We don't doubt O'Reilly is correct. How fitting, as he has shown himself over the years to be just as passionately in favour of fee and tax increases.
Yellowknifers will remember that the $10 household garbage fee was a temporary measure when introduced more than a decade ago.
In fact, the fee is a permanent fixture in the city's revenue machine, which makes skepticism a necessary tool when dealing with administration's arguments for an increase to $11.80.
So while the pro- and anti-tax hike factions on council exchange mudpies, cancelling each other out, we expect the principles of common sense and sound management will guide the rest of council on which side to cast their vote.
Yellowknifers do support recycling, but don't want to waste money doing it.
There are certain movies that, despite the fictional location, you know are shot in Toronto or Vancouver.
Thanks to film director Chris Gamble, Yellowknife will enter the list of Hollywood North venues.
His first feature-length film "Versus Ivan" used some Yellowknife actors, shook hands with downtown characters and waved a camera at familiar spots -- to residents of Yellowknife, anyway.
While we are cynical enough to doubt that Yellowknife's tourism numbers will balloon when Versus Ivan lights up movie theatres around the world -- at least we hope it will reach that far -- you never know.
The baseball epic Field of Dreams apparently encouraged thousands to flock to Idaho to get a taste of "building something so someone else will come along." When Gamble's movie premieres at NAAC in December, be sure to applaud his effort.
For those bean counters out there, to make his effort possible, Gamble collected $18,000 from the NWT Arts Council, $10,000 from RWED, $8,000 in Canadian North airline tickets, and donations from several Yellowknife businesses. He topped it off with many thousands of dollars worth of volunteer sweat. All of it is money well spent.
Bringing a feature-length film to life is a hard-fought sleep-depriving accomplishment that deserves praise. That it is set in Yellowknife is worthy of a special thank you to this budding movie maker.
See you at Cannes, Chris.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
The Government of Nunavut would be well advised to proceed cautiously with language commissioner Eva Aariak's request to extend her office's jurisdiction to the private sector.
Aariak insists that businesses operating in Nunavut and non-government groups should be forced to develop Inuktitut names.
Nunavut doesn't have a great track record in ensuring the rights granted people in this country are adhered to, most specifically rights granted under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Aariak seems to want to move towards implementing a made-in-Nunavut form of Quebec's Bill 101 (The Charter of the French Language), which has been in existence in various forms since 1977.
The road taken by Bill 101 was a rocky one, even though French is one of Canada's two official languages.
Nunavut has already stumbled twice with its first attempt at revamping the Education Act. And let's not forget the anti-gay sentiment that crept out of the capital during Premier Paul Okalik's determined, just and successful bid to implement a Human Rights Act.
Wants more control
Aariak would ultimately like to see a language authority put in place to control the use of Inuktitut in Nunavut.
The necessity of such a move has to be questioned at a time when Inuktitut is viewed as the strongest aboriginal language in the country.
Maybe Aariak wasn't paying attention to a recent Statistics Canada report in which Inuit parents said their children turn to them first for language instruction.
Or, maybe, the commissioner honestly believes store signs are just as effective in preserving Inuktitut as encouragement at home and the development of a strong educational system.
Regardless, at a time when Nunavut needs every economic vehicle available to it, Aariak's sniping at private enterprise is disturbing.
No time for alienation
While her off-the-wall musings on whether the CBC should be changed to something that translates into Inuktitut are somewhat amusing, her desire to force established Nunavut businesses to change their names is not.
Even the vaunted Bill 101 was modified in 1993 to allow English on signs posted outside Quebec establishments, provided the French letters were more prominent.
The last thing Nunavut needs right now is to alienate a private sector that, the odd name aside, has demonstrated its sensitivity to Inuit language and culture time and time again -- not to mention the jobs it supplies and the goods it provides.
And, with a full 76 per cent of Inuit children able to speak Inuktitut, the Nunavut government, our educational system and, most importantly, parents must be doing something right -- whether they're being monitored by the Commish or not!
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
It will be interesting to see the reaction to the NWT Liquor Board's decision on whether or not to grant the Mad Trapper Pub an off-sales licence.
As the Drum's deadline is Tuesday and the decision is to be made Wednesday, when the paper lands in town Thursday, liquor store run procrastinators may have one more place to pick up some cold suds, or not.
