The NWT Housing Corporation should stick to housing people here at home.

A disastrous attempt to sell nine home kits to Alaska in 2001 resulted in losses amounting to about $400,000.

The corporation assembled the house packages for a buyer in Barrow, Alaska, but the deal fell through after the buyer's board and management changed. Only one of the home kits sold, so with no signed sales agreement, NWT Housing was left holding the bag. That's just bad business.

Only now are the houses being built for people living in Mackenzie Delta communities.

Defended the deal

Jeff Anderson, the acting president and chief financial officer of the Housing Corp., defended the deal, saying the corporation didn't overstep its mandate, which includes encouraging economic development opportunities.

However, we believe that with 16 per cent of all homes in the NWT in "core need," the corporation should focus its efforts and our money here at home.

It's one thing to provide advice and guidance to Northern entrepreneurs who want to expand into other housing markets, quite another to be a sales agent. Especially when you don't have the common sense to sign a sales agreement.

Even the name is perfect: Turning Point. Sounds like a soap opera.

The ongoing saga of the Inuvik facility, once known as Delta House, is a territorial embarrassment. Once the best funded addictions treatment centre in the North, it has deteriorated into little more than a homeless shelter where people can crash when it gets too cold to be outside. You never know from month to month if there's going to be enough money to keep it open.

It's the perfect symbol of how the NWT government approaches alcohol and drug treatment: cut, cut, cut, and hope the problem goes away.

Thanks to last-minute support from the Town of Inuvik and Nihtat Gwich'in Council, Turning Point will remain open for a little longer. Education, Culture and Employment will kick in some funding too, but was prepared to walk away when the operation was run by the Inuvik Alcohol Committee.

Under the committee, the operation built up a $100,000 debt because the money it received from Yellowknife was never enough.

At some point, this brinkmanship has to stop. Communities want to help themselves, but they don't have the money to do it alone.

That's where the territorial government must come in. Turning Point does not replace government addictions workers, it helps get people off the street and find the trail to wellness.

Although the dog slaughter happened years ago, in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the memories still sting the storytellers.

"There was an officer and an assistant, and all my dogs were dead," Joanasie Maniapik told a panel of Members of Parliament in Ottawa recently. "I was in so much pain. My life was destroyed."

For the Inuit, time in these matters is meaningless. The memories are vivid, and people feel worse as each year passes and nothing is done to right the wrong.

Maniapik's story is not unusual. Many Inuit living in south Baffin and Northern Quebec communities between 1950 and 1970 saw similar dog slaughters.

Entire dog teams were shot and no explanation was ever given to the Inuit families who were left with no mode of transportation.

Remember, these were the days when snowmobiles were a new invention. Inuit needed dogs to go hunting, fishing, to get to town, to survive.

You can still hear stories like Maniapik's if you sit in a bar or coffee shop anywhere in Nunavut or Northern Quebec long enough. Stories of dog slaughters make storytellers bang the table or cry openly.

It also makes them say nasty things about the RCMP, who many blame for the killings.

RCMP say the dogs were killed because of disease. That explanation has not satisfied Inuit.

Maniapik, like all the Inuit who went to Ottawa to talk about the dog slaughter issue, wants an inquiry into why dogs were shot.

An inquiry sets out all the evidence available and gives all sides a chance to say their piece. It is an important event in Canada, one that can lead to recommendations and changes.

We saw those changes following the famous Walkerton Inquiry and closer to home in Iqaluit following the coroner's inquiry into four deaths by municipal vehicles.

So far, Nancy Karetak-Lindell, Nunavut's MP, hasn't thrown her weight behind the cause. She was quoted last week saying she was not convinced an inquiry into the dog slaughters is the best way to go about things.

We disagree. It may be the only way to give the Inuit some peace, and let the RCMP and the federal government have their say. Right now, many Inuit who lived through those times are constantly looking over their shoulder.

They are fearful of government and do not trust the RCMP at all. And that is no way for people to live in Canada.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

It's about time the general public gets to see some data on the effectiveness of the various community justice committees across the Kivalliq region.

