Many Northerners drink booze to ease pain. When that buzz is no longer enough, some people turn to pot, then crack cocaine.
Though these are average people, sometimes the demons get too much for them - the scars on their wrists and livers are proof of that - and they seek help.
Police, social workers and many others deal with alcohol addiction daily. As resource development puts more money into people's pockets, drugs are starting to take their toll.
From 1994 to 2002, the rate of violent crime has risen 67 per cent in the NWT. Drug offences during that period have nearly doubled. There is a real connection between more wealth and crime.
You need only read News/North to see the impact of drugs: in Hay River last week, a man walked into H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital with multiple stab wounds. Police investigating the incident seized drugs, cash and drug paraphernalia.
In Inuvik a few months ago, residents and police formed a wellness coalition to try to stem the tide. There, the rate of violent crime in 2002 was 70 per cent higher than 1994.
In the Sahtu, the longer winter road season - from eight weeks to 20 thanks to new bridges - allows more booze and drugs to be brought into hamlets and towns.
Police can arrest dealers, users and others, but that Band-Aid doesn't stop the bleeding. It's regular folk who will make the difference.
As one Inuvik cop told News/North last week: "If we don't do anything, we're just going to keep filling pine boxes (coffins)."
In Inuvik and Yellowknife, wellness coalitions - comprised of organizations and individuals who work together to find solutions to homelessness, alcohol and drug abuse and crime - are starting to have an impact.
That effort is expected to grow into the Sahtu in September. It's timely work.
The NWT is booming. Diamond mines and mineral exploration have growing numbers of Northerners in all communities at work. The pending natural gas pipeline will bring more people, jobs and money North.
In Alberta, crystal meth is a growing new drug menace. RCMP in the NWT have already issued a warning about this nasty brew, made from household cleaners and other readily available substances.
We lost a good chunk of one generation to alcohol. Let's not lose a new one to drugs.
Every society will have users and abusers - but with greater awareness, community action and police support, we can keep the suffering to a minimum.
Nunavut News/North recently held a writing contest for Nunavut Day. Students in every school in Nunavut from kindergarten to Grade 12 were asked to create their own legend of the land. We thought this would get the students attention. It did.
But because the deadline was June 1, many schools were swamped with other projects -- like important, end-of-year exams -- and told us outright it would be tough to get students to write those stories and meet our deadline.
In the end, though, 82 students from Cambridge Bay to Iqaluit submitted stories, covering an incredible amount of ground from the mountains to the sea.
We hope more students take part next year.
Most stories were neatly typed. Many were hand written, and done in syllabics. The work arrived by fax, and through regular mail.
Notably, students in Cape Dorset drew pictures to accompany their stories.
If the contest was a sample of what is going on in Nunavut, then youth have rich imaginations and know what good storytelling is all about. But it is clear there are some young writers who you can tell really struggle to put their own words and ideas on paper.
When you read much of this young work it can often feel like you are watching someone trying to haul in a large fish that thrashes about uncontrollably. Oh, what a glorious, wonderful, beautiful fish it is! But oh how difficult it is to reel it in!
It is probably frustrating for many students to realize that something that looks so easy and promises to be so wonderful -- their words on the page -- can be so darn difficult to do.
But that doesn't mean they never will. People ask "Where are the poets, the novelists, the short story writers of Nunavut?" They are here. They are facing the new page. Let's make sure they are supported.
Besides the lofty pursuits of literature there is ordinary life, too. Soon enough, no matter what kind of life that student will pursue, they will have to be able to express themselves on paper.
Whether it's writing an application to get into an educational program, a resume or cover letter to get a job, or a speech to reach a room full of people writing is important.
Just to be able to sit down at day's end and write about the kind of rotten day you had, just for your own sanity, is power that no one can take away from you.
If the youth don't start now, Nunavut will never have a body of literature to call its own.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
The Oxford Canadian Dictionary defines apathy as "lack of interest or feeling; indifference."
What it doesn't say -- but something we're quite comfortable in adding -- is that rarely, if ever, does anything good evolve from apathy.
We give Liberal MP Nancy Karetak-Lindell full marks for her third straight win in the recent federal election.
However, we are growing increasingly alarmed at the continuing downward spiral of the number of Nunavummiut who bother to exercise their civic right.
The number of Nunavut voters who cast their ballots on election day was a staggering 17 per cent lower than the national average.
The national turnout hovered around 60 per cent, while, here in Nunavut, only 43 per cent of the territory's 16,900 eligible voters took the time to have their say.
Yeah, sure, the weather's starting to get a little nicer and people want to go to their cabins or do some fishing.
But, when you step back and look at it objectively, ranking the urge to land a few fish (which, we will hazard a guess, would still have been there later in the day) ahead of having a say in who will be your voice in the nation's capital is downright laughable.
People in parts of the world where freedom and democracy are only words, must shake their collective heads at the indifference shown in our little universe.
It is quite alarming that the number of Nunavut voters has slipped well below the 50 per cent mark in just about every level of politics.
