Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy seems to want us to think he deserves a pat on the back for funding the day shelter and sobering centre.

To this we say that is only the beginning. The problem of homelessness and addiction in Yellowknife is so rampant, yet so insidious, reaching every corner of the territory - -whether it be people from smaller communities attracted to the big city or their loved ones wondering who will help them when they fall victim to its vices.

It's a territorial problem requiring territorial solutions to fix it, yet more and more it has been piled on the backs of city taxpayers as city hall feels the pressure to cover areas of need left vacant by the territorial government.

One of those areas is the Yellowknife Street Outreach Service's Safe Ride program, which has been a success since it began in July, although still short on money to keep the service running.

The city has committed to $178,000 this year to keep it afloat until the new year. The city is without a funding champion after Ottawa rejected its $100,000 request from the federal government's Homelessness Partnering Strategy. The program failed to meet its funding criteria, according to the city.

As the city struggles to keep the safe ride vehicle on the road picking up intoxicated individuals and taking them to shelter, Abernethy points to the $1.4 million annually his government commits to the day shelter and sobering centre. These are important facilities but we would argue only par for the course. We would also point out that Yellowknife remains without a temporary sobering cenre deep into October.

The summer facility at the Yellowknife Community Arena closed last month and a permanent sobering centre isn't expected to open until March. Today's Yellowknifer reports that Safe Ride is reducing its hours as existing shelters are running out of space, leaving more intoxicated people at risk.

Senior Administrative Officer Sheila Bassi-Kellett suggests the GNWT is trying to help broker a deal with Ottawa to secure funding but if Abernethy wants to make sure Safe Ride is here for the SA国际影视传媒渓ong runSA国际影视传媒� he needs to take the bull by the horns and stop pointing to accomplishments that are only half-fulfilled.

As we pointed out several times before, Safe Ride keeps people out of hospitals, jail and the legal system SA国际影视传媒� all of which the GNWT pays for and is much, much more expensive to run than the Safe Ride van.

If his government hits a roadblock getting money from Ottawa and by virtue, NWT's MP Michael McLeod, the minister can truly say he has SA国际影视传媒渂eat the bushes,SA国际影视传媒� to borrow a phrase from Bassi-Kellett.

And if that's all it does to help, his government will be just another roadblock to securing funding for an important, potentially life-saving program that rightly should belong to the GNWT.

Construction delays are worth your patience

Detour signs, fluorescent vests, dust and pylons will continue to fill the windshields and rage meters of drivers throughout October.

Earlier this month, Dennis Kefalas, director of public works and engineering for the city confirmed a few things were running late this year, including the ongoing road works on Franklin Avenue.

While it is frustrating to wait in traffic and deal with construction, drivers need to remember the work being done benefits everybody.

While crawling traffic can be irritating in the short term, a future with better streets, water and sewer infrastructure is something worth being late to pick up your kids for.

And as Kefalas has mentioned previously, it's been an unusually busy year for construction -- a SA国际影视传媒渞ecord-breakingSA国际影视传媒� one even.

The city was fortunate enough to tap into about $13-15 million of federal funds, but to get that they needed to bring a few things forward and jam the calendar a little. If it means we get the funding, Yellowknifer is fine with a few extra delays on the roads.

On another note, in the face of criticism of work moving slowly, good on Kefalas for standing by his team and pointing out that safety comes first SA国际影视传媒� he's right, it can be tough out there on the road all day and people have limits to how many hours they can work for good reason.

All too often people attack the city for grabbing issues outside their purview, especially social issues that might better belong to territorial or federal governments. But here are bread and butter city issues SA国际影视传媒� roads and sewers SA国际影视传媒� and the city is right to focus on them. The city is doing its job and shouldn't be faulted for it.