In a perfect world, Robert Nault should heed the wishes of every board under his control.

Unfortunately, the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board left him no choice but to overrule their unanimous choice for the job as chair. Gordon Lennie has put a lot of effort into the board, but his close ties to Aboriginal Pipeline Working Group made his re-appointment questionable.

Even Nault's choice, long-time industry consultant and rookie board member, Todd Burlingame, isn't the best. Will he have to excuse himself from just as many decisions because of his links to the diamond industry? Burlingame is married to an industry executive.

The board should have recognized the potential trouble in recommending Lennie and chosen someone Nault couldn't refuse.

Eleven years ago, city council sidestepped the politically dangerous job of deciding on pay raises for themselves.

They linked their increases to those awarded administrative staff. It put council into a conflict of interest every time they voted to raise staff wages.

Council has moved to correct that problem by voting to review their pay before every election.

It will make pay an election issue and force candidates to state where they stand before people head to the polls.

While some may complain it makes pay a political issue during election time, it puts the decision squarely into the hands of those who really pay the bills: Yellowknife voters.

Two golds for figure skating. Two crowns for Caribou Queen.

Sound familiar? We think so. This week's soap opera in the media over the Canadian pairs figure skating team is remarkably similar to what happened last year during the Quest for the Crown.

Last week's announcement that, despite the judges' marks, the Canadian pairs figure skating team would in fact get a gold medal was history-in-the-making. Just as last year's decision to crown both Gisele Forget and Christiane Boyd the title of Caribou Queen.

Now, as the Olympics re-thinks the entire judging system to ensure this never happens again, we, too, embark on the eve of another Quest for the Crown.

Do we want to repeat last year's "rock'em sock'em" contest? A race, where mud-slinging became the talk of the town, and bitterness between the winners turned ugly?

No. But nor should we necessarily condemn the actions of our judges.

After all, here in Yellowknife, it's not a matter of "best presentation and technique," but a matter of fundraising. Period. Whoever raises the most for the carnival gets a free trip to sunnier climes and rightly so. The fact that Gisele Forget and Christiane Boyd raised more money for Caribou Carnival than their predecessors can't be ignored. Thanks to their efforts just under $18,000 was raised, money that largely went to help fund the Dog Derby.

Both candidates have yet to confirm or deny entering the fray again this year. All we have to say is let's hope they're both interested.

We should not only welcome back these two as candidates but hope we get more candidates with equal enthusiasm for raising money.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

Language act must be planned carefully We agree completely with Mike Shouldice's contention that language and culture are inseparable.

The campus director for Nunavut Arctic College in Rankin Inlet raised some valid points about what Nunavut's new Language Act should look like when eventually passed into legislation (please see our story on page 3).

However, the Nunavut government would be well advised to tread carefully with our new Language Act and avoid drawing comparisons to Quebec's Bill 101.

The Language Act should focus on implementing standards to help preserve Inuktitut as part of Inuit culture. Its primary purpose should be to help protect Inuktitut to ensure its survival, and be an invaluable resource in helping Inuit with their education and job opportunities.

It should not, however, be so stringent as to retard the development of tourism or dissuade companies from wanting to do business in Nunavut.

The comparison to Bill 101 is ill-conceived. First and foremost because French is one of Canada's two official languages. Second, the province of Quebec pours more money into the federal coffers in a year than Nunavut will be capable of doing for decades.

Even with those two points, Quebec often faces business hurdles due to the language barrier Bill 101 has the ability to create.

Make no mistake about it: how we're perceived by the rest of Canada will go a long way in aiding or inhibiting our future development as a territory -- whether we like it or not.

One national daily has already written a scathing editorial on the move towards a Nunavut Language Act, which drew a negative reaction from a good number of Canadians towards the initiative.

It's daunting enough that we are constantly looked upon in some areas as the nation's poor cousin, always with our hands out for more funding from Ottawa.

Should we add arrogance to that viewpoint, we accomplish nothing but to put another arrow in the quiver of those who see Nunavut as nothing more than the creation of the biggest welfare state in the free world.

We, of course, know we will prove our worth to the rest of the nation as time goes by. Nunavut will eventually come to symbolize the success of aboriginal self-government. We will see the day when we are more to Canada than simply a show of sovereignty in the North and another colour in our nation's rainbow of cultural diversity.

