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It's hard to disagree with Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro's accusation that the territorial government has a "can't-do attitude" when it comes to helping residents of Northland Trailer Park overcome infrastructure woes.

The GNWT is essential to Yellowknife, provides many valuable services here, and in fact employs, clothes and feeds a good portion of our city. Yet this is not the first time we've seen cabinet turn logic on its head while trying to avoid policies and services that, heaven forbid, would benefit primarily Yellowknife if implemented.

Two years ago, Robert C. McLeod, who is still firmly ensconced in his position as minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, actually argued that because the GNWT could only provide 911 emergency phone service to 77 per cent of the territory - in Yellowknife and the six other largest NWT communities at a startup cost of a little more than $1 million -- that it could not proceed until 911 can be established in all 33 communities simultaneously.

So, because 911 wouldn't work in tiny, isolated places like Sachs Harbour and Tsiigehtchic, which already do without most of the amenities found in larger communities, including hospitals and police detachments, the government refused to provide a service that would save lives in 77 per cent of the territory.

It's this view toward Northern realities that give Bisaro's "can't-do" accusation its weight. So does Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger telling Bisaro in the legislative assembly that Northland needs to "get itself organized" before the government would be even willing to consider a low or no-interest loan to aid the 1,100 trailer park residents with their $20 million water and sewer pipe burden that many of them probably cannot afford.

What would Miltenberger say if this was Fort Good Hope we were talking about and homes were falling into the Mackenzie River? Would the GNWT tell the community it's a hamlet responsibility?

Northland may very well be a private entity but it's also affordable housing, and Yellowknife - if we are to believe the latest data from Statistics Canada - is where many people from outlying communities come to live.

The territorial government has a moral duty to help its citizens - all citizens -- when they are in trouble. It's unacceptable for cabinet ministers to shrug their shoulders and say they don't have any policy in place that would relieve them of their inertia.

As Bisaro says, the only thing stopping the GNWT from helping are the people in charge.

Emergency services are critical in any community.

When something goes wrong, and things inevitably do, it's important for residents of any given community to know they will be taken care of. People want to be able to rest assured if they are very sick or seriously injured there will be an ambulance and attendants on hand to get them to the nearest medical facility. Likewise, if their house or business catches fire, people want to know there will be a fire truck and firefighters on their way shortly to take care of the situation.

While people want all of these emergency services, it's also easy to take them for granted. As long as ambulances and fire trucks show up when they are needed, most residents don't put a lot of thought into the process that got them there.

In smaller communities complacency is problematic.

In large cities, firefighters and emergency medical personnel are paid. They show up at the scene of emergencies because it is their job to do so. None of the Deh Cho communities are large enough to pay their fire departments or ambulance services.

Instead, all Deh Cho residents depend on volunteers when it comes to firefighting and ambulance services. This is where the complacency problem comes into play.

Volunteers have to come from somewhere, they don't miraculously appear fully trained.

Communities want to feel secure in the knowledge they have adequate emergency services, but community members have to take active steps to make that happen.

The Deh Cho has been lucky recently that there have been no major house fires or multi-victim accidents. Before the streak is broken, each community should sit down and take a serious look at the state of their emergency services and gauge if anything needs to be changed or if additional support is needed.

In Fort Simpson, the volunteer fire department has launched a recruitment drive. The fact the number of members has fallen to critical levels shows the village needs to take a look at how it is supporting the department and ensuring its own safety.

Volunteer firefighters and ambulance attendants are not something communities can take for granted. Each Deh Cho community must take active steps to make sure it will be prepared in the case of an emergency.

A lot of changes are in the air this year.

Two schools will be reduced to rubble and one new, super structure will open its doors to a new generation of students.

A lot of transition will happen in the meantime, physically, mentally and emotionally.

Usable furniture, classroom decorations, pens and pencils must be rounded up, packed away and transfered to the new school.

Teachers, staff and students will trade a comfortable environment to create a new home. It will be daunting and scary at first, but once everyone takes a deep breath, opens their eyes and sees the new dwelling, the jitters will dissipate and a new feeling of home will thrive.

With all beginnings, there are endings.

Sir Alexander Mackenzie School and Samuel Hearne Secondary School have been a presence in the community for more than 40 years. Generations of students have walked those halls, and like any school, the memories are a mixture of both good and bad. Some students will remember the times they were not allowed to speak their native languages in class. Some will remember getting a good mark and being rewarded with a hearty meal at home.

Many past students of the schools are present still in the halls and classrooms, as teachers for a new generation. They have seen the school transform while the building remained the same.

It will be these strengths, these changes, that will make the move over to the community's new school. It is a school that is built on the themes of transparency and light and it is here where new memories will be made – with all Inuvik's students under one roof. There have been steps along the way to let go of the old and prepare for new: the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's visit in June, a craft night organized to encourage community members to step into the high school and say goodbye, and there are committees gathering together to organize a final farewell to the schools -- such as a dance.

No matter the memories, the schools have both shaped who people in the community are: through challenges and successes.

