The halls of power can be a tricky place ... unless you are one of the powerful.

As the former regional director for the CBC and the wife of Premier Stephen Kakfwi, Marie Wilson is probably comfortable there.

She knows the right doors to knock on, the right questions to ask.

With her help, the Living History Society had the government ready to spend $500,000 for a symposium and video documenting the last 25 years of the NWT's political evolution without a shred of paperwork.

Regular MLAs poked enough holes in the process -- like the lack of a formal grant proposal -- that the money was withdrawn.

At least most of it.

The society will get $100,000 from the GNWT on top of $50,000 received during the last fiscal year. Another $155,000 comes from the federal government and more from private companies.

Now, there's a squabble over who owns the rights to the videotaped interviews that will be used in the video.

Wilson wants to use them in the future and the government, which was billed $2,387 by the Vancouver camera operator, says the tapes are their property.

What kind of confidence can you have in a government that sees a project spearheaded by the premier's wife get treated so casually? We can only wonder what voters are thinking.

The whole thing stinks of favoritism, hurts the premier's and Wilson's reputation, not to mention the integrity of the project itself.

Governments have conflict of interest rules and funding applications for a reason. It's not to catch the corrupt, but to steer honest public officials and others through the proper channels.

Now that the money has been approved, government must restore the public trust. There must be a full cost accounting for public funds spent on the project, with iron-clad guarantees that any videotape footage will only be used for educational purposes.

Then it must audit how the project got so far with such a little paper trail.

If hunters cannot clean up after a caribou kill in public areas -- such as Tibbitt Lake parking lot -- they can go to the grocery store and buy neatly-wrapped packages of meat.

Perhaps they wouldn't be as quick to leave carcasses on the lake ice if they visited the area in summer with their families and watched the kids swimming alongside a floating caribou head. Never mind the stench of carcasses decomposing in warm weather.

That kind of scene will do nothing to encourage tourists to return.

And is it fair that those who live in the area have to boil lake water contaminated by carcasses?

But it's not just the hunters who bear this responsibility. When the territorial government put a parking lot at Tibbitt Lake, it opened up the area even more to the public.

Therefore, the GNWT is obligated to protect the public and police the hunters.

That means erecting signs to let people know if they leave behind waste in the parking lot they will be charged and fined.

The timing couldn't be better make new laws.

The territorial government is working to amend its current Wildlife Act and is seeking suggestions from the public.

So, we hope they follow through on the suggestion to fine those who can't be bothered to clean up after themselves. If a few hunters get slapped with big fines, others will be less likely to repeat the mistake.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

There are, no doubt, many people in the Kivalliq who view the Northern Transportation Company Ltd.'s recent meetings to discuss streamlining its cargo services as nothing more than damage control. It is, after all, quite easy to be skeptical in the wake of the bad gas dilemma.

However, even if there is some truth embedded in that line of thinking, we should give NTCL the chance to follow up on its rhetoric and improve its system.

The gas scenario is, ultimately, going to unfold in one way or another. Hopefully, those who legitimately suffered damage to their machines will be compensated somewhere in the not-too-distant future.

That being said, any improvement to the way cargo is imported into our region would be welcome. If, indeed, these improvements are a result of the bad gas, so be it. If nothing else, it would be one small silver lining into an otherwise very dark cloud.

The cold hard fact of the matter is -- when it comes to cargo in our region -- our choices are extremely limited. There are many who would say we've been held hostage (price-wise) for decades by those who transport cargo into the Kivalliq. In some ways, that may be true. But such is life in the Arctic.

Such, also, is the nature of supply and demand when it comes to any business operating as a monopoly or an oligopoly. Taking the company at its word, NTCL is listening to the complaints of Kivalliq customers and is moving to address those concerns.

Let's be honest: anything NTCL or its partners can do to reduce the cost of cargo delivery, or expedite the level of its service, will be welcomed in our region with open arms. That too, is the nature of free enterprise when it comes to consumer satisfaction.

We enjoy lower prices, better service and ease of use when it comes to any company's business system.