In fact, there are growing voices of concern in a number of communities surrounding this combined alternative/traditional approach to justice.

One of the biggest concerns being whispered is that older, more experienced young criminals are taking advantage of the justice committees' existence to talk younger kids into doing their dirty work for them.

Since the committees won't deal with repeat offenders as a rule, youth who have been convicted of break and enters in the past don't want to roll the dice again in a court of law, especially those now too old for youth court.

So, they quickly gain the confidence of younger kids with clean records to hit their targets.

The kids are convinced the rewards awaiting them, should they get away with the heist, far outweigh a little time spent with an elder and an apology to the property owner should they get caught.

Life in the Kivalliq is no different than anywhere else when it comes to the scenario of young kids being impressed by the stolen cash and loot being flashed around by their older peers.

The message they hear from the more hardened lawbreakers isn't crime doesn't pay; it's easy money and easier time.

Another concern being raised about justice committees is when elders, who are paid for their efforts, sit in court as a character reference for a young offender who just happens to be related to them.

Aside from, maybe, the same last surname and a striking resemblance, a court justice would have no way of knowing the elder giving the glowing report is the offender's auntie away from the courtroom.

The fact so much of the justice committees' work is done by elders intimidates many from voicing their concerns in public.

And, while we do not agree with people being intimidated into silence for any reason, we'd be less than honest if we said we didn't understand their reluctance to come forward.

Detailed reports

What would go a long way towards easing concern in our communities, is for each justice committee to table a detailed report to its hamlet council outlining each of the youth its worked with during the past few years and the results.

Are the majority of the youth walking the straight and narrow after being referred to the justice committee, or do most of them spend time with an elder only to wind up in youth court a short time later?

The councils would also hear exactly what committee members do with the youth referred to them.

After a period of time, the compiled data could provide valuable insight into what approaches work with different youth and, conversely, what approaches show no positive results.

If the community justice program is producing positive results, it's time to let the rest of us in on it.

Editorial Comment
Chris Hunsley
Inuvik Drum

Is it biting the hand that feeds you or looking a gift horse in the mouth?

March 18th, in broad daylight, Bill Rutherford, also known as Inuvik's beloved Fruitman, turned his back on four youth who'd stepped into his tractor-trailer/fruit and vegetable mart for a reprieve from the cold.

Moments later, the youth - and Rutherford's cash box - were out the door.

This is the man who travels thousands of kilometres every week, from British Columbia to the far North and back, specifically to ensure an abundance of the freshest produce for our dinner tables.

Now out of pocket around $1,500, Rutherford will undoubtedly survive.

The real loss, however, would be if this type of service were discontinued in the region because those that can't appreciate a good product and service feel the need to ruin it for others.

Was that money for a loaf of bread to feed a starving man?

Probably not. If it was, why didn't they grab a bag of carrots instead?

Proceeds from that crime have more than likely found their way into some of the less reputable business ventures in the area.

All four youth are well known to police and one has since been charged with theft under $5,000.

Two others are expected to receive the same charge once they are located.

Even after being caught, however, the youth refused to make amends for his wrongdoing.

This is where we locals can show Rutherford our appreciation of his regular endeavours to keep us healthy.

The youth may refuse to hand over the unlikely-to-be-cashed-without-a-forthcoming-fraud-charge cheques that filled Rutherford's cash box, but those well-fed shoppers who wrote them could simply sign their names to another.

Rutherford may not recoup all of his losses, but this is the action that will have the most impact.

Conversely, if someone tries to cash a fruitman cheque, dated around mid-March, it's probably a good idea to inform the police.

It's unlikely one of the thieves would try to cash one, they say, but it's possible.

What's important is that Rutherford knows he and his service are valued.

Make a point to tell him that the next time you fill your basket with some crunchy apples or beautiful greens.

Let's let him know that Inuvik would be a rotten place without our Fruitman.

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh cho Drum

Here's a dog's breakfast of personal brain waves (however minimal):