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Spending the night in an emergency waiting room behind a drape after suffering a stroke is a startling and troubling experience – one that warrants a hard look at what went wrong.

That's what a Yellowknife woman endured in Edmonton last week. That uncomfortable overnight wait could have dragged out into a full week behind an emergency room curtain, according to her husband. After hearing that from hospital staff, the husband got on the phone with MLA Robert Hawkins and Health Minister Sandy Lee for assistance.

Making matters worse, the woman, in her early 30s, was nursing her three-month-old child.

Hawkins raised the ordeal in the legislative assembly last week. He demanded to know why the woman, who needed access to neurological and cardiological services, would be sent to an Edmonton hospital where no beds were available.

Lee was rather short on answers. Her deputy minister, Greg Cummings, said he didn't consider the lack of beds unusual. This in itself is very telling about the state of Canada's health care. If there is a shortage of service available in Edmonton – located in the oil rich province of Alberta – then acute medical demands are surely causing strains elsewhere across our country.

The husband said, "If we're paying for this service in Edmonton, then we better be making sure we're getting that service."

In its 2008-2009 main estimates, the GNWT has budgeted almost $20 million for service through out-of-territories hospitals. Much of that goes to Alberta's Capital Health Authority.

It's a situation that we expect Lee to fully investigate and go to great lengths to ensure isn't repeated. While NWT residents cannot be guaranteed priority status in an overburdened system, no one can accept what happened at the University of Alberta Hospital as business as usual.

Health care in the NWT is generally commendable, and that's because we have pushed for a higher standard. We must take every precaution to ensure that standard is maintained when we send patients south.

Yellowknifers who are unsatisfied with a purchase or a service need to know they have somewhere to turn. Customers who feel wronged often come to this newspaper with their complaints.

The Better Business Bureau does not have an office North of 60, although its chief executive officer in Edmonton says it will informally address calls from Northerners. The Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce is willing to intervene, according to executive director Ellie Sasseville.

One way or another, it's in the best interest of Yellowknife businesses to make sure customers have faith in local business practices. Even the basics count, such as service providers calling customers back quickly -- no matter how busy the business may be.

We live in an Internet age. While a plumber or a carpenter can't be ordered from Edmonton, it doesn't take much effort to have practically any type of goods shipped to the North.

Giving a good impression and good service is well worth the effort.

The Lafferty and Merv Hardie ferries were running on shorter hours this week, wreaking havoc for travellers.

Deh Cho Drum received an email late Wednesday afternoon spelling out the details of the changes in operating hours, effective the next day. It didn't give people much time to prepare for travelling between the hours of 2 and 6 p.m. It would be easier to swallow the temporary changes had it been out of the control of the Department of Transportation, such as the transition into winter.

But the ferries ran on reduced hours because of a lack of staff. The department can't find enough people to keep the ferries running.

Bill Hval, regional superintendent for the Department of Transportation, said there is a worldwide shortage of marine engineers and it took time to secure someone to work. He also said there is a full staff and expects worker shortages to not be a regular occurrence.

Talking with one ferry operator a few weeks back, he complained of being overworked and underpaid. He said he was tired of working without getting proper days off.

What if these already unhappy workers quit their jobs? How would the department explain to people that they aren't able to get from point A to point B? Sorry folks, we can't keep people employed to run the ferries because we work them to death and have to dump their bodies mid-crossing.

A village like Fort Simpson could experience serious issues if traffic can't make it onto the island. The worst case scenario would leave the village without gasoline or food. The more likely scenario would mean major inconveniences for truckers, travellers and residents alike.

The additional stress on travellers would be taken out on those under-appreciated, over-worked engineers, raising their stress levels to greater heights.

It's nearing the end of the ferry season now, so the Department of Transportation has plenty of time to prepare for the next ferry season. However, it has to take a hard look at properly staffing the ferries. If there is such a problem finding qualified marine engineers, it should think about offering incentives to entice people to take up employment. These are the opportunities Northerners seeking a viable profession are looking for. If you offer them a good opportunity, they will come. Training incentives is an option to consider.

And to those current marine engineers - thanks for keeping a very important service to the people of the North running. Kudos!

Andrew Livingstone is the interim editor of Deh Cho Drum. Roxanna Thompson returns in November.

Movie buffs in Inuvik are no doubt reeling from the double shot of southern movies this past month.

