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We're encouraged by the progress shown in the mining world of late, including efforts to wrestle the NWT's tangled regulatory regime to the ground.

The upswing in exploration is welcome news indeed, and for the momentum to continue so too should improvement to regulatory barriers. The Government of the Northwest Territories, the Chamber of Mines, and especially the federal government, should make ongoing progress in streamlining regulations very public.

Awareness and perception, after all, is key to attracting further investment and interest from the movers and shakers in the mining industry.

The regulatory boards' responsible for setting and enforcing regulations, whether created by land claims or the federal government, should be put on alert that their activities are being monitored.

Further, companies interested in doing business in the Northwest Territories need to realize that, while we are hungry for development, the protection of the environment and the long-term effects of their activities trump the desired economic benefits. That said, attraction is the key.

"The future is very bright for us here in the Northwest Territories," said Industry, Tourism and Investment Minister David Ramsay, who just returned from the 2012 Prospectors and Developers Conference in Toronto.

Despite mineral exploration spending in the NWT lagging far behind our neighbours in Nunavut - with a record $502.3 million spent in the east during 2011, according to Natural Resources Canada preliminary figures, compared to $105.4 million spent in 2011 on mineral exploration in the NWT - Ramsay is cautiously optimistic that the NWT can surpass the $500-million mark in the near future.

"We are sitting on top of a huge resource wealth in our territory and I think we just scratched the surface when it comes to developing its true potential," Ramsay said. "$500 million wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities."

The latest update from the territory's three producing diamond mines is encouraging. Snap Lake, Ekati and Diavik produced $2.069 billion in diamonds last year, up more than $40 million from 2010, despite decreased production. Thank goodness for higher market prices and greater demand for diamonds on the world economy. With production expected to ramp up this year at Diavik, to 8.3 million carats from 6.7 million carats in 2011, one would expect production values to increase even more by the end of 2012.

Finally, the territory needs more mines to open as the existing operations reach maturity.

One doesn't have to use much imagination to speculate how bleak the territory's economic situation would have been had the diamond mines not opened as the gold mines shut down.

The time to set the stage for new mines is now.

This weekend, Yellowknife residents will once again have the opportunity to herald the end of winter with a community festival, this time on Yellowknife Bay.

The Long John Jamboree will replace the long-lived but recently-deceased Caribou Carnival, which offered Yellowknifers springtime entertainment from 1955 until 2010.

Originally designed to celebrate the return of hunters and trappers from the bush, Caribou Carnival struggled in its last years as it failed to evolve alongside the latest generation of Northerners. Organizers of the Long John Jamboree have designed an inaugural schedule of events to embrace long-standing festivities such as handgames and the Ugly Truck and Dog Contest, as well as fresh spectacles such as magicians, snowboarding, skijoring and music, to name a few.

In keeping with a custom handed down from the Caribou Carnival, the city has declared a half-day civic holiday on Friday. Many municipal and territorial government employees will be given that afternoon off to take part in the day's activities.

No matter how much work volunteers, performers, and organizers put into event preparations, it is up to the public to make the Long John Jamboree a success. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, head on down to Yellowknife Bay. If we all do our part to make the festival fun for all ages, it will give us all something special to look forward to again next winter.

A recent survey on the Western Hudson Bay polar bear population is being eagerly anticipated by Kivalliq hunters in the communities of Arviat, Baker Lake, Whale Cove, Rankin Inlet and Chesterfield Inlet.

Modern science and traditional Inuit knowledge have long been at odds over the health of the Western Hudson Bay population.

The Kivalliq's polar bear quota for 20112012 was increased to 21 bears. That's up 13 from the previous quota of eight.

Still, it's a far cry from the quota of 56 bears that was in place as recently as 2006-2007.

While Kivalliq hunters wait for the survey results to be made public and, in all probability, another round of community consultations to set a long-term quota, another game is playing out in the south that will, ultimately, impact both the bears and their hunters.

Auction prices for bear skins have skyrocketed during the past few years, mainly because of the fur's rising popularity in China and Russia and a growing feeling among collectors that the trade of bear skins will soon be banned in Canada.

The mecca of polar-bear-skin purchasing is the well-known auction house, the Fur Harvesters Auction in North Bay, Ont.

The going price on untreated polar bear skins rose by more than 200 per cent during the past few years, with some skins selling for more than $10,000.

With Canada home to about 60 per cent of the world's polar bear population, and being the only international supplier of the skins, getting an accurate picture of the real numbers of their populations could have a huge influence on market prices.

Many buyers are opening their wallets wide to get as many of the skins as they can afford in anticipation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora gathering in early 2013.

During those meetings, the United States is expected to go all out in its efforts to ban polar bear parts on the world market, a move Canada staunchly opposes.

One needs look no further than Inukjuak, Que., to see the potential impact rising prices can have.

Hunters there are reported to have harvested more than 70 bears this past year in an effort to cash in on the rising demand and soaring prices.

Indications on the Western Hudson Bay survey point to the news being good on population numbers.

