The Northwest Territories has the second-highest rate of children using food banks -- 46.5 per cent compared to 40.8 per cent nationally. That should be a cause for scandal in a place with the highest employment rate in Canada.

Sadly, it probably won't be. As a society, we have grown far too complacent about accepting food banks as a permanent feature of our social landscape.

In essence, we have privatized food-as-charity -- a notion that would have struck the authors of the Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601 as retrograde.

There are two food banks in Yellowknife -- the Salvation Army runs a twice-a-week one and Yellowknife Food Bank operates twice a month in the basement of Calvary Baptist Church.

In 1999, the Salvation Army food bank gave out about 1,000 hampers, Capt. Al Hoeft says. In 2000, the number spiked up to 1,283 hampers, before settling back down to 1,060 last year. Hoeft says he expects they will also give out about 1,060 hampers again this year.

Dave Ritchie, president of the Yellowknife Food Bank, says they spend $35,000 to $40,000-a-year buying groceries with donors' money, feeding 250 to 300 people every two weeks -- "just under half of whom are children."

The modern day food bank concept began in the late 1960s in Phoenix, Ariz. In January 1981, with help from the Phoenix group, the Edmonton Gleaners Food Bank, Canada's first food bank, opened.

Hoeft says while there is a philosophic debate about whether government or private charity should be ultimately responsible for "food security" issues, "We, as a society, have an obligation to do something."

True enough. The volunteers who staff the two Yellowknife food banks and the donors who generously donate to them should be commended.

But we also need to reflect and ask ourselves what kind of society we are building in the capital city that accepts as the norm the existence of two food banks in our midst?

While this Halloween will likely be warmer outside than in previous years, that doesn't mean parents should be less careful when it comes to the safety of our children.

Trick-or-treating is an excitable time in our children's lives, all the more reason to go that extra step to ensure they're safe.

Get outside and patrol your streets tomorrow night. Make sure, if you can't accompany your child on their rounds, they travel with friends. Don't be too lazy to assist your little ones as they go door to door in search of Halloween treats. And check their candy when they get home.

Let common sense prevail in protecting children, our most precious asset.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

Kivalliq residents can be forgiven for starting to detect a foul odour emanating from the financial situation of the Kivalliq Inuit Association and its investment arm, Sakku Investment Corp.

Since the KIA's recent dismissal of Sakku's board of directors, the vast majority of Sakku employees have tendered their resignations.

The auditor's report released during KIA's annual general meeting in Rankin this past week, detailed a precarious financial situation.

The KIA's long-term debt has ballooned to $4 million during the past fiscal year, which includes $3 million borrowed by Sakku -- of which the exact amount secured by the Nunavut government remains unclear.

The auditor's report also showed the KIA's unrestricted surplus shrunk to a meagre $19,130 from $320,855 the previous year.

So, what do we make of all this?

Well, on the surface, it would appear many of the KIA's financial woes stem from Sakku.

However, former Sakku president and financial top gun Paul Landry still maintains Sakku's financial picture is nowhere as bleak as what the KIA paints it out to be.

Landry's position gained credence this past week with KIA president Tongola Sandy's surprising statement that a letter of apology will be sent out to the former board members for their dismissals.

Sandy went on to say there could be no blame placed on the former board members for the current fiscal state of the corporation.

The KIA-Sakku's new top financial gun, John Marion, has stated board members won't have an accurate picture until a financial review is completed in about six months.

Since there's no one to blame, apparently, for the current financial mess, it will be interesting to see just how these money woes came about in the first place.

In the meantime, local conspiracy theorists are using the KIA's cone-of-silence approach to further their contention that Sakku's financial situation is continually distorted so it can be used as a weapon during in-house power struggles.

However, unless the KIA (technically a non-profit organization now running a for-profit investment firm) drastically changes its stance on openness and accountability -- whether it's six months or six years -- Kivalliq beneficiaries will never know the truth concerning the organization's financial woes.

