First of all, everyone likes to believe they're equal and one voice has as much weight as another. That's the principle behind democratic societies.
In the Deh Cho, leaders are using those scary words -- scary to non-aboriginal people anyway.
While the positions are not the official policy of the Deh Cho First Nations, leaders who gathered recently on the Hay River Reserve have reached consensus on two issues: residency and representation on a new, yet-to-be-defined public government.
In terms of residency, DCFN are looking at non-aboriginal people having to live five to seven years in the region before being able to participate in a so-called public government.
It takes time to get to know and understand life in the North, but disenfranchising people for years is unfair and possibly contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Likewise, a 75 per cent guarantee of aboriginal representation on a regional "public" government is likely to send a chill down many spines.
Sure, these are likely to be negotiating positions that will surely be whittled away during years of talks with territorial and federal governments, but demanding a certain level of representation for a certain racial group challenges any attempt to define a government as public and stirs up nasty reminders of racially oppressive regimes.
There are similar promises outlined in the Beaufort-Delta self-government agreement in principle, but they only guarantee one First Nation seat on a community government and caps the maximum at 50 per cent.
In the precedent setting Nisga'a agreement from Northwestern B.C., rights of all residents in the land claim region are guaranteed because everyone -- including non-aboriginal -- can become members of the First Nation.
In the Deh Cho Process, the First Nations are regaining control over their land and reclaiming power that is now in the hands of bureaucrats and politicians in Yellowknife and Ottawa.
They have to remember that in doing so, they don't do the same to non-aboriginals that the federal government did to them.
That's going to take working with non-aboriginal communities to come up with a regional government that represents everyone and upholds the principles of democracy on lands and for people outside of the land claim.
The booze Kevin O'Brien drank in Arviat in July 2003 has turned out to be very costly indeed.
O'Brien, former speaker of the Legislative Assembly and Arviat MLA, was fined in January for possession of alcohol at his home in Arviat last July.
What he did was wrong.
As an elected representative and a high-ranking government official, O'Brien should have known better than to have alcohol in a restricted community.
Legal issues aside, an MLA has to be held to a very high ethical standard and must be above reproach.
That aside, this should never have become anything more than a minor embarrassment that should have been O'Brien's to shoulder.
As it turned out, he lost his seat in the election.
But the fallout of this supposed scandal has been damaging to all Nunavummiut, well beyond the person responsible.
The government lost one of its top bureaucrats. Nora Sanders resigned as deputy minister of justice over handling of information concerning the RCMP's investigation of O'Brien.
Perhaps embarrassed that he only learned about the case when it was reported in a Kivalliq News editorial in April, Okalik overreacted in accepting Sanders' resignation.
Her crime was not telling Okalik, also justice minister, that O'Brien was under investigation.
Police informed her of the investigation, but never told her that the charge was laid.
Now, the GN has lost a capable bureaucrat who was in the job since April 1998.
That's a tremendous loss for a civil service that is already understaffed and inexperienced.
Then, there's the severance pay. The government isn't talking about how much that is, but there are thousands of better ways Nunavut could spend that money.
And all for what?
A $215 fine for a charge that isn't even a criminal code offence and that O'Brien was under no legal obligation to share with anyone else.
An apology from Sanders should have sufficed.
Instead, Premier Okalik has set a very high standard for bureaucrats and politicians to live up to.
Will heads roll the next time someone stumbles? And what will be the cost?
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Most people have heard the saying about not throwing stones if you live in a glass house.
More often than not, the adage is a warning about chastising others when you, yourself, may have similar problems.
About two months ago, a number of Nunavut's top political personalities were shaking their heads in disgust over the news that a Yellowknife doctor, who was fired from a family practice in the city, had been licensed in the NWT despite knowledge of previous problems in the United States.
It seems the good doctor had a habit of writing himself prescriptions for various narcotic medications.
The doctor had been disciplined in the State of Montana, but the NWT's medical registration board was prevented by law from informing his new employers of the past problems.
The doctor was fired earlier this year amid allegations he breached patient confidentiality.
Nunavut at risk
The potential for the same type of situation is all too real with Nunavut's teaching community.
In far too many cases, Nunavut teacher certification checks are being done after a new educator is hired instead of before.
It will be interesting to see if Minister Ed Picco moves to strengthen Education's screening process, or remains content to simply roll the bones of chance and maintain the status quo.
Should Picco decide to take a closer look at his department's hiring practice, he may decide to act quickly.
Once he begins looking into the situation, it shouldn't take the minister all that long to discover the Department of Education has known for quite some time that the possibility of a 'bad hire' is all too real in Nunavut.
Of course, the Nunavut government is well known for its silence among the ranks -- an understandable development when one considers the constant gag orders passed down to the rank and file from their ruling ministers -- so the information gathering process could take longer than usual (see O'Brien saga for current example).
Warning already given
However, with a deputy minister having already been warned by a former registrar of teachers about the lack of background checks being undertaken on new teachers, we're sure Picco will recognize a more thorough approach to applicant screening soon has to be put in place in our territory.
