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The territorial government is embarking on a mission that requires a description not heard in recent times: bold is the word.

Michael Miltenberger, the cabinet minister in charge of a committee aimed at refocusing government priorities, recently announced that 70 territorial bodies dealing with health, housing, and education throughout the territories will be merged into seven regional boards.

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Among the organizations targeted are Yellowknife Catholic Schools and Yellowknife Education District No. 1.

Merging these two boards alone is bound to be political dynamite but the NWT is hardly alone in its efforts to cut red tape and save money by integrating its school boards. Several provinces in recent years, including Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Ontario, have merged school boards without harmful effects to students' education.

There is no reason why the same wouldn't work in Yellowknife, where some public schools have been plagued with low enrolment levels while Catholic schools have been bursting at the seams. Much of this imbalance can be attributed to the bickering between the two school districts over how to alleviate this problem.

YK1 doesn't want to give up a school and the territorial government refuses to fund another school for the Catholic district. It's the taxpayers, in the meantime, who are paying to keep half-empty schools open.

A centralized board dealing with education would have fewer competing interests to get in the way of dealing with keeping a proper balance in school populations.

The big unknown would be how a centralized board juggles the various needs in housing, health, and education.

These are three huge issues. How are board members going to manage all that outside of a full-time job? Would the board members be appointed or elected?

What cannot be allowed to happen is the creation of some glorified body appointed by ministerial decree, akin to winning the granddaddy of all pork-barrel lotteries. If this were the case, they would be accountable to the minister - who is not elected in Yellowknife - not Yellowknifers.

Does Miltenberger expect taxpaying citizens to have their sons and daughters' education administered by a non-elected board?

Merging the education boards makes sense - if they remain elected. Reducing the number of boards and agencies may make sense in a practical way but does mixing health and housing boards make sense? Cabinet needs to better explain how it will all be administered.

Whether it be tax proposals or $1 billion infrastructure agreements with Ottawa, much of what has been going on lately at the legislative assembly has left residents scratching their heads.

The ideas are not all bad, just poorly introduced for public consumption. There needs to be a lot more information forthcoming and a lot more discussion on how all these board mergers will work before the government can expect people to support what it wants to do.

Like many young men from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, I left home at a tender age to seek my fortune in Ontario.

During the years I spent there, for one reason or another, I often had a significant drive to work.

In fact, for one period, I made the daily trek to Mississauga from Guelph after landing the dream job of my young life.

That is, until the section of the Free Trade Agreement kicked in that allowed the head company in the U.S.A. to send its products to Canada fully assembled.

Goodbye assembly line and dream job, but that's a story for another time.

During my treks across Ontario, I got hooked on a radio bit called The Rest of the Story.

The piece had its roots in the Second World War and became a fixture on ABC Radio networks in 1976. The spot gives you a factual account of a story with a big twist near the end that often blows your mind.

The announcer, Paul Harvey, would always end the piece with, "And now you know the rest of the story."

I'm often reminded of my days listening to The Rest of the Story when folks from Western and Central Canada bemoan what they view as the disproportionate amount of federal dollars that go to the East Coast and Nunavut.

Sometimes I laugh out loud when those complaints come from La Belle Province.

This is a province that's held the threat of separation over the country's head like an axe for decades.

The tip of the separation spear is, of course, the Bloc Quebecois. That party may boast about capturing 50 seats in the recent federal election but it has, for the most part, become irrelevant.

Consider some of the facts compiled by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and keep them in mind the next time you hear someone from Central Canada whining about what we receive in Nunavut.

The Bloc Quebecois raised a paltry $73,704 during the first six months of 2008, but received more than $1.5 million in public financing.

More maddening; for the 18 months between Jan. 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008, the Bloc raised a little more than $500,000, but received almost $6 million in federal allowances, which does include what the Bloc will receive in party and candidate reimbursements for the 2008 election campaign.

Yes, you guessed it, for the past eight years the Bloc has been the party most dependent on public financing to survive.

It's received a staggering $31.8 million in public financing, while only raising $5.7 million from individuals.

That, fellow Nunavummiut, means the Bloc receives 5.6 public dollars for every $1 donated by individuals.

Kind of turns the tummy a bit when you think of all the 50-50 arrangements the Nunavut government has to enter into with the feds in order to get things done, doesn't it?