That approach, in itself, is a prime example of why the KIA finds itself in the mess it's in today.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

Every once in a while, this line of work gets me into a really special place. This week, it was the funeral and memorial service for the late Agnes Semmler. Although I never had the privilege of meeting Agnes, it was an honour to attend this celebration of her long and accomplished life.

Old friends embraced, ate and laughed, recalling story after story of her acerbic wit and many adventures.

Judging from the tales I heard, she wasn't one to mince words, and she always seemed to be able to treat people like people, whatever their nationality or station in life.

I hope those who didn't know her will at least get to read about her, and learn like I did, about her remarkable way of being in this world.

Electoral apathy

It was a pretty dismal turnout for Monday's municipal election.

Perhaps I just spend too much time at town hall, but I happen to think municipal politics is a pretty important thing and seeing only 35 per cent of voters turn out came as a bit of a shock to me.

I always feel good after voting and it's not so much that I've made a huge difference, but that I've exercised the right that so many millions don't have; that, and the fact that it earns me the right to bitch.

After the polls closed on election night, I popped 'round to one of the local watering holes and was taken aside by a couple patrons who appeared as though they'd been there a while.

"Aren't you the guy who writes that newspaper column," one asked.

I pleaded guilty and the table railed on about what was wrong with the town and what I should write about, until I asked if they voted. Then things got quiet.

That's the whole deal with this democracy thing. If you don't vote, you can't affect change and really, you forfeit your opportunity to bitch.

I think they should post the list of non-voters in the coffee shops and watering holes around town, just to keep tabs on who's earned the right to complain.

Power play

The recent actions of cabinet over the power rates has most of us wondering if the powers that be have suffered a short-circuit.

For months, everyone in cabinet thought taking a look at a one-rate system would be good for the territory, but all of a sudden it was a bad idea.

So bad, in fact, the government yanked the rug out from under democracy.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum

A mock disaster exercise held in Fort Simpson Saturday proved that local agencies are quite capable of responding to a tragic accident.

But it also brought to light a number of deficiencies, such as communications problems, co-ordinating multiple medevacs and a shortage of certain supplies, namely blankets.

The fact that these shortcomings exist shouldn't be the primary concern. The aim of the exercise was to expose these very flaws. It's now imperative that follow-up meetings take place to ensure these problems are eliminated in the event of a real disaster.

Having a community-generated list of key people, places and equipment would be invaluable. As it has been pointed out, not all numbers are listed in the phone book. The revamped blue pages in the latest edition of the phone book are widely considered as nothing short of shoddy, especially when time is of the essence.

The mock disaster exercise -- the first of its kind to be held in Fort Simpson in winter conditions -- was meant to overburden the community's medical staff, firefighters, police, transportation employees and emergency measures personnel. Some of these groups found themselves short-staffed on Saturday. The firefighters, for instance, had nine of 16 members available and the fire chief was out of town. The RCMP had three members in uniform, one volunteering as a victim and another assisting the fire department. They are seven strong at full force. In a sense, those are ideal circumstances for such an exercise, as disasters always seem to strike at the worst possible time.

A doctor and a full complement of nurses would not necessarily be on hand in the midst of a crisis either.

It was made clear Saturday that, sometimes, even the most efficient of responses will not save all lives. The local health centre is not the University of Alberta hospital. There is neither an intensive care unit nor is there a surgeon on staff in Fort Simpson. This is a region of 3,000 people, not a city of millions. That's just the reality of the situation.

Also worth noting, the exercise was originally scheduled to be held in September. Delays resulted in it being held on the heels of a memorial service in Fort Liard.

Last week, people in that community gathered to remember three people who perished in a tragic plane crash last October. The exercise was certainly not intended to disrespect surviving family members nor the memory of those who passed away. On the contrary, the purpose was to improve the odds of survival when another disaster occurs.

Nobody wants a tragedy, but it's in everybody's best interest to be prepared for one.

The benevolent fund has donated $13,800 to the hospital in the past three years, not "well over $10,000," as reported in "Mainly because of the meat" (Yellowknifer, Oct. 23).