Is there anything able to trigger salivation like the smell of grilled hot dogs, smokies or bratwurst wafting down the sidewalk on a sunny summer day? Fried onions, hot mustard and a little sauerkraut, please...
Council has decided it will once again open the books on the 1990 bylaw which limits what it describes as "mobile canteens" to three wiener wagons and other operations that cater to construction sites.
Last summer, polling by Yellowknifer showed that, not only does the public overwhelmingly support a return of street vendors, very few people see them as a threat to more permanent downtown eateries.
In a city striving to be the best possible host to foreign tourists and their wads of dollars, yen or what have you, should council really be depriving these folks of a true Canadian delicacy: Barbecued tube-steak?
Even Mayor Gord Van Tighem has said in the past: "Food street vendors promote community marketplaces and increase the vitality of the street life in a positive fashion."
The public and political will is there, so let's get this bylaw fixed before it makes wieners of us all for yet another summer.
Go team, go! NWT's contingent of athletes is primed and ready to do a little gold mining at the Arctic Winter Games in Fort McMurray.
Beginning tomorrow night with the opening ceremonies and until the last ulu is handed out on Saturday, March 6, 360 athletes, coaches and volunteers will represent the best these territories can offer in winter sports competition.
Everyone would like to come home with a gold ulu dangling around their necks.
A few will have that sliver of gold. Some others will earn silver or bronze ulus.
Our home lands are massive in size, but tiny in population.
The competition from much more populated jurisdictions will be fierce.
Not every NWT competitor will mount the medal podium, so it needs to be said that we know all the athletes will strive to do their best.
We will applaud them no matter where they place.
All of us here at home can feel a certain warmth that "we" -- the Northwest Territories -- are competing on the larger stage of international sport.
Go Team NWT, go!
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
We have a few words of advice for our six Kivalliq MLAs heading to Iqaluit.
First, if you're offered the position of house speaker, avoid the temptation and politely decline.
Second, remember the people whose vote got you to the capital and don't become invisible in your home riding, even if you end up with a minister-of-the-whatever plaque sitting on your desk.
Former Arviat MLA Kevin O'Brien paid a steep price for accepting the speaker's position.
The title comes with inherent risks to anyone hoping to prolong their political career beyond the current term.
The problem is house speaker translates into house silence when it comes to asking questions when the cameras are rolling because the speaker is not allowed to ask any.
The speaker's role is one of a glorified referee, maintaining decorum and points of order in a high-stakes game of political shinny.
The trade-off to becoming house speaker is that you're supposed to gain the premier's ear behind closed doors to address the concerns of your constituents.
Well, you can have the premier's ear, eye, nose, heck, we'll even throw in a couple of kneecaps -- the fact is, it's hard to keep your constituents' trust when they're not seeing you in action.
Grass under your feet
O'Brien further compounded the problem by taking his territorial role so seriously the good folks of Arviat rarely saw him at all, let alone in action.
Former Rankin Inlet North MLA and multi-ministerial-portfolio holder Jack Anawak made the same mistake early in Nunavut's first government.
Anawak took on so much responsibility at the territorial level, his grassroots support slipped out from under his feet.
Thanks to that old Liberal card tucked safely away in his wallet, we'll never know how he would have fared had he sought re-election.
The popular consensus is he would have lost, however, despite gaining back a good measure of his credibility with his masterful politicking during the Petroleum Products Division fiasco in Rankin.
Out of sight, out of mind
The impact of not maintaining a high rate of visibility in your home riding is further illustrated by just how far O'Brien fell in the election.
In actuality, O'Brien trailed only Baker Lake's Glenn McLean in terms of accomplishments in his community.
McLean, however, proved himself a master at keeping the political and media spotlights shining on the needs of his riding.
Arviat's political wand has now been passed to former mayor David Alagalak.
Hopefully, he will keep it as far away from the throne as possible.