Regardless of the board's decision -- and my gut feeling says thumbs up -- liquor consumption will not increase as a result of another off-sales location in town.
People may end up paying more than the liquor store for some cold beer -- and more often once given another watering hole to ponder an early evening without the crowd but with suds.
Have you ever had to make up your mind?
For those who want to get booze, already there are seven bars in Inuvik, including the disco, a well-stocked liquor store, off-sales and the bootlegger for those special occasions. This scenario provides ample opportunity for those who wish to drink, to drink.
There are those who will argue that providing another avenue to access alcohol feeds those with addiction issues and the social problems associated with alcoholism.
However, the other extreme of putting a strict control on booze pushes the business into the laps of bootleggers and empties the wallets of those who want or need to drink.
Pondering this editorial in the late hours of the work day over a cigarette out back of the office, a fellow who lives in town and was also enjoying a smoke in front of one of the bars approached me.
"Hey, newspaper man. What's new?"
"Oh, you know, this and that," I replied.
In a strange coincidence, or perhaps due to the influence of a couple lagers, he went on to relate an idea he had about issuing everybody in town of drinking age a special drinking card.
"What would the card be for," I asked.
According to him, in order to receive a card that would have to be presented to a server before ordering, one would have to appear before a quasi-judicial committee for review. The review would consist of prospective card-carriers to drink until the committee members had determined one had reached his or her "limit."
"Whatever number of drinks that is, then that would be your limit," he went on to explain. "If you were, say 10 drinks until you turned into an ass, you wouldn't be able to order after swiping for that amount."
I can see it now, I thought to myself. Long line-ups for the pub while door staff ensured cards matched people's identity. Customers swapping cards or using friends' cards. Underage drinkers borrowing older brother's or sister's card. It was starting to sound like a good plot for a Simpson's episode, rather than a fool-proof idea.
Then again, it's not the worst idea I've ever heard. Six pack to go, please.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
It's been quite an eventful summer in the Deh Cho. Strong networks of organizers and volunteers have orchestrated a successful arts show and ball tournament in Fort Simpson and a reunion in Jean Marie River.
Similarly, strong core groups will be working behind the scenes at festivals in Wrigley and Fort Providence this weekend. Fort Providence just hosted a hand games tournament as well.
Some people are paid to get these events off the ground, but they often go above and beyond the call of duty. The same can be said of the unpaid volunteers, many of whom get involved only to make sure others enjoy the occasion.
These are remarkable folks who enrich our lives.
On the other hand, we have the irresponsible crowd. This would include some guys and girls who like to party by the big river. Fort Simpson doesn't boast the sands of Jamaica, but it does possess a few nice stretches of beach where people can gather or go for a walk. While venturing along the Mackenzie, however, it's most disheartening to discover shattered glass from alcohol bottles in numerous areas.
It's bad enough that there are lots of discarded cans and plastic bottles, but some individuals can't settle for just tossing bottles aside. They feel compelled to smash them on rocks. How senseless.
Thankfully the beach terrain is soft, so cutting one's feet (or other body parts) doesn't happen easily. Yet some of the shards of glass are so jagged that a careless youngster with shoes or sandals risks winding up with glass embedded in his or her feet.
Shifting gears, literally, there's the equally frustrating wheel squealing types.
Presumably guys, but possibly some female drivers too, who can't help but lay rubber on the pavement or round a corner on a residential dirt road at ridiculous speeds to send the gravel flying. All right, so you can peel your tires, what have you accomplished?
These are minor annoyances in the grand scheme of things. Obviously it would be much worse to have your vehicle stolen or someone break into your home or business. But still...
Sometimes it's easy to overlook the hard working folks amongst us. It's not so easy to forget about those who are completely thoughtless -- they won't let us.
You're not going to believe this one
Of all the concerns raised at numerous consultations on the proposed Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline, nobody ever asked, "What would happen if a bear opened a valve?"
Anyone who posed such a question would likely have been laughed out of the room. Yet an inquisitive bear -- was it Yogi or Gentle Ben? -- caused 12,000 litres of oil to spill along the Enbridge line.
Thankfully precautions are being taken to prevent a repeat of such an incident. But one question remains: "What if a sasquatch..."