In 2001, 2002 and 2003, surveys focused on important questions: snow removal, trail and park use, the library and how people felt about other city services.
This year, the survey is all touchy-feely. A big section of the survey focused on how people feel about the quality of life in Yellowknife.
Not surprisingly, 94 per cent rate the quality of life as good, up from 89 per cent last year.
Secondary questions asked about satisfaction with the new Multiplex (76% satisfied) and whether emergency services were important (99% said they were).
There was also a question about "branding," Yellowknife's self-designation as Diamond Capital of North America. Apparently 90 per cent of respondents are aware that we are the diamond capital.
About the only questions of real value focused on how city staff deals with the public. One in five people who dealt regularly with the city last year report dissatisfaction.
That's 20 percent, a number council and administration should work to improve.
If council is committed to spending this money annually -- and we don't believe it's necessary -- then it should tell the polling company to ask questions about real issues.
Like parks, snowplowing, dog control, the library, waterfront access and recreation programs, the things that contribute to the quality of live in Yellowknife.
After years of lying, Roger Warren admitted last week that he knew the bomb he planted at Giant Mine in September 1992 would kill anyone within range of the blast.
Testifying at a civil trial brought by the Workers Compensation Board and families of the nine men he murdered, Warren said he "knew that it would kill guys," but he didn't care.
"Whoever was pushing that train was of no consequence. They were the enemy on the other side," Warren said, echoing the bitterness and anger that turned the city against itself.
Police and prison officials took no chance with Warren, blanketing the confessed killer with round-the-clock security for his brief return to Yellowknife.
Apparently, they need not have bothered, at least not as much as they did. No more than a half-dozen Yellowknifers took time out from their lives to hear Warren, and by all accounts, they took in his testimony calmly.
A decade ago, Warren's words might have prompted a riot. We take the reaction as a positive message, that the city has finally put the nightmare behind it and moved on.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Every year I attend the newspaper awards hoping for the best and fearing the worst.
I'm not one of those in the ink industry who honestly doesn't care about awards, nor am I one of those folks who pretend not to care one way or the other.
I've always found those who talk a lot about not caring if they win awards are a lot like those who talk constantly about all the amazing sex they have -- both rarely get any.
Newspaper awards have always meant a great deal to me.
After all, let's be honest, the awards are an affirmation of what I do for a living.
And, more importantly, they are the embodiment of setting goals and striving to achieve them.
Special significance
Having said all that, at no time in my career have the awards been as important to me as during my time with the Kivalliq News.
So many people in the region take the time to highlight their communities by sending me pictures and information, that the finished product invariably becomes a community newspaper in the truest sense of the term.
I have thanked longtime contributors in this space before, people like Leonie Aissaoui in Repulse Bay, Glen Brocklebank in Chesterfield Inlet and Noel Kaludjak and Bruce McKitrick in Coral Harbour.
During the past year, more have stepped forward to help highlight the accomplishments of people in their communities, including, but not limited to, Lyall Ford in Baker Lake, Gord Billard in Arviat, Elroy Grandy in Coral Harbour and Francis Wooby in Whale Cove.
Number one in our books
Maybe it's the sports nut in me and a lifetime of being exposed to the team concept, but, when so many people take it upon themselves to promote the accomplishments of others, you just can't help but give it everything you've got in telling their stories to the best of your abilities.
Make no mistake about it, pride has rushed through me like a runaway freight train every time I've heard the Kivalliq News called out at these awards during the past five-plus years.
Pride in my newspaper, yes, but also pride in the great sense of community the people in our region demonstrate year in and year out.
While the Kivalliq News gets to enjoy a year of having the best-in-its-class distinction, the real winners are the people who accomplish so much in our region and those who take the time to let the rest of us know about it.
And, for that, you will always be the best in your class to us.
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
If a tree falls in the forest, does anybody hear?
If an event happens and a scant amount of people turn out, does it still qualify as an event?
While the first question has gone through the ages without a definitive answer, the latter is a question that can be addressed in my humble editorial.
The person who inspired me to write this will probably give me heck when she reads it, but for what it's worth, here goes.
Once upon a time...
...there was this lady who was kind, thoughtful and who had a big heart.
The lady loved where she lived and in between caring for her own brood, she tried to better the lives of others around her with a selfless donation of her time, energy and ideas.
