The death of Regina Amagonalok leaves us with a stark reminder of the burden facing our street people.

At 51, the popular figure was found dead in her Old Town home Tuesday morning by her common-law husband Stan 'the man' Larocque.

While we are still awaiting autopsy results to confirm the cause of her death, we can't exactly say we're surprised by her untimely demise.

Regina spent her days drinking in the streets of Yellowknife where she became a familiar sight at the liquor store, post office, and the back alleys. What's most disturbing is Regina, who will be missed by many, wasn't alone in the lifestyle she chose. All you have to do is look outside on any given day to see the growing number of intoxicated people, including youth, wandering the streets having a 'drink' here and a 'drink' there.

No longer welcome in the bars, these people often end up sleeping it off in the post office or the drunk tank.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Terry Scott recently told Yellowknifer, "I've lost two man years to dealing with nothing but drunks last year."

Because there is no detox centre in Yellowknife there is nothing the police can do but to let them back out to re-join their friends and carry on.

While we'll never know had Regina sought and received help for her drinking whether it would have made a difference, we do know it's about time we took a good hard look at our street situation.

The police are overworked and the Salvation Army is overburdened.

We had enough social problems before and they will only worsen with the economic growth we're now experiencing.

The government needs to improve the social safety net to keep up.

The Social Working Group's recent recommendations are a place to start.

Joe Handley says he's sad to see Paul Martin go. We agree that it seems a shame that the prime minister can't get along with the one member of the federal cabinet to have accomplished much of anything over the last nine years. But we're not so sure his departure is such a bad thing for the North.

As the NWT minister of finance, Handley knows all too well how little Martin has done when it comes to giving us a larger piece of the resource royalty pie. So why not give Martin's replacement a fair shake?

True, John Manley has never demonstrated any interest in the NWT. But Handley and Manley share at least one thing in common: a reputation as ministers of everything. And sometimes, that's all two politicians need to develop a good working relationship.

A popular display was removed prematurely from its home at the airport last month. It was a bad decision but management quickly realized their blunder and are trying to fix it. Their solution is to build a glass-wall display to house our Northern treasures.

Walt Humphries has been generous enough to donate more of his time to put together more of our geological riches for the new display.

But we all learned a valuable lesson from the previous display. While it had been at the airport less than a year, it really grabbed people's attention.

We must think carefully about what we want the new display to say about us since hundreds of people will be looking at it everyday. Don't stick a bunch of pamphlets and ads to hotels and taxis behind the glass wall. We need something that screams: "You must come back and visit the NWT, look what we have to offer."

If you have ideas now would be time to tell airport management.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

There can be no denying the tremendous pressure the Nunavut government found itself under to offer a quick solution to the bad gas dilemma.

We applaud how expeditiously the government moved on testing the gas, setting up a compensation package for those who have suffered engine damage and working to find a long-term solution to the problem.

That being said, we have grave concerns about the government's decision to drop the price of gasoline by 33 per cent at the pumps.

On the surface, it appears to be a good-will gesture to pacify those who are upset over paying top dollar for sub-standard fuel. However, the move is also prompting people to fill up their machines even more with gas already proven to damage engines.

The price cut could easily be viewed as a move by the government to encourage people to purchase more gas at a discounted price to go through the supply faster.

The problem this creates is twofold. First, with people racing out to take advantage of the discounted price, it is inevitable that some of them are going to find themselves in trouble using this gas. Whether it's stranded on the land or stranded on the water -- people using this gas are going to have their machines break down.

It's been happening since the supply arrived and it's not going to stop now simply because it's cheaper. Reducing the price of the tainted gas by 33 per cent isn't going to make it any better.

Second, we fail to see how increased consumption of the tainted gas is not going to lead to even more compensation claims against the government before all is said and done. The move to discount the gasoline now could, in effect, lead to a much larger price tag for the government to pay in the future.

Having moved so quickly with the compensation package -- taking for granted it will be fair and easily accessed by those who truly deserve it -- the government has already earned itself good reviews for addressing the problem.

It would have been better thinking on its behalf to leave the price as it was in hopes people would only use what they absolutely needed.

