Two headlines in last Wednesday's Yellowknifer are not only linked but disturbing.

The first was "More travel for cabinet," over a story about a new policy to increase the number of flights territorial cabinet can take to 40 from 32.

Second was "Games charter saves money," for a story about bureaucrats waiting too long to book economy tickets for cabinet ministers and the commissioner to fly to the Arctic Winter Games. A $34,000 charter was a better option than paying full fare, said the government.

Both are indications the politicians and bureaucrats are feeling rich and money is less and less a worry.

We have to remind them all, resources development is a boom and bust affair. Investment in the future is money well spent. Spending on luxuries is money ill-spent. We ask cabinet to ponder that while kicking back at 30,000 feet.

A question posed by Clear Arctic Springs seems to have a simple answer. Should government fund a business knowing it's in direct competition with an existing operation?

The gut answer is, no. Sometimes, however, that instinct is wrong.

Yes, Northshore Coffee and Water received money from the territorial government's Business Development Corporation. Did that give the company a competitive advantage? We don't know how much the company received -- that's protected by privacy laws -- but we do know it was a loan.

And because BCC is a lender of last resort, its loans come at two or three per cent above bank prime.

That's not a subsidy. For Northshore, it's a cost of doing business, just like a loan from any bank.

Diamonds helped drive the Northwest Territories' economy out of the doldrums.

Yellowknife has benefited the most from mine development and resupply. This city is also home to three cutting and polishing plants that employ about 100 people.

It's only through territorial government insistence that this secondary diamond business exists. They stood by their guns to ensure that at least some of the diamonds mined in the North get processed here too.

Under an agreement signed with BHP Billiton, 10 per cent of the gems extracted from the Ekati Mine go to polishing plants in the NWT.

So far, however, only a portion of the $85 million in diamonds allocated for the North from Ekati are processed here. Add Diavik's gems into the mix, and there is a lot more opportunity for other entrepreneurs to get into the business.

This seeming oversupply must not be used as an argument to send more rough Northern diamonds to other manufacturers. And the government must stick to its guns with De Beers. The world's largest diamond company has so far rebuffed GNWT efforts to commit a supply of diamonds from the soon-to-be-developed Snap Lake mine for use by NWT manufacturers.

Access to these diamonds is critical to the NWT's prosperity.

Instead of the 100 people who now have jobs in diamond manufacturing, we want 1,000. We need the gems for more polishing plants and jewelry manufacturers.

But without a guaranteed supply, we can't plan training programs, lure new firms to Yellowknife or build a better future for all Northerners.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

One can hardly blame the folks in Repulse Bay and Coral Harbour for being upset with the passenger airline service to their communities.

While calling it a return to the Ice Age might be a bit of a stretch, the service they're receiving in this day and age is nothing short of reprehensible.

Imagine being an elder with bladder problems and trying to endure a flight to Manitoba with no washroom facilities.

Even, for that matter, imagine being on vacation and you and your family spending the first week with nothing but the clothes on your back while you wait for your luggage to finally arrive.

There are people being stranded in communities who have had to shell out $100 a day or more out of their own pockets for hotel rooms while they wait for an available seat to get back home.

What's even more disturbing is how their pleas for help continually fall upon deaf ears.

Once again, our leaders seem to be sending the message people in Repulse and Coral should be happy with what they have.

Forget the fact they're being deprived of a service most people take for granted.

It's actually somewhat ironic. With the money the Nunavut government is shelling out for travel due to a decentralized government, it should be able to come up with a way to help an airline run the Coral-Repulse route with a larger plane.

Once again, the rich get richer while the common folk do without.

People across the Kivalliq Region should raise their voices in support of the residents of Repulse and Coral. In a nutshell, they deserve better service that what they're receiving.

If this can happen to them, it certainly could happen to a number of other smaller communities.

We live in an age where the dollar rules above all, but the Repulse-Coral situation hardly fits the picture of the modern society the government is trying to paint to the rest of the nation.

The only real weapon the people in Repulse and Coral have is the power of their votes.

If, as they say, their pleas for help to their MLAs have been falling on deaf ears, hopefully they'll remember that come election day.

The government should realize it's time to act when its hears constituents talk about community morale reaching worrisome levels.

If the government does not act on the people's behalf, it should be willing to accept its share of the blame should the day come when tragedy befalls either of these two communities due either directly, or indirectly, to the lack of passenger service they are enduring.

