The federal government has finally put a pricetag on losing a mother and father's embrace and guidance, or nights cuddled with brothers and sisters.

First Nations people can collect up to $30,000 for the loss of their childhood in residential schools in Canada.

Through no fault of their own, or that of their parents, residential school students were handed a pretty bad deal early on in life and now they are forced to make a choice: They have until August 25 to take the money or oppose the settlement. The deal will likely fall through if more than 5,000 people decide to decline the package and sue the government instead.

Right now there are between 6,000 and 8,000 people who went to nine different schools in the NWT, a portion of more than 100,000 kids who walked institutional halls and slept in dormitory beds across Canada.

Some people tell about good experiences getting an education at the schools but too many more tell horrific stories of mental abuse at least and physical or sexual abuse at worst. A whole culture was distorted because its children were taken from their families and forced to model their emotions, relationships and behaviour on institutional rules.

The evil is done though. The Canadian government formally apologised in January 1998 and we can't go backwards in time.

The average age of residential school survivors is 60-years-old and they aren't getting any younger. Former students at least 65-years-old can get a fast-tracked payment -- instant cash in the bank. And the Assembly of First Nations and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. both think it's a good deal.

So it's a real dilemma. Residential school survivors might get more money -- the highest court payment to date is $250,000 -- if they don't take the settlement but the legal process could drag on and outlast their lives.

How much money can fix the damage done by residential schools? There's no amount great enough.

The only way to mend the past is to prepare for the future.

The federal government and First Nations themselves have to be resolute in offering healing programs. And non-aboriginals have to look back at our country's history and realize the mistakes that were made.

Canadians cannot be expected to take the blame for the injustice of residential schools. We must accept that it happened and take responsibility for fixing the ills created by former governments.

Qulliq Power Corp. has been looking at possible sites to build a hydro dam.

But until late last month, these sites have been a secret. Nunavut News/North found them on the Nunavut Impact Review Board's website. As Qulliq officials had refused requests for the locations, we don't think the corporation was going to release that information until it had made a decision on the specific river it wanted.

Qulliq still has to conduct land use and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) studies before it can win any approvals from the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

Why be so secretive about a very public review process?

There is nothing gained by coming out of the gate withholding information from the public.

In fact, it only makes matters worse because it erodes public confidence in our elected officials.

Secrecy is very present in this government. Many employees don't want to talk to the media even with approval, which is seldom given.

Ministers, and the premier, aren't easily accessible.

Nunavut News/North has been trying to get an interview with the finance minister for more than a month without any luck. How successful would an ordinary person be?

It's not any easier with the premier. It took two weeks before getting in touch with him.

The government is supposed to answer to the public, but by withholding information and shying away from the media, these elected officials are doing a disservice to their constituents.

Public officials are supposed to be just that -- public.

Without giving away trade secrets, politicians should remember that withholding a particular piece of information from the media often creates an impression that information is hugely important and damning.

The matter of the government not renewing the contract of a well-known doctor in Kivalliq, against the wishes of many of his patients and local politicians, is a good example.

In the absence of an explanation from government, the public is left to guess.

As it is natural for human beings to imagine the worst when they don't understand something, government officials, the minister and premier end up looking bad. There may well be a reasonable explanation, but we don't know.

The more people know what the government is up against, what is being done and why, the more support government will have.

Being secretive has the opposite effect. Media dogs are trained to smell a rotting piece of meat and will bark until they get it. If nothing else, sharing information will help keep them quiet.

Editorial Comment
Andrew Raven
Kivalliq News

Are we only a few decades away from bathing suits on Baker Lake in mid-April? Sounds fantastic, but if Arctic temperatures rise according to the worst case scenarios - five degrees within the century - that reality might not be far off.

The Kivalliq has just basked in its hottest spring since Environment Canada began tracking records in the late 1940s. And while one warm season doesn't spell global warming, numbers from the last decade are hard to ignore. According to climate experts, seven of Nunavut's 10 warmest summers have come since 1980.

While that might be great news for cooped-up kids, the wacky weather is wreaking havoc on just about everything else.

Four Nunavummiut have drowned this year on ice that was either thinner than usual or non-existent. Some hunters are reporting migratory patterns have changed. Melting sea ice is making it harder to hunt seals in springtime.

And American environmental groups, claiming polar bears are headed for extinction this century, are pushing for the animals to be included on the U.S. list of threatened species - a move that would devastate the sport hunting industry in places like Coral Harbour.

While the natural inclination might be to tell southern tree-huggers to mind their own business, the fact that global warming is being recognized below the 60th parallel is good for all Northerners.

The 70,000 residents of Nunavut and Northwest Territories are at the mercy of southerners and their SUV-driving soccer moms and power hungry lugnut factories.