Thanks to the Sir Alexander Mackenzie school sports programs, the people of our community can get together a few times a year and watch a new release on a big screen.

The best part is, the movies aren't even out in stores yet, which makes the whole experience much more rewarding.

I remember as a kid, watching movies at the school was always a big event. You'd get some friends together and play some video games and maybe have some pizza before heading to the school.

I think part of the appeal to the younger kids is seeing the school in a different light as well.

Another great perk of being at the movies, even if you're occupying an empty gymnasium, is the great eats and munchies.

The students of the sports programs volunteer their time to work concession and sell goodies like chocolates and yes, popcorn.

Fresh, yellow, gooey with butter and still somehow crunchy popcorn. Is there any better snack to eat while melting your eyes on a screen six times too big?

It's rare glimpses of southern fancies like a movie night at our elementary school that show us a bright shining light once and a while.

A light that says we don't need to be in the dark forever.

Why can't this community have a theatre that would be open every weekend (at least)?

I know it's been the dream of most people to have a place to bring a girl on a date, or join up with some geeky friends for the latest blockbuster to be released.

Whatever your purpose for wanting a theatre, it's undeniable how much revenue it will produce.

I know that it wouldn't be unreasonable to charge $10 a person for a decent screen and sound system.

The problem is comfortable seating. I don't have a problem sitting on those hard wooden chairs when I'm in the audience for a ceremony on Remembrance Day, but I'd like something softer for longer periods of sitting there.

That is why we need a permanent place for the theatre viewing. The only problem is finding a place that has adequate space.

If someone thought about this 10 years ago, we might have been able to save the family hall for this purpose, or a piece of Stringer Hall.

What about that old college building? Can we find a way to remodel it for our own greedy movie pleasures?

I want the people of the community to think hard about this. A movie theatre would be a great way to keep kids off the street and also provide entertainment for those adults who are already ironing their outfit for the next Fireman's Ball.

These movies at the school are great for families and movie lovers of all ages but they are too few and far between.

The two screenings this past month were like a renaissance for the movie-loving couch zombies.

Roll down that big screen and fire up the projector because we're not full just yet.

Unless you've been living in a cave or spending a lot of time on the land during the past eight days, you know another Canadian election has come and gone and not much has changed in this country.

The Conservatives won another minority government, capturing more seats this time out, but well shy of the 155 necessary for a majority government.

Stephen Harper is still our prime minister, and he quickly unveiled his six-point plan for how Canada is going to survive these uncertain economic times.

And, in true Canadian style, the plan calls for little else other than the government to meet with just about everyone in the free world.

And, if that doesn't produce the required results, they'll all just meet again.

As I wrote in this space after our last national election, minority governments don't have a history of longevity in Canada and this one will be no different.

So, after the lowest voter turnout ever recorded in this nation, the election malaise will continue to spread across Canada until the next time we head to the polls for a national election in, say, 18 months.

And that will only be after a Liberal leadership convention to amuse us, a territorial election and a possible Senate election if the prime minister gets his way.

In Nunavut, our new Conservative MP, Leona Aglukkaq, found herself deflecting questions on the number of voters turned away at the polls due lack of or improper identification shortly after her election win.

Here in the Kivalliq it was chin-scratching time as to why the Iqaluit-based media were so concerned over such a low number of people turned away at the polls, when Nunavut had the third lowest voter turnout in the country.

Only our neighbours in the NWT and voters in Newfoundland and Labrador had a more dismal turnout.

Maybe the thousands of voter-information cards littering post office floors across Nunavut without being read in any language had a little to do with the relative handful of people turned away for lack of identification.

But I digress.

Aglukkaq won the Nunavut seat for two reasons: Nancy Karetak-Lindell didn't run and Liberal Leader Stephane Dion scared the heck out of anyone paying attention with his plans for a carbon tax.

When you live in an area with the highest cost of living and biggest carbon footprint in the country, a few tax credits weren't going to balance Dion's tax scales.

Aglukkaq heads to Ottawa with a solid resume at the territorial level to sit with the party in power, which is never a bad thing.

However, money spent by minority governments garners intense scrutiny from the entire country and that may not bode well for Nunavut.

On the plus side, however, one look at Harper's six-point plan to avoid economic devastation in this country shows our prime minister is still big on forming committees and holding meetings.

And if there's one thing we're exceptional at in the North, it's forming committees and holding meetings.

That, in itself, should give Aglukkaq the edge when it comes time to seek the prime minister's ear.