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There is no denying that Lloyd Thiessen meant well when he asked the city to install sidewalk ramps so students heading to school can avoid riding bikes on busy Franklin Avenue or Old Airport Road.

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His request certainly appears to be in line with city council's vision of a bike and pedestrian-friendly city. In fact, the city has been steadily moving in that direction for years. In this year's budget, $500,000 has been dedicated toward ongoing "streetscaping" efforts on Old Airport Road, which includes a bike path so cyclists don't have to pedal among semi-trailers and pickup trucks while travelling down the street.

But Thiessen's request revealed that riding bicycles as they relate to sidewalks remains a grey area in the consciousness of city council and the public. Thiessen, who holds a seat on the city's Transportation Issues Committee, was one of only a handful of people to make presentations regarding the 2012 city budget last month. He asked council to fund the construction of sidewalk ramps - dropped corners - at five major intersections in the city that would allow cyclists to easily ride from street to sidewalk and vice versa without having to hop a high curb. He said the transportation committee has recommended the city do this back in 2007.

Unfortunately, no one at the budget meeting pointed out that riding bicycles - by anybody - on city sidewalks is illegal and punishable by a $2,000 fine and/or six months in jail.

Like the city's littering bylaw, it's a rule that gets broken regularly but is hardly, if ever, enforced. Most people simply take the practice for granted, particularly children on their way to school.

Still, council would find themselves in a pretty sticky situation should they ignore the rules by building sidewalk ramps with the expressed purpose of making it easier for cyclists to access sidewalks. The city likely wouldn't have much of a leg to stand if it declares an open season on sidewalks and a pedestrian is injured by a 15-year-old ripping along on his BMX, and that pedestrian sues.

It might be a different matter if these ramps were built to allow better sidewalk access for wheelchair users and parents with strollers. Certainly, there are many issues to consider.

It seems reasonable to allow children to ride bicycles on sidewalks if they are accompanied by parents, but it could be dicey to give them free rein without adult supervision.

The rules are all over the map when looking at other cities in North America. Toronto, for instance, allows cyclists to use sidewalks as long as the tire size is 61 centimetres or less. In Vancouver, cyclists are banned from most sidewalks. Council will have to carefully consider what works best for Yellowknife if it was to ever consider changing the rules here.

In his New Year's message David Johnston, the Governor General of Canada, expounded on at topic that is worthy of note.

Johnston called on Canadians to encourage volunteerism and philanthropy. Johnston said that more than 80 per cent of Canadians make some kind of financial donation to a worthy cause every year and some 12 million Canadians spend over two billion hours volunteering.

As Canada approaches its 150th anniversary in 2017, Johnston called on Canadians to imagine a smarter, more caring Canada, where giving in all its forms, including time, talent and altruism, becomes a more integral part of our daily lives -- part of being Canadian.

This message happens to fit perfectly with the main article in this edition of the Drum. On page 3 you can read about how two young women from Fort Simpson each spent six months of 2011 volunteering.

Shannon Cazon and Amber Erasmus both participated in an exchange program run by Canada World Youth. Both women gave of themselves to the communities they called home for half a year.

In Palca, Peru, Erasmus helped make non-electric stoves and fridges out of adobe bricks to help improve the lives of families. In the Uvikiuta Compound in Tanzania, Africa, Cazon helped to improve the public library and teach English to students.

Having returned to Fort Simpson, both women speak about how much their volunteer work meant to the communities they lived in. Their volunteerism, however, not only helped those communities but also led to positive changes in themselves.

Both women have similar messages about how much they learned about themselves during the program and how much they grew as individuals. Erasmus and Cazon's experiences highlight the benefits of having local youths participate in exchange programs such as Canada World Youth or Northern Youth Abroad, but also contain lessons for us to learn here in the Deh Cho.

Volunteering at any age is important.

Volunteers give so much to the communities they serve. Without volunteers Deh Cho communities wouldn't have winter carnivals, art festivals, sports teams and events, cadets or Girl Guide groups, just to name a few examples. The region would be a far less interesting place without volunteers.

