There was a little buzz of excitement in town recently when a British Columbia company advertised a long distance telephone service with prices as low as 4.9 cents a minute.

Offering that kind of deal in the North is like defying gravity. The small Northern market of 110,000 customers in 96 communities is spread out over 3.9 million square kilometres, three territories and Northern British Columbia. The true costs of telephone service are staggering.

NorthwesTel makes profit because it's a monopoly and charges whatever it needs to make a profit for its shareholders and get the job done. It also gets help from the CRTC which orders Southern companies to send millions North each year for infrastructure.

The Northern long distance market opened up for competition in January of 2001. Not one credible company has stepped forward because it means having to pay for the use of NorthwesTel's system.

The only thing that will change the present situation is new, cheaper communication technology. Until that happens, Northerners will have to settle for higher costs and no competition which sounds all too familiar.

As surely as the ice goes out of Back Bay, late May is the season for high school graduation and prom dances in Yellowknife.

Last week, we ran a photo spread featuring graduating students from Sir John Franklin. Today, our photo spread is of students from St. Patrick high school.

For many, graduation is a time to stretch their wings, experience the world South of 60. Most will head off to colleges, universities and trade schools or travel the country and the world.

While you make plans for the future, think long and hard about coming home again. The cliche about youth being the future is so true in the North.

We need you to be the next generation of doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers, administrators, welders, plumbers, electricians, truck drivers and so much more.

If recent history has taught us anything, it's that we can't rely on short-term southern transplants to provide the stable workforce necessary for the Northwest Territories.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

Try as it may, the Sakku Investments Corp. just can't seem to keep itself out of financial hot water.

The corporation is the investment arm of the parent Kivalliq Inuit Association.

Sakku is still in final negotiations with the Nunavut government to wrap-up its part in the Rankin Inlet Regional Health Centre fiasco.

While Sakku maintains the negotiations are almost complete, with only a few loose ends to tie up, the fact remains they are still ongoing.

The Nunavut government dropped Sakku from the project last September.

Shortly thereafter, the KIA dismissed the entire Sakku board of directors.

While Sakku works on completing negotiations so the health-centre project can proceed with a new contractor, it will soon be waging financial war on another front.

Former president and CEO Paul Landry has filed a statement of claim against Sakku.

Landry claims he entered into a consulting contract with Sakku, which was to have run from July 1, 2002, to Dec. 31, 2002.

He claims Sakku agreed to pay him a base amount of $1,000 monthly, a further monthly payment of $5,000, and an hourly fee of $150 to be paid on the 15th and last business day of each month.

The total amount claimed to be still owing on the agreement is $65,464.

KIA president Tongola Sandy has confirmed receipt of Landry's claim, which has been forwarded on to Sakku's legal representative.

Before filing his claim, Landry had requested a public apology from Sakku on how the corporation evaluated his job performance.

The former CEO wanted the apology proofed by himself and his legal counsel before its publication.

Sakku denied the request and Sandy would only say, in his opinion, the matter was always about money.

It will be interesting to see the direction Sakku takes in dealing with Landry's claim.

Either way, it's a messy parting with a former CEO the investment company once hailed as the man who would lead it to financial prosperity.

As if the pressure of dealing with government negotiations and Landry's statement of claim isn't enough, Sakku is also awaiting the results of NTI's look into its track record of performance.

Sakku has proven itself to be resilient in the face of adversity on more than one occasion in the past.

It's beginning to look as if it will have to draw upon that resiliency once again, when the mist finally clears on the latest wave of adversity to crash upon its shores.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

I was in Paulatuk last week when a gentleman approached with a beautiful pair of beaver mitts for sale, but I didn't have the cash on me, so he burned me down to the bank machine on the back of his four-wheeler.

After a couple of tries, the machine refused to yield to my request for $200. A little red-faced, I told Mr. Krengnektak I couldn't make the purchase, but he generously gave me the mitts on faith that I'd send him a cheque on my return to Inuvik.