It would be interesting to know how far the money spent on a handful of government charters would go towards helping to subsidize an airline willing to take over the Coral-Repulse run.

Maybe it's time the people found out.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

The new initiatives for improving literacy in the NWT are a much-needed change to the way we look at the health of our population.

Recognizing the need for literacy in all official languages will help preserve languages and foster a richer cultural environment for future generations.

The fundamentals of reading and writing are more important now than ever in the Delta, with employers and organizations scrambling for educated people to fill high-paying jobs.

The focus on early childhood programs are an especially needed change in the world of words.

Teachers of kindergarten and Grade 1 are already noticing the rapid growth of children who have taken part in Head Start programs.

The "get 'em while they're young" philosophy not only makes for better students and happier teachers, but also saves governments huge amounts of money in the long-term social payout.

Learning on the land It was a real treat to get out to the Rachel Reindeer camp with the kindergarten kids and the Gwich'in elders last week. It's wonderful to see that kind of interaction of ages and cultures.

The legacy passed on from Rachel Reindeer and the Gwich'in elders will ensure that traditions will continue and this culture will survive.

Children have so many modern distractions to pull them away from these time-honoured traditions. But seeing their faces and hearing that laughter every time a fish came up through the ice on that net, reminds us all that life's real pleasures don't happen in front of a television.

The camp brings the Gwich'in children back to the ways of their parents and grandparents, but equally important is the gift of sharing that culture with the other children of Inuvik.

It's a rare thing for children to be cradled in such culture and these kids will be better friends and better people because of these experiences.

Back to the Valley

Good to hear the minister of housing will be seeking RWED's support to keep Happy Valley Campground open, for now.

If given the town's approval, the proposed elder's complex will allow enough space so both campers and the elders will have a place of their own. The RV campers will be pushed out, however. This will no doubt lead to people parking their rigs on our roadsides and parking lots rather than stay out of town.

There is also the issue of the sani-dump. Happy Valley is the only place in town where RV 2 s can dump their waste and take on fresh water. Let's hope RWED can work out something to keep that service operating or we could face a loss of tourist traffic or worse, a messy situation if these campers can't find a place to "go."

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum, Fort Simpson

It's spring break in Fort Simpson. There's no activity at the schools, other than a few teachers here and there preparing lesson plans.

Yet the silence belies that fact that there is action being taken on the education front. Behind the scenes, the Fort Simpson District Education Authority is hiring more staff.

The war of words between the DEA and the Department of Education has gone on for four long years. DEA chair Shane Thompson says that the government isn't meeting its territorial objective of a 16:1 student-teacher ratio at Bompas elementary school, where the number is actually higher than 19:1.

The government cites the regional figure, which is right on target. During Education Minister Jake Ootes' November visit to Fort Simpson, he also stated that the student-teacher ratio across the NWT has improved over the past year.

That must include Bompas elementary school because the student-teacher ratio that used to be routinely referred to was as high as 25:1.

So things are getting better, but there's a ways to go yet. The DEA is able to bring more classroom hands on board by extracting dollars from the operations and maintenance portion of their budget. It's not an ideal way to handle a shortfall for additional staffing positions, but it's a sufficient stopgap measure (providing the school doesn't fall apart structurally, which doesn't appear to be an imminent threat).

The regional education council can, in the short-term, continue to help bail out Fort Simpson's DEA with additional funds, but there's pressure to do the same in Fort Liard and Fort Providence, where more staff are also coveted. The only problem is, as education board director Nolan Swartzentruber has pointed out, once the $1.2-million surplus is tapped out, it's gone for good. If we're lucky, the government will have met or exceeded its pupil-teacher ratio in all Deh Cho schools by then.

Raising children

The Traditional Parenting Program sounds like a project worthy of consideration. If the cultural elements make aboriginal parents feel comfortable and encourage them to attend, all the better. The program is also open to non-aboriginals. It imparts enhanced parenting skills and a greater appreciation of aboriginal culture. The blend of elders' wisdom and expertise from professionally-trained counsellors would provide a wide range of guidance.

The phrase "it takes a whole community to raise a child" was a traditional way of life for First Nations peoples, according to Joe Migwans. All band members would look out for children. It's a far cry from what goes on today. Many parents become defensive if anyone else scolds their children (not to mention the sometimes indignant responses from the children themselves). Whether people wish to seek their advice or not, there are still strong individuals within the circle who can help show the way.