So, the next time a talking head on the TV or radio tries to lay a guilt trip on you for the money Nunavut gets for housing, education and medical care, feel free to send a raspberry their way.

Because now you know the rest of the story when it comes to unfair funding.

The Lafferty and Merv Hardie ferries were running on shorter hours this week, wreaking havoc for travellers.

Deh Cho Drum received an email late Wednesday afternoon spelling out the details of the changes in operating hours, effective the next day. It didn't give people much time to prepare for travelling between the hours of 2 and 6 p.m. It would be easier to swallow the temporary changes had it been out of the control of the Department of Transportation, such as the transition into winter.

But the ferries ran on reduced hours because of a lack of staff. The department can't find enough people to keep the ferries running.

Bill Hval, regional superintendent for the Department of Transportation, said there is a worldwide shortage of marine engineers and it took time to secure someone to work. He also said there is a full staff and expects worker shortages to not be a regular occurrence.

Talking with one ferry operator a few weeks back, he complained of being overworked and underpaid. He said he was tired of working without getting proper days off.

What if these already unhappy workers quit their jobs? How would the department explain to people that they aren't able to get from point A to point B? Sorry folks, we can't keep people employed to run the ferries because we work them to death and have to dump their bodies mid-crossing.

A village like Fort Simpson could experience serious issues if traffic can't make it onto the island. The worst case scenario would leave the village without gasoline or food. The more likely scenario would mean major inconveniences for truckers, travellers and residents alike.

The additional stress on travellers would be taken out on those under-appreciated, over-worked engineers, raising their stress levels to greater heights.

It's nearing the end of the ferry season now, so the Department of Transportation has plenty of time to prepare for the next ferry season. However, it has to take a hard look at properly staffing the ferries. If there is such a problem finding qualified marine engineers, it should think about offering incentives to entice people to take up employment. These are the opportunities Northerners seeking a viable profession are looking for. If you offer them a good opportunity, they will come. Training incentives is an option to consider.

And to those current marine engineers - thanks for keeping a very important service to the people of the North running. Kudos!

Andrew Livingstone is the interim editor of Deh Cho Drum. Roxanna Thompson returns in November.

Movie buffs in Inuvik are no doubt reeling from the double shot of southern movies this past month.

Thanks to the Sir Alexander Mackenzie school sports programs, the people of our community can get together a few times a year and watch a new release on a big screen.

The best part is, the movies aren't even out in stores yet, which makes the whole experience much more rewarding.

I remember as a kid, watching movies at the school was always a big event. You'd get some friends together and play some video games and maybe have some pizza before heading to the school.

I think part of the appeal to the younger kids is seeing the school in a different light as well.

Another great perk of being at the movies, even if you're occupying an empty gymnasium, is the great eats and munchies.

The students of the sports programs volunteer their time to work concession and sell goodies like chocolates and yes, popcorn.

Fresh, yellow, gooey with butter and still somehow crunchy popcorn. Is there any better snack to eat while melting your eyes on a screen six times too big?

It's rare glimpses of southern fancies like a movie night at our elementary school that show us a bright shining light once and a while.

A light that says we don't need to be in the dark forever.

Why can't this community have a theatre that would be open every weekend (at least)?

I know it's been the dream of most people to have a place to bring a girl on a date, or join up with some geeky friends for the latest blockbuster to be released.

Whatever your purpose for wanting a theatre, it's undeniable how much revenue it will produce.

I know that it wouldn't be unreasonable to charge $10 a person for a decent screen and sound system.

The problem is comfortable seating. I don't have a problem sitting on those hard wooden chairs when I'm in the audience for a ceremony on Remembrance Day, but I'd like something softer for longer periods of sitting there.

That is why we need a permanent place for the theatre viewing. The only problem is finding a place that has adequate space.

If someone thought about this 10 years ago, we might have been able to save the family hall for this purpose, or a piece of Stringer Hall.

What about that old college building? Can we find a way to remodel it for our own greedy movie pleasures?

I want the people of the community to think hard about this. A movie theatre would be a great way to keep kids off the street and also provide entertainment for those adults who are already ironing their outfit for the next Fireman's Ball.

These movies at the school are great for families and movie lovers of all ages but they are too few and far between.

The two screenings this past month were like a renaissance for the movie-loving couch zombies.

Roll down that big screen and fire up the projector because we're not full just yet.