Hay River education authority chair Andrew Butler was booted from the South Slave Division Education Council in March, a result of a feud simmering for years.

Adding fuel to the fire is Education Minister Jake Ootes who refused to release a legal opinion on Butler's dismissal to the Hay River board, even though they asked for it in the first place.

Hiding behind legal mumbo-jumbo is not going to get Hay River and the rest of the South Slave's education leaders back on talking terms.

That's the first thing education officials in Yellowknife have to understand. Judging by the flurry of letters that have flown back and forth, that hasn't sunk in.

According to Ootes' letter, the legal opinion is a "privileged legal document." It's puzzling why this is the case since his department has shared other legal opinions with Hay River's board, an agency of the GNWT, in the past.

Is the department afraid the legal opinion will make one side look bad?

So while the territorial government department hides behind lawyers, education in the South Slave suffers. That means students suffer.

The education council and the education authority agreed to mediation in July but that process has stalled while Hay River waits to see the legal opinion they requested.

Let's face it: Butler was ejected as part of a political tug-of-war between education board members who represent communities with distinctly different needs. All the mediation in the world won't resolve that disparity.

Hay River is a large town with an urban student population. Fort Resolution, Lutsel K'e and Hay River Reserve are small communities with small student populations.

To lump them together under one authority and expect them to compete for cash is unfair.

It's time the minister put down his pen and became actively involved in resolving this dispute.

He's their boss, not their friend. Sometimes the boss has to wield a firm hand. Sometimes a boss has to let everyone know where they stand. Sharing the legal opinion with both sides is a start.

And maybe it's time to reconsider separating Hay River from the South Slave education council.

Ootes isn't seeking re-election. Perhaps his political legacy could be education peace in the South Slave.

It is an age old idea: an offender, a bad guy, a lost soul, eventually having to face his (or her) community.

They must look their friends and relatives in the eye to realize their mistakes, and be compelled to change their ways for the better.

This is one way of viewing the new correctional facility opening in Kugluktuk next year.

But the question remains: will people let these offenders integrate back into the community once they have served their time? Or will people always view them as no-good jailbirds, bad apples to be tossed away?

The centre will house up to 20 offenders in the "low risk" category. In other words, people who are seen as being receptive to rehabilitation and are not a threat to society.

It is a closer-to-home idea, as the majority of the offenders will be originally from the Kitikmeot region.

Community wellness workers want people from the region to staff this facility. They see no point in opening the centre without that kind of home-based staff.

But some are concerned that people in the community will never let these offenders off the hook.

This is the real barrier to rehabilitation, and it hurts everyone.

The territorial government praises the centre as a made-in-Nunavut solution, one that stresses healing over incarceration.

As they welcome new jobs and dollars to their Kugluktuk jail, residents must understand the important role they can and must play.

They have to look the offenders in the eye and make sure they understand the hurt they have caused. Who better to do that than the people they know, who might also be the people they have hurt?

Then comes forgiveness.

It's not an easy thing to do. But it is necessary for offenders to be successfully rehabilitated into the community.

Yes, they have done wrong, but most can still contribute positively to their communities.

Making that happen will make the community even stronger.

There seems to be a bit of concern among some Kivalliq residents as to the right of elected officials to conduct private business with the Nunavut government.

Arviat MLA Kevin O'Brien, in particular, has become the target of a letter writing campaign raising questions as to his right to lease property (housing units) to the Nunavut government.

The Integrity Act provides for any MLA to request clearance from the integrity commissioner for any contract they are entering into with the territorial government.

Each transaction is scrutinized on its own merits to ensure its approval is in the public's best interest.

Once approved, a letter of permission is issued to the member.

MLAs must also fill out an annual statement of disclosure.

They must disclose the source, nature and owner(s) of assets worth $10,000 or more, any income received over $5,000 during the past year, any contract entered into with the Nunavut government and its resulting benefits, and any activity authorized by the integrity commission.

That includes the name of any party with a 10 per cent or greater interest in the business activity authorized.

Conversely, the nature and source of any liability over $10,000 must also be disclosed.

The system provides transparency for the public's right to know what person, partner or corporation is doing business with the government. That being said, the process is a two-way street.

An MLA has every right to enter into the same type of business arrangement anyone else in the territory can.

That's the way it should be. An MLA shouldn't be prevented from conducting business simply because they were elected by the public.

As long as the elected official has permission, provides full disclosure and does not use their position to influence a business decision or benefit from inside knowledge the general public is not privy to, it's business as usual for them.

As it is, the Nunavut government has a limited number of people or organizations to deal with that can provide the goods or services it requires to run effectively.

