Features

Friday, September 7, 2007

Yellowknifers running for MLA are going to be out in full force in the coming weeks. They will be knocking on doors, putting up signs, getting grilled at forums and pestered by reporters.

It's all good, especially the fact that they want to talk to voters more than any other time. Their fate is completely in our hands and they know it.

So what do we want done?

Everyone wants to be better off. Some people look to getting more royalty money from the diamond mines, some just want more diamond mines.

Some people think the environment has suffered enough. How can we have a good economy without killing the Earth?

Daycare is in a very stressed state in the city, so how are candidates going to fix that?

Home prices have put housing out of reach for a lot of people and sent rents in the same direction. How can we get affordable housing without hurting the present market?

Crime is scary at the best of times but these days it seems no one is safe. Do we need more police or a better social safety net?

Do we want the government spending $160 million on a bridge over the Mackenzie? Will it bring the cost of living down? Are the elderly well cared for in Yellowknife? Is our medical care as good as it should be.

Do we need more government or less government? How can we make our government better?

Finally, if all our money solutions depend upon the federal government, like an increase in the decades-old Northern tax deduction, which candidate has the strength to take Ottawa on and win?

It's not enough for voters ask the questions. Now is the time to demand answers.

Once the successful candidates take their seats in the legislative assembly, we can use those answers to make the kind of territory we want.

The Salvation Army has put the finishing touches on plans, and more importantly funding, for Bailey House.

An idea floating around since the mid-1990s, this facility will fill a critical gap in our social safety net, providing shelter to homeless men with few to no options. The shelter's namesakes -- Rev. Gordon and Ruth Bailey -- were long-time Yellowknifers who personified charity.

The couple opened their Old Town doors to those in need almost on a nightly basis.

They set the example from which all of us could learn a thing or two.

It's fortunate several financial benefactors -- including the NWT Housing Corp., $1.7 million; the National Homelessness Initiative, $1.6 million; the Community Capacity Fund, $1.5 million; Diavik, $50,000; and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., $10,000 -- did come forward with Bailey-like generosity. The total price on this 32-bed facility is about $4.8 million and it's all money well spent.

The city's shelters are always at or near capacity and it's clear opening up more options for those in need will improve many lives at all levels of society.

The 28-day territorial election period officially started on Sept. 3. While most other people had the day off of work thanks to Labour Day, returning officers across the territory including Rita Cazon in Fort Simpson and Phoebe Parent in Fort Providence opened their offices to sign copies of the writ of election and get to work.

Returning officers will be busy for the next month leading up to the Oct. 1 election. This will also be a hectic time for those who have decided to run for office.

Deciding to run as a MLA or for any public office isn't a decision that's taken lightly. Candidates have to be willing to open themselves up to public scrutiny while also promising to faithfully represent the issues of their constituents, the same people who may be criticizing them.

By the end of Sept. 7 the official list of the candidates will be available, and voters in both the Nahendeh and Deh Cho ridings will know who their choices are.

The difficult part will be for people to decide who deserves their vote.

There seems to be a number of ways to pick a candidate who's suitable for your ballot.

A popular voting strategy is to pick a candidate to vote for that you are either related to or friends with. Personal relations probably lead to many votes for candidates and in some cases maybe all their votes.

This isn't such a bad way to make the decision. Presumably you'll know the person enough to be able to judge if they're worthy of the position and will fulfill their campaign promises.

Linked closely to this are the type of voters who vote a certain way because they always have. In the case of a territorial election this can involve voting for the same candidate for as many times as they try for the office.

Another strategy is to ask around and follow the voting decision of someone you trust or the general consensus. This works particularly well if you are new at voting or haven't been following the campaign very closely.

Less scientific methods can involve picking the candidate you think is the most attractive or the best dresser. Also in this line of voting is arriving at the polling station with no set decision made and putting your mark beside the first name that jumps out at you.

The most informed method, and hopefully the one that most people follow, is to listen to what the candidates have to say and ask them questions on issues that you are concerned about. What are the candidates promising and how do they propose to turn their promises into reality? What type of experience do they have with politics and their riding?

While some people will have questions in common, others will be unique, so make sure they're asked.

But no matter how you go about doing it, the most important thing is to vote. By voting in a territorial election you likely aren't going to make an earth-shattering difference - territorial politicians just don't have that kind of power no matter what anyone may say, but you are exercising your rights.

In the last territorial election the Deh Cho district had a voter turnout of 79.35 per cent, impressive considering the 2006 federal election had a 64.7 per cent turnout across Canada. Voters need to keep making their mark on their ballots and on their government.

If you're not already on the voters list, revisions are ongoing until Sept. 7. Following that, voters can be sworn in at the polling stations.

