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Wednesday, August 3, 2005
Yellowknives must play the game


The clock is ticking for the Yellowknives Dene to select land within Yellowknife's municipal boundaries.

Come Sept. 1, Michael McLeod, the territorial government's minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, will play King Solomon and divide the remaining untitled lands between the Yellowknives and the city.

His decision, presumably, will be based on what both parties submit to his department in terms of expressed, written interest for these lands. So far, it appears only the city has made its intentions known.

Until recently, the Yellowknives were vigorously pursuing a $60 million residential development scheme at the "Sand Pits" by the airport. Strangely, they withdrew their demand via a tersely written letter delivered to City Hall last week.

Dettah Chief Peter Liske hinted that the Yellowknives' interest in untitled lands goes well beyond the 64 acres at the Sand Pits. In the view of the Yellowknives, all these lands belong to them.

Consequently, the Yellowknives have chaffed at any notion that they must adhere to the land selection process set up by the territorial government.

It's their land, so why should they have to chew their way through red tape to get at it? Most frustrating of all, why do they have to make land-lease applications through the city?

This process may be unfair in the eyes of a group of people who have an unresolved legal claim, but there is a real possibility the Yellowknives may see more and more land taken off the negotiations table, as has happened since the city was established.

Letters to the band office go unanswered, requests for meetings are ignored. Instead, the Yellowknives blast city and government officials through the media - accusing the two parties and the business community of conspiring against them.

City Hall, meanwhile, quietly sends out letters, checks off its map and awaits the verdict from McLeod.

The Yellowknives have previously threatened legal action if they don't get their way. Unfortunately for Yellowknives members, an expensive lawsuit with an uncertain outcome may be their only recourse if their leadership continues to wait for the other parties to blink.

Do the Yellowknives really want to take it that far? Some 3,900 hectares of undeveloped land is there for the taking. The Yellowknives have less than a month to say how much of that pie they really want.


Talk to us, please!

Editorial Comment
Brent Reaney
Kivalliq News


It's always seemed a little strange to me that our territory's largest single employer, the Government of Nunavut, rarely if ever shows up in the media.

There are definitely weeks when you could read this newspaper without realizing the GN even exists.

Now some people, in some departments can be very helpful. But often, interview requests go days or weeks without fetching so much as a response.

Other times, people call back, but seem to fear losing their job for talking with a reporter about even the most straightforward of topics.

What will it take to break down the wall that exists between the government and the media?

A degree of tension between the two parties is healthy, but somehow this tension seems to have grown into a quiet animosity.

As I travel to communities, I talk with people who feel disconnected from their government.

And considering that many people may not even have access to e-mail, communicating in Nunavut can be a difficult and expensive process.

But there is one thing which everyone has access to: newspapers.

Yes, these pages are printed every week and flown all over Nunavut.

Poor weather can lengthen the time to delivery, but as I had one man tell me, no matter when the issue arrives, "it's still news to me."

And fridges across the territory are adorned with numerous yellowed story and photo clippings.

If I were heading up a government, I would see this vehicle as a perfect way to deliver a message to people.

Maybe to let people know that yes, the territory has problems, but that we have some people, and they are working on them.

But for some reason, it is often difficult to get the GN's side of an issue into the paper.

It shouldn't be this way.

Granted, we can't have every disgruntled government employee blowing off steam in the media.

But we do need the people who are accountable for programs and services to be able to respond to questions they can answer.

Whether this idea of getting fired for giving an unauthorized interview is real or imagined, we need to extinguish it.

Allow me to point out some of the benefits to our government of communicating through the media.

First, the entire edition of Kivalliq News is translated, which means it can be used to inform the entire family.

More importantly, we the media are the only way to talk to the entire territory at little or no cost.

This is not a limited time offer, but for the sake of having informed constituents when the next election comes around, we need you to take advantage of it and return our next call as soon as possible.

Now that that's out of the way, I want to thank everyone who helped me out during my brief stint at the Kivalliq News.

Though my time here would add up to less than a drop in the bucket of life, I've learned a lot.

As you read this, Darrell Greer is likely back in the editor's chair putting together this week's issue.


Misguided reasoning

Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum


After reading Senator Nick Sibbeston's comments regarding his plan not to support Bill C-38, the proposed same-sex marriage law, I just couldn't help but throw in my two-cents.

