Look around Yellowknife and one thing is very clear: sports and recreation get the lion's share of public facility funding.

We have three arenas, an eight-sheet curling rink, swimming pool, gymnasiums galore, an outdoor running track, plenty of ball fields, three tennis courts, a skateboard park and ski trails.

That's what we need, because thousands of Yellowknifers take part in hockey, indoor soccer, volleyball, tennis, skiing, gymnastics, curling, slo-pitch, hardball, fastball and other sports.

When it comes to arts, Yellowknife isn't similarly blessed. We have a terrific theatre at NACC that just received more than $320,000 in upgrades, a library that fills the city's needs, and a territorial museum. There is no public art gallery, leaving most of the city's collection gathering dust in storage. The arts and crafts guild is looking for a new home now that it can no longer work out of St. Patrick high school.

This situation isn't unique to Yellowknife. It's normal, just because of the sheer number of youth and adults who take part in sports. Sports facilities also tend to bring in more money that arts buildings, making them more cost-effective to build.

The facility imbalance was highlighted during recent public consultations to come up with a 10-year recreation facilities plan.

Turnout to two nights of meetings was poor and fewer than 100 surveys have been filled out, raising questions about how interested Yellowknifers are in this process.

Maybe we're just tired of spending money. City taxpayers have put up $16 million for the Multiplex and we're being asked to spend another $13 million for an indoor soccer facility with a running track.

There's also talk of a $13 million Somba K'e civic plaza, with a new library on the old Gerry Murphy arena site and an 800-seat amphitheatre.

Truth be told, there's always more things to build, sports groups needing specialized facilities.

It will never end. NACC has a lifespan. The arts and crafts guild needs space.

A public gallery to showcase Yellowknife's non-commercial artists would be a terrific addition. But we can't afford it all and innovative ideas are necessary.

Are there opportunities to work with Yk No. 1 to utilize empty school space for the crafts guild or other arts groups?

It's unlikely there will ever be a consensus about whether arts or sports priorities are more important.

It will ultimately be up to city council to decide what gets built, and there's only so much money to go around. We need a balance of facilities that meet a broad range of needs that don't cost taxpayers an arm and a leg.

So get involved in the planning and make sure every voice is heard, every need is known. There's another meeting on June 15.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

It's starting to look like there was a silver lining to Nunavut MP Nancy Karetak-Lindell's Liberal Party being ousted in the last election.

Who knows if complacency had set in during life at the top, but Lindell has been more outspoken during the past few months than she has been for quite some time.

Eventually this will pay dividends for Nunavut, even though she's up against a stacked deck and dealing with a political joker in Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Jim Prentice.

Prentice's decision to not inform members of the Aboriginal Affairs Committee that he would not be attending a scheduled appearance is the latest in a growing snub of all things pertaining to the North.

Now, to be fair, it's been a busy month on Parliament Hill and we're sure Prentice was tied up with important issues at the time.

Still, the four seconds it would have taken him to ask an assistant to make a phone call would have bought him some goodwill among committee members and it's starting to look like he's going to need all the goodwill he can get his hands on.

What's impressed us the most about (in our books) the new-and-improved Lindell, is not just that she's become more vocal, but also her change in political style.

Lindell hasn't been speaking just to hear herself talk.

She's launched a perpetual stream of well-researched, insightful and articulate dialogue towards the minister's office. And, she is finally showing the willingness to roll up her sleeves and get a little on the down-and-dirty side when the need arises.

Lindell's comments towards Prentice this past week, while polite and professional, literally dripped with Northern sarcasm.

And, the grave misgivings she expressed towards future dealings between the minister and the Aboriginal Affairs Committee is the type of stuff that gets your attention.

It's early in the game for Prentice to be suffering from a bout of arrogance, but that almost seems the case.

Most alarming is that this government, at times, seems to equate concessions given to First Nations as payment to all aboriginals.

In short, it sometimes appears that all aboriginal claims and rights look the same to Prentice, but he's yet to come up with anything even remotely resembling a Nunavut equivalent to the money-making factories (casinos) we see dotting aboriginal land across the rest of the country.

Premier Paul Okalik, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Paul Kaludjak and outgoing Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Jose Kusugak maintain Prentice is a minister who can be worked with and the Tory government still holds promise for Nunavut.

However, unless they know something the rest of us aren't privy to, we've yet to see any tangible evidence that this is going to be a Northern- or Inuit-friendly government.

