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The territorial government's proposal to add 35 cabin lots to cottage country around Walsh and Banting lakes is welcome news.

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It takes the strain off an already tight cabin market and should help limit the squatter's dens popping up in the hidden corners of our countryside. It also sends a strong signal to Yellowknifers that the territorial government wants them to stay and make long-term investments.

It was a different signal sent when the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs issued a moratorium on cabin leases on the Ingraham Trail two years ago.

It told Yellowknife residents that their enjoyment of outdoor leisure pursuits wasn't a concern of theirs or a priority. This situation was further aggravated by a proposal in 2008 to cut four-month extended campsite stays at Prelude and Reid Lake to two months while keeping the fee at $500.

Many people, especially new residents who weren't around to take part in the cabin boom before Akaitcho land claim negotiations and corresponding restrictions on development put that to a halt, were left without an option. Not everyone is content to pitch a tent somewhere; they want established sites with amenities like running water and a gas stove.

South of the NWT border hundreds of thousands of Canadian take to their cottages every summer weekend. A 2003 Ipsos-Reid survey on behalf of Royal LePage Real Estate Services showed eight per cent of Canadian households owned vacation properties. Surely, the situation is not that different today.

New lots for Yellowknifers will anchor those who purchase them to the community, which is a good thing.

It's also encouraging to see other potential cabin sites identified for expansion around Walsh, Banting and Jackson lakes, which already have cabins on them and wouldn't be harmed by a few more.

Hopefully, the department won't take another two years to approve them.

Excitement is building in the aviation community about a mammoth journey of discovery for pilots from California, Texas and all across North America with next summer's huge fly-in to Yellowknife.

The Century Flight Club of Canada's event this coming July, to be held following the Yellowknife Air Show, is all about promoting the discovery of Canada by private airplane.

And pilots are pumped about seeing the North firsthand with 86 already signed up, 200 per cent more than for the club's 2011 event.

"Everyone wants to get up there and there's a real mystique about flying up into the North and the old bush pilot heritage that you guys have," said John Lovelace, chairman of the club and the producer and host of Wings Over Canada television series for 13 years.

There are lots of attractions to entice pilots to the capital city. The view from Bush Pilot's Monument is simply spectacular, especially when there is float plane activity on Yellowknife Bay. The dock used by Max Ward in Old Town before Wardair was acquired by Canadian North in 1989 still exists. And there are numerous float plane docks around the city, with more potentially on the way as the city drafts a harbour plan.

Perhaps this is an example of the fruit produced by exposure of Yellowknife by Ice Pilots NWT which has been popular among audiences foreign and domestic. Now the new television show Arctic Air can only add to our high-flying aviation reputation.

At least 200 tourists are expected to land in the city for six days in the summer, July 15-20.

Although some events are already being planned, including a banquet at the Old Town docks and visits to nearby communities, we suggest extraordinary efforts be made to make the pilots and their passengers feel welcome.

Let's help them discover what makes Yellowknife and Northern Canada special and unique.

When it comes right down to it, one can look at the media-driven kerfuffle on the Montreal Canadiens and anglophone head coach Randy Cunneyworth and see a number of pratfalls that come with an almost militant approach to language issues.

While life in the NHL can hardly be described as a window to the world, what we saw and heard over the airwaves and read in print about the issue can easily be applied to normal life.

The first was the illusion created in some media circles on how many Montreal residents were outraged by the appointment of an English-speaking coach.

Much of what was said came from politicians trying to score points or, in some cases, justify their crumbling platforms.

The promised outpouring of discontent at the Bell Centre resulted in all of 150 protesters in a city of almost two million.

But, just as they do in many avenues of today's society, the minority who did oppose the move spoke the most and the loudest, creating the illusion of mass outrage and prompting an apology, of sorts, from the hockey club.

And, as always, other veins of the media were quick to jump on the hubbub, including the CBC's George Stroumboulopoulos of George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight fame, who suggested children at the Montreal Children's and SainteJustine hospitals want to hear the coach speak French during the annual Canadiens visit in December.

George should probably stick to playing nicey-nice with celebrities in his lightweight style, as the coach doesn't go with the players on the hospital visits.