Back in Inuvik, I went to my branch to find out what the problem was. They told me that since my cheque was deposited in Yellowknife, by my company on their Royal Bank account, a hold was placed on the cheque.

This was on the 22nd; my pay was deposited on the 15th. The bank employees explained the hold was placed at the Yellowknife CIBC's discretion.

That's what led to this week's story on deposit holds. It got me thinking about the millions that the banks must have "on hold" each and every day, sucking the interest from customers' paycheques.

This is my first time dealing with the CIBC and the first time I've ever had a paycheque held.

I can't say that my credit history is perfect and I don't mean to brag, but I've paid off three car loans, paid eight years on a mortgage (without missing a payment) and I've held a TD Visa card for 20 years.

I hold a few thousand in RRSPs at the Bank of Montreal that have been losing an average of about nine per cent per year and I have a steady job (too steady sometimes).

The company I work for has a million dollar payroll with sales and assets far exceeding that and they have never bounced one of my pay cheques.

So why hold my paycheque? It's the bank's discretion.

As far as I know, they have been holding my pay since I opened the account a year-and-a-half ago.

I only noticed now, because I was short when payday rolled around.

After throwing a tantrum in the bank, the manager called and assured that my problem has been rectified, but how many others are getting the same treatment?

It's bad enough we pay service charges for doing everything but breathing in a bank. Should they be drawing interest on our paycheques too?

I think not, and I plan to look further into this. I'm curious just how much is held and how much they make off holding back these funds.

In the meantime, Mr. Krengnektak, thank you your trust and for the beautiful mitts.

I'll think of Mona every time I wear them. Your cheque is in the mail, I just hope they don't hold it too long.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum

It's no shock that Fort Simpson finished fifth out of six communities in a preliminary review for the location of the Super Corp.

The criteria generally skew things in favour of the larger centres. Although Yellowknife -- the NWT's capital and only city -- did not come out on top (but it was close), the two other communities that fared well have two to three times the population boasted by Fort Simpson. Naturally they are going to have superior amenities, infrastructure and, by virtue of their locations, better prices.

The greatest concern, as Fort Simpson Mayor Tom Wilson stated, is that if such criteria are the basis for government decisions, then how will the smaller communities like Fort Simpson get ahead?

On the one hand, the report did not identify Yellowknife as the ideal location. That does hold some promise for Hay River and Fort Smith, which are only a fraction of Yellowknife's size. They, too, undoubtedly consider themselves David to the capital's Goliath.

Yet Fort Simpson, Rae-Edzo and Inuvik appear to be lost in the shuffle.

Inuvik has been booming with oil and gas activity, which may partially account for its low score on available housing. As well, its northerly latitude drives up costs for housing, groceries and transportation.

Rae-Edzo is an enigma, as it is supposedly benefitting from diamond mine agreements and jobs, yet is identified as having the highest unemployment rate among the six communities.

Fort Simpson, judging by the report's indicators, has a rather sluggish economy. If community leaders and Nahendeh MLA Jim Antoine can't convince the government that the Super Corp. belongs there, then Fort Simpson will have to keep waiting for the fruits of the Mackenzie Valley pipeline.

To some the Super Corp. may look like an investment opportunity, a chance for the GNWT to help a community like Fort Simpson upgrade its amenities so it could be the desired location. However, if pressed, the territorial government is surely going to point to its empty piggy bank and remind everyone that it has a huge deficit hanging over its head.

Homeless in Deh Cho

The GNWT should consider reinvesting in housing for teachers. By taking a hands-off approach -- to ostensibly encourage home ownership -- the territorial government is putting undue stress on some teachers to find a place to live.

Last year, one Fort Liard educator lived in a motel room with his wife and three children for a month while waiting and hoping for a house to become available. That's ridiculous.

The same sticky situation occasionally applies to some other government employees, such as nurses and social workers.

As the word gets out that the North has such limited accommodations to offer teachers and nurses, the recruitment and retention process will be even more difficult.