As Yellowknifer's special business report today shows, the fledgling diamond manufacturing industry and its 200 employees pump millions of dollars into the city's economy annually.
With the closure of Con Mine, diamond cutting and polishing workers could replace the lost income from departing miners and go a long way in diversifying our economy.
But it's not all glitter and profit. Diamond cutting companies face the same difficulties as other Northern business. High operating costs, slim margins, a shortage of trained people and high staff turnover, often due to handsome wages in the diamond mines, are common problems.
The fittest will survive. If the new buildings out by the airport and in N'dilo are any indication, there is money to be made.
Critics of the industry say it will never work but we will leave it up to entrepreneurs to decide.
Much is made of the fact that of the rough diamonds already supplied by Ekati and Diavik, just a fraction is being cut in the North.
We say that bodes well for the future growth of the industry and in no way harms the diamond mines, which make money whether they sell to companies based in the NWT or Antwerp.
There is also grumbling that it's not Northerners getting the jobs but immigrants. 'Immigrant' seems a poor word to describe people who have come North from around the world to seek their fortune. God forbid that any of these people should move on after a couple of years for fear they are accused of acting like federal civil servants!
Whatever problems sharing rough Northern diamonds creates for De Beers, it remains their problem. They have invested almost half a billion dollars to secure a known diamond deposit which they are free to sell to a company that wants to do business in the North.
Considering how De Beers has conducted itself to date -- first making a commitment then trying to back away -- Northerners need not fear they are acting in an inhospitable manner.
The rules were clearly laid out from the start. BHP and Diavik have acted correctly. It's up to the territorial government to ensure De Beers does.
Any compromise on the full 10 per cent would be a black mark on Northern integrity and an inexcusable insult to the rest of the diamond mining industry.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Rankin Inlet hamlet council made a smart decision this past week in voting down a motion to open up the local bingo licence lottery.
The next smart move for council is to revisit its bylaw concerning those eligible to enter the lottery.
As it stands, the bylaw determines eligibility by non-profit status.
The problem with that is the number of non-profit organizations that receive considerable funding from other sources.
The spirit of the lottery is intended to provide a vehicle for search and rescue, community radio, recreation, sporting organizations and community outreach providers to raise the funds they need for their operations.
This is particularly important to groups away from the hamlet umbrella.
Most sporting organizations use bingo revenues to host tournaments, develop programs, or cover the registration and travel costs of their players.
To further split the money pool up by adding numerous organizations that, when properly managed, should be on solid financial footing, would erode many of the programs our hamlet youth and athletes depend on.
Thumbs up to hamlet council for this decision.
Missed the mark
It's fine for the Department of Health to state former Rankin Inlet dentist Sonia Autut simply wasn't patient enough to wait for the government to affect change.
But, remember, this is the same department that constantly bemoans the fact it can't entice health care providers, especially those in specialized care, to take up long-term residency in Nunavut.
Autut is exactly the type of individual the GN is looking for and it's allowing her to walk away from the community she's served for almost four years.
The GN has a commitment to the feds to maintain the status quo until the larger health contract negotiations are completed this December.
Fine. But that doesn't stop it from negotiating in good faith with Autut now, to lock up her services early in the new year.
We're not buying the rhetoric over, possibly, having to put the contract out for a public expression of interest.
That homework should have been done long ago.
The bottom line is, the GN has exactly the type of health care professional it's been squawking about for years living right here in Rankin.
Unless the GN can show that her requests have been unreasonable, it should cut through the red tape and simply make it happen.
A hearty thumbs down for way this situation has been handled.
Editorial Comment
Terry Halifax
Inuvik Drum
The housing corp's $125,000 gift to the residents of Husky Trailer Park turned more than a few heads at Monday night's council meeting.
Without qualification or needs assessment, the 12 residents will receive two subsidies. The first comes on the backs of the Inuvik taxpayers and the second on the backs of NWT taxpayers.
This development will cost the town between $350,000 and $450,000, which means even at the low end residents will be getting cheaper lots than what others in town are paying.
The second subsidy comes as a direct gift from a government already climbing the debt wall.
There are people living in Husky Trailer Park who have haven't paid a dime in property tax in this town in the decades they've lived here and their rent is $250 per month.
There are households earning double government incomes living there who would never qualify for a subsidy, but here they are getting a double-dip subsidy that even politicians would envy.
