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Friday, October 21, 2005
No time for complacency

Last week's police raid on three businesses and four homes will go a long way to re-assure the public that the RCMP is committed to fighting the city's burgeoning drug trade.

With the bold title "Project Gunship," the Oct. 13 raids were carried out in broad daylight and involved 50 officers. It was an impressive sight and was surely the main water cooler topic in offices throughout the city the next day.

The RCMP proudly showed off their haul to the media Wednesday, which included seven kilograms of cocaine, marijuana, two shotguns, two handguns, and a large quantity of cash.

We applaud their efforts. Some would say it's about time. Crack cocaine has become a serious problem in Yellowknife over the last few years. Evidence of its use is everywhere. Used crack pipes can be found in alleys and hollow-eyed addicts wander the streets.

Time will tell if last week's raid will have a lasting effect. "Operation Guiness" - carried out five years ago - saw the arrests of more than 70 people, but many charges were later dropped, and the cocaine trade in the city continued.

This week's announcement that the RCMP will create a special four-officer unit to combat street dealers is a step in the right direction. Police and citizens must remain vigilant to ensure the cocaine trade is driven from our streets.


Smart Car technology needs to be more practical

Whether or not you buy all the hype about the Smart Car, the fact remains it is an idea whose time has come.

Canada truly is a driving nation and that is not likely to change, considering the size of our country and the vast distances between our three oceans.

In an age when fossil fuels are starting to become scarce and strong evidence of the damaging effects of pollution are all around us, any technology that can help the environment, save on fuel costs and still allow us to drive as much as we want is welcome.

North American automakers need to get on board and push development of this technology to the point where we will have not only smart cars, but pickup trucks, SUVs and minivans, as well.

It is also imperative, especially in Northern climates, that these smart vehicles are designed to cope with extreme temperatures and made safe and durable enough to cope with our highways.

Because the reality is, these cute little two-person cars are still a novelty and will remain such until they become more practical.


Only blame falls on free will

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News


There is grumbling in some corners over the way Nunavut's Health Department handled the discovery of the HTLV-1 virus this past month.

Some believe the department was far too slow in releasing a public warning on the virus and making testing available in the territory.

In fact, some say the department gambled with people's lives by being so slow to react to the positive tests.

They claim every day the information was not public knowledge was another day people were needlessly put at risk.

Unfortunately, the only point raised we can sympathize with concerns expectant mothers who may test positive for the virus and become afraid of passing it along to their unborn child.

If any pregnant women do, indeed, test positive, they should discuss breastfeeding with their doctor before the baby is born.

The HTLV-1 virus infects the blood and can cause cancer of the blood and disease of the nervous symptom.

However, only about four per cent of those who test positive for the virus will ever get sick.

There is no known treatment or cure.

The virus is transmitted the same way a more well-known and far more deadly virus, HIV, is spread - through unprotected sex and the sharing of needles.

In short, blood-to-blood contact or unprotected sexual intercourse.

Now, we don't mean to be insensitive, but just about everybody these days knows the fate awaiting people with the HIV virus who develop full-blown acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

While a number of drugs have been developed which improve the quality of life for those infected with AIDS, it's still one of the scariest afflictions known to mankind.

Like cancer, the mere mention of AIDS sends a shiver through the most well grounded among us.

Yet, for all the pain caused by HIV infection, people still have unprotected sex and share needles when doing drugs.

We would ask those so quick to damn the health department; if the spectre of AIDS is not enough to make some people change their behaviour and live smart, what makes them think the threat of the HTLV-1 virus will?

Let's be honest, next to AIDS - and a few other most unpleasant sexually-transmitted diseases - the HTLV-1 virus amounts to little more than an afterthought.

The best way to combat these types of diseases remains education and awareness.

Unfortunately, some people refuse to get the message.

As long as humanity has free will there will always be those who will engage in unprotected sex and share needles while injecting drugs, no matter what the dangers.

The most we can ask from our territorial and federal health departments is to keep sending out the message.

Hopefully, with a heavy focus on our youth, more will turn on their receivers in the future.

In the meantime, talk to your children.

That will accomplish far more than talking about blame.


Closer than you might think

Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum


Easter Island is a small and remote land mass located in the South Pacific.

Without trees and containing massive stone statues, some weighing up to 270 tons, the place was of great interest to anthropologists who wondered how on earth such huge objects, carved out of stone from an extinct volcano, could have been moved into place.

