In fishing and life, nothing is guaranteed. You work hard, try to play by the rules and hope everything works out.

Orest and Marlene Hnatiw tried to play by the rules and develop a cisco bait business. Unfortunately, they ran headlong into the Department of Fisheries and Oceans bureaucracy and land claims.

The family fished ciscoes from the Yellowknife River at Tartan Rapids for eight years under an exploratory licence. They invested thousands of dollars in equipment, and wanted another three years to determine if the fishery was a viable commercial operation.

According to documents supporting the business in 2002, the ciscoes were a "great seller."

But now, because of opposition from Yellowknives Dene, DFO has denied the application. The federal agency had reservations about the cisco population, but was willing to extend the licence.

According to Fisheries, the Yellowknives are opposed to the licence, worrying that the fishery is not sustainable and they want to conduct a multi-year study.

With their land claim unresolved, the Yellowknives must have a say on what happens on land that's now under negotiation.

The Hnatiws were encouraged to lobby the Yellowknives for support. That's difficult if the chief won't return phone calls or answer letters.

What's most frustrating about this case is how slowly the DFO bureaucracy moves.

The application to renew the licence was filed in May. A committee that advises DFO on Great Slave region fishery matters met in the summer -- at which time all members but the Akaitcho First Nations representative supported the extension. The Yellowknives are negotiating a land claim as part of the Akaitcho group.

DFO gave the Yellowknives until Sept. 26 to respond to the application, even though the licence would begin Oct. 1.

It wasn't until Oct. 3 that the Hnatiws received any word about the application -- a voice mail. Notice in writing wasn't received until Oct. 10.

By that time the fish were running and there was no time to appeal.

Running a business is difficult enough in the North without having to wrestle with a slow-moving bureaucracy.

Fisheries should look at ways to improve its procedures in determining commercial licences and impose deadlines that give people time to challenge a decision before a fishery opens.Due diligence is a good thing but in this case unreasonable delay defeated the whole purpose of the regulatory process in place.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

Hockey parents... we've all heard plenty about them because, unfortunately, of the few who get their names and stupid actions plastered all over the media when they erupt.

Some give their own kids a hard time, verbally berating them in an ill-advised attempt at making them perform better.

Those in this category are usually hypnotized by the thoughts of their child signing the dotted line on a multi-million dollar professional sports contract.

Others are trying to recapture the glory days of their youth, pushing their kids to perform at the same level they once did.

Then there are those who verbally abuse the coaches, rival players and game officials from the stands.

Their kids are easily identified as the ones who keep their heads low, staring at their feet while on the bench.

The worst of the bunch are those we hear about who physically assault minor-hockey coaches and officials.

We've all heard of the parent who tried to strangle his son's coach and the other who punched a young official because he didn't like the way he called the game.

In the past few years, we've seen the birth of yet another breed of this distasteful animal.

This one prefers lawyers and is known to sue if their kid is not played enough or given the top award in his or her area. They are hockey parents, but they are by a wide, wide margin, the exceptions to the rule.

Most hockey parents are some of the best people you ever want to meet.

They're the ones who get out of bed early, or give up their evening or weekend time, to drive their kids to the rink and stay to watch them play.

These hockey parents offer words of encouragement and provide opportunities for skill development without losing sight of the fact the game is meant to be fun.

Many true hockey parents are involved with their local hockey associations at some level, whether it be as a board member, attending meetings or simply helping out with tournaments and fundraising events.

In short, they give a lot of themselves and ask for precious little in return.

Unfortunately, such bland behaviour doesn't grab headlines and get the ink those who grab coaches by the throat in arena hallways often do.

But, in a few short weeks, there will be a chance to shine the spotlight brightly on our true hockey parents.

Hockey Canada Week runs Nov. 4-12. And, the week kicks off with National Hockey Parents Day on Nov. 4.

We here in the Kiv are well known for our love of Canada's national pastime.

And, we have our share of great hockey parents.

So, if your local recreation department doesn't have any official events scheduled for the day (lack of ice could be a huge problem), take a few moments to acknowledge a hockey parent you know.

The glamour and excitement may be on the ice, but the true backbone of the game can found cheering in the stands.

Editorial Comment
Dez Loreen
Inuvik Drum

I'm sitting in my office looking outside at the snow covered streets and the frosted windshields of vehicles that drive by. I'm reading the results of the 2006 Inuvik municipal election and I wonder what will come of it all.

In 2000, Derek Lindsay lost the mayoral race to Peter Clarkson by only seven votes. Losing by such a narrow margin is nothing to scoff at, because of the amount of determination that Lindsay possessed since then.

