With the settlement between Ekati mine workers and BHP Billiton Diamonds June 30, the North's first diamond strike is over.

After 12 weeks on the picket line, the 375 workers gained some ground. Their union - Public Service Alliance of Canada - has a foothold in the diamond industry. The company is back making huge profits. That's how collective bargaining is supposed to work.

Both sides fought hard in Northern newspapers with press releases, advertising and in the courts. It was all fair game and effective.

What wasn't fair game and effective was the union's public use of the word "scab" to describe replacement workers, who were never proven to have been used at Ekati.

While Canadian labour laws help organized labour, only Quebec and British Columbia forbid the use of replacement workers. Whether or not there should be labour laws against the use of replacement workers is a matter of vigorous debate.

In our view, replacement workers allow companies to weather strikes and weaken unions, undermining collective bargaining. Worse, as the Giant Mine murders prove, the practice puts innocent lives in jeopardy.

There is a bill before parliament to outlaw replacement workers but until it becomes law, it's legal for a company to hire them.

So the word "scab" is used to demonize and dehumanize innocent people who choose to work for a company engaged in a strike. The end result is a bunch of red-faced strikers encouraged to yell names and get rowdy in the face of managers, their families and replacement workers, all of who are then transformed into victims of rabid unionists.

How does that help the union movement? In fact it doesn't. It was just that kind of behaviour that allowed BHP to go into court and accuse striking workers of violent, racist attacks. The judge agreed and imposed limits on the picket line.

Worse, it put the company in the position of sitting in judgement of workers once they return to work. One of the points the company insisted upon, and union negotiators caved in on, was the right of the company to investigate the actions of striking workers on the picket line. If the workers broke any of BHP's workplace rules, they can be disciplined.

These days, unions are at the forefront of the battle for non-threatening, unbiased work environments with the goal of creating civilized workplaces. Keeping language such as "scab" in their bargaining toolbox turns union activists into hypocrites and foul mouth hoodlums that the general public may well agree should be replaced by "people who want to work."

Drop the word "scab." It does far more harm than good.

Editorial Comment
Andrew Raven
Kivalliq News

You would think that if there was one place in Canada where the long tentacles of southern bean-counters could not reach, it would be the tundra outside Rankin Inlet.

Well, news last week that a local friendship centre can't take teenagers hunting because of hold-ups with its insurance proves not even Inuit traditions are immune from the bottom line.

"It is frustrating," Pierre Kolit told Kivalliq News. The 48-year-old Rankin resident, who works at the Pulaarvik Kablu centre, has battled blizzards, waves and polio, but can't overcome the numbers game.

While Kolit waits for an insurance quote, the on-the-land program has been shelved. That leaves a half-dozen youth twiddling their thumbs and watching television, the thinning connection to their Inuit heritage slipping away with each episode of the Simple Life.

It looks, for now, like insurance companies are doing what even the best federal government colonialists could not: keeping Inuit from the land.

Who knows how much the insurance will cost in the end. But it's mind-blowing to consider that Inuit need the go-ahead from southern actuaries before they can pass on their traditions. And while those actuaries are likely decent folk, I doubt the "value of culture" or the "spirit of a people" are variables in their equations.

The most frustrating part: there's really no-one to blame. Insurance is everywhere, because, well, it makes good sense. After all, if one gawky teenager mistakenly blows off a toe, whose going to cover the medevac to Edmonton?

So what's the solution - aside from tossing off the shackles and making a beeline for the tundra?

A Nunavut-wide, government sponsored, on-the-land insurance policy might be one answer. After all, officials are looking to spend millions on a cultural school to re-enforce traditional skills. Is there a better way to loosen the death grip of Western consumer culture than a program that gets teens onto the land?

Kolik was bang-on when he said the Inuit way of life is dangerous; the Kivalliq can be an unforgiving place. Few areas on the planet can boast killer waves, torrential winds, monster blizzards and polar bears.

This will never be a ramp-crossed, motorized wheelchair-filled West Palm Beach retirement hotspot.

This is Nunavut, one of the last great frontiers on the planet. Here's hoping we're not so coddled that we forget that.

Editorial Comment
Dez Loreen
Inuvik Drum

I spent some time at the high school last week for the year-end celebrations and cleanup.

The faculty of Samuel Hearne held a nice lunch for departing principal David Reid.

It more or less resembled a roast, which is always a good time.