Volunteering also comes with benefits for the people who choose to do it. They get to give something back to their community, interact with different people and have the knowledge that they've helped others.

As 2012 starts, we should all take up David Johnston's challenge and volunteer a bit more. The Deh Cho will be an even better place to live as a result.

When you're from Inuvik, or start calling the place home, it's near impossible to avoid questions about what the town is like.

How cold is it? How dark is it? Did you have seal and polar bear for Christmas? What do you wear when you go outside?

These questions are pretty easy to answer, but the hardest one I find is, "What is Inuvik like?"

I had always considered my Canadian history and geography lessons in school to be pretty comprehensive – that is, until I actually came up here and realized I knew next to nothing.

That's why, when Flat Stanley arrived in the mail last month, I was determined to show him everything the North had to offer.

For those of you who never read the book in school, Flat Stanley is the story of a young boy who, after being flattened by a bulletin board, visits his friends by mail.

The tradition now, often as part of a class project, is to send off your own Flat Stanley to somewhere far away and exotic, and have him return home with photos and souvenirs.

My eight-year-old sister, who attends school south of Vancouver, was put to the task of mailing off Stanley – and this is how he came to arrive in my post office box in Inuvik.

For weeks I brought the cardboard cutout with me everywhere. Stanley went to the ski club, the swimming pool, the curling rink and the arena, the river and the bush. He even went to Stanton's to pose with expensive milk.

What I found was the hardest part of playing tour guide was knowing that however many pictures I took, I would never be able to convey how the people here in town come to be your family.

I sent my eight-year-old sister a pair of miniature mukluks for Stanley, as well as some caribou buttons and a certificate saying he passed the Arctic Circle, but I couldn't send her that caribou smell you so often experience when visiting a new home, or any of the corn meal dust that fills the air during a square dance.

The best I could do were some photos and souvenirs – but that's still more of a Northern education than I ever got.

There is no question that the move by the Stanton Territorial Health Authority to go 100 per cent tobacco-free and ban smoking on all hospital property effective Feb. 14 is a politically correct initiative.

There is something wrong with seeing patients wearing parkas over their hospital gowns huddled outside the doors to get their nicotine fix. Then there is the question of patients in the psychiatric ward who tie up valuable hospital staff time because they required an escort to go outside for a cigarette. In some cases, the escort is needed to ensure the patient does not leave the hospital property because they are deemed to pose a danger to themselves or others.

Stanton is just one of numerous hospitals across Canada to ban smoking anywhere on its property, rather than providing a designated smoking area several metres from entrance doors or fresh-air vents.

But there are several unique facts that makes the Yellowknife hospital different than others.

The NWT has one of the highest rates of tobacco use in the country. Statistics suggest that 36 per cent of residents in the NWT smoke, twice the national average.

Another unique factor is the climate. Forcing patients to leave the hospital property in order to smoke a cigarette could result in sick people going into the woods behind the hospital, or across the parking lot in sub-zero temperatures. Besides the obvious negative affects of smoking, exposure to the cold can't be a healthy thing.

And there is no doubt that some patients, visitors and even some staff members who are addicted to nicotine will still sneak a smoke on hospital grounds and risk being caught by security.

That said, as the largest health-care facility in the NWT, Stanton has a responsibility to make a strong statement against smoking. Health authority CEO Kay Lewis said, "We are doing a great job at treating diseases caused by tobacco, but what are we doing to prevent them? The new policy sends a clear message that tobacco use has no place in an institution dedicated to healing."

Recognizing the highly addictive nature of nicotine, Stanton is offering nicotine replacement therapy products to patients and encourages them to tackle their addictions.

Despite the high number of smokers in the North, and the frigid temperatures during winter months, Stanton's initiative is really about promoting healthy living.

And even smokers will agree that tobacco use is harmful to people's health.

