Wednesday, April 20, 2005
The lot of a burned-out garage on the waterfront in Old Town is a golden opportunity to carry out a vision of Yellowknife as a lake front destination for Yellowknifers and visitors.
But Mayor Gord Van Tighem and council seem to be ignoring a chance to make good on promises to develop the spectacular waterfront on Great Slave Lake.
Council must still be stinging from the tussle with Latham Island residents over a boardwalk the city wanted to build between their lot lines and the water of Back Bay. Council lost that one.
That was one effort, after a long period of inaction, to do something productive with the waterfront.
Another step came with the boat launch at Giant, a pet project of the mayor. Problem with that one is it's outside of town and only for people with boats.
The most significant waterfront development came compliments of the Yellowknife Rotary Club. They took the scruffy entrance to the Dettah ice road and turned it into a waterfront postcard. It's a place to park and sight-see in the winter, a place to walk and sit by the lake in summer. Where else can you do that in Yellowknife?
Now, despite reluctance from council, federal and territorial politicians have thrown their support behind the Old Town residents who want a park instead of a fisheries garage.
Will it benefit the Old Town residents? We expect it will. The good news is the rest of the city will benefit even more from this tiny slice of waterfront access.
Despite past failures, it's time for city council to get on side. Here they can support the residents instead of knocking heads with them.
There is still plenty of dock space left for the various federal departments to use. Tying up so much of the city's waterfront is simply not justified by the use.
A coalition of ordinary Yellowknifers is not having a great deal of success dealing with the federal departments involved. The municipal government is in the best position to iron out the wrinkles raised by bureaucrats.
Everyone with an interest in the future of the city's waterfront, including city council's own mandate, NWT Premier Joe Handley and the Honourable Ethel Blondin-Andrew, see the need to make this park happen.
It won't without the support of city council.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Shortly after our last federal election, I warned in this column that, historically, minority governments don't have a very long lifespan.
With the sponsorship scandal eating away at the Liberal Party's credibility on an almost daily basis, it won't be long before we're marching off to the polls to cast our votes once again.
If Liberal MP Nancy Karetak-Lindell plans on running again next time - and we have to believe she will, given the possible short time frame since her last win - she may not enjoy the same landslide victories as she did the past few times out.
While Lindell suffered very little political fallout for voting against Private Member's Bill C-263 (the Bill to amend the Canada Labour Code to ban replacement workers during a work stoppage was defeated again in Ottawa this past week), this time around may be a different story.
Unlike Bill C-263, we loudly applaud Lindell's decision to support Bill C-38, the legislation on same-sex civil marriage.
And, we also applaud her reasons for doing so.
However, Nunavut has a strong religious community and there will be negative fallout coming her way after supporting the bill.
Lindell is absolutely correct in her assertion that the church is protected from the legislation because it will not force any church to marry someone it doesn't want to.
So, what we're talking about is matrimony before the eyes of the government, not necessarily before the eyes of God.
Lindell felt voting against Bill C-38 would be akin to saying discrimination against a minority group is all right and we tend to agree with her.
To her, a vote against C-38 was saying she would not discriminate against people except for this particular group.
Bang on, again!
With her reasons for supporting the Bill put out for all to see, one comment stood out above the rest and made us here at Kivalliq News stand up and say, bravo!
Lindell pulled no punches while talking about the state of marriage in the North when she said, "If anything is threatening the sanctity of marriage, it is spousal assault and adultery in our communities."
Nunavut's MP produced an articulate, intelligent, sensitive and challenging set of reasons behind her decision to support Bill C-38.
However, the hardliners in the religious community will not approve of, nor care about, her reasoning.
Make no mistake about it, this decision will cost her votes.
Finest moment
But, in these days of seemingly never-ending political corruption, there are far worse ways for a politician to lose votes than by making a stand for equality.
Lindell felt the pressure from the religious community leading up to this decision, yet still had the courage to vote for what she believed to be right.
And while that may not win her any popularity contests in some corners, it may be her finest moment, to date, as a politician!
Editorial Comment
Chris Hunsley
Inuvik Drum
"It's all about the kids. It's so great to hear them laugh and give them a place to go. It's wonderful."
Since the moment Inuvik's Family Centre opened, sentiments like these have been heard many times, from many different Inuvik residents.
The countless times elders have said they couldn't have wished more for the kids, have not gone unrecorded by these ears.
The community, council planners, local businesses and designers came together with special effort to build a facility that would seem more likely for a large urban centre or beach-side resort.
