It used to be that a family was a mom, dad, some children, maybe a dog or a cat or two.

That's no longer the case. A family is so much more. There are single moms, single dads, grandparents who raise their children's children, foster families and step-parents.

And yes, there are same-sex couples who want what everyone wants: a child to love, to carry on their family name and traditions. A child both partners can call their own.

Nadine Scott wants all that. She's a lesbian, in love with Shelly Strong, and wants to adopt baby Kindred. Strong gave birth to the baby, conceived through artificial insemination but a product of the women's love nonetheless.

That's not good enough for the law. In the NWT, Kindred is Strong's daughter. Scott has no rights and under territorial adoption law.

Although the Justice Department is amending its Family Law Act to allow same-sex couples to file for spousal support after separation, the Health and Social Services Ministry has no plans to bring adoption laws in line.

In a world where so many children are unwanted, why does a government feel it necessary to put barriers in front of people who do want them?

Strong and Scott have made a commitment to each other and to Kindred. Their abilities as parents should be all that's necessary for the government to grant Scott parental rights.

Instead, as happens so often with government, the politicians and bureaucrats appear only too willing to pass the buck to a judge to make a decision.

In the meantime, Strong and Scott, and the government will pile up big legal bills in a court fight that could take years.

And baby Kindred caught in the middle. Can our politicians honestly say they are doing it all in the child's best interest?

Yellowknife has $300,000 set aside for a badly needed second boat launch, to be built at the old Giant mine townsite. We have the need (just ask anyone elbowing for room at the Old Town launch), we have the money, and we have the property. So what's the holdup?

City hall says it would love to get on with the job, which could, in theory, still be done this summer, but our old friend arsenic has thrown a proverbial wrench into the works. Soil at the proposed site is contaminated and guess what? No one can agree who should pay to clean it up.

Once again, squabbling among our municipal, federal and territorial governments is slowing things down. Sigh.

According to a recent survey of Yellowknife youth, our future politicians, engineers and scientists are aware of climate change, they just don't care enough to get involved in doing something about it. Some even think a warming planet will be good for us.

Let's hope the Education Department's plans to incorporate climate change material into school curricula is aggressive and amounts to more than a few lectures. Students need to know that taking action about this global threat is not optional.

And by the way, scientists say climate change could easily mean more mosquitoes for the North, among other things. Let's dispense with the silly notion that it's a good thing.

Editorial Comment
Jorge Barrera
Kivalliq News

My second night in Rankin Inlet I ate goose and drank the broth. Like a slow fever it coursed through my limbs and I was warm. I'll never forget that.

I've sat long on the slope behind the community arena and stared at the curvature of the earth, the sky bending like a great arc over the horizon, holding the longest sunsets, the blades of the windmill frozen, a white silhouette against the purple sky at the edge of the runway.

Summer came in spurts during my brief five-week stay here on the shores of the Hudson Bay but I've never seen snow in July.

This is my last editorial and five weeks wasn't long enough. At this moment it's difficult to think of what I liked best about my stay here. Is it the people I've met? The landscape? The square dances?

Right now out my window the sky is overcast and the hum of Hondas come and go, a constant murmur always in the background as a deadline looms and my flight leaves in an hour and a half. Small memories from a brief time come in jumbles and pile like toys dumped from a box.

All I know is this place can woo you, cut the knees from under you and make you cry.

This land at the end of things, on the edge of the world, with its brief summers, burning springs and long winters and its caribou herds, whales, seals, the caravan of Hondas on the weekly Friday exodus to cabins scattered from here to the Diand River and beyond. The tundra flowers like droplets splattered from a paint brush, blue, reds, yellows, over the green of tundra, easy to miss.

I remember sitting in an elders' living room as he explained the art of the harpoon. He held it in his hand, perfectly balanced, describing the seal hunt in Inuktitut and I didn't understand a word. When the translation came I knew it was different. The hunt I heard in English was not the same hunt the elder described in Inuktitut.

There's a whole other world in which this seal hunt existed that lies in the space between stones and sky, known only to those who understand the language. Not just Inuktitut, but the language of this place.

It is this mystery that creates the magic of the land that lives in the perception of a people who sprung from its earth. It is something I can never know, only sense like some faraway smell in memory, but it is the one thing I'll remember from my stay in Rankin Inlet.

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.