Wednesday, May 18, 2005
The mine may have seemed like a forgone conclusion. One doesn't throw millions of dollars at a "Let's see what's there" exploration without a serious idea that a full-blown mine will follow.
But there are many large-scale economic projects that never seem to get going. Take the Mackenzie gas pipeline, for one example. It's future is uncertain to say the least.
So it's with a sigh of relief that we see De Beers' board of directors formally approve building the mine.
The Territories' third diamond mine continues to give the NWT a future as bright as the glittering carbon crystals that are being pulled from the kimberlites.
De Beers will spend $636 million to get the mine operational; once up to full speed, Snap Lake will hire 500 people; and the mine is to have a 20-year life.
During those two decades, De Beers hopes to grace the fingers of newlyweds with 1.5 million carats of diamonds a year.
Congratulations, De Beers. And thanks for the vote of confidence in the NWT.
Council's job is to do the will of the people - not the will of administration.
That's why Coun. Kevin O'Reilly's recent accusation that some councillors are interfering with administration is puzzling. He was referring to a council recommendation that could allow modular homes on steel frames on lots of Niven Lake Phase VI.
While council shouldn't get involved in the day-to-day operations of the city, it must make policy decisions and direct administration.
In this case, five of eight council members have decided that the zoning bylaw should be changed to accommodate steel-frame homes. The decision has implications for future developments and we hope those five councillors have taken that into consideration.
This is a clear-cut case of council doing its job. Councillors made a policy decision that the majority believe is in the best interest of all Yellowknifers.
To suggest council must not do this is to abandon the city to bureaucrats who have no public accountability.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
While we applaud the local RCMP and bylaw proclamation that they're about to get tough with reckless and underage drivers, we can't help but wonder what took them so long?
In fact, Coun. Donna Adams may have been all too prophetic earlier this month when she stated if the situation isn't brought under control soon, something very bad is going to happen.
If we're taking a moment to be honest about the situation, we've all seen the increased number of youngsters bombing (in many cases we really do mean bombing) around the hamlet.
It has become an almost common sight to see a 10-year-old "driver" behind the controls of a vehicle he or she has no experience or training in controlling should something go wrong.
Helmets disappear
We've also all noticed that helmets have practically disappeared from the heads of most drivers in our community and almost every passenger.
Even more disturbing is the sight of four or five individuals travelling erratically on an ATV - driver straining to see around a passenger sitting backwards on the front of the machine - with not a helmet in sight.
There are many areas truly unique to the North that southern standards have a hard time applying to, even though they were meant to apply to all Canadians.
However the law should not be one of them. In a time when southerners have to wear helmets and other protective equipment while bicycling, roller-skating or skateboarding, too many people in our community feel the law does not apply them.
Mix that with the inherent feeling of youthful invincibility and you have a recipe for disaster.
Change starts at home
The reasons why we're in this situation are many, not the least of which start at home.
When Mom and Dad give the OK for 10-year-old Johnny to drive the family ATV, they're telling their child hamlet bylaws are a joke and not to worry about it.
It's time for parents to put their foot down and make their kids wait until they're of legal age to drive a machine, not to mention (heaven forbid) teaching them safe driving skills before letting them loose on the streets.
Another reason is that too many warnings are given out during the course of a year, and too many times officers look the other way when drivers are zipping around without wearing a helmet.
Council has to act
In some areas of Nunavut, teenage drivers must first pass an ATV safety course before they're allowed to operate one.
Maybe it's time for hamlet council to look at a similar program for Rankin.
At the very least, council should exert heavy pressure on our peace officers to seriously clamp down on riders thumbing their collective noses community bylaws.
If not, the grief will seem all that more deeper when - not if - Coun. Adams's dire warning comes true.
And, from a radio somewhere in the hamlet, Charlie Major's voice drifts over a sullen community - "It can't happen to me..."
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
If we were to imagine for a moment the Beaufort-Delta region being part of the Yukon, how would that change the dynamic of the current pipeline negotiations?
For a start, the right of way for the project would most certainly follow the Dempster Highway, fulfilling Prime Minister Diefenbaker's original road-to-riches vision for his "Highway to the Northern Sea."
