Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

Order classified ad

The NWT backed hard-working politician Dennis Bevington for a second term as Western Arctic member of Parliament on Oct. 14.

Although some people swore that Conservative Brendan Bell had more momentum in the territory's larger centres - and the campaign signs in several Yellowknife neighbourhoods seemed to reflect that - Bell eclipsed Bevington, the NDP incumbent, by a mere 106 votes in this city. The count was 2,475 to 2,369 in favour of Bell.

Territorially it was 5,669 votes for Bevington to 5,146 for Bell.

Bevington has proven he is dedicated to improving life for NWT residents, fighting for a 50 per cent increase in the Northern Residents Tax Deduction, although the Conservative government would only grant a paltry 10 per cent.

With rising power rates; ballooning gas prices that force the cost of everything else to rise; and possible territorial taxes on the way - we encourage Bevington to keep fiercely pursuing that remaining 40 per cent hike in tax deductions.

As well, we urge him to doggedly make a case for devolution, or an interim resource revenue deal in advance of devolution. It can be done if the will exists in Ottawa.

Also on the list of priorities is the need for a simplified immigration policy, allowing more people to call Yellowknife home. Many city business owners can speak to the difficulty of attracting workers.

The GNWT has expressed interest in new immigration rules, citing the policy adopted in the Yukon, but the territorial government has a poor track record when it comes to taking action.

We need our MP to kick start the process.

Should he make good on these priorities, our MP could position himself for a third term in office.

Yellowknife is a long way from the U.S. border, but that meant little to the dozens of people who poured into Surly Bob's bar Tuesday night to watch the presidential election results come in on the big screen.

Surely hundreds more Yellowknifers watched the election at home. No doubt, Canadians were pleased with the Obama win. A Harris Decima poll delivered Tuesday found Canadians preferred Obama six to one over McCain.

After recently going through our own federal election - an exercise widely viewed as dull and pointless - Canadians were eager for some inspiration. What could be more so than a race where the outcome would produce either the U.S.'s first African-American president or that country's first female vice-president?

Americans were obviously excited themselves; some 64 per cent voted -- the best turnout in 100 years. Canada, on the other hand, witnessed its worst federal voter turnout ever last month. In the NWT, only 48 per cent bothered to cast a ballot. Hopefully Canadians, and NWT residents for that matter, will have something to inspire them the next time an election rolls around. For now, we can only look down south with envy.

Stepping off the plane at the Fort Simpson airport last week after my annual vacation I was dismayed but not particularly surprised by the amount of snow on the ground.

With running shoes on my feet I carefully wheeled my suitcases to my truck while avoiding the deeper snow in the parking lot. Once in my house I pulled my winter boots out of the closet and went looking for my winter jacket.

The transition to winter is a yearly routine in the Deh Cho but as I discovered while visiting family and friends in southwestern Ontario a lot of people are surprised about when it happens or that it happens at all.

Forgive the generalization, but most Canadians who live in the southern half of the country show an astounding lack of knowledge about the North.

Gazing up from their more temperate locations people in the south know that the territories exist but any detailed knowledge about weather, geography or culture seems to drop off a cliff around the 60th parallel.

Explaining to a southerner about where you live in the territory is when things generally start to go awry. Northwest Territories is a fine description and some can even visualize Yellowknife's location but naming anything else usually draws a blank look.

Out of curiosity, or maybe because they don't want to sound unknowledgeable, people usually start in with the 50 questions.

After the first few questions, which generally include "isn't it really cold there," "you have polar bears right" and "are you very isolated," it becomes clear that most people believe that as soon as you cross the 60th you are clearly in the land of tundra, snow and endless winter.

Explaining that Fort Simpson, and the rest of the Deh Cho is polar bear-free is usually a disappointment for most. Talk of black bears and bison does little to cheer them up.

If you get as far as covering seasonal weather patterns you can see people trying to wrap their minds around the idea that we get 30 degree weather in the summer while still having reasonably cold winters. The stereotypes of the North are clearly deeply ingrained.

Now I'm not saying that people who live in the North are masters of Canadian geography but because of the focus on big city, southern Canada it would be hard for us not to know more about the south that southerners do about us.

It's amazing how even a conversation lasting a few minutes is enough to impart someone with almost double the amount of knowledge about the territory or the Deh Cho than they had than before you started speaking.

The general ignorance about the North shouldn't be allowed to stand.

