Since November 2001, there have been three incidents in which duly elected Dene chiefs have been thrown out of office by hostile councillors. It's an insult to democracy and cheats the people of proper representation.

Custom elections, where the community decides how to govern itself, only work if the people have been given reasonable choices. In these instances, the choice has been a bad mix of democracy and dictatorship by the few.

In Colville Lake, Chief Dora Duncan was elected Aug. 8, 2001 and kicked out by councillors Nov. 19, 2001. Wrigley's Chief Percy Hardisty was elected October 2001 and removed August 2002. Chief Victor Marie in Salt River First Nation was elected in August 2002, ousted Oct. 9 and reinstated Nov. 3.

We will not judge the reasons for the ousters. But councillors and chiefs are elected by the people for the same reasons -- their beliefs, character, and experience. Councillors kicking the chief out rob the people of their democratic choice.

That was clearly the case in Salt River.

Five councillors took it upon themselves to oust Chief Victor Marie. Less than a month later a majority of band members voted him in, just as they had done in the first place.

The bands do have better options. Why not consensus style?

The people would elect a slate of councillors and then the councillors would choose a chief. Should the chief lose the confidence of the majority of councillors, he or she would return to a council position and a new chief would be elected.

Choosing chief and council separately by a general vote in the community must be with the understanding only the majority of the people can remove either chief or councillors.

Some communities may opt for elders councils choosing the chief. If this is the case, at least the chief knows where direction is coming from and with whom to consult before making a decision. Because it is the will of community to choose that method, elders councils are democratic.

All three options above are worthy. The one option that isn't democratic is the one where a handful of councillors acts without the stated will of the people. That is called a dictatorship and should be banned.

Schools in Nunavut are failing their students.

The problem is the message students get when they enter school: save your culture by speaking Inuktitut, or take classes in English to deal with the so-called modern world.

Many children are brought up speaking Inuktitut, learning Inuit expressions and traditional skills.

As they enter the school system, they learn that English is a necessity in life. Many of their teachers are Qallunaat. It may even seem that math is more important than hunting.

The important challenge educators face is how to maintain culture and language and prepare young people for a world of computers and technology.

Presently, a parent can choose whether to put their children in the English stream or the Inuktitut stream from Kindergarten to Grade 4.

Each has its own consequences. By putting a child in the Inuktitut stream, an Inuit family helps to preserve their language.

But what happens in Grade 5 when the child must switch over to English? They fall behind even if they've taken second language courses. It may take years for them to catch up, possibly even putting them at a disadvantage when they head south to university.

Educate your child in English and you lose that cultural connection. Your children might not be able to talk with their grandparents.

Both streams must be available to students in Nunavut, all the way through to Grade 12.

To make that happen, textbooks, reading material, and teachers who speak Inuktitut must be available. This is something Nunavut has been working on, but that is still lacking.

Emphasis on second language courses is also essential -- English for those whose first language is Inuktitut, and Inuktitut for whom it's not.

There are 9,087 students enrolled in Nunavut schools this year. They are the future of the territory; our education system must prepare them to live up to that role.

If necessary, sit down with each parent and make a plan for each child.

The skills children bring to school must be acknowledged in the curriculum. Important, too, is for lawmakers, educators and parents to ensure the skills children need in the future are also taught effectively.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

The interaction between professional athletes and youth is often nothing short of incredible.

And, as proven in Baker Lake this past month, you don't have to be one of the biggest stars in sports to still make a major impression.

Mark Laforest had a solid professional hockey career.

A journeyman goalie for most of his 14 years stopping pucks professionally, Laforest managed to do what millions of hockey fanatics in this country can only dream about -- play in the NHL.

Add to that the one year he wore the blue and white (Toronto Maple Leafs for you intellectual types), and Laforest has a strong enough resume to captivate just about any young audience with his tales form "The Show."

That's what makes the hidden gem of Laforest's personality all the brighter.

For Laforest, his biggest sense of satisfaction came from two seasons in the American Hockey league where his consistent goaltending earned him the Baz Bastien memorial trophy.

From what we understand, Laforest's message was not lost of the students.

If something's worth doing, it's worth doing right -- at any level.

That is, as long as you stick with it.

Not everybody can be a millionaire. Nor do the majority of us hang our parkas up on the 100th floor of some ivory tower every morning.

But a great many of us go to our place of employment every day and do the best job we possibly can.

It's called taking pride in what you do and what you accomplish at your level.

For many people in this world, working construction in Baker Lake would be a free-fall from skating out onto the ice in Maple Leaf Gardens.

But, that's what makes people like Mark (Trees) Laforest so special -- their ability to always try and do their best.

A Mark Laforest can often be the right kind of person delivering the right message at the right time.

