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Friday, October 8, 2004
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Help wanted

What happens in the next couple of weeks will likely determine Caribou Carnival's fate.

The first hurdle is naming a new board of directors after no one was willing to stand for the board when the association met on Sept. 23.

Second is to begin fundraising and planning the carnival's 50th anniversary celebration.

Third, and most important, is to develop a long-term vision for keeping the carnival alive.

There's talk a new board is ready to step in. That's far from certain. A meeting is planned for Oct. 19 to elect a new board of directors. Everyone who cares about the carnival needs to be at that meeting, ready to do their part.

That new board has to get right down to work.

There's no money in the bank and about $100,000 is needed to put on a carnival similar to what people enjoyed on the ice this past March. That's a tall order in a little more than six months, especially with expectations high for a bigger and better carnival to celebrate the 50th anniversary.

All of that will be useless if there's no planning for the future. Anyone who has paid attention to the carnival's ups and downs over the past few years will know it's been anything but stable.

A paid part-time executive director is a start. Someone needs to work year round to solicit the corporate donations and sponsors. Perhaps Caribou Carnival can piggyback with Folk on the Rocks. It's a model of success and already has an executive director.

That person cannot do it alone. A healthy volunteer board is still necessary.

They cannot focus only on what's going to happen in March. They must plan for March 2006 and years beyond.

Recruiting new board members must be a continuous job. New members and new ideas are what keep boards healthy and effective.

The best directors are community members with particular skills, someone who has bookkeeping skills or is an experienced manager who can organize large projects.

Get service clubs and other community groups involved. They have the volunteer base who can provide the hands needed to pull it all together.

Most of all, have the annual general meeting in April, not September, and get planning off the ground a year ahead.


Altruism all-around

Editorial Comment
Lisa Scott
Kivalliq News


Kivalliq residents recently got the chance to join the millions of people carrying the Marathon of Hope started by a 21-year-old man almost 25 years ago.

They were up to the task and then some.

Hundreds of Kivalliq residents should be commended for their efforts in the annual Terry Fox Run, held Sept. 17 in many communities.

Rankin Inlet, Baker Lake, Repulse Bay and Chesterfield Inlet held their own versions of the 10km run, raising almost $10,000 for cancer research.

Each hamlet bent the race to best suit its needs -- some turning it into a shorter walk, others opting for a 7km run. Another decided a penny sale after the walk would raise the most money.

Raising money and awareness

The format of the event isn't the measure of the matter. Raising money and awareness about the disease that first took Terry Fox's leg and then his life is what is important.

Students, teachers and community members knocked on doors for pledge money, bought T-shirts and calendars, and logged kilometres to add to Fox's 5,373km effort to run across Canada.

Fox is an important emblem for Kivalliq children to look to -- for his strength in the face of death and for his benevolent actions that have lived on after him.

Though he died in 1981 at the age of 22, Kivalliq residents have embraced his lofty plan with the annual event, adding to the $340 million raised worldwide since his run ended outside Thunder Bay.

Teachers go the distance

With money tight for school operations around the region, teachers and other staff naturally turn to generosity to foster education.

Jennifer Sheldon and Taras Humen, both teachers at Rachel Arngnammaktiq in Baker Lake, made a visit by two Stanford University neuroscientist a reality recently.

Their own air miles, along with their resourcefulness, brought the Brain Day program, which gives students a chance to interact with and learn about neuroscience in a classroom presentation.

The day was a great success. One the students won't soon forget.

Sheldon and Humen are just two of a large group of educators who strive to maximize learning for Kivalliq students.


Punctuality counts for a lot

Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum


As the assembled crowd at Aurora Campus waited for Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew to show up Friday afternoon to announce funding for aboriginal skills development, I perused the usual literature that accompanies such staged photo-ops.

"The Honourable Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Minister of State for Northern Development, on behalf of the Honourable Joe Volpe, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, announced (on Oct. 1) federal funding of up to $9.9 million for the Northwest Territories Oil and Gas Aboriginal Skills Development Strategy as part of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada's Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership (ASEP) program," the press release stated.

Lordy begordy, what a mouthful -- apart from the fact that we were all still waiting for the "official announcement" to actually occur.