A chance to say farewell will most likely not be regretted and will complete the cycle as the community enters a new era in a new school.

Word last week that an alternative is being examined as an Edmonton destination for medevac flights from Yellowknife is good news.

With the closure of Edmonton's City Centre Airport looming on the horizon, the convenience of having a major southern hospital - the Royal Alexandra - only three kilometres and a seven-minute drive away from an airport will disappear. One runway at the City Centre Airport remains open but will eventually close as Alberta's capital city moves forward with plans to transform the city airport lands into a residential community of 30,000 people.

Edmonton Airports and Alberta Health Services have earmarked the Edmonton International Airport as the future destination for fixed-wing medevac flights from the North. But there is an another option - an unused military airstrip at Edmonton Garrison.

The issue was raised in the NWT legislature last Thursday and, after a barrage of questions from Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins and Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen, Health Minister Tom Beaulieu said his department will "take an active role" in negotiations with the Department of National Defence (DND) for medevac flights to make use of Garrison.

Let's look at the numbers. Edmonton Garrison, on the northern outskirts of Edmonton, is 65 km closer to Yellowknife than Edmonton International, located at Nisku, 30 km south of Edmonton.

Although many of the 350 medevac flights to Edmonton each year are for medical appointments, planning must be done for a worst-case scenario, such as when a patient requires critical medical care not available at Stanton Territorial Hospital, or in the event of a mass-casualty disaster which results in a volume of patients that overwhelm services in the North. Time is of the essence in these situations.

The Royal Alexandra is 15.4 km from Garrison, a 23-minute trip at the posted speed limit. Alternatively, University Hospital is 28.7 km from the International airport, a 33-minute trip. The University Hospital, probably the best equipped in Edmonton, is 25 km from Garrison.

Although Edmonton Airports and Alberta Health Services make it sound like there are no concerns about moving medevacs to the International airport, it is clear to us that landing medevacs at Garrison will shave precious minutes off transport time.

Alberta Deputy Premier Doug Horner is backing an investigation by DND and the issue has been sent to Ottawa. The GNWT has an obligation to Northerners to push for the fastest alternative, too.

Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins is correct to highlight the gaps in the GNWT's response to drug and alcohol addiction.

In response to Hawkins' comments in the legislative assembly last week about the need for more addictions treatment, Health and Social Services Minister Tom Beaulieu reminded MLAs and the public that the Nats'ejee K'eh Treatment Centre, located on the K'atlodeeche First Nation Reserve near Hay River, is only 49 per cent occupied.

Given the severity of drug and alcohol addiction throughout the NWT, it is unacceptable that the territory's only addictions treatment centre is operating at less than half capacity. A fresh plan is required.

While the minister has pointed to the department's plans to develop on-the-land addictions programs and mental health treatment programs, he must not be permitted to divert attention from the inefficacy of the almost 20-year-old treatment centre, which is clearly falling short of the public's expectations and hopes.

Drugs and alcohol abuse exacts a toll on all communities in the NWT, including here in Yk, particularly evident in our downtown.

Beaulieu needs to take a sober second look at the quality and accessibility of addiction treatment in the territory, and a good place to start is to take seriously the need for an accessible and well-managed addictions treatment centre in Yellowknife.

The next few months of 2012 could prove quite interesting in our territory's capital.

The rumour mill is running full-bore these days, and the message it's churning out is one of frustration and rebellion.

Some insiders are whispering that discontent among Nunavut's regular MLAs has reached critical proportions.

Many are, supposedly, disillusioned with leadership and the numerous decisions being made by the premier and a number of ministers.

Some say the Government of Nunavut is being run by a bunch of transplanted southern bureaucrats who have more influence on the decision-making process than the actual ministers themselves.

But the most intriguing rumblings coming from the rumour-mongers are those speculating of a movement among a number of our elected officials to force the calling of a territorial election in 2012.

The direction they're, supposedly, going to take in achieving that goal is somewhat unclear at the present time, but for such actions to even be considered in some corners speaks volumes as to the level of dysfunction currently pervading our legislative assembly.

The complaints of those who feel Nunavummiut really don't want another territorial election, and that the present government should be given its full mandate to see if it can actually accomplish anything not started by those who came before it, are irrelevant.

Public opinion on such matters doesn't amount to much with non-party politics.

It's a lot easier for voters to express their displeasure with a party, or to vote for change for change's sake, than to hang blame on one individual for a territorial government's failures.

In fact, an argument can be made that even the best of leaders become handcuffed if they're saddled with an ineffective rank and file they can't mould into shape.

Almost everyone has worked with someone who doesn't pull their own weight, and can appreciate how much that person's ineffectiveness can bring down everyone's overall performance.

Conversely, many a good leader or foreman has been brought down by a group of people who can't, or won't, properly complete the tasks assigned to them.

Only time will tell which situation is playing itself out in Iqaluit.

Either way, the rumours of discontent emanating from the capital have reached the point where we can safely assume all is not smiles, sunshine and lollipops in Iqaluit these days.

But, upheavals organized behind closed doors often have a way of hurting the innocent as much as the intended, at least in the short term.