To further inhibit the government's access to those goods and services by prohibiting an elected official from doing business with it would be foolhardy.

It's really a matter of checks and balances. As long as elected officials play by the same rules as everyone else, their successful business transactions with the Nunavut government could, ultimately, benefit us all.

Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum

I hate to drone on week after week about "kids these days," but this recent spat of vandalism has gotten everyone in town riled up.

For the umpteenth time, the windows were smashed from the youth centre, a building was set ablaze and the new basketball court was ruined.

To me the basketball court has got to be about the worst of all. Erected barely a week, the court has been spray-painted, the nets ripped off the hoops and now one of the backboards was torn down.

As jaded as I am, this surprised me. I've been in inner-city ghettos that looked like burned-out war zones, with one exception -- the basketball courts.

I suppose it's because inner-city kids know that if they rip down the backboards they might lose their only form of recreation, and, for some, the only way out.

Here, the new court was viewed as just another thing of no value to be ripped apart.

I was at a sporting event over the summer, where kids were flown in from all over the Delta, at no cost to them or their parents, fed for two days and at the end, everyone was given a prize and a ribbon for competing.

I sat and watched, waiting for the winning team photo, as every one of the 40 kids received their prize and ribbon and not a single one said "thank you."

This manner-less phenomenon first came to my attention last winter, when those wrestlers were in town. I flew to Tuk with the grapplers and was taking photos as a frenzied mob lined-up for autographs.

After writing 50-or-so autographs, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake shook his head and asked, "Can't any of you kids say 'Thank you?'"

It's not that they didn't appreciate the autograph, I'm sure they did, or they wouldn't have stood in line to get it, but gifts have become expected by the youth.

These gifts given to "inspire" the youth to succeed have inspired the opposite reaction. They have come to expect something for nothing and that is exactly the value they place on them.

The gift of this basketball court had the same effect. Something for nothing.

Already, plans are in the works to build a heavier steel backboard and now town council is looking for answers. At Monday night's meeting a curfew was discussed, a neighbourhood watch and a Crime Stoppers program.

I think this problem is too far-reaching to be dealt with by any of those solutions. There is a thankless mob of renegade children in this town who will only be stopped if they are left to police themselves.

When an act of vandalism is committed by a few, punish them all.

I'm sick to death of the politicians and their syrupy rhetoric saying we need to do more for the youth. It's high time the youth did something for the rest of us.

I propose that no new basketball court be built until the youth pick up 10,000 aluminum cans. No admission to the Inuvik Youth Centre until 10,000 rocks are picked from the new golf course.

I would also propose that no gift, no ribbon, no hot dog nor hamburger be given to anyone in this town until they utter the words "thank you."

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum

The proposal from the Fort Simpson Chamber of Commerce to form an all-encompassing group to address the impacts of development is just the latest call to action, even if just at the community level.

Yes, construction on a Mackenzie Valley pipeline is still at least three or four years away. But, as Chamber president Andrew Gaule points out, the Mackenzie Gas Project is already well into its project definition phase. As well, an issuance cycle for oil and gas, as identified in the Deh Cho First Nations' Interim Resource Development Agreement, is supposed to take place by April of next year. That's not a lot of time.

In late March, Deh Cho beneficiary Dennis Nelner, spoke of the need for a voluntary committee consisting of all regional government department managers. Nelner, who is also the regional petroleum advisor for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, advised that all stakeholders need to collectively address impacts from a pipeline. That mega-project is expected to affect roads, health services, housing, sewage, water and many other areas. There will also be training and contract opportunities -- presumably more of them if something is done sooner rather than later.

Later in March, the Deh Cho First Nations (DCFN) organized a social development forum in regards to the pending pipeline. Twenty-five delegates from several Deh Cho communities agreed that everyone will be best served if all stakeholders plan together. The delegates called upon the DCFN to hold a regional conference, including every regional political body, business and agency, as soon as possible to create a vision statement.

So, here we are more than five months later and we can't say nothing has been done. Undoubtedly some political groups and businesses have been making progress on their own proposals. But a void remains in terms of a regional strategic plan.

How many more groups or individuals will have to make the same appeal before our elected leaders answer the bell?

Sick computers

A series of e-mail viruses that struck Fort Simpson this week really gummed up the works. The viruses sent a flood of e-mails, many of them with local user names attached, to other local people on the system. The e-mails contained attachments designed to further infect the recipients' computers.

There are people worldwide with too much time on their hands. They have to see how they can foil the system, so they invent these viruses. The challenge and the knowledge that numerous others are having their day disrupted must satisfy those pathetic individuals.

There will always be these types around. The best defence is frequently updated anti-virus software. Some of us have to learn that the hard way.