been suggested is for universities to actively seek out more med students from rural areas, in hopes that when they graduate most will work in rural communities.
Another suggestion is to make med students have rural practicums. This would allow students to help address shortages, plus it would allow them to sample what rural medicine can be like.
Some universities are doing that. Living proof is Bevan Hughes, a second-year resident in the rural family medicine program at the University of British Columbia. Hughes is from a city (Ottawa), but plans to conduct a rural practice, in part because he enjoys the great outdoors.
Interestingly, Hughes revealed many of his colleagues don't plan on a rural practice, in part because of the isolation, as well as the extra responsibility involved.
That goes back to some of the perceived drawbacks of rural areas in the minds of med grads. In major centres doctors can send seriously ill patients to a specialist with just a short ambulance ride.
That doesn't apply in a place like Inuvik, where medevac rides are the only option for patients needing additional help.
This creates more pressure and responsibility for doctors in communities like this than they would usually face in large centres.
There's another reason med grads are reluctant to leave large centres. After completing four years of undergraduate studies and another four years of medical school, all of which is done in large centres, grads have met a lot of people and put down roots.
It is understandable that many might be reluctant to pack up everything and head to a remote area that they may know nothing about.
Congratulations speedsters
Congrats are due to Inuvik speed skaters Mark Orbell, Alyssa Carpenter, Chris Lennie, Kelly McLeod and Sam Anderson. They all fared well recently at the NWT Speed Skating Championships in Yellowknife.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum, Fort Simpson
As one looked around the classroom at Deh Cho Hall, it may have appeared an odd juxtaposition. Here was a white man, Philip Howard, one of the foremost authorities on the Slavey language, teaching Dene about Slavey grammar.
It's not so unusual, however, when one reflects on the historical context. The Dene have oral histories because their's was not traditionally a literate society. It's western culture that introduced them to the written word.
For a Dene to have accomplished what Howard has done would have taken a thoroughly western education, particularly in English, and then they would have had to turn around and apply those linguistic principles and concepts to the Slavey language. It's quite feasible that scenario could have occurred, but Howard beat everyone to it.
That's not to say the Dene haven't made meaningful contributions to the language. Andy Norwegian, the cultural and Slavey language specialist for the Deh Cho Divisional Board of Education, for instance, continues to revise and update the vocabulary.
Yet, there is no denying that Howard's story is a fascinating one. Imagine sitting in a library thousands of miles away and, based on your limited research, deciding that you're going to travel to a distant land to advance a language that you don't even know how to speak.
He and his wife Margaret had initially settled in Fort Nelson, B.C., but found there were too many English-speaking people, so they loaded their belongings on a barge operated by legendary trapper and merchant Dick Turner and travelled the waterways to Nahanni Butte. From then on, they were essentially immersed in Slavey.
Perhaps the most meaningful contribution anyone can make to the Slavey language is to continue to speak it or learn to speak it. Slavey, like the majority of aboriginal languages, is dying.
Howard has practically made a lifetime of preserving the language on paper, but he fears it is gradually on its way to extinction.
"There are too many families where the parents are not speaking (Slavey) to the kids. If they don't use it in the home, it's going to die," Howard said.
He has made his contribution to the language.
Deh Cho First Nations leaders and elders have pledged to speak Slavey at leadership assemblies.
Now it's up to each household to do its part if the Slavey language is to endure.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Two thumbs up to the Kataujaq Society's Evelyn Thordarson for taking it upon herself to secure funding for the staff-exchange program between the Kataujaq's Rankin Inlet day care and the Shared Care Day Care in Arviat.
Proper training for Kivalliq day care staff has been an ongoing struggle in the Kivalliq Region.
And, while nobody's getting a diploma from the program, the sharing of ideas and information is a welcome addition to regional child care.
It's also beneficial for staff members to be exposed to the different social and economical makeup of the two facilities and their clients.
We need more of our organizational leaders in the Kivalliq to follow Thordarson's example and take it upon themselves to make things happen.
The more proactive we become as a region in seeking training funding, the more we will gain in our long-term development.
About time
Kivalliq users who rely on Sakku Computers & Electronics for their Internet connections are finding life a little easier these days, thanks to the first in a series of upgrades the service provider is putting in place.
The constant busy signals when trying to access the system, and its slowness once a user did actually log on, had progressed from an annoyance to a detriment to those who depend on the Internet for business. One of the great benefits of the Internet is its ability to bring the global community right to a user's fingertips.
Idle "surfing" aside, there are many ways Kivalliq residents benefit from fast and easy access to the Internet.
Communication, education, health, organizational research, business transactions, the cost efficiency of e-mail compared to telephone lines are all areas of vital importance for Northern residents attempting to stay on a level playing field with their southern counterparts.
Hopefully, the recent upgrade is just the start of a future high speed Internet system that will span the territory.
High spirits
It's good to hear the spirits of the Repulse Bay junior-aged hockey players are still high despite their rash of injuries at the Polar Bear Plate tournament. The fact the Repulse players were not discouraged by their misfortunes is further proof of the importance of having a solid minor hockey program established in every Kivalliq hamlet.
Character development, career and academic opportunities, a sense of belonging and community spirit are all areas that benefit from a strong minor hockey system.