But we must reach our objectives as harmoniously as we can with the rest of our country. Preserving Inuktitut and defining culture should be a top priority with the Nunavut government -- as should projecting our image as proud Canadians.

Editorial Comment
Malcolm Gorrill
Inuvik Drum

The first seven months have not been easy for Darrin White and Gail Hodder.

Late last July the husband and wife team took over as executive director and artistic director, respectively, of the Great Northern Arts Festival.

Currently they are the only paid employees there, as the GNAF Society copes with a shortfall in anticipated revenue.

Their situation is a reminder of the somewhat precarious position such societies can find themselves in, as they rely upon government grants and corporate donations. Once the current crunch is behind them, White and Hodder hope to chart a smoother course for the festival, and the best of luck is wished to them.

This is also a good reminder for people that organizing this annual event takes all year long, and is by no means a task just assigned to the summer months.

Wiling away the hours

Delta residents find all sorts of ways to pass the time during the long winter months.

One example would be the afternoon course offered last week on painting on silk at the Inuvik campus of Aurora College.

Around 10 people tried their hand at a new art form, and seemed to have a lot of fun while doing so. Even if none ever paint on silk again, they'll have memories to treasure from the weekend.

Sports is another great way to pass the time, and get some exercise along the way. The Inuvik Dart Association playdowns wrapped up and the NWT Fire Fighters Bonspiel was held over the weekend.

People can and do play these sports for years, forming great friendships along the way. Comments were made also about how enjoyable the territorial and national events are.

Name change debate unnecessary

The idea of coming up with a new name for the NWT seems misguided.

The Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk councils have spoken out against any change, and the word on the street suggests strong support for maintaining the status quo.

It could be a complicated, messy and expensive undertaking to arrive at a new name -- especially one that would please everyone.

On a more practical level, it would cost a lot to change signs and logos, and would take time for people outside the NWT to learn the new name.

There are far more pressing matters to spend time and money on.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum, Fort Simpson

It was a pleasure to talk to three long-time Fort Providence couples last week. Did they interrupt each other on occasion? You bet they did. Do they still have arguments? Of course they do. But the couples also support each other and laugh together. A sense of humour is so important.

They exchanged knowing glances from time to time. Living together for 50 years takes a combination of hard work, sacrifice and compromise. Yet when two people love and appreciate each other that much, their devotion outweighs all else.

How humbling

Sometimes you just have to laugh at life. Take last Thursday morning for example. I was at Deh Gah school in Fort Providence when I realized the zipper on my winter coat had split. This had nothing to do with excessive weight gain.

I fought doggedly with the cursed thing, which was still held together at one point by the slider (I have since looked up the parts of the zipper on the Internet). As I made my way down the quiet hallway -- school was in -- I made some progress. Having an appointment to interview a staff member, I entered the classroom. By that point I had wrestled the slider halfway to the bottom, at which point I could slip my coat off, but I was still struggling.

As is customary, several young students raced to greet me, each asking if I remembered the last time I took their picture. They quickly realized my predicament and a few of them offered this advice: pull the zipper all the way to top and then ease it down. At that juncture I was reluctant to give it a try, having spent the past five minutes making headway. Teacher Catherine Mains, standing at a distance, noted that one of the students experienced the very same problem earlier that morning.

"Well," I reasoned with myself. "these kids must know what they're talking about then."

After all, none of them was still trapped in a coat. That was reassuring.

So, with a little effort, I managed to return the zipper to its upper limit. The problem was that it still wouldn't go down.

Classroom instructor Fern Elgar came over to lend a hand. After a few minutes of futility she gave up. Then Catherine gave it a shot. She did her best to even up both sides, but she too was unsuccessful. Thankfully the students had lost interest, turning their attention back to their Valentine's artwork.

There I stood truly ensnared in my coat. I couldn't even pull it over my head now with the zipper enclosing the material snugly around my neck. I had no choice but to yank the loathsome zipper apart, tearing one of the teeth off in the process.

Now my coat is fastened by the snaps I had previously never used. I'm grateful to be able to pull it on and off without trouble, but I'm praying that we've seen the last of the -40 C weather. The gaps between the snaps sure don't compare to the buffer offered by a zipper.