Sticking to their goals, finishing what they start and always giving 110 per cent are the types of attributes we need to see in the next generation coming out of our educational system.

They're the types of attributes from which progress springs.

And, as Laforest himself so vividly illustrates, they're also the types of attributes that often bring success the old fashioned way -- through hard work, pride and determination.

After all, a well built school in the Kivalliq is every bit as beautiful to see as a great save in the Gardens.

And if you don't believe that, you're barking up the wrong tree.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

The huge rent increase faced by Martin Goodliffe is an isolated incident that has nothing to do with a greedy landlord, but does illuminate a flaw within landlord legislation.

If a landlord decides they no longer want to be a landlord, they can't just kick people into the street, but apparently, they can raise their rent so high that they will be forced into the street.

Three months' notice is all that's required and you could see your rent doubled, tripled or quadrupled under current territorial legislation.

Looking at the rent being asked around town, it seems we have a lot of landlords who want out of the business.

We see once-affordable housing around town that's now turned into "executive suites" with an executive price tag about double what the old rent was.

It's just this type of behaviour that forces government into the marketplace.

If someone wants out of the rental business, they want to demolish for new development or if they are just motivated by pure greed, rents can, and are going through the roof here.

It begs the question: Where will low income people live? The answer is: Not Inuvik.

Our waiters and waitresses, store clerks and gas jockeys, will all require $25 per hour to get by here.

So to keep employees, business owners will have to provide housing and that will drive their costs up, which in turn, drives their customers' costs up.

This begs another question: How much will you pay for a cup of coffee?

It goes 'round and 'round, but in the end, we all end up paying for high rents and if these landlords don't get wise, soon they'll be heating empty units.

This winter, the greedheads have no choice but to suck up the loss from their empty executive suites and maybe next winter too, but when that pipeline starts getting built, people will have no choice but to pay the exorbitant price demanded.

When I lived in Banff, Alta., I watched this story play out.

Chambermaids, waitresses and gas jockeys living under bridges because they couldn't find a place to live, never mind one they could afford.

We don't have any bridges here, but I know people were sleeping under buildings downtown last winter.

Will it take a few frozen bodies to legislate some rent control here or can we hope that the landlords settle for a little profit instead of a huge one?

I'm hoping for the latter, but the way things are going, I'm not too hopeful.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum

It hasn't been much of a cold winter yet.

Technically speaking, it's not even winter at all. That season officially begins on Dec. 21, although it seems silly to think of November and December as autumn in the North.

Even though it has been relatively mild, many of us have slipped into that habit of convenience: letting our vehicles idle so they can be toasty warm when we get inside. Other times, we fall prey to the best of intentions: making a brief stop somewhere, running inside and quickly returning to the idling vehicle. The next thing you know, 10 or 15 minutes has passed while carbon dioxide is belching from the tailpipe.

That issue isn't unique to the North. According to a recent Canadian Press article, Calgary city council is about to debate whether to penalize those who leave their vehicles idling too long. Toronto already has a bylaw that gives motorists a three-minute idling limit. After that, vehicle owners are subject to a fine of up to $2,000.

It's unlikely that Toronto's bylaw officers are walking around with stopwatches to nab anyone who surpasses the 180 allotted seconds. It's also unlikely that first or second time offenders are receiving fines over $100. But the law is on the books, and those who flout it by letting their vehicles run for half an hour or more deserve what they have coming to them.

Such legislation makes good sense. Even if you're not a big believer in climate change or global warming -- or if you're skeptical that humans are responsible for such phenomenons -- there's no room for doubt when it comes to air pollution. Poor air quality advisories are becoming more and more frequent all over the world every summer, and Canada is no exception. There's no lack of scientific evidence linking vehicle exhaust to smog alerts.

Even so, there is an argument to be made for allowing cars to warm up properly during the winter. It's often pointed out by environmentalists that, mechanically speaking, the engine only needs a minute or two to warm up (a block heater is useful here). However, the vehicle's cabin heating system takes longer, sometimes five or 10 minutes in extreme cold. It's not just warm seats at the heart of the issue, it's also ensuring that one's windshield doesn't frost or fog up. It can be a hazard to take off after only a minute or two because even after thoroughly scraping the outside of the windows, frost can still form quickly on the inside, if the vehicle isn't warmed up sufficiently.

So we need to strike a balance. If we jump into a cold vehicle and drive off right away, we assume the risk of running down some poor pedestrian when our windshields frost over. On the other hand, we don't need to leave our vehicles idling for prolonged periods of time. Some people won't stop, though.

At least there's the promise of fuel-efficient vehicles. Hybrid and hydrogen-powered cars, trucks and SUVs will hopefully be the way of the future and take some of the stink out of the air.