She had all kinds of ideas and each time she wanted to share them, the same people would come to hear her ideas. Together, the lady and those same people would use their energy thinking of ways to get other people interested in their ideas, because they were good ideas.
And so when the group of them finally figured out the time, place and manner in which to share their ideas, they waited. And waited.
Sometimes many people would come out, but usually because of some reason apart from the idea itself, rather, to bask in the atmosphere that certain idea created around it.
Often few, if any, would come because the idea in itself was not enough.
And the moral of the story is...
I can already hear the peanut gallery shouting in unison, "get a better idea then already!"
Frankly, part of me agrees with them. That said, it would be nice for the peanut gallery to pitch in once in a while or just come out and listen to a "good idea."
Nevertheless, it is difficult not to feel for the lady and her good ideas and her good heart, etc. Despite it all, she carries on hoping that one day somebody will see the light.
You can often catch the same sense of passion when you look into the eyes of a dedicated musician, athlete or anyone struggling -- some for years -- to get that first break.
That is why it was frustrating for me last week to attend an event -- a great idea no less -- only to see more volunteers than actual people in seats.
If I had planned that same event and received the same response, I would have probably sworn off of event planning for life.
Not our hero. With a big smile on her face, Inuvik's lady of victory soldiered on and I'm quite certain is in the throes of planning her next event.
So if I can be so bold as to offer a rallying cry of support for the next Family Fun Time event in Inuvik, I know there are families out there who want to get out and have a good time.
Since we're blessed with such a solid contingent of volunteers, it's time to put some onus on the community to come out and show its support.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
They may have been lackluster in Norman Wells and Inuvik, but the Mackenzie Valley pipeline hearings heated up in Fort Simpson last week.
Nick Sibbeston made an impassioned speech. He and Jim Antoine joined forces to rebuke an Imperial Oil representative who suggested that Deh Cho lands belong to the Crown. Technically, that Imperial Oil official was correct. His company has no choice but to recognize federal jurisdiction at this point in time.
However, Sibbeston and Antoine's point was that the First Nations and Metis people have to be recognized as the true landholders. It's all about respect, Sibbeston said, and business opportunities too, of course.
While the oil and gas companies have made some overtures -- opening a Mackenzie Gas Project office in Fort Simpson, hiring people from several communities, allowing the Aboriginal Pipeline Group one-third ownership of the pipeline -- that's not going to cut it, said Sibbeston.
Although his example of Jean Marie River exclusively producing the hundreds of thousands of wooden skids needed for the pipeline is a tall order, Sibbeston's point still stands.
There have to be innovative ways to engage the communities in this project if it's going to go smoothly.
Naturally, the hearings also included environmental concerns.
Several people expressed misgivings over the potential for wildlife to be displaced and possible contamination of lakes, rivers and creeks.
Despite constant reassurances from industry officials and all the technological advances to vastly reduce the risk of environmental disaster, this fear persists.
Here are a few other observations from the hearings:
-- Mackenzie Gas Project's overview of the pipeline looked very professional on paper, as you might expect. The hand-out had each of the oil and gas companies' names and logos across the top of the front page.
But none of the front-page pictures were of pipelines, compressor stations, equipment or workers. No, the photos were of a moose, a bear, flowers and log cabins. Apparently nothing speaks of Mother Nature more than a pipeline.
-- Close to 50 people turned out for the opening hours of the hearings, but nobody was given a chance to speak because that's when the board members and representatives of industry droned on about their roles and objectives.
It's a procedural thing, but after they were done explaining EIAs, EIRs, EISs (and other technical processes), they took a break. About a third of the audience wandered off and didn't return. Fortunately it seems that most people who had something to say made a point of coming back to say it, despite the fact that the hearings took place primarily during work hours.
Since nearly everything the board and proponents explained was repeated in response to questions from the audience over the next two days, why bother with such a potential momentum-killing elaborate introduction?
-- Although board members are supposed to be objective, Sahtu elder Charlie Snowshoe let some opinion slip. He advised the audience that close to 7,000 people will be working on the pipeline.
Even though the workers may have restricted access to communities, "It's still pretty scary," Snowshoe said. Asked about the influential remark afterwards, board chair Todd Burlingame -- who did an admirable job of directing the meetings and making audience members feel their input was appreciated -- said the board members are all human.
Board decisions, he noted, are made by the collective, not individuals.