Features

A marijuana grow-operation has been uncovered in Fort Simpson.

This discovery, and subsequent seizure by the RCMP, provides a perfect opportunity for residents of the village to examine their stance against drugs.

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With the news of the discovery spreading across the village how are people responding? The telling question will be how many people are shocked by this news.

Hopefully many people will be surprised to learn that cannabis plants were being grown in the village. It would be best if this feeling sprung more from a disbelief that this could happen in Fort Simpson rather than a general naivety.

While marijuana has been embroiled in debates over legalization and medicinal uses, these are not the questions at hand. What has to be examined is where people want to draw the line.

If the news of a marijuana grow-op isn't shocking and instead elicits a sense of acceptance rather than outrage what does that mean about the community?

If people weren't shocked it suggests either they knew about that grow-op or similar operations or that they just accept marijuana use as being so prevalent that they think the plants are bound to wind up even here.

But if homegrown cannabis is all right, what other illegal substances are you willing to accept?

Sure marijuana is on the bottom of the illegal drug list when judged by overall negative effect, but that doesn't give people the green light to grow it. Marijuana is, after all, considered a gateway drug. If you use it the argument is that you're more likely to pick up another, harder drug next.

While cocaine, another popular drug in the North, is unlikely to be grown locally because it also comes from a plant, what about crystal meth?

Southern media is full of reports of the growing sway of crystal meth and the home-based meth labs where it's produced. One day you're living in a safe neighborhood and the next day the house beside you explodes in a ball of flames because it was an illegal meth lab filled with volatile chemicals. Worse yet, teenagers and adults alike are becoming addicted to the substance.

While this is an extreme example and Fort Simpson is unlikely to be home to a meth lab any time soon, it's still a possibility.

Following the laws of the market economy, where there's a demand, a supply will come to fill it.

With the revelation that there was a marijuana grow-op in the village, residents have a choice whether they accept it or work to ensure that there aren't any more. The village has been given a chance to decide where to draw the line on what is and isn't acceptable when it comes to illicit drugs.

Newspapers don't usually report suicides.

It's a convention of the industry, which is common to all Canadian newspapers.

As a reporter, I have come across many situations where suicide stories were considered unfit for publication - because they (allegedly) pose the risk of inspiring copycats.

I think this is wrong.

The Canadian aboriginal suicide rate is five to six times higher than the Canadian average.

Across Canada, suicide is the second highest cause of death for youth after injuries such as car accidents.

But when people take their own lives - acts which are tragic and preventable in most cases - they are not reported.

No effort is made to communicate their families' grief.

How easy it then becomes to sweep the problem under the rug; to pretend it doesn't exist.

I mention this topic today because of a powerful speech I heard on Nov. 23.

On that day - in front of a packed audience at Ingamo Hall - a brave woman took the stage and did what the media doesn't.

She spoke, as a mother, about her son's suicide.

And Grace Blake should be thanked for it.

Whether we are talking about suicide, alcoholism, drug abuse, sexual or spousal abuse, one rule is clear.

Talking always helps.

And while it might be difficult or painful to hear, it offers some comfort to those who endure the unendurable.

With the rate of suicide so high in this territory, I am sure many readers have stories about it; perhaps they have relatives who have taken their own lives.

Perhaps they have dark thoughts that keep recurring, after a night of drinking or some personal failure.

Why not talk about it? Suicide is often linked to addictions, alcoholism or abuse in some way.

It's real, it's preventable and if the media won't talk about it, people will have to do it themselves.

I applaud Grace Blake for speaking on Nov. 23. Hopefully more people will gain the courage to follow her example, and break the last great taboo.

- Inuvik Drum editor Dez Loreen is on vacation and will return in early December.

Last week, Yellowknifer's front page headline - 'Closed meetings getting out of hand' - brought back bitter memories of the last time such meetings ruled city hall.

Two councillors who commented on the issue in Friday's story - David Wind and Dave McCann - wanted a review of the policy of in-camera meetings to see if some changes should be made. In-camera meetings between city administration officials and city councillors have specific rules, the main one being matters discussed inside the room cannot be discussed with anyone outside the room. What is said is to remain secret.

The other main rules for this type of meeting pertain to the topics that can be discussed - personnel matters, contract and land matters, and legal matters.

