As a general principle, we do not favour city council handing out tax dollars to special interest clubs, even not-for-profit ones.

It can open the door to favouritism or at least the appearance of favouritism.

In rare cases, however, it makes sense to help out community organizations that make Yellowknife a better place to live.

The perilous state the Yellowknife Gymnastics Club now finds itself in is a case in point. It says it needs $110,000 in the form of a repayable grant to make up for lost income caused by the five-month delay in the new Multiplex opening.

Lawyer Elaine Keenan-Bengts, a driving force behind the gymnastics club, says she has put her house up as collateral against the club's debts.

This is not just any other user group in the new $14-million facility.

Both the Department of National Defence, which ponied up $1 million for a gymnasium, and the gymnastics club, which will pay a similar sum for its facility, are making unique contributions.

Originally, the club wanted a new stand-alone building between the Ruth Inch Memorial Pool and the Wade Hamer mini-golf course. Unfortunately, their $850,000 fundraising campaign stalled at $500,000. And, as a not-for-profit club, no bank would touch them for a loan.

The gymnastics club then turned to the city for help with their building plans. At the time, we opposed the notion, but this is a different situation.

The club abandoned plans to construct its own building and signed on with the city to build a gymnastics facility at the Multiplex.

Left homeless, the club took another tumble when the opening of the Multiplex was delayed. It cost $110,000 to keep club employees on payroll rather than risk losing them. At the same time, no money was coming in from regular club activities.

Legally, neither the city nor construction contractors are on the hook for the delay in opening the Multiplex.

Despite some concern by councillors about setting a precedent, council does seem poised to give the club the $110,000. Given the unforeseen delay, providing the repayable grant is the right thing to do.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

Value can often rely as much on perception as substance.

Properly promoted, an item of relatively little worth can suddenly be viewed as something of great value.

Anyone remember the feeding frenzies over Bre-X and dot.com stocks?

Conversely, something portrayed as a bargain basement item will often be treated as such, regardless of its true value.

In fact, that illusion of worthlessness remains a major asset of those astute enough to see its true value.

Then there are the prognosticators - those who will often buy dirt cheap to simply see what happens.

Previous Rankin Inlet hamlet councils were guilty of encouraging just such prognostication by treating prime-time real estate as if it were Arizona River sludge under London Bridge.

For decades, council placed such little value on land lots that prime commercial real estate would be scooped up simply on land speculation.

These 'investors' in Rankin's future would then stick a building on the lot -- usually an old dilapidated eyesore -- and wait to see what project might come along they could use the land for.

Once the building was in place, the title holder would only have to pay a $250 annual land lease to maintain control of the lot.

This is a practice Rankin's current council must thoroughly eliminate if it has any hope of encouraging commercial development at fair market value.

Commercial lots in the downtown core of any municipality have to be viewed as premium acquisitions.

Council is currently in the process of identifying its prime lots and placing a dollar value on them.

It will then put out a request for commercial lots to see if any interest exists for new project development.

A little research into the not-so-glorious past of Rankin real estate shows that just about anyone who wanted a parcel of land got it.

Proper rules and regulations were rarely followed, and there was a very real perception within the community that a number of people were getting lots they had no entitlement to.

In other words, they were getting something they shouldn't have and at far less than what could be perceived as fair market value.

Hopefully, council will affix price tags to these lots befitting their value.

And, just as importantly, begin to follow the bylaw governing land acquisitions to the letter.

The move would be a far cry from guaranteeing commercial development.

But, it would create an equal playing field for all interested parties and, at the same time, be another positive sign of a responsible municipal government at work.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

The signing of the self-government agreement in principle should serve as a splash of cold water in the face to many who have sat idly by while this new government is formed without their participation.

The self-government that unfolds here is going to be different than anything tried before and, to me at least, it is an exciting time to be alive here.

You sure wouldn't know it by attending the meetings though. Other than the ones paid to be there, the community meetings on self government go largely unattended.

This is a time aboriginal people have worked and waited for now for centuries but no one seems too excited about seeing it through.

Like Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault said, it's not a very sexy subject, and I suppose since people have been dealing with it so long here, that it really seems to be more of the same.

Soup and bannock are offered to bring people in and now raffles seem to be the trend. It worries me that people need to be bribed to take part in their birthright.

Politics is not an exciting subject for most, and for many years, it wasn't to me either, but being in the middle of it all the time for work has really demonstrated how important it is for people to take part in the process.

The self-government team has set up field workers in every Beaufort Delta community and implementation plans are beginning.

The workers will be looking for public input on how the constitution should be drawn up and the need that input from the people who live there.

These are exciting times, whether you think so or not, and standing idly by while a government is formed around you is not in the best interest of you or the generations who will follow.

Signs of spring

It's been a busy couple weeks here with the agreement in principal signing, the intergovernmental forum and the three spring carnivals, but people are certainly enjoying the return of warmth here.

The sunshine seemed to give us all the energy we needed to get though it though and judging from the wide smiles I saw in Aklavik, spring has definitely sprung.

The carnivals give people a chance to catch up with friends and relatives throughout the Delta and get in that small town family fix before the ice roads become rivers again.

We seem to relish the season much more here than they do in the South and spring is really not a date on a calendar here, it's more of a state of mind.

Spring in the North is a celebration, while in the South it's just the turning of a page. If I needed a further reminder that spring was here, on my way back from Aklavik, I saw an eagle swoop down to pick a varmint off the ice road.

Enjoy the season, folks, and maybe we'll see you in McPherson this weekend.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum

It may sound odd that Deh Cho schools, such as Echo Dene school, have adopted a policy of rewarding good behaviour.

Of course it's a positive step, but one might expect that students' commendable actions were always met with accolades from teachers.

For most educators, that was likely true. However, these behaviour support initiatives serve as a helpful reminder to teachers. The students reap not only the praise, they get a chance at a prize. It's a real incentive.

Who doesn't enjoy a pat on the back for doing something nice? Better yet, what youth wouldn't want to win a new skateboard or even a simple snack for being helpful?

Some may argue that "bribing" students with prizes isn't beneficial. Remember, there's no guarantee of a prize, only compliments from school staff are assured.

Others might insist that such programs don't have applications in adult life. Well, they do. Take driving for example. If you drive too fast you may get a ticket. If you get too many tickets you lose your driver's licence. That's negative reinforcement.

On the other hand, if you follow the rules of the road, including the speed limit, you not only reduce the chance of having an accident, you avoid the traffic tickets. By avoiding traffic tickets, your vehicle insurance should decrease. (Okay, okay, it's true, vehicle insurance almost always increases, but not necessarily because of reckless driving. Then there's the vehicle depreciation factor...)

Nevertheless, if your insurance rates ever decline, that would be an example of positive reinforcement. When it comes to schooling, good students are usually rewarded with good grades.

Effective behaviour support programs go the extra mile. Students who try hard academically but don't always get an A or a B can still be acknowledged for being kind, courteous and thoughtful.

It truly is a win-win situation.

Getting the land in order

With the stroke of their pens, Grand Chief Michael Nadli and Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister Robert Nault endorsed another two key interim land-management agreements in Fort Providence last week.

Of course there was a lot of work behind the scenes to reach the accords. In the case of the interim land withdrawals, Herb Norwegian and Petr Cizek made numerous visits to Deh Cho communities over the past seven years beginning with traditional land-use mapping.

Maps play an important role in Deh Cho Process self-government negotiations. The interim agreements signed last week are also maps, sort of like road maps to an agreement in principle.

Although it's true that you can't please everyone, the equal measure of protecting some land while earmarking other areas for development should appease the majority.