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There is a little doubt that union leader Todd Parsons is serving his own purposes by supporting a 2.9 per cent pay hike for MLAs that went into effect April 1.

The president of the Union of Northern Workers doesn't want to give the territorial government any wiggle room while pushing for higher wages for union members.

Rumour was - unconfirmed by the minister himself - that Human Resources Minister Glen Abernethy tried to convince his MLA colleagues to accept a raise more in line with what the GNWT is offering the union - 0.75 per cent for the first year. That move would have seriously harmed the union's negotiating position, which is threatening to strike if the government doesn't offer wage increases more in line with the rise in the cost of living.

Many workers, both in the private and public sector, are seeing wage increases dwindle as the effects of the global recession linger into a fourth year. Even more stinging, the federal government announced 19,200 public service job cuts last month.

Fortunately for the Union of Northern Workers, MLAs are deciding to take the pay hike.

This, of course, undermines the GNWT's bargaining position as strike votes are being held across the territory.

If politicians feel it is acceptable to give themselves a raise equitable to the rise in the cost of living, it's quite understandable that rank and file government workers will want the same.

Caucus chair Norman Yakeleya claims MLAs had no choice because the decision was made in the previous legislative assembly.

No doubt the Union of Northern Workers will say it had no choice either when it takes its membership into, possibly, a long and disruptive strike.

MLAs have missed the chance at setting the standard for fairness.

As Yellowknifer celebrates its 40th year, beginning last month with a commemorative reprint of is first edition, originally published on March 22, 1972, the capital city's newspaper of record is talking to some longtime residents.

We're mining recollections from days gone by for a series of stories we call, aptly enough, Yellowknifers. The series began March 30 with a profile of cab driver Andy Hrstic, who came to the city at age 20 in 1968 for a job at Giant Mine. He shared fond memories of his first time driving on an ice road, playing cards with former mayor Fred Henne and buying a sports car from the Frame and Perkins Ford dealership, located where the newspaper offices are today.

The series will continue Friday with a profile of Barry Taylor, who also came here in 1968 and landed a job working underground at Giant Mine before he became an outfitter in 1982.

It's not unusual for Yellowknifer to publish feature stories which delve into history. We recently wrote about peoples' memories of the Gallery Pub, located where the new Gallery Building is now, and chronicled Mike Vaydik's recollections about "that old shack" next to Kim's Confectionery, where Vaydik spent seven years of his childhood with his family.

A common theme is how friendly the residents were to newcomers and the sense of community they felt from the time they arrived, elements which continue to this day.

We will be profiling more longtime Yellowknifers in the weeks ahead and are asking readers to send us suggestions for more people who fit the bill.

In the meantime, complimentary copies of Yellowknifer's first edition remain available in our office for those who want to take a walk down memory lane.

Forty years may not seem like it was so long ago. However, it was a different time with a population of only about 6,000 hardy residents who welcomed others to share a Northern adventure. Who better to look back at the past than those who have lived it?

When it comes to political correctness and people taking what is said out of context, there are times I think the world has gone crazy.

Then there are times I read someone's complaints, and I know it's transcended crazy and taken up residency on the plane of utter madness.

That's how I felt when I heard the complaints of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association's (QIA) Okalik Eegeesiak aimed at the Children's Aid Society in Ottawa.

The society used a poster in its search for a loving adoptive home, preferably with a "strong Inuit family," for a three-month-old baby boy.

Apparently, according to the QIA, the society made the baby sound like a puppy with the poster stating the little tyke "loves being cuddled."

There are so many issues with the contention that this approach was "offensive," that it's almost difficult to know where to begin.

Just as infuriating was the society issuing a statement of apology and scrapping the poster, albeit after people had expressed interest in adopting the baby.

An apology for what? For trying to find a good home for a "calm and loving" baby?

I'm facing my 54th birthday this coming month and, all my life, I've listened to babies being referred to as cute, cuddly and adorable.

Never once did the image of a puppy (or a kitten for you feline lovers out there) cross my mind. What rubbish!

If anything, I was more perplexed when family members would gather right after a birth, look down on this fresh bundle of wrinkles (my apologies to Shar Pei owners everywhere), proclaim how cute the baby is and say he or she looks just like their mother.