Gwich'in and Inuvialuit stakes would remain intact and worries about plugged land claim negotiations/litigations down the Mackenzie Valley wouldn't matter.
In fact, this scenario might hasten the stagnating process as regions down the valley - in what would be left of the Northwest Territories - would try to entice proponents with a more direct route. Imagine that. Regions in the valley actually lobbying for the right-of-way rather than ostensibly lobbying against it - at least in the eyes of Big Oil.
It would be as if the shoe were on the other foot, so to speak.
Stakeholders here - already possessing visionary leadership and a certain amount of control over their territory - would find themselves in a position to choose.
They certainly wouldn't be stuck where they are now, separated from the gas market by a feuding First Nation and seemingly ineffective territorial and federal governments.
Further, with the Dempster in play, much of the work that would have to be done to accommodate a valley pipeline - ie: constructing a road - would already be in place.
News/North columnist Cece Hodgson-McCauley periodically reminds readers that a road up the Mackenzie would be a good thing for its citizens, and rightly so.
The Beaufort-Delta already enjoys such a luxury. However, our road leads to Whitehorse not Yellowknife.
In many respects, this region has more in common with what is now northern Yukon, than with those at the southern end of the NWT.
With the Dempster Highway acting as a dependable supply line to the Delta, today's inhabitants are even more closely connected with our neighbours to the west.
Unfortunately, the Delta becoming part of the Yukon is not in the cards and we must come back to reality.
Contemplating a potential merger with the Yukon does put pipeline matters into perspective.
Governments - local, aboriginal, territorial and federal - all talk of getting together to work together to hammer out deals everybody can live with (and ones oil and gas can navigate through) on the mission to realizing a gas pipeline.
One wonders how quickly all this talk would materialize into action were another route option on the table for discussion.
Put another way, if talks switched gears into fighting for the right-of-way rather than fighting for the benefits of being on the right-of-way, the Mackenzie Gas Project could well be on the way to construction, not mired in a multi-layered government mess.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
Kevin Menicoche is Nahendeh's MLA. He is also an individual, a private citizen.
So when Kevin Menicoche signed a petition opposing the Northern store's proposed gas bar, did the MLA leave an autograph, or did the private person scrawl a signature?
For Menicoche, it seemed unequivocal at the time: he signed the petition as an individual, not as an elected official.
But the lines are a little more blurred for the many members of the public. If you were to ask people on the street, "Who is Kevin Menicoche?" the majority of responses would likely be, "He's the MLA." The man and the title are inseparable in some people's minds.
In the legislature, how often do MLAs truly set aside their own personal views and pick a side of a debate based on the communicated desires of the majority of their constituents? There are times, such as the aforementioned example, when MLAs should represent their constituents first and foremost. Their own wants and needs are secondary in such situations.
But outside the legislature, when does an MLA get to be a "regular person?" It's a fascinating subject. One that applies to elected officials at all levels.
When B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell was convicted of drinking and driving while on vacation in Hawaii in 2003, he was still the premier even though he wasn't there on business. Of course the news reports made the association between the man, the crime and his high profile office. Campbell later made a tearful public apology.
When MLA Henry Zoe got into hot water for insulting others at the Yellowknife Legion, it was quickly noted that he was a member of the legislative assembly. Zoe was subsequently stripped of his cabinet post.
Didn't commit an offence
In Menicoche's case, he didn't commit an offence of any kind. It could be argued that he didn't even do something distasteful or classless.
What he did was take a stand on a controversial issue. He tried to do it as an individual, not as an MLA.
There is a distinction but many people can't discern it.
Menicoche won't be going to jail. He won't be forced to resign. But his personal point of view may be remembered when the next vote comes around, for good or for bad.
He's paid as an MLA to be the voice of the people. He has rights as a citizen to hold an opinion. But when his personal opinions become public knowledge, that's when things get fuzzy.
He has to carefully decide on which issues it's worth staking his reputation.
Chief Albert Wright school is located in Tulita. Incorrect information appeared in "Students probe past" in the Friday, May 13, Yellowknifer.
The illustration on the front page of NWT News/North should have noted a need for eight doctors and three specialists. Inaccurate math provided other numbers.