Six years later, Lindsay stood up for his beliefs once again. This time, the people listened and responded in his favour.

I want to congratulate Derek on his victory. A separate congratulations go out to Arlene Hansen and Jeff Otto for putting their names into the hat. It takes a lot to put yourself up on the stage for all to see. The other mayoral candidates had good ideas, I hope Derek takes them with him on his way to the top.

All handshaking and back rubbing aside, the new mayor will need to come through with his campaign promises and deal with the issues that he raised in his platform.

I look forward to learning more about maintaining our utilidor system as well as improving our water pumping system.

As for the councillors who were also elected on Monday night, I hope you are all ready for the trials and challenges ahead of you as well.

I think we will see great things come from council chambers once all the new members are sworn in and take over office early next month.

I also want to seize this moment to thank all those town workers who counted the votes and ensured that the whole process went without a hitch.

Their tireless work all day was worth it just after midnight when the official results were released.

I am, however, embarrassed to think that not any one of the elected candidates was in attendance for the count. The only other people with me in council chambers after the clock struck 12 were town officials and one council candidate who was not elected. Don't worry man, we will always have next term.

While I am sure that most of the candidates were celebrating with the new mayor at his campaign headquarters, I would have liked to see more representation at the time of the results.

I don't even want to start with the low number of voters who came out to make their choice. I cannot understand why it would be so hard to leave work for a few minutes to go and vote.

Hell, registration was not hard. Just sign your name and check a box. But I guess most people just figured that their candidate would be elected regardless of their vote.

I hope you were right. Because like I said in a previous editorial, if you did not vote, then just shut your mouth and accept anything that comes out from town council this term.

Oh well, maybe you will be interested enough to vote next time.

Editorial Comment
Jessica Gray
Deh Cho Drum

As humans, we have an amazing ability to adapt to situations and problems we encounter.

Unfortunately, we're also able to be perfectly apathetic and get used to things that bother us, even if it puts undue stress on life.

These are the musings I had while at the last Fort Simpson village council meeting on Monday.

I may not have lived here for long, but from the sighs and frustrated comments, it's not difficult to see the problems everyone has with garbage pickup.

When Tom Matus, the council's senior administrator, informed them it would cost the village approximately $7,000 a month to add a fifth day to garbage pickup, councillors weren't happy.

But they also weren't very happy with service to date, something they said Fort Simpson residents have brought up time and time again.

Deputy mayor Tom Wilson suggested they ask people to make formal complaints and have their names recorded by the village every time garbage wasn't picked up.

While it seemed to be an idea other councillors agreed with, some felt community members had brought it up so often with few results that they just learned to live with it.

The motto "learn to live with it" isn't so tough to swallow when it comes to garbage pickup.

But it is when it comes to more serious matters such as family violence and underage drinking.

Last week was Family Violence Awareness week and communities all across the Deh Cho refused to "learn to live with it" and instead embraced education and healthy discussion.

But how did it go from something people didn't talk about to a full fledged week of events designed to get promote awareness?

While I can't say for sure, it was likely someone cared enough about the issue and decided enough was enough.

Someone like Robert Byatt, the principal at Thomas Simpson high school. He submitted a letter to village council explaining how underage drinking, something the community has dealt with before, seems to be growing problem again.

Not only did he bring it up with the mayor and council, but he spoke to the Liidlii Kue First Nation and the RCMP about what he was seeing and the need to do something about it.

He even brought it to the attention of the school district Tuesday evening. Byatt may not have had a solution ready at hand, but his letter did its job by forcing people to face the issue.

Almost every councillor had something to say or a suggestion, just like Chief Keyna Norwegian and the RCMP whom he also addressed.

So if one person can start the ball rolling on a serious issue affecting the community, how hard can it be for the new council to figure out its garbage problem? Not so hard I think.

- Regular Drum editor Roxanna Thompson is on vacation. She returns next week.

Incorrect information appeared in an article printed in Wednesday's Yellowknifer ("Non-Catholic returned to board," Oct. 18). It was reported that Shannon Gullberg and Amy Hacala shook hands but did not exchange any words after election results came in Monday night. That statement was unfounded. Gullberg and Hacala spoke to each other to exchange congratulations.

In addition, a caption on a photograph accompanying Anne Lynagh's column 'Parole officer's partner speaks out,' wrongly identified Niav Lynagh Pargeter as her son. Niav is her daughter.

Finally, neither the house photographed on page 3 of Wednesday's Yellowknifer nor the one identified by address in the story about a police standoff (Tactical team called in) were directly involved in the incident.

Yellowknifer apologizes for any embarrassment or confusion that may have resulted from these errors.