I mean, OK, maybe there was a slight resemblance minutes after childbirth, but Mom just went through a pretty difficult task, you know?

I'm among the many who feel if the Children's Aid Society should apologize for anything on its marketing-tool poster for adoptive parents, it's for including the stipulation of an Inuit family.

For those of us still capable of it, let's be brutally honest for a minute.

Can you imagine the uproar if the society put out a similar ad asking for white (caucasian for those of you offended by the term white) parents only?

Are we going back to the dark ages of segregation and the perception of ability based on skin colour?

Is the priority not to find a loving family capable of raising the child in a caring, supportive environment?

And if that family should happen to be interracial or multi-cultural (pick your term), that's bad ... why?

Truth be told, parents of interracial families are often the most diligent in ensuring their children are immersed in their own culture, especially during their formative years.

We can only wonder why the QIA would overlook that aspect of the poster and its possible affect on the baby's well-being, and choose, instead, to use the little guy as a way of creating an over-sensitized, overdramatized and utterly nonsensical issue.

The Children's Aid Society may not be perfect, but our regional Inuit associations should have more pressing issues to devote their time to in order to improve the quality of life for all Inuit.

They're certainly paid enough to.

In terms of positive efforts to make a difference, this time around the QIA was barking up the wrong tree!

As well worn as cliches become, they often fit. When it comes to regulatory reform, the so-called 'elephant in the room' is the federal government.

In 2007, Neil McCrank was hired to dissect the flawed Northern regulatory system and make recommendations to fix it.

In his 2008 report, McCrank identified most of the problems -- layers of boards with empty chairs, mushy timelines, vague mandates and authority, absence of rules, ministerial inattention and, to the credit of most of the parties he interviewed, good intentions. He laid out succinct directions, with various options, for producing an environmental protection process that would serve the land, its people and the companies keen on creating economic development with Northern resources.

While not frankly stated, what McCrank could not conceal was the role of the federal government as the primary creator and operator of the North's regulatory system.

In 1998, the federal government negotiated a Dene/Metis Agreement in Principle. When negotiations got tough for the final signing in 2000, the feds threw up their hands and did precisely what good sense told them not to do and what they had pledged not to do - deal with the Dene/Metis regions individually. This set the stage for the hodgepodge of agreements struck with the Gwich'in, Sahtu Dene and Metis and Tlicho, no two of which are the same. After 12 years, Dehcho and Akaitcho have yet to complete a deal.

Aside from the chaos the different deals created, virtually every criticism McCrank heard regarding regulatory process can be traced back to the federal government. He found regional board members and staff lacked training and capacity for dealing with complex industry proposals. This is directly related to federal funding levels. Often board seats sat empty waiting for federal approval of the candidates put forward by Northerners. McCrank frequently emphasized that completed land-use plans were an essential first step to fixing the logjams, yet to date only one land-use plan is complete. When recommendations were finally sent to the minister's office, it could be months or years before a decision was rendered.

In May 2010, former Hay River mayor and past territorial finance minister John Pollard was hired to lead consultations and negotiations with the GNWT and aboriginal leaders on how land and water boards will be restructured according to McCrank's recommendations.

Despite initial high hopes, little has been heard from Pollard until recently. Apparently, he sent a letter out to aboriginal leaders before Christmas sketching out the changes to come and has held a few meetings. To date, he has managed to further alienate aboriginal leaders who are prepared to dig in their heels on any changes that roll back hard-fought rights. Understandably, they resent paying for all the federal mishandling of the regulatory regime.

In truth, the federal elephant is too busy in Ottawa running a country and while mining, oil and gas projects are of critical importance to Northerners, they are small potatoes to the federal government.

The GNWT is a different story. These projects are crucial to the territorial economy. Aside from being hugely motivated to see responsible development, the territorial government understands Northerners and with the present leadership of Premier Bob McLeod, should be in the best position to avoid a protracted and ugly public battle over changes that won't have any effect on investor confidence without good will on the part of aboriginal leaders.

The feds may have the parliamentary hammer but this situation calls for intense negotiation, diplomacy and a partnership approach rather than brute force.

In 2009, the GNWT's position was that the present regulatory system is adequate, it just has to be properly financed, implemented and refined. Aboriginal leaders would agree.

The bottom line is, only the GNWT has the muscle to influence the federal government and aboriginal leaders.

