It comes as little surprise to learn that BHP and other diamond companies fear they won't be able to honour the Northern hiring policy they struck with the territorial government.

BHP announced last week it hopes to rework its socio-economic agreement with the territorial government. The agreement calls for the company to have a workforce of 62 per cent Northern and 31 percent Northern aboriginals.

While the company is currently making the grade, with 81 per cent of its employees Northern and 41 per cent aboriginal, it suspects it will quite likely be impossible to meet its targets in the future as the mine expands.

Many Northern employees, it turns out, don't have what it takes to work in a modern mining environment.

Other companies, including Diavik, and De Beers, who are nowhere near the production stage that BHP is at, are also concerned.

What's worse is these concerns are not exclusive to the diamond industry. With oil and gas industry expected to explode in a few years, the need for trained workers will increase.

While some companies, including Diavik, are working side by side with Aurora college to get trades training programs in several NWT communities, if you do the math, pretty soon we'll run out of workers.

With a current unemployment rate of 9.1 per cent, and only 42,000 people, we simply don't have the people to fill the thousands of jobs that will come as these developments get up and running.

It's clear we need to focus on keeping these new workers in the North.

And that means finding creative solutions to cost of living issues.

The only way a Northern hiring policy will work is if we address our housing issues, and offer better incentives as our population expands.

It takes a year for newcomers to the NWT to be given the right to vote in territorial elections. It's a fair delay, considering our mobile population and the time it takes to learn enough about our corner of the universe to make informed decisions.

So is a similar delay reasonable when it comes to hunting licences? As things stand, new residents now have to wait two years before they can hunt, which seems a bit lengthy, particularly when compared with some other Canadian jurisdictions where is no wait at all.

MLAs just shot down Charles Dent's attempt to cut that to six months, arguing the resulting flood of hunters would threaten game populations. Such fears may or may not be warranted, but the conservative approach has merit. Which is why we like the one-year compromise.

The Yellowknife Gymnastics Club's dream of building an $850,000 gymnasium has run smack into financial reality.

Three years of hard work has put $500,000 in the bank. They want to start building this fall and the club has turned to the city for help.

That they've raised that much is worthy of credit.

The facility will add to the fabric of life in Yellowknife: giving the 400 youth who now take part in the program a permanent home, perhaps boosting enrolment.

Council should be an enthusiastic supporter and help the club explore all the financial alternatives. That shouldn't include doling out hundreds of thousands of dollars to one organization without the public's support.

If the council wants to provide financial support: take it to a referendum.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

Those of you who saw me covering the cruise ship visits to our hamlet this past week are probably wondering why none of the pictures are in the paper.

Well, 28-degree heat and some bad luck conspired against me. To make a long story short, I was in the dark room working on my film when I suddenly realized I could see my hands (not a good thing).

The adhesive tape had let go on the top covering to my darkroom window and three rolls of film were toast. Burnt toast.

My sincerest apologies to all those who worked so hard to make the tourists' visit a success. Monday's afternoon on the land was a beautiful spectacle and one that deserved the centre spread of this paper.

Not the way we do it

I received two letters to the editor this past week, one from Whale Cove and one from Repulse Bay. The two letters had one thing in common, their authors wished to remain anonymous.

The one from Repulse, in particular, was a fine read, claiming to have the inside scoop on clandestine operations within a certain airline company.

Come to think of it, the two letters have another thing in common -- neither will ever appear inside the pages of Kivalliq News. Why? Because every letter to the editor to appear in our newspaper must be signed and verified.

The Repulse author was quick to point out another Northern publication often runs unsigned letters. That may very well be, but we don't and the reasons are simple enough.

First, if you believe in something strongly enough, you should have no problem attaching your name to it. That's the whole idea in expressing your opinion in a public forum.

Anyone can say whatever they wish (truth or otherwise) if they don't have to worry about anyone knowing who they are.

The second is a matter of integrity on our own part. Because the authors of all the letters we publish are identified, Kivalliq News has never, nor will it ever, be accused of expressing an editorial opinion under the guise of a submitted letter.

When we express our opinion, we do so openly and honestly. It's only fair to expect we'd hold our letter writers to the same standards.