The only practical solution to all of this is for people from the Deh Cho and the rest of the territory to take more vacations and visit the rest of Canada. When employers ask we can explain that the time in the south is really a sacrifice on our part as we act as ambassadors and spread much needed knowledge about the North.

On Monday night I sat in the back row while college and university reps told a handful of would-be students about adjusting to life on campus.

What struck me about the group is that it wasn't only a bunch of teens and 20-somethings. There was a wide range of age groups. There were people old enough to have children in college. There were young people with children not yet in school. It shows that education is not just something for kids, and it certainly doesn't end when you leave school.

If I could give one piece of advice to anyone thinking about going back to school it would be this: Go for it.

I can also tell you this: if you do go for it, the first day is always the hardest. There are a lot of firsts when you go to school. The first day moving out, the first day of classes, the first exam. But after you've done something once, it always gets a bit easier.

My grandfather had a saying about education. He said an education is no load to carry once you have it. He meant that once you pick up an education, you'll never drop it. It will never weigh heavy on your shoulders the way a physical load will.

I think he knew something about carrying heavy loads because he left school when he was 12 to work in the woods. He eventually went back and got his carpenter's papers and he is now retired with a pension.

An education can make the burdens of life lighter. Post-secondary graduates in the NWT make upwards of $30,000 more annually than high school graduates. That extra cash can certainly help with the rent and groceries.

One of the presenters said 85 per cent of any degree or diploma is your attitude. If you show up and do the work and get your assignments in on time, the rest will take care of itself. From my experience, this is true.

While there's no shame in any work, a post-secondary education will give you more work options. It will help you find a job you love rather than being stuck with a few options that you hate.

Many people love working outdoors with their hands, but it is nice to have something to fall back on when your back starts to give out.

I hope all of the people who attended the post secondary presentation on Monday take that first step out the door. There will be work waiting for you here when you're ready to come home.

- Brodie Thomas is interim editor of Inuvik Drum. Dez Loreen will return in two weeks' time.

The planets are aligning for the battle over the polar bear quota cuts in Kivalliq to step up a notch.

Members of the Kivalliq Wildlife Board have been upset since the Nunavut government decided to lower the polar bear quota for 200809 to eight bears in the Western Hudson Bay area.

The traditional quota was 56 bears divided among the communities of Rankin Inlet, Arviat, Whale Cove, Chesterfield Inlet and Baker Lake.

That number was reduced to 38 during the 200708 season and slashed to eight for 200809.

Science and traditional knowledge are strongly opposed on this matter, with science claiming the bears are in danger and elders and hunters saying the predators' numbers are as strong as ever.

The term civil disobedience was bandied about again this past week during the Kivalliq Inuit Association's (KIA) AGM this past week in Rankin Inlet. The latest reported findings of an aerial survey conducted in Manitoba aren't going to do much to cool things down either.

The study covers most of the inland range in the Western Hudson Bay area.

A September aerial survey is reported to have counted 266 bears; the largest number recorded in that survey. In addition, many bears were reported to have been able to stay out on the ice until well into August this year.

As much as these findings seem to support the viewpoint of the hunters, one good year of weather that exposed a seal den bonanza to the Churchill-area bears and kept the ice from breaking up early is no reason to give science the boot.

To properly protect the bear populations in the Western Hudson Bear area, science and traditional knowledge have to work in co-operation, not as adversaries.

But, evidence continues to mount that suggests both sides hold little more than disdain for each other, let alone respect.

This is another path that leads to quotas being set by political pressure rather than research and observation.

A number of wildlife board members have stated the Nunavut government takes nothing Inuit say seriously on the issue and refuses to listen to the hunters and elders.

Yet, those same members and hunters are quick to dismiss anything that comes from researchers as nothing more than fear mongering.

This is not the type of rhetoric conducive to a productive relationship.

Instead of calling for civil disobedience - dramatic but rarely effective - maybe it's time for the KIA to attempt to become an arbitrator, of sorts, in the disagreement and call the sides back together.

No insults or accusations would be allowed, rather, the two sides would have to sit down and actually discuss ways to effectively work together and honestly evaluate what each brings to the table.

It would be a feather in the cap of anyone who could get researchers and hunters honestly working together.

Maybe then we would see some advancement in ways to meet the very real needs of Inuit and still be able to protect the bear population.

Why does this always have to be a huge problem for so many smart people on both sides of the fence?