By working with and on behalf of Dene, Metis and Inuvialuit, whose financial success benefits all Northerners, McLeod and his cabinet will be demonstrating the kind of leadership that will make devolution a forgone conclusion.

The Inuit seem to have been short-changed by last week's federal budget.

One would think with Inuk MP Leona Aglukkaq representing Nunavut in cabinet, there may have at least been a nod given to the territory's biggest issue that can be solved by money alone - infrastructure, specifically housing.

The March 29 budget brought word of regulatory changes, which Aglukkaq touted as a boon to the region's resource industry - though it remains to be seen how Nunavummiut will react to having less environmental oversight. The Health Canada office opening in Iqaluit and the already-pledged money for Pangnirtung's harbour were among the other highlights for our riding.

A dark cloud hangs over the latter announcement, though, as Ottawa also made the vague but ominous pledge to hand over responsibility of Arctic ports to territorial governments. If this means it's now going to be the GN's responsibility to fit its communities with harbours, there's no way Nunavut can afford this. It would be a severe drag on the fisheries' growing momentum.

Also mentioned were changes to the Nunavut Act to allow for "consistent treatment of borrowing" but again, further detail was absent.

It's a recession budget, sure, but the oft-repeated argument still stands: if Canada wants Arctic sovereignty, it needs to help its Arctic people, and it can't be dime by dime.

It's time to put Inuit place names on the map.

Thousands of place names, detailing the history of the land and its uses, are awaiting GN approval. The office tasked with approving the already-collected names is overburdened, and at the rate it's going, it could take decades for all the place names to get the go-ahead. That's not the fault of the department, it's the fault of the approach the government is taking.

There may be disputes on whether a name is correct, or duplication of certain names, but don't those disputes themselves illustrate the history of the land? Different groups of people crossed over many of the same areas and may have different names for places. Until all the names are out there, how will the discussion over which names are best suited ever be sorted out?

Every time an elder dies, a crucial database of knowledge goes with them. If the naming process keeps going at its current rate, people with invaluable knowledge of the land will disappear as the GN works its way down the list at a snail's pace.

Put the names on the map. Revisions can always be made, but now's the time to get the history out there for public viewing and discussion, before those who best know the stories behind the names are all gone.

There are likely few people in Yellowknife who would begrudge the city in its desire to tackle crumbling roads, sidewalks and sewer lines.

For a municipality, this is job number one. Residents don't have to venture far to find evidence of the city's so-called "infrastructure gap" either, a shortfall the city predicts will reach $74 million by 2016. Downtown streets are in particularly poor condition as are many others in residential areas throughout the city, and in Kam Lake industrial park.

Never mind the infrastructure people can't see - the water and sewer lines, which the city's 2012 budget states need to be addressed "immediately." If that's the case, then let's get busy. No one wants Northland Trailer Park's desperate infrastructure conditions to become the new city norm.

That the city wants to borrow $20 million to help address the mounting problems should be kept in perspective. The city has actually proved itself a rather able manager of debt in recent years. In 1995 the debt load was at a daunting $29.6 million. Over the last 12 years or so, however, impressive efforts have been made to bring that figure down to $1.7 million. If not for this latest request to borrow $20 million, the city's debt would be at less than $300,000 by 2021.

Council's decision to avoid a referendum on the issue, as recommended by administration, is a little more complicated. City hall must be wary of looking like it's afraid of the people, particularly after voters rejected the city's request to borrow up to $49 million in a referendum last year to finance a district energy system that would have heated downtown buildings but nowhere else. The situation became even more troublesome when less than one week later administration faltered by attempting to do away with future referendums in general.

Thank goodness residents had the good sense to reject the district energy borrowing, otherwise we might have been saddled with upwards of $60 million in debt now that the city is pleading it is in desperate need of aging infrastructure replacements.

Whatever one thinks of district energy, required repairs of crumbling roads and sewer lines are a greater priority.

There is also the issue raised by city councillor David Wind, who insists the city is reaping what it sows by not putting enough resources into certain public works projects. There is certainly evidence to support this. City spending in general has more than doubled since 2000 to nearly $79 million in 2011, while spending on roads and sidewalks, for example, has remained largely static. It's an especially egregious situation this year as only $700,000 has been set aside after $2.8 million was budgeted last year. The city contends its inability to cover the road rehabilitation shortfall is due to a decision in 2005 to reduce its reliance on long-term borrowing.

