Canada Day comes but once a year, and as a community, Yellowknifers should be commended for yet another great show of national pride.

Residents came down by the hundreds in a sea of red to watch the parade of boats, floats, planes and classic automobiles and to wish our country a happy birthday along Franklin Avenue Monday morning.

Strangely, the celebrations had started the night before at Funk Fest but with much more varying enthusiasm.

Perhaps some people were caught off guard, or were too heavy with beer, but as the night's popular Canadian headliner The Mahones launched into their version of "O Canada" shortly after midnight, only about half the audience rose to attention.

Funk Fest organizers could hardly be criticized for the lacklustre show of patriotism.

Before the anthem began volunteers were out giving away dozens of miniature Canadian flags.

One person, who did not stand for the anthem, argued that having the freedom to not have to is part of what makes Canada great.

We are a tolerant nation. Both patriotism and dissent have always seemed optional, and we have got along by that ideal over the years with comparatively fewer bruises to the national psyche than other countries of the world have when forced to face inward.

We have shown to the world -- twice now -- that we can hold our breath while Quebecers decide whether or not they should stay without descending into violence and anarchy.

Last week, after G8 leaders departed Kananaskis, both protestors and police were commended for turning down the heat and keeping the peace.

As a nation we should be proud of our tolerance for other views, but it should be noted, as the one person at Funk Fest acknowledged, it is impossible to tell the difference between someone making a conscientious decision not to stand for the anthem because it is their right, and simple apathy.

That said, could it be any more ironic that the most popular song performed by The Mahones is called "Drunken Lazy Bastard?"

In the south, every job lured to a community is viewed as a coup.

People are hungry for work and establishments like Dairy Queen are welcomed with open arms and fanfare.

Yellowknife is a different story.

Here, jobs go wanting for qualified staff. The latest victim is Dairy Queen. Owner Seamus Henry says he's not able to get enough people to staff the counter, grill the burgers and fill the cones.

It's not that people don't want the jobs, it's because there aren't enough people to fill them.

The latest figures from the NWT Bureau of Statistics show that three-quarters of the territory's population participate in the workforce. The unemployment rate is less that seven per cent, and you can bet most of that number is in the communities, not Yellowknife.

While the prosperity driving the NWT economy comes from oil and gas exploration and mining, many of the jobs that remain unfilled in Yellowknife can't be filled by people living in Wha Ti, Deline or Fort Good Hope. Most people would rather commute to higher paying jobs in the mines. Government can play a role by continuing efforts to help people, especially teens, develop skills for service industry jobs but that alone likely won't fill the entire need. That will only likely happen when the economic growth warrants a major influx of new workers from other areas.

Until then, hard-working entrepreneurs will be putting in long hours to keep their businesses afloat.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

There can be no denying the difficulties a government faces when its tax base contributes as little to its overall revenues as it does in Nunavut. The territorial government is further bound by the fact the number of items that qualify for a quick financial hit under the ever popular sin-tax banner are much more limited than those of its 12 counterparts.

This leaves the finance minister in a position of having to be bold and creative in raising enough revenues to minimize our dependence on Ottawa.

If we are to accept the dollar figures we keep hearing from tourism operators on the chartering of aircraft to feed their establishments with clientele -- we can't help but wonder why the Nunavut government isn't moving to capitalize on this opportunity.

Let's even take it one step further.

What a wonderful opportunity for the Nunavut government and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. to stop wasting millions of dollars fighting each other in court and work together to make something economically positive happen for a change.

Let's say the two sides were to take the money they're preparing to spend fighting each other in court (again) over the government's decision to extend the grandfather arrangement in the Nunavummi Nangminiqaqtunik Ikajuuti procurement policy and devoted it towards establishing a charter aircraft business.

The benefits of such a project would be threefold.

First, it would greatly aid the numerous tourism operations in Nunavut to attract more clients. This would likely result in the expansion of their operations, and the hiring of more Nunavummiut into entry level tourism and hospitality positions.

Second, it would allow for additional training in Nunavut's tourism industry, which is one of the truly promising areas of economic development our territory has.

Finally, it would produce additional revenues to be allocated into the grossly underfunded Nunavut Tourism and allow it to gradually escape from its lame-duck environment and aggressively pursue bona fide tourism-development projects.