Editorial Comment
Malcolm Gorrill
Inuvik Drum

The 13th annual Great Northern Arts Festival ended in fine style Sunday, complete with music and award winners, and perhaps a general reluctance among those involved that it was over. It was predicted to be quite a fabulous, eventful, exciting 10 days in July, and it was.

The artwork was superb, diverse, and a pleasure to gaze at. Any artists I met up with seemed quite friendly and open, and many remarked on the open, sharing atmosphere this festival is becoming famous for.

I spent as much time in and around the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex as I could during those days, but would have liked to have hung around even more. Lots of others likely feel the same way.

As special as this year's festival was for most, it held special meaning for organizers Tanya Van Valkenburg and Marilyn Dzaman. Both are moving to Whitehorse after putting in many long hours for the festival for many years.

Van Valkenburg and Dzaman gave emotional farewells during the closing ceremonies, revealing that organizing the festival can be both a joy and a challenge. Good luck to them, as well as to Darrin White and Gail Hodder, who are taking over as executive director and artistic director. They have big shoes to fill.

Nature's art

Most people would have missed it, but early Tuesday morning the skies above Inuvik put on a great display. As the sun rose, a raincloud floated by, dropping a light shower along the way. The result was a rainbow shaped like the side of a horseshoe, which went high into the sky. A second, weaker rainbow could also be seen.

The clouds were a multitude of colours, from pink to red and a more normal white, depending on their location in the sky. It was enough of a display for me to actually stick some colour film in my camera and go wandering about, taking photos of the sky.

The whole experience was great, except for the bugs, who were looking for an early-morning snack.

Prince Edward Island (where I come from), has its fair share of beautiful sunrises and sunsets, but I've noticed some truly spectacular sky displays here, both in summer and winter, and at day and night. Those beautiful sights also probably inspire a lot of artists, including some of those who were in town recently.

Editorial Comment
Dave Sullivan
Deh Cho Drum, Fort Simpson

Beaufort gas won't come easily So now the tide is turning in favour of a Mackenzie Valley pipeline, as opposed to one along the Alaska Highway.

That tide could reverse again, several times even. In order to make a point, let's predict that gas prices remain low. That would keep momentum on this side of the Yukon border because the Mackenzie Valley line is supposed to be cheaper to build, being shorter.

Analysts keep saying low gas prices would mean just one pipeline for now.

If it's through the Mackenzie Valley, it would have to carry Alaska gas to be profitable in the short term.

So here's the point: there's barely been any discussion of the technical and environmental headaches posed by Alaska gas on its way to the Mackenzie Valley.

The American gas would have to be piped under the Beaufort Sea, which is covered with shifting ice much of the year.

Even if a way is suddenly discovered to push gas under that sea, it will involve unproven technology.

The wider public will have grave reservations about the risk level. The Beaufort could become ground zero for an environmental battle royale.

Depending on the state of the economy and other issues on the radar screen when the time comes, a proposed undersea pipeline has potential to become the focus of a global pro-environment campaign. It could compare in scope to worldwide reaction when China announced it would build the world's largest dam at Three Gorges, on the Yangtze River.

Perhaps pro-pipeline forces should not worry too much. Despite all the pressure on China's leaders, the dam is being built anyway.

Then again, China's government can do as it pleases because it does not have to answer to the public.

Regional health care has its problems

A search last week through Drum archives unearthed some informed opinion regarding the possibility of the territorial government eliminating regional health boards. Unfortunately, the comments made three years ago at a "minister's forum" on health and social services in Fort Simpson do not provide much ammunition to the Deh Cho Health and Social Services region.

At the time, Dr. Shane Barclay explained that regionalization had been a disaster where he had worked in British Columbia because the province downloaded responsibility without giving up control of the purse strings.

Of course the health region would argue -- and probably will in its response to a consultant's recommendation to eliminate the boards -- that the government should free up more money so the local boards can fulfil their responsibilities.

Barclay, a popular columnist in this paper, also warned at the forum three years ago that doctors and nurses must be offered better pay, especially in remote regions like the North. We should pay attention to the doctor's prescription this time.