From who sits on our hamlet councils, through Iqaluit, and on to Ottawa, less than half our eligible voters are bothering to take an interest in what is happening in Nunavut -- and those numbers are continuing to drop.
So what must we do to encourage voter participation?
The answer is quite simple: give away hot dogs and plenty of cash prizes at the polling stations.
A bingo game and the sale of Nevada tickets in an adjoining room also wouldn't hurt.
It's bewildering to see more people show up to slide a curling rock across the pavement than to exercise their democratic right.
It's easy, on one day a year, to show up waving your little flag, stuff yourself with free pop and hot dogs, have your face painted and tell everyone within earshot how proud you are to be Canadian.
The problem is, proud Canadians take the time to exercise the right so many died to bestow upon them.
In Nunavut, almost 60 per cent of our eligible voters take it all for granted -- the dark side of the term, silent majority!
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
Working together. Enhancing the role of Western Canada in the federation.
This is the working title for discussion between the seven western premiers gathered in the region for the next two days.
On the agenda is health care, energy and trade relations with the US, Mad Cow, securities regulation, and of course, strengthening the federation.
Of particular interest to the North is the agenda item regarding delivery of services to rural and remote regions.
Though energy ranks third on the Western Premiers' Conference Agenda, the location for this year's gathering gives an inkling as to which topic will be the talks' centerpiece for discussion.
If all goes according to the plans of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group and Mackenzie Valley Producers Group (as well as to the hopes of other vested interests), construction of a Mackenzie Valley pipeline would begin in 2007.
Thirty years ago, Thomas Berger released his two volume inquiry into a Mackenzie Valley pipeline entitled Northern Frontier, Northern Homeland, which recommended a 10-year moratorium on any such development.
It is interesting that the same issues -- environment and social impact -- remain at the forefront of the current processes geared towards making the pipeline a reality.
The one thing that has changed since Berger's style ushered in an era of public consultation with media participation has been the rise in political power of First Nations in the territory.
Questioning Kakfwi's support
Fred Carmichael of the APG is questioning former premier Stephen Kakfwi's support of the K'asho Got'ine Dene's revenue sharing plan.
Add to that Deh Cho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian's rumblings about court injunctions if he doesn't get his way -- two seats on the pipeline's joint review panel.
That's a lot of grumbling.
Unlike the premiers' bold conference theme, it would hardly seem that aboriginal leadership is working together.
As governors from several western American states, including Alaska, have been invited to the premiers' conference, it is a sure bet that the Alaskan pipeline is going to be discussed in the smaller, more informal gatherings.
While Carmichael sees the writing on the wall, warning Kakfwi that if he pushes too hard all of us "can kiss the pipeline goodbye," one wonders if there's anybody else out there in the wilderness who wants this project realized.
(At least on weekends Carmichael knows there is; somebody out in the wilderness, that is).
When Carmichael says that Northern leaders must recognize the cultural change in the North, perhaps he should add that though there was a time when grandstanding grabbed people's attention, these days it could well chase away billion dollar deals rather than seal them with a kiss.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
If someone doesn't agree with the Dehcho First Nations' position on an issue, the assumption is usually that the position must have come from "an advisor."
Advisor is a code word for lawyer. It's no secret that the Dehcho has two of them working on the self-government negotiations file: Georges Erasmus and Chris Reid.
Last week in Kakisa, MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew made an appearance and told the delegates that they are quite capable of doing things for themselves, they don't need advisors.
Perhaps Blondin-Andrew meant well, but that's poor advice. After all, Blondin-Andrew and every other federal and territorial politician have their own advisors. From executive assistants to legal teams to senior bureaucrats, they can get direction on any given issue at any time. Why should be Dehcho First Nation be any different?
It's true that nobody knows better what the Deh Cho Dene and Metis want to achieve through self-government than the Deh Cho Dene and Metis themselves. But there's nobody more qualified to achieve that on their behalf than a good advisor -- someone well schooled and experienced in the art of complex and tedious negotiations with the federal government. The process is laced with legal terminology and concepts.
As "outsiders," the lawyers are prone to attack, Reid in particular as he resides in Toronto. When Stephen Kakfwi was premier and he disagreed with the Dehcho First Nation on the pipeline, Kakfwi impugned the role of "this guy from Ontario."
Reid later moved over from chief negotiator to legal counsel, and his former position was advertised. If there was a Deh Cho Dene or Metis candidate best suited for the job, he or she must not have been available because it went to Erasmus, who has an impressive track record.
There are those who accuse the well-compensated advisors of dragging out the process for self-gain.
"The only ones who get rich from self-government are the lawyers," it has often been said.
To refute that, let's look at last week as a case in point. Chief negotiator Georges Erasmus asked the delegates at the Kakisa assembly to support the draft constitution so he could pursue an agreement-in-principle.
It was the delegates who said, "Whoa, not so fast."
You see, the advisors are only laying out options and providing expert advice. It's still the Dehcho delegates who rule the roost, and that's the way it should be.
Yes, advisors are costly, but if they are trusted and kept within their bounds, then they should be welcome guides in what ought to be an historic period in the Deh Cho.