A small step forward

And let's not forget the Kivalliq Inuit Association. In a partnership with any of these players, the plane(s) could be used in the off-season to fly representatives around to the numerous meetings they attend. We're not suggesting such a venture is the key to curing all of Nunavut's economic woes. But it might well prove itself to be a stepping stone to similar partnerships to help develop other neglected areas of our infrastructure. At the very least, it would be a move away from arguing over issues that affect very few of Nunavut's residents and a tiny step towards putting more of our own infrastructure in place.

Such a venture would help lay a stronger foundation for others to take advantage of and develop more ambitious projects. It would also show our leaders have the ability to recognize economic opportunities and take advantage of them to increase our self-reliance.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

The petroleum show seemed to be a big success by all accounts.

The town got a big boost from the sold-out show and local business got a big boost of oil money.

It's refreshing to see the huge co-operation that was mobilized by the hospitality sector, municipality and industry to pull off a world-class event in this small part of the world.

Agreement in disagreement

The chief's opposition to signing the Agreement in Principle came as quite a surprise to all involved.

With the minister winging his way North with pen in hand, the IRC and GTC both ready and waiting with the people's mandate, the chiefs threw up an 11th hour roadblock.

Everyone agrees that the chiefs had a legitimate concern, but the way it was handled was an insult to the years of hard work that had gone into the drafting of this document.

Negotiator Bob Simpson was powerless to negotiate the section, DIAND seemed intent on having the clause in the AIP, but never sought any input from the chiefs and council.

The chiefs knew about the issue before the AIP was initialled; they knew about it when it was approved; they knew about it when Robert Nault was making his travel plans, but not one said a word until last Friday morning.

These types of political tantrums infuriate politicians and more importantly, the people who work for them.

Now Simpson and team have to go back to the table with hat in hand and try to get back to negotiating in good faith despite the inexcusable bad faith action of the chiefs.

Clearly, more could have been done on all sides of this issue, but embarrassing politicians and the people who work for you isn't one of them.

Random thought

I was trying to get a good photo of the Igloo Church last Friday, but I couldn't seem to find an angle that did not include a backdrop of ugly telephone and power lines.

It occurred to me that since we have all these utilidors connecting the other services to properties, why shouldn't the power lines be down there too?

No one I asked seemed to know, but one person suggested that without the wires, the birds would have no where to sit.

The lines would be a lot easier to work on if they were on the ground and they'd also stay warmer in the utilidor. We wouldn't need power poles and our blue skies would be uncluttered.

It would be a big job to move all the wires down there now, but if it's possible, perhaps the phone, power and cable people can consider hiding those ugly wires in new developments.

The birds might not be too happy, but us photographers would sure appreciate it!

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum

Spreading resources too thin -- such as expecting one resource management officer to be an environmental watchdog enforcing federal legislation for an entire region -- is courting disaster.

That has been the situation in the Deh Cho for the past four months. By comparison, there are five territorial renewable resource officers in the Deh Cho. The disparity is alarming.

With the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development's current resource management officer preparing to leave town, it appears his replacement may also face the prospect of working alone for an indefinite period. What's worse, the new person likely won't be familiar with the area.

Ideally, resource management officers should inspect development sites before, during and after work has been done. There are many elements to consider, from the impact of cutting trees to obstructing creek crossings to the storage of hazardous materials. Then there's a pile of associated paperwork to go with it.

Allowing industry to police itself, even in the short term, is a risky proposition. For the occasions when mine or oil and gas engineers take the prudent course of action, there are bound to be at least a few incidents when environmental damage could be prevented by having resource management officer present.

Granted, even if there were three officers in the Fort Simpson district office, intermittent industrial accidents would still occur. But logic dictates that three people can do the job better than one.

DIAND must bolster its staff at the Fort Simpson district office. Whether the decision is ultimately made in Yellowknife or in Ottawa, the extra money spent on hiring employees will surely be recouped in heading off calamities, not to mention making the job bearable for its employees.

R&R important

Shane Parrish's parting thoughts make for an interesting read, but what's not included in the interview is his perspective on working oneself to the bone.

As a CEO, like many top-level executives, he said he often found himself working plenty of overtime, frequently at the office on weekends.

Living in Fort Liard, he was surrounded by magnificent scenery and diversions of nature, yet he rarely found the time to take advantage of it all.

He said if he has any regrets it was that he didn't get out on river, go camping, hunting, and fishing with his friends and neighbours often enough.

It's easier said than done, but taking a little extra leisure time can make a world of difference in coping with the daily grind.