It was all a bit anti-climactic Monday when Northwest Territories Supreme Court Justice Virginia Schuler dismissed drug trafficking charges against Matthew France and Daniel Winter.

Schuler sealed the fate of the case when she granted a defence motion to exclude 38 kilograms of high-grade marijuana and other evidence seized by the RCMP from the so-called "bud boys" rental van near Fort Providence last year.

With the pot gone up in smoke as evidence, Crown attorney Sue Kendall admitted she had no case.

At the heart of the case was the Mounties' admission they had no reasonable and probable grounds to stop and search the green van with British Columbia licence plates on Highway 3. All they had was a "hunch" it might be transporting drugs.

And that, Schuler correctly noted, is a violation of Section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom's protection that "everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure."

From the initial illegal search, Schuler wrote, flowed further Charter violations regarding arbitrary detention and the right to instruct counsel.

While there is little commendable to be found in the RCMP's actions here, what little credit they deserve is for being honest enough not to try and trump up the grounds for their search, cloaking it with legal cover.

Schuler's decision came just two days after the 20th anniversary of the proclamation of the Charter by the Queen on April 17, 1982 in Ottawa.

We would do well to remember the words of the Charter's architect on that day. "We now have a Charter which defines the kind of country in which we wish to live, and guarantees the basic rights and freedoms which each of us shall enjoy as a citizen of Canada," said then Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau standing on Parliament Hill.

In 1938, John Larsen, a Yellowknife-based prospector, sent samples of water from Baker Creek down to a university lab in Alberta.

His camp was near the creek and he was worried about drinking the water. The report came back, concluding the water was unfit for human consumption because of the high level of arsenic.

That was 10 years before Giant Mine opened. Now another study tells us there are high levels of naturally occurring arsenic in the area. As there has been no alarm raised about a threat to human health, with the possible exception of drinking water from Baker Creek, that should be enough to put the issue to rest.

Now we can focus our energy on figuring out what do with 250,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide underground at Giant Mine. That is a known health hazard and something has to be done.

Those formerly known as 'secretaries' changed their title back in 1981 to 'administrative professionals'. The desire to change is understandable considering what many of us envision when we hear 'secretary': A woman who sits behind a desk, takes shorthand, answers the phone and gets coffee for the boss, who is a man.

Administrative professionals are still behind a desk but the electronic age has made shorthand and dictation a thing of the past. And the coffee, well, the boss can get their own. There are more than 500,000 administrative professionals in Canada and almost nine million in the United States. So the people who make offices work should be respected. If we don't, we may one day suffer the consequences -- an administrative professional coup.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

Rachel Siusangnark's difficulties this past year in combining sports and school work is a common problem for many athletes across Canada. Top athletes often have to travel to tournaments and qualifying events. It's yet another example of the sacrifices they make in pursuit of excellence.

However, there are those who can give our athletes a helping hand, especially when it comes to keeping up their academic standing while pursuing sporting interests.

Parents have the job of doing what they can to ensure their children study and keep up with their assignments while travelling. Being aware of what's expected of your child, as far as their school curriculum goes, is the starting point.

Make a point of sitting down with your child's home-room teacher before they head out on the road.

Ask about where they are with their school work, and any projects, tests or exams which may be lurking on the scholastic horizon shortly after their return. Make sure they take any and all material that will enable them to devote time to studying and completing projects while they're travelling. And, upon their return, sit down and discuss what they did concerning their school work while on the road.

Teachers can also help athletes who have to travel during the school year. It's a tremendous boost to an athlete when their teacher takes the time for a little one-on-one conversation to ensure they're keeping up with the rest of their class.

Nunavut's school system is lagging behind the rest of the country when it comes to setting minimum academic standards athletes must meet before being given the OK to travel. In short, athletes not making the grade academically should not be permitted to take time away from school to pursue sporting interests.

It's a tough stance, and one that's not overly popular with athletes, parents and coaches -- but it invests in the student's future, which has to remain our top priority.

Coaches, such as Eddy Sandy in Rankin Inlet, have stood up to criticism in the past when they've refused athletes permission to travel who were not keeping up with their scholastic efforts.

Concerned coaches also help their athletes by taking the time to speak with their teachers. Coaches who find out what's expected of their athletes while on the road -- and ensure they spend the proper amount of time on their school work -- help them further develop both their personal and educational skills.

And that's the type of concern that's remembered for a lifetime.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

The price of legal suicide just got higher.

Smokers were hit with a 75 cent per pack tax increase.

I don't have a gripe about the new tax, I think if it prompts people to quit or never start, it's worth it.

However, I tend to be pretty cynical about new taxes and can't help but wonder about the real motivation here.