One would think a group of struggling kids would enjoy time with their favourite NHL stars no matter what language they spoke.

The magic those encounters create certainly isn't dependant on diction.

Another problem that arises when an entity gets too hung up on race, creed or language is how dramatically it shallows the talent pool.

When people are given positions based primarily on such shortsighted attributes, organizational skill levels and competency -- let alone talking about success -- take a big hit.

"I'm in over my head" is the same in any language.

There are positions that demand mastery of the dominant language in some areas, but, the truth of the matter is, they're not nearly as common as some would have you believe.

And, an argument can be made that many of those positions are in the blue-collar world, where not being able to interact with co-workers can mean long days indeed.

Yet, even then, with assembly lines and automated industries, it's an isolation of one's humanity, not the ability to perform a job.

True Canadiens fans want to celebrate success, and most couldn't care less if you refer to it as the Stanley Cup or la Coupe Stanley.

Whether Cunneyworth is the answer or just a stepping stone to St. Patrick's return to Montreal next year really doesn't matter.

What does matter is that any entity in our country should have the freedom to hire the best person for the job.

Truth be told, most people like to look in the mirror and know they have their position because they earned it, not because someone gave it to them.

To accept anything less is just plain silly in any language.

Forest resources in the NWT comprise approximately 330,000 square kilometres of land -- a little more than twice the size of Newfoundland. Despite that bounty, logging in the territory is not a thriving industry. Currently, only one commercial sawmill operates in the territory and logs on a relatively minuscule 5,000 cubic metres of forest.

Daniel Patterson, whose family owns the aforementioned Patterson Sawmill, says logging is a tough business in the NWT.

As with most industries in the North, the cost of doing business is high and going head to head with larger southern operations is almost impossible without tapping a niche market. Patterson has been able to accomplish the latter by milling lumber for products such as rig or crane mats. Unfortunately, slow land claim negotiations and land withdrawals have limited the amount of logging land available to his operation.

The combination of challenges has Patterson worried about the future of his business but the key to his salvation might not be in the product he sells but in what he throws away. Patterson says he produces about $100,000 worth of waste wood each year -- money he could salvage if there was a wood pellet production facility in the NWT. Selling the waste to southern pellet manufacturing facilities isn't an option due to the cost of shipping.

Presently, pellets used for heating in the territory are purchased in the south. In 2010, a biomass action plan put out by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources identified wood pellets production as an item for action.

Tom Lakusta, manager of forest resources for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said a lot of work has been done to determine the economic and product viability of wood pellet manufacturing in the NWT using Northern-sourced materials.

A project in Checkpoint is examining the viability of producing wood pellets from NWT-sourced material -- paper and cardboard from the dump in Yellowknife, grass, sawdust from Patterson Sawmill in Hay River and clearing residue from the NWT Power Corp. and Department of Transportation projects.

However, back in October, Bryan Pelkey, an alternative energy specialist with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, told the Deh Cho Drum the demonstration project focuses on research and development and, as of yet, there are no plans to open a production plant.

Lakusta said although the government encourages utilizing biomass to help replace fossil fuel he said it will be the job of private business to establish facilities such as wood pellet manufacturing plants.

He added, enough work has been done to determine producing and selling wood pellets in the North is economically viable and that has generated interest with local entrepreneurs. News/North tried to contact one such businessman but he did not return calls by press time. However, Lakusta said the best-case scenario could see a wood pellet manufacturing facility begin production in the territory by next winter.

The territory needs to capitalize on its forest resources. With the abundance of loggable land not only could we produce our own wood pellets but open up much-needed employment opportunities.

As for barriers such as unsettled land claims, Lakusta said they can be overcome with the proper consultation, land protection and employment benefits for NWT communities.

We agree, so let's do it.

The City of Iqaluit is looking at finally enforcing an existing law requiring residents to wear seatbelts, and it has to happen sooner than later.

In the eyes of many Iqalummiut, wearing a seatbelt is a red flag that a person is from the south, or at least not from Iqaluit. That is a stigma that goes with wearing one.

