Giant Mine arsenic percolating into Yellowknife Bay? That's the horror story Yellowknifers have long dreaded, but one that government officials have previously been quick to dismiss as highly unlikely.

Now that Bill Mitchell, the man the federal government put in charge of cleaning up the Giant Mine mess, is actually saying that "large releases of arsenic" could find a way into the world's 10th largest lake due to flooding underground, it all seems awfully chilling and surreal.

Baker Creek, which flows through the mine site, is on the verge of collapse. Its bottom is giving way and in danger of falling into the mine only 25 to 50 feet below the sinkholes now forming on the surface of an old mining pit. The immediate danger is not water flowing into the arsenic chambers, but that the pumps used to drain Baker Creek water that already seeps into the mine will not be able to keep up with the increased flow.

Mitchell's territorial government counterpart, Emery Paquin, meanwhile, is downplaying the problem. Yes, the highly toxic arsenic trioxide stored under Giant Mine could dissolve in a flood and filter through underground fissures into Great Slave Lake, but that would require complete negligence on the government's part for that to happen, he says.

He offers the less than assuring comment that there is plenty of time to avert disaster because there is 850-feet of dry mine workings between the flooded tunnels at the mine's bottom to the 15 arsenic chambers just below the surface.

Paquin is not worried, while Mitchell, who is on site unlike Paquin sitting at his desk, says it would be a "real disaster." Do we really want to wait around to find out who is right?

Mitchell offers the impression of a man desperate to bring attention to this threat.

It makes us wonder how seriously his bosses in Yellowknife and Ottawa are listening to him. Certainly, the territorial government isn't.

The problem was identified three years ago, yet the sinkholes have only got bigger, and now no one can say whether they have enough time to stop the mine from flooding.

Yellowknifer asked Paquin, who is director of environmental protection for the NWT, what would happen should a catastrophic release of arsenic where to find its way into Yellowknife Bay. "I don't know," he said.

If he doesn't know what would happen if arsenic got into the bay, how confident should we be when he tells us that letting the creek fall into the mine is not a problem?

If there ever was a time for the government to call in extra resources: the army, the navy, whoever, now is the time to do it. Don't let it slip until spring. Get the job done now. Public safety depends on it.

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

A lot of us have been hurt by others in the past. Some of us have been affected by family members or friends.

Either way, when someone is hurt by another person, it is a breach of trust.

Trust is an important part of any relationship, whether you have been shunned by your peers or abused by a loved one.

Without a solid foundation of trust, no one can really be relaxed or truly happy.

For a lot of people in this region, relationships with strangers were forced when they were told to leave their homes and gather in the dogmatic education centres that were residential schools.

Schools like this were integral to the assimilation of aboriginal languages and culture in the region.

Fortunately, as hard as they tried, the strength and perseverance of the aboriginal people stayed true.

Children were sent from their homes to live in new communities with strange new people who didn't speak their language.

I cannot imagine the discomfort of being yanked from your mother or separated from a brother or sister for many years on end.

Some were sexually abused during their stay at these schools - by people they were told to trust. People who were supposed to be of a holy nature.

Unspeakable acts were performed and kept silent for years as young children grew into adults - not sure of who to trust or what to believe.

During the reunion here in Inuvik, a man spoke of his abuser, and how he endured his attacks and harassment for years before being set free from the walls of the institution he grew to hate.

Many years later, this man grew into a successful member of our society with the help of his peers and professional assistance.

This man became a guard at a prison here in the Territories, and through karma, was put in the face of his aggressor from years past.

But now, the tables had turned, and the man who once stood tall above the victim was now on his knees.

Let it be known that his retribution was quick, and the man was beaten for his hateful crimes that he performed under the cross.

But now, after years of counselling and healing, our abused friend finds himself still feeling empty.

Maybe beating up his abuser felt good, but it didn't last. The man now says he feels like it didn't help, and he might even feel worse for stooping to a new low.

While I don't think that two wrongs make a right, I still feel for the victim inside him, and how he must have waited for that day since the first time he felt afraid of adults.

The time of sexual abuse has left our society, and it's a damn good thing that we have people who can organize reunions like this one, so people who want to share their experiences with others can do so.

I hope you all found what you were looking for here, and will take that new strength home with you.

Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum

Established in 1976, the Nahanni National Park Reserve occupies 4,766-square kilometres of land in the southwest corner of the territories.

Inside the park you will find the South Nahanni River, Virginia Falls, sulphur hot springs, alpine tundra, mountain ranges and forests of spruce and aspen.

The park reserve was named the first United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) site in the world in 1978.

Throw in a few more descriptive words about the beauty of the park and the falls and this could be something found in a tourist book luring people to the North. What would be absent from such a publication, is a rundown of the issues that are swirling around the park and its proposed expansion.

There are more sides to the issues surrounding the park than there are surfaces on a geodesic dome. It is almost impossible to keep all the factions straight.

On one side there is Parks Canada which has had a mandate since 1987 to expand the park. Although there are no boundaries proposed yet, the study area that has been examined is 39,842-square kilometres spread over the Deh Cho and the Sahtu.

The primary reason given for the expansion is the need to protect the entire watershed of the South Nahanni River.

On another side are those who are concerned that an expanded park will shut off valuable mineral, gas and oil resources from future development. Vocal on this position is Senator Nick Sibbeston.

There is also the side populated by everyday people from different backgrounds who would all like to see the watershed protected. Many of these people speak out vehemently against the existence of the Prairie Creek mine within the possible boundary limits.

Prairie Creek mine and its supporters get to inhabit a side all of their own.

Then there are the often maligned tourists who come to visit the park and canoe down the Nahanni. If they are from southern Canada most of them would probably give their eye teeth to have an expanded park like Nahanni close by.

There are also a lot of people who are milling around in the middle without a particular view or with views that are made up of bits and pieces from different factions that may or may not be able to co-exist.

Of course there are many other factions - too numerous to mention -many more may be formed in the near future.

If the animals inhabiting the park and the greater Nahanni ecosystem knew about all the people arguing and contemplating the future of their home they might decide to wait out the battle elsewhere.

The question at hand is, what do people want more and who has the greater pull?

On the conservation side many point out that a bottle of clean water costs more in the store than the same amount of gasoline.

On the development side, people stress that the economic future of the area could be stunted by a larger park and the resources it would put out of reach.

All sides have their points.

The one assurance in this whole conundrum is that no matter what the final decision, the process will be watched carefully by many.

In last week's These are the editorials we didn't write, there was an item on recycling which implied the city's solid waste levy fee is a weekly charge. In fact, the $11 levy is monthly. Yellowknifer apologizes for the error and any confused it may have caused.