Time continued to tick by and when Blondin-Andrew finally rolled in to the college foyer a full 30 minutes late, most appeared anxious to get things going.

Following a prayer by elder Elizabeth Hansen, Blondin-Andrew rose to the podium and began her speech about how wonderful it was to achieve such a thing.

I suppose somebody forgot to inform her about "how wonderful" it is to be on time: Blondin-Andrew failed to even make passing reference to her tardiness, let alone express her regret.

Granted, in this day and age of wars under alleged false pretences and rampant trough-loitering at all levels of government, an apology, or even an admission of wrongdoing, are rare things these days.

Nevertheless, it was a touch befuddling for an MP to be late for an appointment to announce, of all things, a job training initiative.

I wonder how successful applicants are who show up 30 minutes late to their job interviews -- not to mention the fact that arriving a half-hour late to one's first day on the job usually means it's that person's last day on the job.

But those things obviously don't matter to some big-time politicians, as was evident last Friday afternoon. They already have jobs.

And while we are on the topic of punctuality, how about addressing the importance of actually showing up at all.

Though Monday's all-candidates forum was a well-attended event that gave interested community members a chance to evaluate their choices for the upcoming Oct. 18 municipal election, there were several candidates for councillor who were conspicuously absent.

One incumbent candidate has already withdrawn from the race, saying he could only guarantee his attendance at half of the coming council meetings. Considering the time commitment involved in being a councillor, one has to question the suitability of candidates who failed to turn up at the election forum.

If appearing at the forum was too difficult to manage, how important is attending council meetings going to be for those who missed the "great debate?"


Making do with less

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum


One less cop.

As Fort Simpson residents pointed out last week, that's not just one less body in a uniform. It's one less respected member of the community, one less income in the local economy, one less person to ease the burden on his co-workers, one less volunteer coach.

For the past few months, the RCMP's top brass had been dropping hints that Fort Simpson -- and Wrigley and Jean Marie River by extension -- would be cut from seven police officers to six. Until last Wednesday, nobody came right out and said it.

Last week, Inspector Greg Morrow tried to present the bad news in a way that would make it a little easier to swallow. The RCMP's numerical formula, he explained, indicated that Fort Simpson really only requires five police officers. Therefore, the law enforcement decision makers are good guys because they are only eliminating one position, not two. Of course, that rationale went over like a lead balloon.

Morrow, in an unenviable position, obviously steeled himself for the backlash, stating a few times during the meeting that he was expecting resentment over the decision. Of course he was. There is no community where people would simply nod politely and reply, "We understand."

Staff Sgt. Bob Gray touched on an interesting point: there are only 700 police recruits graduating from RCMP Depot in Regina each year. Yet there are 1,400 members of the RCMP who are eligible for retirement this year. The real question, though, is how many of them are actually going to pack it in?

One has to wonder how residents in the NWT's smaller communities perceive this dispute. Unfortunately none of them stand to inherit the police position taken from Fort Simpson. In the Deh Cho alone, Wrigley, Trout Lake, Nahanni Butte, Jean Marie River and Kakisa have no law enforcement presence whatsoever.

Even so, outraged Fort Simpson residents have a perfectly valid point: their community is being penalized for having a low crime rate. The police love to talk about "proactive" initiatives, doing something to ward off crime before it happens. By having seven members on staff, that is essentially what they have done in Fort Simpson. Yet now they are willing to tamper with success.

Will six police officers serve as well as seven? Will the deterrence factor drop? Nobody knows for sure. The RCMP's formula doesn't predict the future. It only reflects the present and the past.

What does look to be a sure thing is that the RCMP, not the community, will have the final word on Fort Simpson's staffing level.

Well done

A tip of the cap this week to the organizers and volunteers at the cross-country running championships in Fort Providence -- particularly to Greg Reardon, who had a million and one details to oversee.

Kudos as well to the staff of CIBC's Fort Simpson branch.

They went above and beyond in fund-raising efforts for this year's Run for the Cure. Everyone who donated to the cause and participated in the event deserves a pat on the back, too.


Retraction

It was reported Wednesday that a man accused of a stabbing last week sustained injuries to his hand in a fight. This claim is unsubstantiated in the story and not directly confirmed by police. Yellowknifer retracts this claim and apologizes for any confusion or embarrassment arising from the statement.