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Along with Yellowknife's recent economic recovery, comes a most unwelcome and recurring problem. It's our version of sleeping on the street, only in Yellowknife an increasing number of homeless are to be found in campsites at Fred Henne Park.
| Correction An article in the July 11 Yellowknifer headlined "Bear Essentials" offered incorrect advice on when to play dead when encountering a bear displaying signs of defensiveness (huffing, jaw clapping, ears pinned back). Playing dead should not be used as a defense until the bear makes physical contact, said Raymond Bourget of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. Yellowknifer apologizes for any confusion the error may have created. |
If the economy is doing so well, why are there no apartment buildings cropping up?
For whatever reason, property investors have not been not eager to meet the growing needs of the hungry market. But now, one developer has stepped forward - Mike Mrdjenovich - with plans to build a 60-unit apartment building.
That's good news and we hope our city administration encourages Mrdjenovich to follow through on his plans.
History has taught us private developers do the best job when it comes to building and selling new homes and leasing apartments, simply because they know when the market is right. They take the risks and they take the profits, or losses, whatever the case may be.
While city hall must resist pressure to fix the problem with ratepayer's money, it does have a critical role to play in creating an environment that encourages such development. It may be as simple as an accommodating attitude.
The city certainly cannot afford any delays. Diamond mining executives, if they already haven't done so, may well be in the midst of making the decisions that will determine how many workers will actually take up permanent residence in Yellowknife.
The time is ripe to build. The time is right to get that message out. Campsites will cease to be an option once the snow flies.
Canadians are being asked what they think of xenotransplantation -- animal-human transplants.
If your first reaction is to declare that the procedure would be like 'playing God', consider the following hard facts.
Over 3,000 Canadian patients are waiting for human donor organs. This number far outstrips the supply and things look pretty dim because Canada's level of organ donation is one of the lowest in the industrialized world.
Non-human tissues and proteins such as pig heart valves have been used for medical purposes for years. If an animal organ transplant could save a life, what objection could anyone possibly have?
It was a bittersweet reunion for the 350-or-so alumni of Yellowknife's Akaitcho Hall, who met at their old school over the Canada Day weekend.
The sights, sounds and smells of the old school, instantly brought back fond memories to the former students.
But for those who never lived to make the reunion and the impending demolition of the school, more than a few hearts were heavy with loss.
A tree was planted in the memory of the school and those who have gone before, but the seeds planted long ago for the kids in the Hall, will continue to bear fruit in the North, for the kids of us all.
Editorial Comment
Malcolm Gorrill
Inuvik Drum
Artists, musicians, volunteers and fans are flocking to our community this week. The occasion is the 13th annual Great Northern Arts Festival, which gets under way Friday and goes until July 22.
A wide variety of style of artwork and media will be on display, and on sale. The many visitors will also get the chance to observe artists hard at work on their latest creations.
Aside from the obvious economic benefits to the town, and the artists, the festival also provides a good chance for artists from all over to come together, see each other's work, talk, and let the creative juices flow.
It's a special event that's not to be missed. Let the excitement begin.
Thrills and spills
It seemed like every kid in town was in the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex last week, when the Majestic Circus came to town.
Sure, the show may have suffered from the fact one of the trucks didn't make it to town, which meant some performers, as well as the horses, couldn't appear, but it was still entertaining. That was particularly evident when watching the faces of the young ones, transfixed by the aerial trapeze act, or laughing with delight during the dog show.
It all goes to show that, even in this age of television and video games, there's still nothing quite like a circus.
It was interesting meeting ringmaster Phil Dolci, a former Chicago lawyer who fulfilled a lifelong dream by running away to join the circus. He likes making children laugh, and meeting new people. Dolci also revealed he likes travelling, which is a reminder of just how many communities, sights and sounds circus performers take in over the years.
Worthwhile project in the works
If you build it they will come. That phrase certainly holds true for the skateboard park the town is planning.
Though a final location has yet to be picked (ramps being built now are to be placed on one of the tennis courts for this summer only), it's safe to say the park will act like a magnet. Those wanting to practise their skateboarding or scooter prowess, or who just want to hang out with friends, will finally have a spot all to themselves.
This should cut down or even eliminate the skateboarding taking place now in front of stores in the downtown.
Editorial Comment
Dave Sullivan
Deh Cho Drum, Fort Simpson
Fort Simpson's first Open Sky Arts Festival, followed by an enthusiastic Canada Day celebration, was the right ingredient for a terrific weekend in the village.
The July 1 parade was lauded too, except by the dozen or so families who missed it.
Waiting along the usual parade route, they watched the floats turn down another street before passing by.
The parade was shortened and re-routed this year. Not many knew about the changes, although some notices were posted around town.
Vandalism and bored teens
It would be unfair to link a recent spate of vandalism in Fort Simpson to the summer closure of the youth centre, but mentioning both facts together can illustrate a point -- that teens get bored on endless summer nights.
With school out youths are often out until the wee hours. The lack of organized activities and supervision needs to be addressed.
If youths don't want to use the centre in summer it's because what's offered is not what they want to do.
Builders of programs are doing something right during school, because the centre is well used during those months.
If extra resources were devoted to programming interesting outdoor summer activities, officials may discover it to be an investment rather than a cost.
If the vandalism damage were tallied, the price could very well add up to be less than extra effort that would be required to provide a more stimulating environment.
Paving vibes
While it's great to see the village's main street being paved, the china is seriously rattling in buildings along the roadwork.
Steamrollers have changed over the years. I don't know what they call the ground-flattening machines today, but we used to call them steamrollers. I'm quite sure they're not steam-driven. In any case, modern ones have this feature: hydraulics cause them to deliberately shake, with vibrations resonating deep into the earth. No reports of damage though, at least not yet at the Drum office.
Editorial Comment
Jorge Barrera
Kivalliq News
Grizzly bears all over Baker Lake, breaking into cabins, eating all the dried meat, residents afraid to go out to their spring camps, one bear shot and last Friday the hamlet called a state of emergency, martial law imposed on the bears.
Heady times in Baker Lake. According to the president of the local Hunters and Trappers Association, this is the first time in his 50-year residence in the community that something like this has happened.
What's happening with these bears? Obviously hunger has driven them to the outskirts of the community, but why are they so hungry? No one has immediate answers to these questions, but it's something the Department of Sustainable Development better take a hard look at.
The North prides itself with being one of the last pristine environments remaining on the globe, but obviously things are amiss and Baker Lake's recent bear problems are one in a string of natural aberrations occurring in the North.
Last summer it was skinny polar bears. Global climate change is real. Only quacks would dispute that fact and the North is taking the brunt of it.
Despite the North's outwardly hash climate, it, too, teeters on fragile relationships which sustain it's ecology. A culture that depends so strongly on the natural world cannot take threats to the environment lightly.
It's time for the Department of Sustainable Development to declare a state of emergency on the environment.
Sure the odd study happens here and there and the North's voice has been heard in the recent past on climate change. But it's not enough. A sustained lobby needs to emerge.
The Nunavut government should be pounding on federal Environment Minister David Anderson's door. "Listen Dave," they should shout, "our ecology is deteriorating fast, get out of your comfortable cabinet seat and do something."
The federal government has played patsy with the U.S. over the environment despite George Bush's agenda of pollution exemplified by pulling out of the Kyoto agreement on climate change.
Someone has to push Canada to take a stronger stance on the environment. Someone has to make what's at stake clear to them and there are few in a better position than the Inuit of Nunavut.
How much longer can we stand by and allow nature, desperate and hungry, to claw at our doors?