When a government splits into factions, most of the politicians' energy gets consumed with one faction trying to exert control and the other trying to fend it off.

That leaves precious little time and effort for actual governance.

Should such a scenario play out, and our politicians decide to spend most of their time tossing rotten tomatoes at each-other's reputations at the cost of their duties, it will, once again, be the little guys and gals left holding the bag.

While we were commending the GNWT's efforts to engage aboriginal groups last week, the Gwich'in Tribal Council was launching a court action against the territorial government's push for a devolution agreement.

The tribal council has based its case on a perceived lack of communication between the GNWT and the First Nation in regard to the devolution agreement-in-principle and the shaping of a final devolution agreement.

To open the second session of the legislative assembly, Premier Bob McLeod defended his government's efforts to engage aboriginal governments. He once again cited the number of meetings the GNWT has held in recent months and the Dettah gathering where aboriginal leaders and the legislative assembly met following the Oct. 3 election. He also emphasized the need to push forward with the devolution agenda, reiterating that every day the NWT spends without a final agreement is costing the territory $165,000. McLeod also insisted the government is "inviting all parties to participate" and is ensuring all parties are kept "apprised of the process and any discussions that happen."

Devolution will be the battlefield where the premier's resolve to improve the GNWT's relationship with aboriginal groups will truly be tested. The Gwich'in Tribal Council's court action -- and the support it has received from other aboriginal groups such as the Akaitcho and Dene Nation -- proves not enough has been done to consult with First Nations on the issue. Indeed, coming to an agreement that will satisfy everyone is unlikely, but a consensus must be reached.

Not having a devolution agreement in place might be costing the territory money but we must balance that cost with the cost of legal battles and irreparably damaging relationships with groups such as the Gwich'in.

Here is an opportunity for the premier to put his money where his mouth is and demonstrate he is willing to go beyond meetings and promises and engage aboriginal governments when it counts.

After 10 years the Ehdiitat Gwich'in Council in Aklavik has finally held an election. It's good to see the renewal of the democratic process for the aboriginal government but its unwillingness to be open about the election process is concerning.

Despite numerous requests, the election's returning officer refused to supply News/North with a list of candidates and only after repeated prodding were we given a list of the new council.

The election was spurred when a petition was submitted protesting the decade-long term of then president Charlie Furlong.

At that time, Aklavik Chief Danny Greenland was extremely critical of the situation. However, after being elected to the Ehdiitat Gwich'in Council he also declined to comment about the election process or the goals of the new council.

To be effective, democracy must be open and transparent and in that vein the Ehdiitat Gwich'in Council should come out publicly with its election bylaws so the public will know by what rules the council is governed.

With one jail in Iqaluit sometimes overflowing to beyond double its capacity and another jail opening in Rankin Inlet that is bound to be immediately filled, how can Nunavut expect to handle the influx of inmates a new federal crime bill will undoubtedly create?

According to Justice Minister Daniel Shewchuk, during his appearance earlier this month in front of the Senate committee tasked with reviewing the bill, the Baffin Correctional Centre (BCC) was built for 48 inmates and now holds close to 100 - a point where Shewchuk says safety of staff and inmates has become a concern. That point was already raised in 2010 by former fire marshal Tony Noakes, who maintains he was fired for speaking out. The new 48-bed jail in Rankin Inlet will alleviate existing pressure, but neither facility is prepared for the mandatory jailing of many offenders who, while this bill is not yet in effect, have other options.

Shewchuk said it costs about $200 per day per inmate in jail, and the average stay of an inmate is 12 to 14 months. Under the pending legislation, at least 35 more inmates who received house arrest would have been incarcerated in 2010. According to Shewchuk's numbers, that alone would cost about $3 million.

Shewchuk said 60 per cent of prisoners in BCC are being held awaiting court decisions on their cases, and there are two more judges in the works for the territory. The additional support on the bench will alleviate some of the pressure, but Shewchuk told senators the impact won't be nearly enough to counteract the bill, which will remove the option of house arrest for those guilty of break and enters or producing marijuana, for example.

The territory needs more money to make adjustments. If the federal government doesn't give the GN more cash to handle its new legislation, Shewchuk said this bill will divert funds to incarceration from rehabilitative and preventative programming. This is not a direction the territory wants to go.

Alcoholism is at the root of Nunavut's high crime rates, and it's been proven very often that it is not a problem solved by time in jail. The addicted need treatment and professional help to eliminate their addictions. Victims of domestic violence need support to help them heal, and to help stop what can be a cyclical problem. Those with mental health issues need medical help, not to be warehoused in an overcrowded cell.

From a social aspect, this bill will do nothing to stop criminal behaviour. It might be rational to think a stiffer sentence would dissuade a potential offender from breaking the law, but usually a person is not thinking rationally when committing a serious crime.

If the territory is to jail its troubled people, it must be given resources so it can do so without cancelling its existing rehabilitative and preventative programming, which really needs to be expanded upon.

Hopefully the senate committee saw this and will remember it when suggesting amendments to the bill.

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