After 17 years of studies, planning and consultation, the city's first waterfront redevelopment project -- construction of a small park -- is to get underway later this month at Willow Flats.

The $334,000 project, which involves re-contouring what are now two picnic areas, with help from the Rotary Club, is to be completed next year.

To call this a modest start is hardly an understatement. As welcome as the park at Willow Flats will be, we are left to wonder what's going on with the rest of the 23 kilometres of Great Slave Lake shoreline in the city -- from Burwash Point on the east shore of Yellowknife Bay to the southwest city boundary?

The answer it seems is not much.

Since 1986, there have been 10 studies and planning policies dealing with waterfront redevelopment. They range from the School Draw marina park study to Future Focus, the city's strategic plan. The most recent, the Waterfront Management Study, was released in March 2000 and adopted by council May 26, 2001. The entire plan is supposed to be implemented by 2010.

But the ink was barely dry on council's approval of the latest study when the in-fighting among various interests -- what politicians love to call "stakeholders" -- began.

In November 2001, a public outcry by some Latham Island residents, forced council to back off on building a 150-metre boardwalk on the lower part of Back Bay between the end of Otto Drive and Lessard Drive.

The issue essentially boiled down to squatters not wanting to lose their private docks to a public boardwalk in the tangled ownership mess along the Bay Back Bay waterfront. A couple of months later, some Morrison Drive residents were back at council demanding a proposed firepit and outhouse be deleted from the boardwalk area plan.

Whatever merit their objections may have had, they also have served to distract council into obsessing on small snapshots rather than the big waterfront redevelopment picture.

Yellowknife's waterfront is a diamond in the rough and a public treasure that should be redeveloped for all its citizens, not frozen in time by a few vested interests.

It's a lesson some municipalities have learned. In 1997, Sylvia Sutherland, a newly-elected progressive mayor in Peterborough, Ont., made it her mission to "turn" the city's downtown back toward its historic waterfront.

It hasn't been cheap or easy, but six years later, the goal is well on its way to being accomplished because council made it its highest priority.

Every city is unique, but there may well be a lesson there in vision and tenacity for Yellowknife.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

It will be interesting to see what transpires in Baker Lake during its next council meeting later this month.

Cumberland Resources Ltd. is trying to lease a significant parcel of land on the community's east end, near the point.

Cumberland, which owns the Meadowbank gold project, wants the land for a docking facility, fuel storage tanks and a 10,000-square-metre warehouse.

The company has already spent millions on the Meadowbank project.

If all unfolds the way Cumberland projects, it will be mining gold near Baker for more than 10 years.

The project would, obviously, be a tremendous economic boom for the area.

With work already begun on a large drilling program this year, the company wants to get its necessary infrastructure in place quickly.

But Cumberland is going to have to wait for at least another few weeks before finding out if the hamlet will agree to lease the land.

Apparently, nobody informed a number of Baker councillors that explosives are usually involved with large mining operations.

They don't want dynamite or any volatile concoctions stored on the lot, so the motion to approve the lease has been tabled until the next council meeting.

The councillors expressed fear that Cumberland will blow up their fish stocks, if not the community itself.

Council has requested more information before its next sitting, although a date for that meeting hasn't been set.

There is something to be said for a cautious approach. However, we worry Baker's council is not only looking a gift horse in the mouth -- it's running the risk of having it do its grazing elsewhere.

Surely the good councillors in Baker realize there's an inherent amount of danger with any mining operation?

They must also realize the company they're stalling now is the same one they'll be milking for infrastructure money and other benefits when Meadowbank goes into full production.

That's not even mentioning the 200 job opportunities for Kivalliq residents that will become available if the company's projections of having the project open within three years pan out.

Hopefully, council will get the reassurances it requires from Cumberland in short order and allow the company's request to proceed.

When you look at the big picture, there's an incredible amount of benefit stacked up against a minimal amount of risk.

And, there's nothing fishy about that!

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

Fort Smith's Jack Van Camp brings up some excellent points in his letter and, spelling mistakes aside, I'd generously grade him and his silent partner with a big red C+ for his effort.

He's right about the bloated bureaucracy at the NWT Power Corp.