This is, however, setting the city up for a tragedy. Sooner or later, someone is going to get hurt, and that stigma is going to seem pretty silly and may properly go the other way where people not buckling up are seen as putting themselves or, more importantly, their passengers at risk.

Many may argue there isn't any need for the law, especially when the speed limit throughout most of the city is 30 km/h. People can still be badly injured at those speeds.

More and more, Iqaluit is becoming a venue for conferences, and if it wants to become even more of a tourist destination, road safety has to be taken more seriously.

While Iqaluit is the capital of the territory and the largest community, perhaps its time to start enforcing this law across the territory.

As a huge employer of people in the communities, the Government of Nunavut should enforce the policy that requires adherence to all the territories' traffic laws, which includes buckling up. Often government vehicles dominate traffic in smaller communities and these employees should be setting an example.

Buckling up can hardly be argued to be an inconvenience and it's a good habit to get into. Youth who plan to venture down south for school or to live should be in the habit of wearing seatbelts not only for their own safety but to avoid fines southern police will hand out to people who they see aren't strapped in.

It should not be a sudden crackdown. There needs to be a huge public education campaign, involving government and police, to accompany the drive for enforcement. But it needs to happen as soon as possible.

All it takes is for a patch of ice, a distraction, or a drunk driver, to cause a collision. If no one is wearing a seatbelt, the results are going to be dire and then every one will see clearly why the law should be enforced.

It used to be Yellowknife was the place for many Southerners to cut their teeth in whatever profession or trade brought them up here, and then after a few years it was time to leave.

Not so much anymore it seems. Yellowknife is getting older, which means people are staying longer.

According to the city's 2011 draft general plan, the fastest growing age demographic belongs to residents 45 years or older. They make up 30.2 per cent of the city's population. In 2001 that figure was 22.1 per cent. The percentage of those residents who are senior citizens - residents 65 years and older - has doubled during that time to 4.6 from 2.3 per cent.

The evidence as to why more people are staying in Yellowknife past retirement age is scant but it's a safe assumption that it has to do with improving quality of life. Seniors have more reasons to stay, especially if their children are here and starting families of their own.

Thirty years ago there was no Multiplex or Fieldhouse with an indoor running track; developed parks and trails were few and far in between. The price of goods and services were more expensive in comparison to down south. That means a lot to a retiree on a fixed income.

There are more and better health facilities, and supplement health benefits for seniors is simply superior in the NWT compared to other jurisdictions in Canada. It probably surprised the territorial government how vociferous the reaction was to its attempt three years ago to introduce a user pay system. It's hard to imagine seniors putting up that sort resistance 30 years ago. They simply didn't have the numbers.

But now that more seniors are settling in for the long term, the question begs: How do we accommodate them?

There are between 30 and 40 people on the wait list for seniors' housing at Aven Court and Aven Ridge; there are reportedly three or four seniors awaiting accommodations through the Yellowknife Housing Authority, including units at the Mary Murphy Home.

The demand for seniors' housing is bound to grow, as it will for other services seniors use. This will put further pressure on the city and territorial government, which are already facing difficulties managing escalating costs.

The onus is on them to make sure we're prepared as Yellowknife begins to grey.

Anticipation was high in the city for the premiere this week of CBC's latest television drama, set right here in Yellowknife for the most part.

Was it going to flatter us or slag us? Would it offer a fair portrayal of Yellowknife's flying community or prove itself to be utter bunk?

From our point of view, the season premiere of Arctic Air indulges Canadian viewers with a bit of harmless fun.

Seasoned pilots and veterans of Northern air travel may take exception to all the high-air antics and May Day emergencies crammed into the first episode but hey, that's television.

It was a bit strange to suggest Yellowknife is a boomtown that will rival the size of Calgary in 20 years but if Vancouver producers want to show a Yellowknife to the world that is successful and prosperous, and a good place to invest and visit, we won't protest.

Arctic Air has taken several local filmmakers and actors under its wing, and is spending money here producing the series. This is all very encouraging for our city's fledgling film industry, just as it was to have two reality shows based in Yellowknife over the last five years, Ice Road Truckers and Ice Pilots NWT.