Well, the popular theory today about how and why, with respect to the statues and their creators, revolves around short-sightedness.

Population on the island peaked at around 15,000, so say the experts, and these inhabitants were divided amongst 11 clans. As well, research has shown that when inhabitants first arrived at the island - most likely from Polynesia - the place was covered by a subtropical forest made up of a now-extinct palm tree, the tallest of its kind that survives today in a smaller version known as the Chilean wine palm.

Anyway, intense competition amongst the clans was expressed by seeing which clan could erect the biggest statue to honour their gods. It is said that the tall palm trees were cut down and used as sledges to drag the stones from the volcano to wherever they would be placed. This went on for quite some time and, as clans were constantly trying to outdo each other, eventually all the trees were cut down.

Of course with the trees gone, Pacific winds blew away all the farmable soil, the birds decided to leave and inhabitants began eating all the animals who couldn't flee until they were gone, too.

Since all the wood was used up, the ability to make canoes to aid in catching fish disappeared. What a situation.

So what the heck does this story have to do with this region and goings on here?

Well, if the Environment and Natural Resources caribou numbers are correct, serious considerations must be made with respect to how we are harvesting those animals. If we're not careful, they could disappear, just like the trees on Easter island.

Please keep in mind that I'm in no way trying to compare the building of useless statues to sustenance hunting.

Apples and oranges. If anything, to the people here the caribou are only somewhat similar to what the trees meant to the Easter Islanders. The difference between the two situations, is that we know what the significance of the caribou is in the cultural, spiritual and ecological senses, while those Easter Islanders thought it was all about the statues, never giving a second thought to the trees until it was too late.

So we've got a few advantages over those statue-obsessed Easter Island residents, in particular our knowledge of the caribou's significance and our ability to impact various herds through selective harvesting. Certainly harvesting alone has not caused the population decline (if you believe the data presented by ENR).

Yet, harvesting is the only way hunters can positively impact the herds' numbers.

It would be a shame if one day people were only able to talk about the days of heading out on the land to hunt caribou, rather than taking their kids out to experience for themselves what has been forever a part of this region's culture.


Behind the picket line

Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum


The Liard River ferry strike/lock-out is creating dreadful friction in Fort Simpson.

Motorists are confronted with the labour dispute every time they board or disembark the ferry. The replacement workers are constantly being reminded by union members - sometimes in very blunt terms - that they are not appreciated.

Here are a few more observations:

  • The strike was set to begin at noon on Oct. 12. At 11:45 a.m., a Northwest Transport tractor trailer bound for Edmonton pulled up, but the ferry had already departed for the other side. It was only minutes before 12 p.m. when the vessel returned. Jean Francois Des Lauriers, union vice-president for the North, wanted to draw a firm line in the sand. He was opposed to making another trip to accommodate the truck and its drivers. The ferry crew, on the other hand, decided to take the rig across. It was simply a courteous gesture.

    There were, nevertheless, at least a few tourists reportedly stranded in Fort Simpson during the two days the ferry was shut down. That's the purpose of strikes: to make people realize that a service is crucial.

  • Things took a drastic turn when Rowe's Construction hired replacement workers on Oct. 14. The balance of power clearly shifted in the contractor's favour by taking some sting out of the union's tactics. A brief union victory came on Saturday when the replacement captain walked off the job. Service was interrupted until the following afternoon. Some of the stranded motorists waited it out. Others came across by helicopter or by private boats.

  • What's the Dene perspective on unions? Depends on who you ask. Grand Chief Herb Norwegian was briefly on the picket line in a show of support for the workers. He said the union's principles correspond with Dene values because the two share a vision of self-determination and working collectively. Oddly enough, Chief Roy Fabian and his band council had absolutely no time for the Public Service Alliance of Canada when an attempt was made to unionize band workers on the Hay River Reserve in 2003. The K'atlodeeche First Nation felt so strongly that the union infringed on constitutional and treaty rights that the band filed a lawsuit.

    Quite contradictory, wouldn't you say?

  • For those who already feel torn by this dispute, here's little help: the Union of Northern Workers is encouraging its brothers and sisters to respect the picket line. Government department heads, on the other hand, have issued directives for GNWT employees to drive in and out if necessary to do their job, or they'll face a reprimand.

  • Many people have expressed frustration at the GNWT's unwillingness to get involved or even attempt to influence this conflict - even though the territorial government negotiated the ferry contract with Rowe's Construction in the first place. By doing nothing, the government's image is taking a real beating.