If young people are determined to smoke, 75 cents isn't going to make much of a difference.

It seems to me, that if the government really wanted kids to quit smoking, they'd make it illegal for them to do so.

If it's illegal for stores to sell to young people, why isn't also it illegal for young people to possess or consume tobacco, as it is with alcohol and heroin?

Hard truth is, our governments have become as addicted to the tax as smokers are to the drug. If the feds were truly committed to improving the health of the nation, they'd outlaw the product completely, but in the interim, lawmakers could at least put some teeth in the tobacco laws we already have.

A mouse that roared

I was amazed to learn that the amendment to U.S. President George Bush's Energy Security Act was quashed in Congress last week.

It's inspiring to see what a few determined people can do to get their voices heard -- even thousands of miles away.

The people who depend on the Porcupine Caribou herd for subsistence must be elated that there are politicians in Washington like Democrats Tom Daschle, Joe Lieberman and John Kerry who took on the president and some oil-hungry Alaskans to kill the bill. We haven't heard the last of this issue and with elections coming soon in America, we might see another battle on the plains of ANWR.

Home-grown hero

It was a big treat to meet pilot Cecil Hansen on his turnaround from Edmonton.

The North imports so many of its pilots, it is refreshing to see a success that came right out of the Delta.

Aviation is such a big part of life in the North, one would think more young people would be at the controls of the big birds.

With Hansen as a role model, perhaps a few local kids will take interest.

Stand up and be counted

Good to see the census folks are taking another crack at the count in Inuvik.

I don't know what went wrong the first time the count happened, but somebody must have run out of fingers and toes.

Having been away from Inuvik for two years, even I noticed a lot more people here. New houses all over town, apartment buildings and just try and find a parking spot downtown.

I wasn't here when the last count was taken, but I'm sure there are quite a few more people here now during the boom, than their was in the recession.

Statistics Canada will be counting houses this time around. While I know a house is a big thing and hard to miss, maybe we should all get out and shovel our roofs and walks to make then even more visible -- we don't want to get missed this time.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum, Fort Simpson

Surely the late, great Elvis Presley wasn't singing of self-government negotiations when he crooned, "We can't go on together with suspicious minds."

Yet those very words ring true in light of last week's governance workshop in Fort Simpson. The Deh Cho First Nations and the federal government continue to creep forward ever so cautiously while the DCFN constantly casts a wary glance across the table.

This distrust remains despite federal negotiator Robin Aitken's repeated reassurance that Canada doesn't have anything up its sleeve. He is adamant that the federal negotiating team is pushing the negotiations envelope in Ottawa at the insistence of the DCFN.

A final agreement isn't projected to be signed for six or seven years. It would be excruciating for the two parties to carry on with so little confidence in each other. The Deh Cho should clearly state what sort of gesture of good faith they are seeking from the federal government.

In the meantime, the concept of self-government is starting to be examined more closely. At last week's governance workshop, the analogy of building one house (representing one government) was tossed around frequently. As facilitator Peter Russell pointed out, there are a lot of details about that house that have yet to be worked out.

Specifically, who holds power in what areas must be determined. At a community level it seems that Deh Cho leaders and elders want a single government to oversee everything including garbage collection and sewage. DCFN chief negotiator Chris Reid said the funding relationship with Ottawa must be direct, avoiding the loss of money to bureaucracy.

The idea of having single governments in the communities isn't a problem for some. In Wrigley, Kakisa, Trout Lake and Nahanni Butte, for example, the First Nations already administer programs and services. In essence, they already have their own local government.

The picture is a little on the fuzzy side for communities like Fort Simpson, Hay River, Fort Liard and Fort Providence, though. Each of those communities has a municipal government, a First Nations government and a Metis board.

There were references to how the Combined Council Alliance in Fort Providence is a good starting point for merging local government responsibilities.

However, there were also signs that on a regional level, proportional representation might become an issue. Hay River Mayor Duncan McNeill took umbrage with the concept of one community, one representative.

Hay River, he noted, comprises 3,600 people, more than the rest of the Deh Cho communities combined. Why should Hay River settle for a single representative? That's a tough question that will have to be answered somehow.

There are plenty of issues to be sorted out yet. The surface has just been scratched.

Deh Cho residents should keep abreast of these negotiations and be sure to ask questions or voice concerns.

A story that appeared in the April 17 Yellowknifer headlined "Whitepoint Flashpoint" included incorrect information.

The story indicated a tourism lodge proposed for Whitebeach Point enjoyed the support of the North Slave Metis Alliance.

The Alliance states it knows nothing about the project.

And the Lion's Club - Rotary Club Fair in the Square event will take place May 4.

Yellowknifer regrets these errors and any confusion they may have created.