CBC confirmed yesterday that it had broke records Tuesday with 1.05 million viewers. Hopefully, that translates into a bumper crop of tourists and future residents all eager to follow the limelight now showcasing our city.

A question that people often ask at this time of the year concerns what lies ahead for them in the next 12 months.

When you scale that question up to the level of the Drum it can be rephrased as: what does 2012 hold for the Deh Cho region? It's a point to ponder that deserves consideration.

What immediately becomes apparent is that there are few certainties. Think of any large-scale event that you are expecting to happen and it's easy to point out eventualities that would put a hitch in the plan.

One of the more obvious examples, at least by scale, is the Deh Cho Bridge. When 2011 was still new, many people expected to see the completion of the bridge before the end of the year. Those hopes were dashed with the announcement that the bridge was behind schedule.

The latest word is that the bridge will open in the fall of this year and will cost $192 million, $10 million more than the previous figure. Given its track record for not meeting deadlines, residents of Fort Providence and the rest of the NWT will be forgiven if they aren't holding their breaths in anticipation of driving across the bridge this fall.

Another area to consider is the economic opportunities the Deh Cho will meet in 2012. When focusing on Fort Simpson, Kirby Groat, the president of the Fort Simpson Chamber of Commerce, said he's upbeat about the future. Groat's comment was primarily based on the economic spin-offs that a fully operational Prairie Creek Mine would deliver.

In early December, the Canadian Zinc Corporation overcame one hurdle in opening the mine when the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board ruled that an environmental impact review isn't necessary and the project should proceed to the regulatory phase for approvals.

Anyone waiting with their resume in hand, however, should note that any one of a handful of responsible ministers at the federal and territorial level could order a review, not to mention a variety of other factors that will have to fall in place in order for the mine to ramp up to production.

Finally, there's the political scene. Anyone who predicts that once again there will be a lot of talk about the Dehcho Process but little headway made is probably on the right track. A number of major issues still have to be resolved before the process will be anywhere near an agreement-in-principal.

These glimpses into the year ahead for the Deh Cho suggest that for the most part it will be business, so to speak, as usual. If there are any major developments they will likely come from unexpected quarters.

Who hasn't stopped to admire the sun in the past few days when the clouds have cleared?

Have you ever seen anything so splendid? A four-hour sunrise/set of golds, purples, pinks and deepest blues, all with the orange orb at the centre of everything. How beautiful is it?

It's amazing how distance really does make the heart grow fonder. A month without the sun has made strangers rejoice over its reappearance and made newcomers appreciate the strength that is needed to survive those darkest weeks.

It may not be completely dark all day, with clouds blocking even the strongest rays trying to peep over the horizon, but it's definitely nice to welcome back the sun.

And what a welcome. Saturday's Sunrise Festival celebrated everything needed to survive December when the sun left Inuvik: community spirit, outdoor activities and artificial light. The pancake breakfast had a great showing and support from volunteers, while the outdoor activities kept kids busy during the first daylight hours in weeks and the fireworks and bonfire were spectacular! That massive fire seemed almost like a pagan-ritual – a worship of the sun and its heat. Kudos to all who helped bring this celebration together.

What's nice is how the return of the sun ties in with the new year and end of the holidays. It's like a renewal, a chance to start over. The sun has returned and so have hopes, dreams and resolutions to improve.

Take this time of returning light to look around for a clearer view of your community and life – what's changed over the past few months? What could do with a change? If the new year isn't motivation enough for improvement, maybe the return of the sun is.

Sunrise resolutions? They could be easier to hold to.

Thanks, Inuvik

Hello Inuvik! Your Inuvik Drum editor Samantha Stokell here. I'd just like to say thank you for taking the time to share your stories and answer my questions. I've learned a lot about the community and met some incredible people.

It's because of the people here that, while I'm leaving the Inuvik Drum, I won't be leaving the community. The past nine months have been a great experience and I'm looking forward to being able to participate in the many activities of Inuvik, not just observe and report on them.

I'd also like to introduce your new interim editor, Katherine Hudson. She originally hails from Halifax, N.S., but has spent the past year working at News/North in Yellowknife. She'll be here to tell your stories, so please be kind!

Thanks again and see you around town.

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