In preparation for their intervention on the most recent rate hike, the Association of Municipalities for Fair Power Rates requested a cost estimate for administering 200 separate rates to 41,000 residents and the NTPC declined to offer that information. The proposal alone from the power corporation required a 1,000-page explanation of why they need to suck more money from us.

It's obvious the corporation was bloated even before division, but when cuts were proposed, cabinet stepped in to stop layoffs.

Van Camp is right about the smoke and mirrors, but the smoke is coming from Yellowknife -- not Hay River.

Joe Handley, the minster responsible for the power corp., is in favour of a single rate, but "cabinet" is opposed.

OK ... cabinet, huh? So let's examine just who in cabinet would be opposed and for what reasons:

Premier Stephen Kakfwi represents the Sahtu, where residents pay some of the highest power rates in the territory. Vince Steen represents Nunakput residents, who pay the highest rates, Jim Antoine represents Nahendeh, which is all served by diesel generated power. Roger Allen serves Inuvik Twin Lakes.

So that leaves only Michael Miltenberger, who serves Thebacha (Fort Smith), and Jake Ootes in Yellowknife who represent hydro-based communities on cabinet.

Certainly these two votes aren't enough to sway cabinet against levelized power rates, so we have to believe there is some other motivation at work here.

Something that stinks of political paybacks lurking below the surface here and I don't think we should have to tolerate this kind of action from an assembly who, from the start, have been touting their "openness and accountability" like some badge of courage.

Recorded phone calls, conflict of interest charges levelled and dropped, ministers demoted and members promoted, lawyers and assistants given golden handshakes, I know I'm not alone in wondering just how "open and accountable" this government has been.

The way this government has carried on, I think we can all speculate to where the smoke is really coming from, but I'd like to see a recorded vote on just who is in favour of flat rate power and who isn't -- and I'd like to see it before the next election.

Government feel they can fetter away the rest of their term without making a move on this, with the excuse that they're awaiting a report from the energy secretariat.

I say we can't wait that long.

We, the share holders of this Crown corporation should demand accountability from this board of directors and find out what really happened to the flat rate proposal.

I have my suspicions that should the real truth be known, many from this government wouldn't make it through the term, never mind an election.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum

Many Fort Simpson residents seem to take the spring breakup for granted.

Practically everybody is well aware that the community could brave a flood but the possibility seems so remote. After all, the last evacuation in Fort Simpson occurred 40 years ago.

For the past several years, the ice has pretty well rotted in place. There are always some big chunks of ice along the river banks but much of it flows harmlessly down the Mackenzie.

Yet reading the flier issued by the Fort Simpson Flood committee can really make a person stop and think. As slim as the odds are, if the river ice jammed and water did begin rising, are villagers truly ready to be evacuated to the airport with little notice?

The scene, if it were to unfold, would certainly be surreal -- nearly 1,200 people crammed into a makeshift campground.

Everyone would undoubtedly be worried about their pets, property and possessions left behind (although it seems likely that some people would smuggle their pets out to the airport in their vehicles rather than leave things to chance at the village compound, even if it is on higher ground).

It would be like a scene from the television news, of a disaster that always seems to happen somewhere far away.

The information provided by the Fort Simpson Flood committee is not intended to be alarmist. It's a valuable reminder of what could very well happen every spring.

Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best.

The annual NWT volunteer awards ceremony, held in Fort Simpson this year, was a breath of fresh air. It was nice to see people who work so hard getting some well deserved recognition.

Yes, these selfless individuals would quickly tell you -- and most did say so on Sunday -- that the most meaningful rewards are inherent in what they do. They are fulfilled by the smiles and the thanks they receive from those who benefit from their work. That's all the motivation they need.

Yet that shouldn't stop their neighbours and fellow community members from hailing these folks as the champions they are.

There aren't enough of them.

If only more people held a philosophy similar to Fort Simpson's Stephen Rowan. True to form, he gave freely of his time to lead visitors on historical tours of Fort Simpson on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.

Being modest, Rowan down-played his role in making life more enjoyable for others in the community.

He said his voluntarism is just an extension of his passion for things such as history, reading and skiing. Surely he's sincere, but not everyone chooses to share their passions, allowing others to partake, learn and revel in the activities.

Stephen Rowan has chosen to share. For that, we owe him, and all the volunteers in the Deh Cho, a debt of gratitude.