I can sympathize with the people in the trailer park. No one likes to move, but it is a reality for every renter.
Had this been a private landlord, they would have been given 30 days notice and they'd be off.
But since the town had the misfortune of acquiring this property, the taxpayers are on the hook for what ever this is going to cost.
This is an election year and maybe this is an opportunity to buy some votes, but not a very sound strategy if that is the plan.
It's a bad idea anyway way you look at it.
The town has the final say in all this and I think some tough love is in order.
Go back to the original plan to make a playground and move the trailers to new lots.
I think we would all agree that Husky Trailer Park would look a lot better simply as Husky Park.
A whispered scream
I was quite surprised by the small turnout at last week's Take Back the Night rally and march.
Domestic violence is easily one of the biggest social issues facing this town, but last week's march had but a small handful of participants.
In any given sitting of territorial court here, there are probably more people facing charges of domestic abuse than were in the march.
I think if more people could see the tears shed on that witness stand week after week, they might realize what a problem we have here.
Perhaps it's because domestic violence is not "in your face enough" that it doesn't get the same support to combat as alcoholism or homelessness does in this town, but believe me, it's a much bigger problem than you see from the surface.
Just because you don't step over it everyday, doesn't mean it doesn't exist and if you don't believe me, ask a cop.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
Somehow the tune has changed in regards to a potential Mackenzie Valley pipeline over the past year or two.
Hark back to January, 2000 when aboriginal groups from the NWT gathered in Fort Liard and agreed to work together to benefit from a major natural gas pipeline running from Inuvik south into Alberta. At that time, Deh Cho leaders were willing to back the group but with conditions. Outright support hinged on self-government negotiations, then Grand Chief Michael Nadli explained.
Over the few years, pressure was heaped on the DCFN from around the North and from Calgary (perhaps Ottawa too). The Deh Cho, it seemed, wore the black hat in this scenario. Some remained cautiously optimistic, but others talked of gloom and doom if the DCFN didn't come on board. The whole pipeline project could fall apart, alarmists speculated.
Despite the coercion, the Deh Cho steadfastly stuck to their objectives. The remainder of the regions in the NWT along with the Aboriginal Pipeline Group -- the Arctic Resources Corporation (ARC) was still in the picture at that time, too -- and industry were forced to begrudgingly forge ahead without the Deh Cho's participation.
Now it seems we've arrived at a point where the DCFN is no longer viewed as "making or breaking" the pipeline.
Deh Cho at the table
So what has changed? Well, the Aboriginal Pipeline Group has secured its funding for the preliminary study stage. It took quite a while but it was done without the Deh Cho at the table. Obtaining the money was a boon.
Talk of "losing out" to a competing an Alaska-Yukon pipeline has faded. The odds now heavily favour the Mackenzie Valley pipe being built first.
The Mackenzie Gas Project (under the oil and gas consortium led by Imperial Oil) established a presence in three Northern communities, including Fort Simpson. Consequently, there has been an upswing in consultations. There is plenty of talk of jobs and contract opportunities associated with preliminary pipeline work and, later, construction of the pipeline. Yet questions remain about how well prepared the DCFN will be to capitalize on these preliminary opportunities.
Deh Cho communities, like many of their Northern neighbours, continue to be flooded with representatives from oil and gas companies, environmental firms, heavy equipment businesses, helicopter operations, camps, catering companies and others. Most of these business people are interested in forming partnerships, or joint ventures. Many of the First Nations are negotiating and signing on the dotted line for themselves.
Greater royalties
Yet the Deh Cho First Nations' negotiating team hasn't changed its stance in regards to the pipeline. The Deh Cho's chief negotiator, following direction from the region's elected leaders, is still going head-to-head with his federal counterparts, still demanding guarantees of greater royalties for the Deh Cho.
Is a Mackenzie Valley pipeline going to be built? North American demand for natural gas certainly isn't tapering off, nor is the Deh Cho First Nations' demand for an equitable share of the pie.
Interestingly, it is NWT Premier Stephen Kakfwi who now is getting media coverage for threatening to halt resource development in the territory if the GNWT doesn't get a share of resource revenues from Ottawa. The only thing that seems to have subsided -- maybe only temporarily -- is the intense pressure for the DCFN to get a deal done immediately.