In fact, an argument could be made that the government would have been better served to have come up with a rationing formula to keep the purchase of tainted gas at a minimum until such a time as a successful way to improve its quality was implemented.

When it comes to buying tainted gas at any price, the song being sung is still a sour one. And, sooner or later, somebody's going to have to pay the fiddler.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

Last week's Western Premier's conference sounds like it must have been quite a bully session with Premier Kakfwi walking away "embarrassed" by the Klein, Knowles and Duncan tagteam on the Alaska pipeline.

Despite the political crowing and manoeuvring coming out of Alaska and Yukon, one thing remains blatantly obvious that will see the Mackenzie Valley line go first -- producer support.

The Alaskan producers have said that the economics of the highway route still aren't there to drive the line -- even with the tax credit. Exxon said they don't want the tax credit and they say the political meddling will distort the market.

On the Mackenzie side, the producers are forging ahead with regulatory filing and the newest worry is if the pipe will be big enough to accommodate all the producers.

As last year's seismic data is now being analyzed, we'll no doubt be hearing about many more discoveries like the huge Devon/PetroCanada find announced last month.

All the talk from all the premiers, senators and governors won't add up to anything without the backing of the energy companies.

Grad for dad

Last week's graduation at Samuel Hearne was a real special event to cover.

A teacher friend from down south told me last week that, "Unless the graduation is yours, they're all pretty boring."

I thought for a second on that and had to disagree. I've covered dozens of grads and they all have their own nuances that make them all quite unique.

There are people and places that set them all apart, but there is always a mood that fills the air at these events that really makes each one a special celebration of achievement and pride.

The Class of 2002 seemed to have a lot of class. The banquet afterwards was emceed by Desmond Loreen who exhibited a quiet confidence that was echoed throughout the class.

What will stay with me from this year's graduation was the valedictorian's birthday wish to her dad. I never looked around, but I don't think Candace and I were the only ones with wet eyes.

Good luck to all this year's grads. Your special celebration here, made missing my niece Mandy's grad a little more tolerable.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum

A resolution to form a Deh Cho economic development corporation is on the agenda for the Deh Cho Assembly. Hopefully it is discussed with all due consideration. Then, with or without amendments, it should be ratified so it can proceed.

However, assemblies have known to get sidetracked with one major issue or another. It's not unusual for agenda items to be deferred until the next leadership meeting.

This economic development initiative cannot be allowed to idle for several months longer. Who knows how many opportunities have already slipped by? Many more will surely be missed unless something is done now.

While many initiatives could be undertaken presently, projects of a wider scope will become more feasible as joint venture partners begin to surface. That will happen with an Interim Resource Development Agreement between the Deh Cho First Nations and the federal government. That document, once signed by both sides, would allow selected areas to be opened up for development. Unfortunately, it appears that any agreement of that nature won't come without some sort of miracle at the negotiating table. The DCFN and the federal government are heading for a showdown.

With demands of as much as 50 per cent of resource royalties, the DCFN is miles from reaching accord with the federal government, which is offering what seems to be a miserly sum. While the government should be given credit for showing considerable flexibility in negotiations to date, it has so far failed to table a reasonable offer in the resource revenue area.

Despite a possible protracted political dispute, could a regional development corporation spur enough economic activity to assuage the growing appetite for enterprise?

While struggling for financial and environmental terms that it defines as acceptable, the DCFN has, in the past, opposed and quashed development projects that Deh Cho communities had been ready to tackle.

Why would things be any different at a regional level? This could get messy.

Summer of fancy

Does anything beat a Northern summer? Okay, it doesn't last long, but that means we should savour it all the more.

The emerging green and the lengthy days are a delight. Of course, the extra sunlight can make it hard to sleep for some, but that problem can be countered by covering bedroom windows with garbage bags or foil, or wearing a sleep mask. Defence against hot days comes in the form of air conditioning and ice cream. Bugs and mosquitoes can be fended off by aerosol sprays (which may be more of a hazard than the insects) or flailing arms.

Winter will make its return soon enough. Let's enjoy the brief warm spell.