I know that through most of my high school life, I asked myself questions about Sammy and why our school was named after him.

Turns out he was an explorer in the early days of the Mackenzie River and this area.

I guess he was such a stand-up guy that the powers that be flexed their bureaucratic muscles and named a high school after him.

After a brief read through a biography I found on Google, I found he was instrumental in Northern exploration.

Good for him and I'm sure he deserves to have his name on a school.

So, I was in the high school, and talked to a teacher who had some questions regarding the new "super school" that will be erected here in the future.

She asked me what the new school should be named.

I quickly replied that the names might stay the same, Samuel Hearne and Sir Alex, respectively.

She told me that we had the only schools in the region that were named after explorers like them.

Not to be proven wrong, I made my way back to my office post haste.

Sure enough, nearby communities like Fort McPherson, Tsiigehtchic, Tuktoyaktuk, Ulukhaktok and Aklavik all had their hometown heroes named on their schools.

Now I understand that this town was built by the government, for the government, so I'm not going to question their choices for school names.

But maybe, just maybe we could name the new schools after some local flavour from the area.

Since we became a community, there have been many great elders and local people who have made their mark on our lives.

Why not name the school after the people who actually taught there?

Now while I'm not old enough to start spitting out names, I'm sure many of you can think of a couple right now.

All I am saying is this: The new schools will need a name.

Now what can they be called? I'm sure they didn't let the town decide on the current ones.

Not to draw too much attention to myself, but I was born here and I am a Samuel Hearne alumni.

Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum

On July 1, 139 years ago a collection of governments and people on the upper half of the continent of North America joined together to become the Dominion of Canada.

A new nation was born on that day. It included the areas that today make up New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec.

The decision to become a nation was not an easy one, but three significant factors that still affect us today played a role.

For one, the province that would later become Ontario and Quebec, was having political problems. Leaders on both sides of the language divide had disagreements with each other and thought joining with the other colonies might help.

There was also the problem of economics. Each colony needed a market to sell their goods to and wondered if they could make life easier by selling to each other.

Then there was the issue of unstable relations with the U.S. Britain didn't want to pay to defend the colonies any more so joining together was seen as a way to increase protection.

The legacy of Confederation is still with us today and extends much further than having a reason for a long weekend in July.

Notable in its absence during the process towards nationhood was any sort of consideration or consultation for the numerous aboriginal people on the continent. In the Deh Cho this is still being dealt with today.

While most of the provinces and territories have had a long time to adjust to life within the larger entity of Canada, the Deh Cho is still trying to address and clarify how it fits.

It's not uncommon for Deh Cho leaders to phrase their struggles in the terms of the Deh Cho versus Canada. This wording can sound strange to newcomers from the south who are used to a stable concept of Canada as a nation.

But the Deh Cho is working through a process much like the Fathers of Confederation did. The notable difference is that the Deh Cho is already part of the country that it's in negotiations with to hammer out land and self-government rights.

Just as the original colonies had to compromise when creating Canada, it appears that either the country or the Deh Cho will have to do the same on their positions.

Tim Christian's presentation during the Dehcho Assembly in Kakisa was notable for its clarity and straightforwardness.

As the chief federal negotiator on the Dehcho process, Christian stated that he wanted to be honest that neither this government nor the previous one is prepared to accept the Dehcho proposal as it stands.

Canada is not willing to offer anything more than land selection instead of jurisdiction over all the land that the Dehcho leadership has asked for.

What is to be done?

Canada has set forward its firm stance and leaders from the Deh Cho, particularly Grand Chief Herb Norwegian, have maintained that they are sticking to their guns.

Somewhere something will have to give. The two key questions will be, how long will it take and who will come away with the most satisfaction?

In the end, the best possible outcome will be an agreement that will be as enduring as Canada has proven to be as a country.

Errors appeared in an article in Friday's Yellowknifer ("Missile or Boy Scout Rocket?"). Steve Loutitt is with the GNWT Department of Transportation. Also, Scouts are no longer called "Boy Scouts." Yellowknifer apologizes for any embarrassment or confusion caused by the errors.

In the July 5 edition of Kivalliq News, aviation instructor Bill Taylor was incorrectly quoted. In the article "Northern flight plan," Taylor said Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit are the only Nunavut airports with flight service specialists.

Also, following the spring cleanup in Arviat, the Northern store hosted a barbecue.

Kivalliq News apologizes for the errors.