In fact, if we could shovel what we've heard from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister Prentice during the past few months into bags, we could cultivate a few nice lawns in Nunavut.

Hopefully, Lindell will continue to politely remind the Tories that we have no use for fertilizer in the North.

Editorial Comment
Dez Loreen
Inuvik Drum

There is talk of an upcoming reunion for residential school survivors here in Inuvik.

This event will no doubt serve as a great vessel for those who are willing to share their experiences with others. Some who will reunite have not seen each other in more than 40 years.

Emotions are quite peculiar things. Nobody can control their feelings, and this gathering will bring about a flurry of different emotions.

Residential schools were before my time and I cannot imagine the pain and anguish felt by the survivors of such terrible abuse.

This sharing opportunity is part of the necessary process of healing. Some people may seem strong on the outside, but that may only be due to their ability to mask their pain.

I am sure that not everyone who attended those schools had bad experiences, and I know they all made life-long friends.

Those of you who are strong and fortunate enough to have moved on with your lives will need to be there for those who need your support.

The organizers of this reunion will need to brace themselves for the impact that this gathering will bring. Some of the students who attended residential schools are now nearing the age of 80.

I believe now is the time for those who have been affected by the dogmatic ruling of those institutions to release their emotions, good or bad, and try to move on.

This will be the first gathering of students in the Beaufort Delta, and hopefully not the last.

The Stats Canada people are out and about in the community looking to complete the 2006 census, so answer your door if they come knocking.

Each person counted is worth $18,000 in community funding.

That’s money that could go towards early childhood development, new playground equipment, a detox centre or another service that would be beneficial to the town.

It may seem like too much trouble, and you may be concerned that if you give your information to the surveyors, that your security has been breached. But remember, all of the information gathered for the census count is confidential.

That means you don't have to worry about Revenue Canada knocking at your door asking about this and that. The RCMP isn't even permitted to see the information, so don’t hold back.

The more people count in this year's survey, the better off our community will be.

The inaccurate results of the 2001 census were a shame. At least 1,000 people were not counted. Let’s not allow that to happen again.

Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum

As the Joint Review Panel and its entourage has wound its way around the Deh Cho, a common theme has been voiced again and again throughout presentations.

The theme is balance.

Sometimes the theme is present within a single presentation and sometimes it can only be observed by looking at all the presentations in a community as a whole.

Regardless of whether the presentations were for, against or ambivalent about the pipeline, they all touched upon balance.

What it comes down to is that the Deh Cho seems to be in the middle of a giant balancing act. Everyone is trying to weigh the costs and benefits regarding various aspects of the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline and then put all these figures together to reach a final conclusion.

Some people are trying to figure out if a balance can be reached between possible job opportunities and the desire to ensure the land and the animals are not harmed.

Questions include how many jobs will the pipeline actually create in the Deh Cho and how long they will they last. Will the jobs be easily available for residents of the North? Is the pipeline necessary to build an economic base for the area?

On the other side are concerns about the impact the pipeline will have on the wildlife and land. Will the pipeline cause irreversible damage? Will caribou and moose move away? Do beavers and fish really avoid streams that pipelines have crossed under?

Other people are trying to balance in their minds the desire to preserve a way of life and the fear of possible social impacts versus the need to open the area to development opportunities.

The questions in this area are also very weighty. Will social ills such as alcohol and drug abuse rise because of the pipeline? Will the influx of people water down the culture and traditions of the residents in the Deh Cho?

Can these possible effects be balanced out by benefits, including jobs and future long-term developments that the pipeline might bring?

In all the communities, people are struggling to weigh these measurements.

Some people have already come to their own decisions by weighing out the factors that are important to them.

But when everyone is placed on either end of a scale or perched in the middle, which way will it finally tip?

There is a final important balance that will require the close attention of the people.

The balance is that between the desires of the majority of the people and the positions put forward by their represented leaders.

It will be up to the people to make sure the balance is kept. Everyone will have a responsibility to check often to insure the scales haven't been tampered with so that the issues people feel strongly about are given the right weight by their leaders.

If not, how will the right decision for the Deh Cho ever be reached?

In an article in Friday's Yellowknifer ("Consider it Spent," May 19), the cost of NACC's upgrades was $320,000. With taxes, NACC said that price rose to roughly $334,000.