The global warming soon-to-be epidemic came from the south and can only be cured by the south. There are bound to be mistakes in the crusade when you get a bunch of southern Californians involved, like the group pushing to have polar bears added to the threatened species list. After all, how much context can people have when their only exposure to the North is a Frank Zappa song.

But their push has brought more public attention to the issue. In the last decade, global warming has escaped the ivory-towered confines of university labs and remote Antarctic research stations. Heck, somebody even made a block-buster about it, starring one of the dudes from Brokeback Mountain.

Global warming has become a self-explanatory phrase. Most media have abandoned the cursory addendum "gradual heating of the planet caused by the emission of greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide", because, well, most people already know.

And knowledge is one pre-requisite for change. The other is having enough people actually care. Otherwise, I have first dibs on a room at the Baker Lake Tropical Resort and Time Share.

Darrell Greer, the editor of the Kivalliq News, is on vacation and will return in mid-July.

Editorial Comment
Dez Loreen
Inuvik Drum

It seems like there is a reason to scold the youth on a near weekly basis.

After years and years of being pooled in with other kids who don't have anything better to do with their time than "hang out," I have finally had enough.

I touched on this subject last week, about the soccer nets at Curtis Field.

I choose to spend my time kicking the soccer ball around and having fun with friends.

That doesn't mean I want to spend my first 20 minutes cleaning garbage and re-hooking the nets.

Even though I wasn't the one who had to climb the steel structure, it did look uncomfortable.

Why should the honest recreational soccer players have to deal with this garbage?

I understand that the closest dumpster is all the way across the street, but couldn't you just leave the trash in a small bag?

I don't even know who I am talking to, but if you played ball on Sunday afternoon, and drink Gatorade, we have a problem.

I have to applaud the town workers that moved the nets to make a better playing area.

Kudos to the guys who brought out the orange mesh netting and hung it on that warm Thursday afternoon.

What a beautiful sight - nice green field and cool orange nets.

I guess the field also appeals to kids who choose to climb on the mesh and use it as a hammock.

Now, please parents, teach your children that those nets are there for a purpose and should not be used as junior's jungle gym.

I saw a few kids on the net one day, so I stopped my truck and shooed them away.

I didn't stick around, but I hope they got the message.

We soccer players are a polite crew, but don't cross certain lines.

I encourage all the people in town to scold those youngins that tend to swing on the nets.

If the kids know they can't get away with it, the damage could stop.

Imagine that, a field with perfect nets.

I kicked a nice shot at the net. It was a high-angled kick that could rival the great Pele.

I was sure I would be doing the airplane celebration dance in seconds, yet I found myself running across the street to get the ball.

It went in the net, narrowly missing the crossbar.

Unfortunately, the section of mesh was pulled down and it flew straight through.

Yeah, some of my friends had a good laugh, but it's no laughing matter.

I've seen some big games start off from just a few people practising.

Let's keep active, Inuvik -- just don't do it by climbing all over the soccer nets.

Editorial Comment
Roxanna Thompson
Deh Cho Drum

With the school year drawing to a close across the Deh Cho, a new crop of graduates have come forward.

From high schools and Aurora College, these graduates have come into the world armed with their gathered knowledge and experience.

At graduation ceremonies, one of the stock elements of almost any speech is the fact that students are the future. The effect of this idea is lost after it is heard half a dozen times, but the truth behind it remains.

One item that Governor General Michaelle Jean remarked upon near the end of her visit to Fort Simpson is the desire of the people of the Deh Cho to take destiny into their own hands and have self-government.

Jean rightly pointed out that this goal will create challenges ahead, especially for the youth. In order to have self-government, there needs to be a generation ready for the challenges that it will bring.

Education, as Jean said, will be the key.

The responsibility of ensuring today's youth will be ready falls equally and on all people.

The building blocks need to be laid in the homes.

Again and again, graduating students highlighted the fact that their parents and families played an important role in keeping them in school. Without this support, many said they wouldn't have made it.

For some students, it was just having someone to make sure they actually got out of bed when the alarm clock went off. For others, it was a matter of having someone to remind them why they needed to stay in school and all the future opportunities that would be closed to them if they did not.

In speeches, students also reflected on the importance of teachers who were there through difficult tasks and urged them to keep going.

The broader community also has a role to play in letting students know that education holds a place of importance. This education includes both book learning and also cultural knowledge. Youth will need to balance both in order to lead the way.

There is also a greater responsibility for the community to continually work towards creating a place that more and more youth will want to return to after they travel for education or jobs.

Losing generations to the South or bigger communities only weakens the Deh Cho.

Some people may choose to strengthen the area by furthering their education.

Graduates from Aurora College campuses are a reminder that it is never too late to go back to school. It might be something you dreamed of doing or just a way to upgrade qualifications and obtain a different job.

No matter what lies ahead for recent graduates, hopefully they will be able to take what are currently dreams and make them into a workable reality in the near future for the Deh Cho.