It appeared to be a Merry Christmas in Yellowknife indeed. Retailers, including those selling large ticket items such as snowmobiles, are reporting heavy sales in the lead-up to Christmas.

"We haven't seen this type of enthusiasm since 08/09," said Gord Olson, owner of Polar Tech Recreation, one of Yellowknifer's main snowmobile dealers.

Whether last month's shopping spree is a sign the recession is over or that Yellowknifers are just tired of waiting for it to end and are spending in spite of it, the shopping spree is further proof that Yellowknife is still a good place to do business and spend money.

It's hard to imagine someone buying a $14,000 snow machine in Yellowknife if they weren't confident they will get good service for it.

And even with the proliferation of online shopping, Yellowknife merchants can count on people being leery of using such long-distance services, especially as Christmas drew closer and lineups at the post office grew longer.

A recent Ipsos Reid survey reported that 2011 - despite all sorts of turmoil going on outside our borders - was a good year among 74 per cent of Canadians polled. No doubt some of that optimism can be found here, and has made its way under our Christmas trees.

Yellowknifers might not feel so generous after the holiday hangover has passed and the bills start showing up in the mail, but we hope shopping local is more than just a Christmas tradition.

With the dawn of a new year comes the hope of prosperity for Nunavut in 2012.

Here in the Kivalliq hope runs high for the Meliadine Gold Project in Rankin Inlet to move closer to reality, and for Arviat tourism to take a giant leap forward in attracting clients to the beauty of the community and its surrounding areas.

Many eyes are also on the continued mineral exploration near Baker Lake, and the ongoing efforts of Areva Resources to, one day, have the Kiggavik Project accepted and become a uranium ore mining and milling operation near Baker.

The new year will also see the long-awaited healing centre/correctional facility open in Rankin, while lobbying efforts continue in Coral Harbour to have a healing and counselling facility approved for that community.

On the flip side, many folks will have their attention fixed firmly on Nunavut's capital for signs of another territorial election being called in 2012.

The majority of Nunavummiut will also be watching the capital for signs of the Government of Nunavut finally getting its financial house in order, and hoping we can get through 2012 without any elected officials finding themselves in legal hot water.

Many eyes in the region will also be cast in the direction of the Kivalliq Inuit Association, where new blood was voted in this past month with the election of David Ningeongan as president.

It was a bold move by Kivalliq beneficiaries, who felt it was time for new ideas and a fresh perspective, and we sincerely hope Ningeongan is up for the challenge.

Hopes are also high for Nunavut entries at the 2012 Arctic Winter Games (AWG) in Whitehorse, Yukon.

A number of sports employed different approaches to selecting their AWG teams this time around, and only time will tell if their decisions bear fruit in the form of an increased number of Ulus brought home by our athletes.

Also, on the sporting front, Rankin will be hard pressed in 2012 to match the success of the 2011 First Air Avataq Cup senior men's hockey championship.

Arviat is facing a number of challenges concerning its Jon Lindell Memorial (JLM) senior men's hockey championship, as well.

The community's hockey program was delayed by equipment problems during an upgrade to the local arena, pushing the date of the JLM back a month from its original start date of Jan. 19.

The organizing committee is hoping to use the incredible success enjoyed at the 2011 JLM to attract more communities to this year's event.

Hopefully, the unforeseen problems at the arena won't scuttle their chances of success.

Personally, I'm into my 14th year at the helm of Kivalliq News and look forward to serving the region for another year.

As always, I'm extremely indebted to those in the communities outside of Rankin who take the time to send me photos and keep me up to speed on what's happening in their towns.

I look forward to growing our relationship in 2012 and keeping the Kivalliq News a publication the majority of folks in the region are proud to call their own.

Best wishes of success and prosperity to one and all for the upcoming year.

Looking back on 2011 it is clear a lot of changes must be made in the NWT if we are to ensure our future success.

Most notably, we saw a serious decline in economic spending in the territory as resource exploration plummeted amid investor uncertainty due to the combination of a tumultuous global economy and the NWT's oft-criticized regulatory regime.