It is too early to speculate on whether NTCL will be held responsible for any financial compensation to Nunavummiut who suffered damage to their machines. Only time will tell if that becomes a reality and, if it does, how it will affect the company's desire to lower prices and improve its level of service.

While we wait for this story to unfold, we should do so with open minds. There will be plenty of time for passing judgment once the story is complete.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

For good or bad, it seems the town has settled the taxi situation in Inuvik -- for now at least.

The town has done their best to get out of the taxi business with the new law and the 30 drivers will have to scrap it out on the streets for the market share.

More than just earning a living, drivers are now also driven to pay off the cost of a $10,000 license.

The $300,000 will go a long way towards a new leisure centre, or whatever council decides to do with the funds raised from the license fees, so something good has come out of all the fighting.

While I haven't been here for the many years this battle's waged, I have the sinking feeling it's not over yet.

The drivers have dropped their court challenge, but the real challenge will be keeping this issue out of town council.

As it has been for years, it seems only half of the drivers are satisfied. The other half may soon have a choice though, as I hear rumblings of a new livery license before council.

While it never seemed to worked before, competition might be just what the Inuvik taxi industry needs.

With two companies competing, the customer will surely benefit. Perhaps not with lower rates, but perhaps with cheerful, prompt service.

Let's hope the drivers will be professional enough to keep the government from stepping back into the fray.

Dust in the wind

It looks like it may be a while until the town gets the street sweeper sweeping streets again.

While the rest of town is looking good, the streets are in dire need of a scrub.

It's not like spring comes as a surprise to any of us, but it seems the town was slow reacting to the change of season.

The contract for sweeping streets was handed back to the municipality, but they have yet to even buy back the sweeper.

The push is on to get the town cleaned up this week and I think the town should be leading by example.

It's hard to get motivated to clean your yard up, when there's a half-inch of dust coating it.

More than unsightly, the dust is a real health hazard.

I surely hope the streets will get swept before we hear the words 'smoking bylaw' mentioned again in council chambers.

Hurry up breakup

We're all glad to see the ferry is starting up again.

It seemed like a short break between ice road and ferry, but I'm more used to the long wait they have down in Yellowknife.

It'll be good to see the price of milk drop on store shelves too.

That's one thing I have a hard time with up here. The price of a bottle of beer in Inuvik is about the same as it is anywhere, but the price of milk is near triple.

The GNWT swears up and down that they don't subsidize freight on booze, so I guess they just have a cheaper trucker than the milkman.

Subsidy or not, I think part of the tax government makes off the booze sales here, could go a long way towards affordable fresh milk on our tables.

Editorial Comment
Mike Bryant
Deh Cho Drum

Well, my time in the Deh Cho is drawing to an end, at least for the time being.

I would like to thank all the people who have made wearing Derek's hat over the last month a little easier to bear.

There's simply too many to mention here.

Finding stories was never a problem. Fitting them all into the paper was the only difficulty I had.

My boat ride with Steven Cli was definitely one of my favourite adventures while here.

We didn't get to where we wanted to go, but it was the trip itself, and Steven's company, that made it worthwhile.

It's too bad I missed out on the beaver though.

One of my last duties here was covering the gas pipeline consultation meeting Monday night.

It was made clear by some people that despite the soothing tone of Imperial Oil exec Randy Ottenbreit's voice, they are still worried about what benefits the pipeline will bring them.

People want jobs, and by saying the pipeline is but "a step" towards solving the North's problems, was perhaps a little short of the guarantee some people were looking for.

After all, it's suppose to be a $60-billion industry some day.

Then again, as Liidlii Kue First Nation Chief Rita Cli has said time and again, people will need training to take full advantage of it.

The GNWT Department of Education, Culture and Employment has made modest steps in recent years to tackle that very problem, but with pipeline construction looming three or four years down the road, time is certainly of the essence.

It's something the gas companies can help out with as well. Merely throwing $4 or $5 billion around without aiding in the training local workers will not solve the problem.

Anyway, I best be off. Cheers and good luck.