According to Sibbeston, his reason for voting against the legislation is that same-sex lifestyles "are not common in the North and our ancestors would frown on such activities and would view it as unnatural."

Yeeghads! Is the same-sex lifestyle uncommon up here because of the region's relatively low population base compared to the rest of the country, which would make other "unnatural" pursuits such as Satan worshipping and nude sled-dog racing equally uncommon?

Or is it uncommon to Sibbeston because he doesn't really swing with the same-sex crowd?

Unfortunately, what is a fundamental human rights issue has been turned into a religious one because the thought of two men or two women tying the knot hurts the sensibilities of many in the God-fearing Christian crowd.

Just to bring everyone up to speed on Bill C-38 and its implications, there are provisions in the legislation - passed in the House of Commons June 28 by a 25 vote margin - preventing churches from being required to perform same-sex ceremonies.

The legislation also protects officials in the public service who conduct civil marriages from being forced to perform same-sex marriages.

So if nobody is forced to do anything that would go against their own morality, what is the big hang up?

For Sibbeston, one of his hang ups is the fact that, according to him, the ancestors would frown on such activities.

Well, word up to Nick, homosexuality is as old as the day is long and is certainly not exclusive (or rather non-exclusive) to any one ethnic group.

Like other human yardsticks such as intelligence or strength, gender-preference is present in all its varied degrees in people the world over.

When one of my gay friends heard about Sibbeston's stance on the issue, he replied, "Just open the doors of a gay bar in Edmonton and count the aboriginal people."

As well, it is something of a paradox for Sibbeston, who played a role in hard-fought battles for aboriginal rights, to turn around and kick sand in the face of another minority group seeking similar treatment from their government.

And finally, Sibbeston's assertion that the same-sex marriage bill is "typical of legislation emanating from social values prevalent in the south but foreign up here," is yet another misguided platitude that is starting to wear thin.

Sure, things are different in the North, but in terms of "social values," we folk from down south sure hold on to the importance of safe communities, healthy families, revering our elders and respecting others just as strongly as folks in the North.


Is the park really threatened?

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum


You know there's room for improvement when people on both sides of a debate have major criticisms of the NWT's regulatory processes.

The chair of Canadian Zinc Corporation says the slow-as-molasses permitting process in the territory is maddening.

The superintendent of Nahanni National Park Reserve thinks the regulatory boards could be doing a more thorough job of assessing the Prairie Creek mine site and its potential impacts.

Does the mine pose a serious threat to the park? A leading Canadian geologist, Derek Ford, has no doubts that it does, at least it will the way current mine operations are being proposed.

Having the park lose its World Heritage Site status would be a big blow. Before the distinction is revoked or any environmental damage occurs, let's get another opinion.

A panel of independent geologists should be assembled to review the situation. If they all agree with Ford (or even the majority), then the Canadian government must step in to ensure every precaution is taken, or buy out the mine and reclaim the site.

Should the panel of experts contradict their colleague, then the mine could proceed with the same level of scrutiny.

Now, if we can just get everyone to somehow agree on who the independent experts should be...

Fort Simpson stepped in to host the NWT Slo-pitch Championships over the weekend, an event that was originally supposed to be held in Inuvik.

Tournament organizers obviously had control over neither the number of teams that would participate nor the weather. Those were the only two aspects of the weekend that proved to be somewhat of a disappointment. The weather couldn't have been better on Friday evening and Saturday, but it turned ugly after that. Sunday was overcast, very cool and breezy. Nevertheless, the bleachers held a decent number of enthusiastic fans, many of whom were wrapped in blankets or sleeping bags. Of course, many others were watching from the warmth of the vehicles parked around the outfield.

The fact that only one womens team and two mens teams travelled to Fort Simpson for the tournament was disheartening. That's not a knock against the calibre of teams involved in the event, but it would have been that much better had a few more communities participated.

On the upside, those who did make the trip seemed very happy that they bothered. I only interviewed a fraction of the players who came into town, but nearly everyone that I talked to was sure to mention that Fort Simpson was a great host.

Not only was praise heaped on local people, the facilities were subject to many a compliment as well. Umpire Charlie Wilson, a guy whose role is to be impartial and call 'em as he sees 'em, made this unsolicited remark in regards to the well-manicured Fort Simpson ball diamond (specifically field number one):

"This ball field is the best in the Northwest Territories, in my opinion... It's a pleasure to come to this field."

Well done.