January 17th, how time flies! We sure can’t afford to waste time and especially in the building up of our Northwest Territories. We have a good opportunity next week!
The huge mining conference is once again meeting in Vancouver on January 22 to 25. 6,000 participants from 40 countries will be there. I attended last year. It was surely an eye opener as there were hundreds of booths, people mingling and selling their wares, etc. There were also several talks and panels with good information.
This is why I totally agree with Premier McLeod for taking as many members from the government to Vancouver to attend the annual conference. Some members are bitching about the price of fares and accommodations for MLAs and staff, but, it is all worth it because they are bringing publicity and access to the big business world by networking. My goodness, if we are ever going to be able to put our territory on the world stage, it is this world class opportunity.
Year 2018 should be the year we as citizens get our act together and do something about our isolation.
And we must put on our thinking caps and start communicating and planning the future of our huge and rich territory. The number one agenda should be our children and youth. They are the future including their health and education.
Yellowknife and the region are in a world of their own, but the 30 other settlements need help. For instance: the government always puts out scattered information. People don’t read it because they advertise a lot in tiny squares. To reach the grass roots people, they must have workers, one or two persons who are accessible in communities. They can work in conjunction with the health services. And that includes education. The local people are neglected. Yes, sir, year 2018 should be the year we put our NWT on the world stage. We need development and more development. We sat idle on this rich beautiful land for too long, like a bunch of mud hens and did nothing. All you hear in the news is about the homeless, suicides, vandalism, assaults, prisons, price of food and isolation, etc. Time for change, just put on your thinking caps and start thinking about all the developments we can create in our territory.
On the real serious side, we must really look at the school system, especially the higher grades. There are some very sad stories out there. I think they should print Roy Erasmus’ article titled “Schools need to start failing kids.” Some of our people can’t help their children with homework. I know that for sure! It is unbelievable when you think of all these years of government system in the NWT and you realize the mess we are in. So – it is time to change.
In 2018, let’s do something about our territory. The number two agenda should be to throw out all the road blocks. Someone should create a committee to keep an eye on both governments; the GNWT and the Federal government. The members should be strong minded. There are over 30 or so communities scattered around and they have strong minded people in each town. What do you say?
Anyhow – I will keep on doing my thing. By the way; I am getting calls from people about my writing, even from the University of Toronto. They wanted some of my articles. I wondered what interested them.
I should not worry because I know I am harmless. See you next time.