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
Take the Beaufort Delta Education Council plans to slash 20 full-time positions next year with the dismal student attendance at Samuel Hearne secondary school, and you might think, why stop at 20? Many classes are half-full (I'm trying to look at this optimistically), anyways.
If one was looking at an SHSS daily attendance record -- and the principal didn't let you in on the secret that many kids prefer catching up on their beauty sleep as opposed to making it to school in the morning -- one might think a flu epidemic had hit.
In some grades, particularly 10, 11 and 12, nearly 45 per cent of students aren't showing up for the first two periods.
And so the day lingers on, and students slowly rise from their peaceful slumbers and trickle into school, as if attending class were optional.
I wonder what would happen to the Town of Inuvik if, say, attending work became optional?
There would be a lot of grumpy people in town for the first few days and then we'd all be screaming bloody murder a week into the experiment.
It makes you sympathize with the teachers at SHSS, who must grit their teeth whenever they have to go over the same material, twice and three times (and maybe more) because some students insist on missing class.
Not only is it frustrating for the teachers, but also for the students who take the initiative and actually show up.
When I was a kid -- one who generally disliked school as much as the next -- my parents used to tell me that my school days were the best days of my life, and that I should enjoy them while I could.
I never believed them then, but I sure do today. What I would give to have the luxury of being a student again. No responsibilities, not a care in the world except for showing up to class and handing in the odd assignment.
Come to think of it, what were my options back then? Cutting class to hang out at the arcade or smoking cigarettes behind the school only had so much appeal and eventually became as boring as attending my least-favourite class.
In fact, the entertainment value of actually going to school was often all the more reason not to miss it.
What would Mr. So-and-so do or say today and which students would misbehave to the chagrin of Mr. So-and-so and to delight of their classmates.
But, I suppose times have changed and plugging into a video game or walking the streets of Inuvik for hours on end hold more excitement for many who choose to miss class.
However, those kids who do perpetually miss class better get used to those activities as that's what awaits them in the future, without a high school education behind them.
Because one thing that hasn't changed is the necessity of having an education.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
Is there any replacement for the experience one gains from travelling?
Whether it's Jacques Harvey and Laverna Martel sweating it out in Haiti (literally), or the Jumbo clan hiking through Nepal, it's difficult to truly understand life elsewhere without having witnessed it first hand.
Sometimes there is an element of danger.
A country can be seemingly stable one day and erupt into anarchy the next.
Quite often the message that it reinforces is that as Canadians, we generally have a great standard of living: Clean drinking water, adequate health care and good education standards.
But North Americans are sometimes ashamed of our largely consumer-driven society.
While products and gadgets shouldn't be one's primary source of happiness -- hopefully that's derived from family and friends or possibly religion -- what's wrong with relishing modern conveniences?
Who doesn't love electricity? Lights, heat and appliances are a must. Television can be a marvellous diversion. Telephones are very handy, as are computers, the Internet and e-mail.
It would be hard and time consuming to get anywhere without a vehicle.
The list -- which for some includes video games, DVD and MP3 players, Palm Pilots, digital cameras, microwaves and snowmobiles -- goes on and on.
There are just a few principles of compassion and humanity that we shouldn't forget along the way.
Charity is bliss. Waste not, want not.
We don't want to deplete the world's resources in pursuit of all things material. There are alternate forms of fuel and energy that we can lobby for or incorporate today.
We also must be wary of becoming too lazy.
One down-side to our increasingly sedentary way of life is the rise in obesity.
But if our lifestyle is so greed-oriented, why would so many immigrants clamour to reach our shores?
It's true, some are fleeing persecution, but many are also seeking the so-called "American dream."
Even within our society, there is always the option to drop out of the rat race, to forsake conveniences.
A minority choose to do that, and it's usually for the weekend while at a cottage or in the bush.
Even there a generator or a radio is likely to be found.
Fewer still are the Amish, who reject most modern technology and its benefits.
To each his own.
For the most part, we really do have it good. We don't need to apologize, but we should be grateful.