The last time the federal government tried to build an NWT highway without any clear objective was back when John Diefenbaker was running the country.

The former prime minister's Road to Resources was supposed to connect the south with a vast store of mineral riches as it rounded Great Slave Lake.

The Ingraham Trail, as this road was later named, got about 70 kilometres before the government called it quits. Without already existing mines to spur on its creation, there didn't seem to be much point to go any further.

Fast forward to today, our MP, Dennis Bevington, wants the territorial government to pressure Ottawa to build a highway down the Mackenzie Valley before a gas pipeline down the same route can be built.

While this concept may win some support in Mackenzie Valley communities isolated during the long winter, it doesn't make much sense otherwise.

A federal government still dithering away at the territorial government's demands for devolution and resource royalty sharing likely won't cough up the estimated $700 million to build the Mackenzie Valley highway any time soon -- that is, unless there is a pipeline to be built.

If Bevington thinks a highway is so crucial, he should jump on the pipeline bandwagon now. If this project does not succeed, neither will the highway.

Say you own an old house and the pipes are rattling in the walls every time you turn on the hot water. The plumber tells you the pipes are old and will cost a bundle to fix, but need to be fixed soon.

Do you then go out and spend money on a new family room?

That's the dilemma facing City Council. FSC Architects and Engineers handed council a report last week informing them all of Yellowknife's aging sidewalks, water and sewage lines will need repairing over the next 10 years. That's bad news. Worse news is that it will cost $60 million more than council has budgeted for such things.

Yet at the same time, groups are asking council to spend millions building new facilities such as the fieldhouse and a stand-alone library.

Maintaining our city's basic infrastructure such as roads, sidewalks, water and sewage systems must take priority.

Council needs to make sure there is enough money in the bank to cover the necessities before spending on new recreational facilities.

Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) has gone looking for a fight and we wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it gets one.

Judging by the tone of his voice this past week while speaking about NTI's billion-dollar lawsuit against the federal government, Premier Paul Okalik won't be too surprised if Northern Affairs Minister Jim Prentice decides to drop the gloves.

NTI alleges 16 breaches of contract against the federal government in its statement of claim.

It, basically, contends the feds have failed to live up to their obligations in implementing the 1993 Lands Claim Agreement.

While there were some valid concerns raised in the claim, such as Inuit still lacking the opportunity to gain the employment skills needed in today's workforce, others are almost certain to put up roadblocks in ongoing negotiations.

NTI's decision to draw attention to the fact Nunavut's Hunters and Trapper Organizations (HTO) are badly underfunded is particularly baffling, considering the trouble they've had with financial mismanagement -- and not all of it the honest-mistake variety.

Negotiations to increase HTO funding are ongoing, and the decision to file this lawsuit could hold them up for some time.

On their side of the coin, the feds claim implementing everything NTI wants is just too costly.

But want seems to be the operative word in all of this, especially if one listened to NTI president Paul Kaludjak this past week.

A number of the sentences in Kaludjak's speech about the lawsuit began with, "We want..."

Kaludjak also said NTI warned federal representatives during a recent visit that the government had better start complying with NTI's requests or legal action would be forthcoming.

We have grave concerns about an organization threatening the federal government in a territory so dependent upon federal dollars.

Kaludjak has a point when he says negotiations have been too slow during the past five years, but a billion-dollar lawsuit has the potential to halt them all together, rather than speed them up.

How this lawsuit affects ongoing negotiations between the territorial government and the feds also remains to be seen.

Okalik sounds worried about the fallout from the move, as well he should be.

There is the chance the feds will soften their stance and come back to the table in earnest because of the lawsuit.

However, there is also the chance the government will draw a line in the sand and become difficult to work with.

Think what you will about Prentice and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, they are not men lacking backbone.

Either way, Nunavut has lost its innocence with the tabling of NTI's lawsuit.

If the aim of the top thinkers at NTI was to get the feds' attention, they've certainly achieved that goal.

But which way that attention will take us is still anybody's guess at this point.

One thing is for sure as we wait for this to play out. There were ominous tones to Prentice's promise that the feds "will handle" NTI's lawsuit.

Editorial Comment
Dez Loreen
Inuvik Drum

The youth of this town need to learn respect. The most recent sign of this is the temporary closing of the Inuvik Youth Centre.