In contrast, adding proof that the problem lies more with us than the economy, Nunavut saw an increase in exploration spending near pre-recession figures.

It is time for the GNWT to push the federal government to move faster at implementing improvements to the Northern regulatory system, improvements it has been promising since 2007. Essential to this plan will be to streamline our environmental regulatory regulations and ensure long-standing regulatory board vacancies are filled.

Back in July, the Fraser Institute ranked the NWT as the worst place in Canada for investing in oil and natural gas exploration and development. Although the survey found that in most cases there were no respondents who said the barriers would deter them from investing in the NWT, spending levels seem to indicate the opposite.

Devolution will be the biggest political decision of the GNWT's history in terms of fiscal self-management and self-determination. We must ensure the terms hammered out with Ottawa provide the NWT with the dollars to cover the rising costs of health care, infrastructure and housing. The GNWT must uphold its promise to work collaboratively with aboriginal governments to prevent a deal from being bogged down for years to come.

First Nation and GNWT relations will also be key to tackling environmental concerns. Our controversial Wildlife Act, which after 10 years of work failed to pass in the previous legislative assembly, must be a priority as the NWT fights to protect species at risk from increased hunting pressure and global warming.

On the climate change front, the North needs to document specific threats and costs as melting permafrost threatens existing infrastructure. We must not only explore cleaner energy options, we must exploit the opportunities to use our own forestry and natural gas resources.

On a brighter note, NWT athletes will kick off the early part of the new year in March when they join the circumpolar world in Whitehorse for the Arctic Winter Games.

Every two years the NWT battles for position among the top three teams at the event and we hope for a strong finish in 2012. Beyond the medals, we encourage every athlete to perform to the best of their ability and act as strong ambassadors for their communities.

During the last games in Grande Prairie, Alta, in 2010, the NWT had the strongest showing of community athletes compared to previous games. As the trials continue in January to select teams, we hope participation from outside Yellowknife is front and centre in Whitehorse.

The winter solstice has come and gone and with the impending return of the sun there are a lot of good things to watch for on the horizon.

Nunavut will benefit heavily from mineral industries, especially in light of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement which will give beneficiaries a 12 per cent cut of profits gained by companies mining resources on Inuit land.

To name a few projects: Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd.'s Meadowbank gold mine poured its first brick in 2010 and looks to keep going until 2019; Newmont Mining Corp.'s Hope Bay gold project is progressing, needing just a mill to really get things underway; Shear Diamonds just shook hands on a funding agreement with a Belgian company to assist it in reopening the Jericho diamond mine; Baffinland's Mary River iron ore project looks to kick into gear in 2014; Areva is looking to mine uranium in the Kivalliq, and Sabina Gold and Silver are looking to pull gold from the ground at Goose Lake.

These mines are the territory's best bet for jobs and big money. Nunavut has caught the eye of the mining industry in a significant way and efforts should be made to keep it at the forefront and get these mines off the ground.

Another industry to look at is fishing. The GN needs to build small craft harbours for all fishing communities as soon as possible. Pangnirtung is getting one, and the more of these that are built around the territory, the more money will be brought into Nunavummiut pockets.

There are still issues that need to be tackled.

The vastly underwhelming Nutrition North program is still bearing very little fruit, and Nunavummiut need to make sure Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq plays a big role in making it work.

The onus is on her to make sure it results in lower food prices to the territory - we are her employer; we must demand change.

The perennial problem of alcohol abuse and the violence that springs from it still looms tall, unheeded, and there seems to be no end in sight for it. The suicide rate is 11 times the national average, though an ambitious plan was released last fall to help prevent more tragic deaths. This plan must be acted on as soon as possible, as we're sure the GN knows.

Living in the North could be easier - employment could be more available, food could cost less, there could be more housing and some tragedy could be avoided - so let's head into 2012 demanding change and playing as big a role as possible in making it happen.

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