If not, it's just a matter of time before that 'bad hire' becomes somebody's nightmare.
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
With a 15-year-old taken into custody and released in connection with the fire at Samuel Hearne secondary school Monday morning, perhaps it is time to look at implementing a curfew in town.
While a curfew could never wholly prevent events such as what happened at SHSS, had there been one in place and enforced perhaps the high school's second tragedy in little more than a week could have been avoided.
Disgust probably best sums up the sentiment at the fire hall regarding the injury of a volunteer firefighter, who lost part of a finger while helping to put out the fire.
It is one thing for a member to be injured in the line of duty taking on an accidental fire, but the fact that this blaze appears to have been intentionally set means that our brave volunteer firefighters were put in harm's way on what would seem a thoughtless whim.
In a previous editorial, I argued against setting a curfew for Inuvik's youth, taking the line that police and the municipality are not -- and should not -- be put into the role of surrogate parent. However, if parents are not willing to step up to the plate and public property and human lives are at risk from the behaviour of the wayward youth, then perhaps it's time to rethink things.
The collapse of SHSS's foyer roof brought out a lot of positive response from the community.
For example, teachers put in extra hours making sure students had homework material and the enthusiasm of our town's conscientious student population eager to get their hands on those resources was refreshing.
However, the flip side was that for a chunk of SHSS's student body, their school's unexpected closure didn't really matter as many in that lot had skipped more than half the year anyways. To make matters worse, now a student at the school has been charged with setting the fire.
High truancy rates, coupled with ongoing vandalism concerns -- that most recently burned up the high school gym -- indicate that there is a real discipline problem with much of the town's youth.
As there doesn't seem to be any way to shake parents responsible for these problematic kids out of their neglectful slumbers, then keeping the little rascals off the street looks to be the only course of action.
And while we're at it, something needs to be done to address the uninspiring attendance records at the high school. Perhaps a school-hour curfew during the weekdays -- whereby all youth would be expected inside the walls of our public education institutions during class time -- should be implemented as well.
All too often much time and energy is expended looking at ways to cater to the needs of our youth and it's about time the community addressed its own well-being and future prosperity. Allowing kids to attend school when they feel like it and run rampant through town at all hours does nothing in this regard.
Unless, of course, Inuvik is willing to put its future in the hands of a generation of lazy, irresponsible and criminal-minded youth being fostered here under our very noses.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
Motorists across North America are up in arms over gasoline prices.
Because the recent spike at the pumps comes in advance of a federal election, the cost of gasoline has become a campaign issue. The Conservatives have pledged to remove the GST on the federal excise tax, in other words get rid of the "tax on a tax." That sounds great, but it will only translate into a savings of about one cent per litre. Big deal! Is that the best our politicians can do?
Underlying this outrage is North American consumers' false notion that we are entitled to relatively cheap gasoline. Where is that written in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms? Other than the U.S., most industrialized nations pay considerably more for fuel than Canadians.
I can't help but recall the words of a university professor who pointed out that we go into a store and pay more than a dollar for a litre of bottled water or pop and think nothing of it. But when we are expected to pay that amount for gasoline we're resentful.
Feeling gouged by gas prices, everyone wants to point the finger of blame. Over the years, the provincial and federal governments have held a number of inquiries into allegations of price fixing by oil companies. Did any of those inquiries ever find a guilty party?
Oil is a precious commodity in limited supply. Market demand continues to grow, and nobody seems to be able to dictate production rates to Middle Eastern producers (OPEC).
So it looks like we'll all have to swallow hard when we pull up to the pump. Just remember not to take it out on the poor cashiers. They have no control over the world forces at work, they're just trying to make a living.
Cans, bottles, wrappers and bags were the most common pieces of refuse left in the spring wasteland of Fort Simpson prior to Saturday. That was the day that dozens of residents came together for a community clean up.
It's a scene that plays out in most if not all Deh Cho communities this time of year.
Of course people are responsible for much of the rubbish but, as one astute picker-upper noted on Saturday, ravens (and dogs) are also contributors because they rip garbage bags open in search of food.
Regardless of who's to blame, it's frustrating to not only have to pick up wrappers, chip bags and bottles, but to find each in tiny pieces adds to the aggravation.
What possesses some people to think of the world as their trash can? Although more receptacles around the community would be helpful, there are many instances where people toss junk onto the street or sidewalk in full view of a garbage can.
If there's any upside to the thoughtless littering, it's that the oodles of debris unite neighbours in a common cause to get rid of it. There really is a sense of community to the event.
On the downside, the empty lots and fields -- some scoured twice in thorough efforts on Saturday morning -- were showing signs of fresh litter by late in the afternoon.
Same time, same place next year, everybody. There will be plenty more work to do.
In the May 17 edition of Nunavut News/North (Tootoos sue Brandon police) it was incorrectly stated that the shotgun and ammunition Terence Tootoo used to take his own life were his own.
In fact, the shotgun and ammunition were owned by Robert Roy, a defendant named in the Tootoo statement of claim.
News/North apologizes for any embarrassment or misunderstanding the error may have caused.