Try as we might, sometimes there just isn't much we can find to whine about.

The dogs days of summer in the North make it hard, what with the good weather and a relatively healthy economy dominating coffee-shop conversation. (Where else do you think we get our news tips?)

Times like these, when the propaganda machines of government and industry slide into hibernation, gives us the opportunity to take stock of just how good we Northerners really have it.

Sure, there's talking of global climate change that could wreak havoc with our precious and fragile arctic ecosystem. True, the constitutional future of the western NWT is a bit behind schedule. And yes, the price of gold is sending shivers down the spines of southern investors and Northern mine managers, But let's face it -- things could be a whole lot worse. Much of the NWT has been treated to perfect camping weather of late. Even the unseasonable heavy rain much of the North was subjected to this spring wasn't all bad. Water levels are back up and that means the fish, and consequently the fishermen, are again secure in the environs.

More and more southerners are taking an interest in our neck of the woods. Some want to build mines and hydroelectric projects -- both of which would put hundreds of Northerners to work. Others just want to visit, see the Northern Lights or just catch of a few of those fish.

Nunavut is unfolding pretty much as expected, with the business of choosing electoral systems and a new bureaucracy pretty much on track. Interim Commissioner Jack Anawak is offering reassuring words to western civil servants.

Soon the politicians and the interest groups will be back in full battle mode, jostling for power, money and influence. Cynicism will once again be the order of the day. But now right now.

Sometimes it seemed as if the negotiations and back-tracking would go on forever, but last month the European Union finally signed an agreement with Russia and Canada that ended the threat of a ban on fur imports to the world's most lucrative market.

Few issues have been clouded by so many misconceptions as humane trapping. But now we know definitely which traps we can use.

Curiously, most Canadian trappers switched to those traps years ago. Kind of makes you wonder what all the fuss was about in the first place.

To regulate alternative and traditional medicine is to step into a cultural minefield. While few medical practioners argue with the effectiveness of some traditional therapies, it is an area that calls out for consumer protection.

On the other hand, devotees of alternative medicines fear that major pharmaceutical manufacturers push for regulations that protect their industry from inexpensive competition.

No one side has the monopoly on effective treatment. Consumers should have the option to make informed choices about the medicines they take. Informing those choices is Health Canada's job.