The city's safe ride program has a big fan SA国际影视传媒� the .

At the Aug. 28 municipal services committee meeting, staff Sgt. Alexandre Laporte said his organization is seeing a significant decline in calls for service downtown, meaning, he said, police are now able to put their resources in SA国际影视传媒渢he right areas.SA国际影视传媒�

That is, fighting crime.

While a legitimate congratulations to the Yellowknife Women's Society is in order for delivering a program that has done a staggering amount of good for the city in a short period of time, Yellowknifer can't help but notice a bureaucratic disconnect.

The city is paying for safe ride because it was unable to secure funding from the federal government's Homelessness Partnering Strategy. Apparently, the program, which transports vulnerable people off the street to the sobering centre, shelter or hospital, doesn't fall within the federal government's funding criteria.

Meanwhile, one of the main beneficiaries of the safe-ride program has turned out to be SA国际影视传媒� other than the people it picks up SA国际影视传媒� a federal agency, the .

This is not fair. The city doesn't have an official mandate to fund housing and homelessness issues, yet has gone above and beyond by contributing $178,000 to the program - including an injection of $78,000 on Aug. 28 -- to get it to the end of the year from when it began in June.

Coun. Niels Konge had a salient point during council on Aug. 28 when he expressed hesitation to continue funding the program. As long as the city is doing it, why would the federal, or even territorial, governments step in?

Now, it's a reality that federal government departments can get a bit silo'ed, so Yellowknifer hopes the people who administer funding through the Homelessness Partnering Strategy realize how much of a benefit it has proven to be to the Mounties. The city shouldn't be expected to spend an estimated $360,000 per year on this, and quite possibly could end up deciding it can't.

The next step is to figure how much money is being saved in not having to use police or ambulances to pick up intoxicated people and take them to safety. If there are significant savings, the safe-ride program must be completely supported and utilized in other jurisdictions. Money talks. Or should.

If the safe-ride program doesn't fit the federal government's Homelessness Partnering Strategy funding criteria, the problem doesn't lie with the program. The problem lies with the feds' funding criteria, and this needs to be rectified immediately.

Indigenous voters key in fight for NWT

Good on Conservative leader Andrew Scheer for admitting an ignorance of Northern issues and coming to Yellowknife in an effort to change that.

As he learns more about the history of his party and the North, he is surely going to find he has quite an uphill battle if he wants to gain the trust of its Indigenous voting majority. That is because Scheer's predecessor, former prime minister Stephen Harper, didn't leave the greatest track record.

Yes, he is responsible for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which opened a chapter of repentance over the government's dismal treatment of Indigenous people in residential schools. But Harper also famously refused to open an inquiry into why such a vastly disproportionate number of missing and murdered women in the country are Indigenous. His government also wasted millions of tax dollars fighting Indigenous people in court over treaty rights.

On the other hand, the Harper government did make northern development a priority, establishing the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency while focusing on Arctic sovereignty and signing off on a devolution deal with the NWT SA国际影视传媒� a project the previous Liberal government was unable to deliver.

Today's Liberal government may be vulnerable in the NWT on its demand for a carbon tax if it fails to mitigate rising SA国际影视传媒� and unavoidable SA国际影视传媒� costs on home heating fuel, diesel power generation and travel.

The Conservatives will always have votes in Yellowknife and other regional centres such as Hay River and Inuvik. They came close in 2008 but their failure to pick up votes in Indigenous communities continues to deny them a seat in the NWT.

Scheer would be wise to address that problem because the Conservatives will continue to lose in the NWT if they don't.