No other topics should be discussed unless deemed by council to be in the public interest. By law, no voting can occur.

Long-time Yellowknifers may remember when secret meetings got out of hand in the 1990s.

All kinds of things were discussed, decisions made and votes taken behind closed doors.

One of the most blatant abuses involved the infamous Tuaro Dairy. A principal owner of the dairy was the city's director of finance.

The twice-bankrupt dairy was on leased land located within city limits and subject to municipal taxes. Despite the dairy building up an outstanding tax bill well over $200,000, councillors extended the lease twice without the public ever knowing about it.

With one of their own so intimately involved in what was clearly a bad business idea and a mounting conflict of interest, city administration wanted to keep the whole affair behind closed doors.

They might have succeeded in that and other questionable, and costly decisions had it not been for a group of concerned citizens called the Yellowknife Property Owners Association led by Yellowknife businessman Ken Pook.

Pook and the property owners took city hall to court, arguing that the secret meetings and votes were against the law and bad for all Yellowknifers.

A judge agreed and put a stop to the practice.

Do we think council is doing the same now? Not yet.

But Coun. McCann admitted he has upon occasion wondered why certain discussions were being held behind closed doors, "Especially when (we) may be questioned by citizens wanting to know about this topic and you can't report to them."

Coun. Wind told Yellowknifer: "I'm very concerned that we not use the in-camera provision we have to discuss things that might be politically sensitive."

Both councillors have legitimate concerns and are in no way being disloyal or irresponsible by emphasizing the undemocratic dangers of secret meetings.

The problem is the less public input, the easier it is to make decisions based on information fed to council by administration.

That puts councillors in the uncomfortable position of defending votes made without the public knowing the issues.

Good for city administration but bad for elected councillors.

It all starts with innocent, informal conversations behinds closed doors. It ends with regular lengthy discussion and secret votes. Stop it now, before it spreads.

Next year is certainly going to prove itself to be an interesting one on a number of fronts, as far as the barge delivery of cargo to the Kivalliq region is concerned.

First and foremost will be to see how Northern Transportation Company Ltd. (NTCL) addresses some of the problems that hindered cargo delivery this year.

While we give Baker Lake Mayor David Aksawnee full marks for telling NTCL that people in the region have to be one of the company's top priorities (see story page 3), only time will tell if that mentality is put into play anytime soon.

Let's be honest. The facts speak for themselves.

It wasn't all that long ago that NTCL left the Kivalliq after losing the Government of Nunavut (GN) contract to service the region.

Community cargo wasn't enough to keep the company in the region then, and it's not now.

That's the harsh, cold, economic reality of the situation.

NTCL is a company and it's expected to turn a reasonable profit for its shareholders just like any other.

Delivering community cargo did not bring NTCL back to the Kivalliq.

The promise of supplying exploration and working mine sites with their cargo did.

None of us really knows how long the exploration, development and mining boom will last in our region, but most communities can be reasonably assured that NTCL will be around as long as it does.

After that, there's a good chance we'll find ourselves back at square one in regards to whether the company can win back the GN's contact for the Kivalliq.

In all likelihood, no mining, plus no GN contract, equals no NTCL in the Kivalliq.

And you would have a tough time blaming the company for that should it come to pass.

In these modern times, business is business and that's the end of the story.

However, as long as the NTCL is in the Kivalliq, its company heads have to understand this is the Eastern Arctic, and getting their cargo in a timely manner is a necessity to the residents of this region, not a game.

In fact, given its long history in the Kivalliq, NTCL should understand that better than anyone.

Winter supplies at wholesale prices is precious cargo to Kivalliq residents. We've heard the company talk about adding a purser in the Kivalliq, and utilizing a dual system of cargo delivery that would separate corporate expectations from community needs.

Both moves would rate as an excellent start to addressing the problems that plagued this year's sealift.

However, a dual system of thinking could also go a long way in addressing the matter.

Nobody knows what the future may hold in terms of NTCL's long-term viability in the Kivalliq.

But, we have no doubt if the gravy train runs its course, the company will, once again, be asking the people to understand why it's leaving.

So, it's fair, then, for the people to ask the NTCL to understand that while it is in the Kivalliq, the people of the region must come first.

Not only is turnabout fair play, when you're talking sealift in the Kivalliq, it's an absolute necessity.