Beaufort-Delta residents for generations to come have been given way more than just the resources to be healthy and fit. They will have vivid memories of howling laughter and children's smiles to look back on and cherish.
For this, I say kudos to you all!
This project came about through more than just effort and vision, it required some pretty big personal sacrifices by some pretty special people.
The pool would have been built without their donations, but many of the bells and whistles might be missing now without them.
"For the extras we tried to find extra sources of funding," said Jerry Veltman, Senior Administrative Officer.
Veltman and his wife Antje gave $10,000 to help purchase two chairlifts for the disabled and an aquatic wheelchair.
Longtime resident and businessman Danny Smith lobbed a weighty cheque at the town to the tune of $100,000.
Those are major bucks yet he seemed overjoyed to have been able to sign over the donation.
"The Family Centre is a really positive aspect for the Town of Inuvik," said Smith, who has lived here for 25 years.
Town council puts its sweat and tears into all the programs around the community, be it garbage or paving the streets, he noted.
"They get a lot of negative feedback and it's not always right. Peter and the rest of the council do a great job," Smith said.
Speaking modestly, Smith added that he just wanted to reward them with a little "boost."
All the dollars in that little boost will no doubt go far.
Perhaps the most touching tribute came from the Billingsley family.
The open-spaced foyer with grand mural and flowing walls came courtesy of a $50,000 donation in memory of Doug and Vicky Billingsley, who moved to the community with their family in 1973. Both have now passed on and a plaque near the front entrance explains why the donation was made: "In appreciation to the people of Inuvik for many good times."
The spectacular Playland may not have materialized without the help of Michael Fabijan, whose $20,000 donation went a long way towards the $60,000 cost of the play area.
"A lot more people gave more money than me," he said.
This attitude of dowplaying their contributions to the centre seems to be common among the donors. None of them wanted to make a big deal about their donations or see themselves in the spotlight but how could we simply ignore this amazing thing they've done for their community?
There has to be a way we can express our gratitude.
As I drive by the Family Centre daily and see the parking lot packed with cars and kids with beach towels amidst the falling snow, I can only think, this is exactly the thanks these quiet philanthropists want in return for their generosity.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh cho Drum
Two sides that have had plenty to say about each other finally met face to face last week.
Grand Chief Herb Norwegian acknowledged that it was his first meeting with the Fort Simpson Chamber of Commerce. He sat down with Chamber members on their turf - their monthly meeting at the Nahanni Inn boardroom - with only his assistant, John Holman, accompanying him.
One might have expected "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" to have started playing when the grand chief walked into the room. Despite a bit of a rocky past, the meeting wasn't all that adversarial, and, really, there was no need for it to be.
What was important was for Chamber members to convey their concerns to the person at the helm of negotiations for a future regional government.
To recap a bit of the history, Chamber presidents Duncan Canvin and Andrew Gaule have, over the past several years, expressed frustration with the lack of economic development in the Deh Cho.
They've openly questioned the Dehcho First Nations' resistance to fostering, if not outright stunting, commerce in the region. The grand chief, although he never met with the Chamber, was obviously aware of the business organization's position.
During a flare-up over big-game hunting last year - an issue that had local charter airlines worried about losing long-term, valued customers - Norwegian took a swipe at the Fort Simpson business community. He said local merchants, who have made plenty of money from First Nations people, should be supporting the Dehcho First Nations (DFN) in its efforts to get maximum benefits from government and industry. For some added colour, for which Norwegian is infamous, he added that local businesspeople should stop "lurking in the coffee shops and talking about (their) withering little bank accounts."
It's unlikely anyone at last Tuesday's meeting had forgotten those words, but the dispute wasn't rehashed. No, it was on to bigger and better things. Chamber member Peter Shaw expressed misgivings over certain elements of a Dene regional government, particularly the prospect of non-aboriginals becoming second-class citizens.
That's the kind of concern that the Dehcho First Nations will likely hear more frequently as it expands its consultations.
Norwegian said DFN representatives received a less-than-enthusiastic response after discussing self-government with Hay River town council.
"They really didn't want anything to do with it," he admitted.
In an interview with News/North, Hay River town councillor Vince McKay referred to the DFN's proposed constitution as racist and discriminatory for the restrictions it places on non-Dene residents.
Dealing with backlash is just one more aspect of becoming a government.
Norwegian reiterated the need for ongoing dialogue and insisted the DFN is trying to be inclusive of others.
Public forums on self-government, when they take place, ought to be firecrackers, explosions of ideas and opinions.
Then the DFN will have to figure out how to best meet the needs of all people without compromising its values.