During the orientation assembly on Tuesday morning you could hear the anxiety of the students in the audience. Some were happy to be returning to class, others made their intent clear; they weren't done with summer.

Either way you look at it, teachers have wrangled their students in for the semester. Another routine is slowly starting up again.

I have good feelings about the 2007/2008 academic season.

An updated bell schedule means the students are to be in class by 8:40 a.m., with lunch time at 11:55 a.m.

I think it's great that the school could work a new schedule around, this will benefit the kids and the parents.

Talking with some youth after the assembly showed me that they are ready to take on the challenges of school seriously. Every one of those students has a goal, which is to graduate. It could be this year, or maybe it is years away for some. I tip my imaginary hat to those young learners who want to excel.

Oh the youth, so much has been done to help them, yet this is where we see the cream separate from the milk.

During the first weeks of the year, the community needs to support the young people who are making healthy choices for their lives.

I want to see parents asking about their child's classes, offering to help with homework and taking their kids out to extra curricular activities.

See, this isn't just a new start for the youth, this is a whole new opportunity for the parents to stand up and give their share as well.

Last week I was sitting at home, surfing through the selection of channels that interest me. I found an episode of Suaangan, a locally produced show. This installment of the program focused on Inuvik's youth.

The show talked with kids about their boredom and possible solutions for vandalism in town. It was well made and threw some ideas my way. The show presented the youth in a different light, I started to think about the whole situation differently.

Then I went to the school earlier this week. I found out that almost 30 windows were smashed at Samuel Hearne. One teacher said the amount would total near $30,000 to repair.

Now, this is where I should throw down the bible and start thumping it, going on some tirade about the youth and why they need a curfew. Well, not today.

I don't know if there is any proof that points the blame to the younger generations. Honestly though, the youth look like the prime suspects in the recent vandalism.

It does suck that a group of like-minded people thought the school would look better with plywood panels instead of windows.

I walked up to that school and thought the place looked damn near condemned. It hurts our tourism when our oldest buildings are boarded up.

Now this serves as a black eye to the new school year. I'm sure that Public Works will pick up the slack and have those panes fixed before you know it, but it is work that did not need to be done!

A message to the people responsible for the damage to the school; you're not cool and you certainly aren't changing the perception of misguided youth. Paint a fence, play some marbles, share a malt with your best girl. But, don't make it harder for those who want to make things better.

While some readers may feel language cops would be more effective in building a brighter future for Nunavut than training and education, it's good to see an ever-growing number of Kivalliq youth are appreciating the advantages of finishing high school and continuing on with their post-secondary education.

During the past few weeks, we've seen Maani Ulujuk High in Rankin Inlet and Tusarvik school in Repulse Bay celebrate a record number of grads, while Victor Sammurtok school in Chesterfield Inlet tied its previous record set just two short years ago.

And while the increasing number of grads is encouraging, even more so are their plans to continue on with post-secondary education.

I've made a point of talking to high school grads - and those who finish management studies and business-administration courses at Nunavut Arctic College - since arriving in the Kivalliq in 1998.

It was a habit I got into while writing on the East Coast, which is also an economically-challenged area.

The answers revealed a lot about how grads viewed the work environment, and how they saw the future unfolding in terms of what trades and vocations would be in demand.

Sadly, many answers back East revolved more around where they were moving to seek employment.

I continued the habit in the Kivalliq and found the answers even more illuminating as to how our graduates saw their futures unfolding. And, while they haven't reached the point where they feel the need to wear shades, they do see their future as being a lot brighter in 2007 than they did in 1998.

What stands out the most when talking to many of today's grads is how much higher they've set the bar for themselves, and the value they place upon continuing their education in order to realize their goals and ambitions - and that's a key to a brighter future for our region.

We're not knocking anyone's desire to work with their local hamlet, but there's only so many people each municipality can employ.

And, you would probably agree, the thought of someone like Premier Paul Okalik working on a municipal garbage truck is somewhat unsettling.

Not that many years ago, working for the hamlet or a local retail operation were among the top responses I would receive from grads.

That has changed dramatically today.

Now I hear about plans to attend the Northern Teacher's Education program, highly demanding trades-training programs, art-and-design courses, computer-based courses of all descriptions, health-field work, police work and university programs for many different fields of study.

Another thing many of these grads have in common is that while they are fiercely proud and protective of their culture and language, they are also grateful for having received an education that allowed them to master the English language to the point where they can attend the university, college or trade school of their choice.

The opportunity to benefit from what the best of both worlds has to offer still very much exists for those Nunavut youth willing to work for it - in either language THEY choose to speak.