Since the beginning of the Inuvik Youth Centre society back in 1996, I have never seen such a dramatic message to the young people who use the facility.

Sorry, the doors are closed. If you call the centre, you'll hear a message stating that the centre is closed due to lack of respect to staff and property at the centre.

When the doors open once again near the end of December, hopefully the eyes of the youth will have been opened and maybe we can be done with this foolishness.

Respecting other people's property is a simple rule that was handed down to me by my grandfather. I have remembered it my whole life. I live by that rule, because frankly I don't want my stuff broken.

While I see the merit in the decision made by the youth centre board, I think they should have taken a page from the Town of Inuvik's zero tolerance policy.

If you go to the pool, read the list of names posted on the counter. Those youth are not allowed in any town facility for a determined amount of time.

Some parents may think this is cruel and unnecessary. I disagree. If I saw one of those blacklisted kids on the street, I'd point it out to them, maybe make a remark or two about how they should straighten up.

I'm sure that other youth have also been reminding those youth about what they did to get on that list. I fully agree with and support the public display of the list of bad kids.

It may embarrass them, but we have to scream the message that their behaviour will not be tolerated.

To the youth who are on those blacklists: your mom reads that list every time she goes into a town facility.

Just because some kids choose to be bad, doesn't mean that every kid should be excluded.

I have spent some time at the youth centre and have seen the faces of many youth who are happy because they have a haven in which to play, a sanctuary from the cold, a place to be bully-free.

Those nice kids shouldn't have to lose out because of their disrespectful peers.

I want to think that maybe the temporary closure of the youth centre will change things, but even that seems farfetched right now.

Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum

If there's one thing that's easy to spot in the small communities in the Deh Cho it's a newcomer.

In the larger communities such as Fort Simpson, Fort Providence or Fort Liard, a new person might go unnoticed for a small amount of time but probably not for long, even if they were trying not to draw attention to themselves.

In the smaller communities, newcomers stick out like sore thumbs. It's not so much that they look unusual or dress differently, they simply have a face that hasn't been seen before.

It's questionable whether those in the territorial government who are promoting the proposed Safer Communities and Neighbourhood legislation have clearly thought this part of the program out.

In fact it's just one of the many questions that can be asked about the proposed legislation.

With SCAN, government investigators would be able to monitor homes, interview neighbours and evict people who are involved in illegal activities such as bootlegging, prostitution, drug-dealing and gambling.

One of the aspects of the program that is being promoted is the confidentiality promised to community members who file a complaint.

This is well and good but when the investigators, who everyone will be able to pick out quickly, show up in a small community it won't take long for people to figure out who called.

Traces of possible illegal activity will disappear quickly and pressure may be put upon those suspected of filing the complaint.

The after-effects will stay in the community long after the investigators are gone.

There are other major concerns with the program.

When Fort Simpson Mayor Duncan Canvin likened SCAN to the Salem witch trials he might not have been far off.

The program might work well in the right hands, but it would only take a few vengeful or angry people to put investigators on the wrong trail.

Damage could be done to innocent people who don't deserve to be investigated.

There is also the question of how two to four investigators would be able to look after the whole territory. Backlog would be almost instantaneous the minute the program started.

Residents who took part in the public information session about SCAN that was held in Fort Simpson last week asked their own questions, but in the end noted that they were in favour of giving it a try.

This vote of support could be interpreted as less of a vote for SCAN and more a vote for anything new that shows any sign of promise.

There are communities in the Deh Cho that have ongoing problems with illegal activities.

In those communities the residents know what is going on and who is doing it.

They are looking for something to help deal with the problem, but SCAN might not be it.

In the end it will be up to the communities to decide if SCAN is something they want to live with, but they should carefully weigh the program's attractions and defects.

A headline on Page 14 of the Friday, Dec. 8 Yellowknifer contained incorrect information. Gary Football, of Behchoko, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in NWt Supreme Court on Dec. 4, 2006. He was not convicted of a sex crime and Northern News Services retracts the headline and apologizes for the error.

Also, in a Dec. 1 Yellowknifer article titled "Nunavut man homeless in YK" Robert Ekpakohak was identified as having received his certificate in addictions counselling while in jail. Ekpakohak received his education from the Nechi Institute in Edmonton.