Whether borrowing is approved or spending priorities are re-ordered, it's an issue council needs to follow closely, as should anyone else contemplating a run for office this fall.

A trio of Canadian Forces personnel in Fort Simpson this week could be the harbingers of something much larger.

The trio, decked out in green camouflage, were visiting the village as part of a fact-finding mission to determine if Fort Simpson would be well-suited and willing to host part of a Canadian Forces exercise next February. If chosen, between 300 and 500 soldiers could be stationed in the village for approximately two weeks.

The personnel would be part of six units that would be located in a number of communities in the territory during the exercise. Fort Simpson should ensure it is one of the chosen communities.

There would be multiple positive benefits for the village if it hosted part of the exercise. One of the most obvious ones is economic.

Although the exercise would be self-sufficient, there would undoubtedly be a steady stream of people in uniforms going in and out of the local stores searching to add a little variety to their field rations. The Canadian Forces would probably also have to enter into contracts with the village or other local businesses to provide potable water to their campsite and other necessary services.

Aside from the economics, there would also be training and cross-cultural opportunities. The aim of the exercise is for the Canadian Forces personnel to learn how to survive, live, move and operate in the North in winter conditions.

This is an area that residents of the Deh Cho have untold generations of experience in. It would be wonderful to see some of the soldiers paired with community harvesters to learn traditional ways of survival in the absence of supply lines and individual meal packets. Undoubtedly the experience would be an eye-opening one for many of the soldiers.

Training opportunities would also be extended to the Fort Simpson Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps. Interacting with a large exercise would probably empower the corps, which is already has a strong presence among the village's youths.

Last, but not least, the exercise would also give residents something to look forward to during a month when there is little else besides snow and cold weather. A family day would allow residents to interact with the Forces and sports competitions may be arranged between soldiers and local teams.

Responsible agencies such as the Village of Fort Simpson, Liidlii Kue First Nation and the territorial government need to take appropriate steps to welcome the Canadian Forces and make sure this opportunity doesn't slip away.

Organizing a festival with outdoor qualities is always a gamble, especially during the transitioning time of year where weather can vary from clear blue skies to blizzard conditions or hypothermia-inducing frostiness.

This year, the Muskrat Jamboree was dealt a poor hand weather-wise. From Friday to Monday afternoon – almost the entire length of the festival – the sun was blocked behind a low ceiling of clouds, which cast flurries at the riverbank to be tossed about the tented area by a cutting wind. The temperatures didn't waiver, sitting around -35 C with wind chill for the entire weekend.

The crowds were thin at the river, with people huddling for a coveted spot beside one of the few woodstoves set up in certain tents at the site. For some events, like a foot race on Saturday afternoon, MC Vince Sharpe's voice bellowed from the stage, imploring jamboree-goers to enter.

"You could walk the race and still get a cash prize!"

Although attendance was down – with many Inuvik residents peeking out their windows and weighing the guilt of skipping out on the festival with the risk of frostbite – those who did brave the less-than-ideal outdoor conditions did so heartily, wearing smiles. Young and old from the community bundled up and headed to the river, because that's what this weekend is all about: taking part in community games and visiting with friends.

If there was a time when some felt like they'd had enough, as they shuffled from one tent to another, making sure to keep warm by constant movement, all it took was one look at the stage and see MCs like Teddy Rogers conversing with the crowd, keeping everyone informed of the schedule of events and standing on stage hour after hour, maintaining his energy.

It was in the evenings, toasty warm inside the Midnight Sun Complex, that the full strength of the community came out. Several hundred people sat around the community hall watching the drum dancers call out their song. The energy of the crowd reached its high point when two-and-a-half-year-old Liam Dillon came to the forefront to dance, as thunderous applause erupted as the little dancer threw his arms up in the air on the last beat of the song. The frosty climate outside was forgotten as 30 people bounded around the hall, swinging from each others' arms in a jig, their faces flushed from laughter and physical exertion.

Depending on Mother Nature is always a gamble, but events go on. The tireless volunteers who oversee the jamboree kept the show going no matter what – rain, snow, or shine – and that should be applauded as well.

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