Once those numbers are made public - and if Inuit are proven correct in their contention that polar bear population numbers are rising, not decreasing - it will be interesting to see what, if any, impact the results of one area survey will have on market prices.

Former Environment minister Daniel Shewchuk referred to the "remarkable recovery" of the population this past year and, if survey numbers bear that out, many eyes will be on the next large auction of polar bear skins this coming June.

Bidders will have to decide if strong population numbers and, possibly, increased quotas outweigh their fears of American success at the CITES gathering.

Whatever the outcome, hopefully it will be as advantageous to the bears as it is to our hunters and economy.

If the NWT needs a new road, it's a road to resources - an all-weather land route to replace as much as possible of the present ice road system that leads to the riches of diamonds, gold, silver, copper, uranium and other metals and minerals in the Barren lands.

A report by the Conference Board of Canada released last week shows that mining is driving the NWT economy and is expected to be our primary source of growth for the next several years.

As reported in News/North last week, the Mackenzie Valley Highway extension, from Wrigley to Inuvik, is entering the final phase of regulatory scrutiny. That's no guarantee the estimated $1.7 billion project will proceed, but why are we even thinking about it?

With apologies to Cece Hodgson-McCauley, a longtime highway booster who is deserving of having the project named after her, communities along the highway route not already served by a road have a combined population of less than 1,900. That's almost $900,000 per person in highway construction costs, more in maintenance.

Yes, the road would create temporary construction jobs, attract a modest number of tourists and may make a tiny dent in the cost to build a Mackenzie Valley pipeline, but we should wait for the opposite to hold true - that pipeline construction will make building the road cheaper.

The people of Tulita, Norman Wells, Fort Good Hope and Tsiigehtchic should be entitled to cheaper groceries, but we can find ways to subsidize their cost of living that are much more affordable than $1.7 billion. The territory's debt limit was just increased to $800 million, more than half of which is already accounted for. We can't afford the highway.

With a road to resources, on the other hand, we will have more mines, more jobs and more contract opportunities for NWT businesses. It's the road to a better future and one that will eventually pay for itself.

Although the 2012 Arctic Winter Games only wrapped up on March 10, Team NWT already has its eyes set on the 2014 Games in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Bill Othmer, Team NWT's assistant chef de mission, said for the territory to achieve its goal of achieving at least second place in 2014 it will have to start preparing immediately. But preparation isn't limited to how athletes perform on the field of play, it includes supporting sports at the grassroots level and getting youth excited about participation. Sport North understands this concept and is working to provide athletes infrastructure to learn, train and compete. Such work was done in the area of traditional sports this past year and was credited for increasing the gold medal count for Dene games and Arctic sports, as well as helping Fort Smith's Veronica McDonald to break two world records.

Twenty-one communities were represented on Team NWT this year in Whitehorse and many athletes from outside Yellowknife helped boost the NWT to 116 medals, its highest total in a decade.

Supporting volunteers, coaches and athletes is key to not only improving ability but fostering enthusiasm in future athletes. Doing so in every community across the territory will ensure Team NWT has more youth to draw from each year while also encouraging healthy lifestyles. More active youth means a healthier society and we all win regardless of our placing at the Arctic Winter Games.

Congratulations to all Team NWT participants this year, coaches and volunteers included. It was your efforts that made the event the unbelievable experience every athlete News/North spoke to said it was.

It's hard to make a living as an artist, and there are many artists trying to scrape by in Nunavut.

Therefore Kugluktuk MLA Peter Taptuna's suggestion regarding artist resale rights is a good one. The proposal, which had the cabinet minister calling on the federal government to enact legislation, would have artists, or their estate, collect five per cent on the resale of their work. Taptuna gave the example of two Kenojuak Ashevak prints recently auctioned in the south for $29,620. If Ashevak had the five per cent resale rights, she would have brought in $1,481.

This legislation is in place in the European Union as well as other parts of the world, including the U.S. state of California. In California, whenever a work of art worth more than $1,000 is sold at an auction, gallery or similar venue, the seller or their agent must withhold five per cent of the sale and has 90 days to try and locate the artist and give them the cash - if they fail, they must give it to the state's arts council, which then has seven years to locate the artist and give them the cash, after which the money is kept by the council.

This could work in Canada. In order to benefit Nunavummiut artists, more effort would have to be made to locate and pay individuals, but tight timeframes must be maintained and a federally-established monitoring body should be set up.

This entity would have to keep a database of artist contact information, and would be responsible to collect this money and turn it over to the artists - if the onus to collect is left on the artist's plate, the system won't work. The legal system is hard to navigate, especially from Nunavut. It just wouldn't be worth it for an artist to pursue a case to collect around $1,000.

That said, this is a cause the Government of Nunavut should continue to champion.

The gains might not be huge, but if collection is made easy for the artists, it is definitely worth it.

It's the most common argument Northern courts hear: "I was drunk. I don't remember." Often, it's sadly true. That doesn't change anything about guilt, however.

In a drunken sex assault case heard in Nunavut's court last month, the lawyer for the defendant wanted Justice Neil Sharkey to overrule a law banning the use of extreme intoxication as a defence, saying it violated the defendant's Charter rights.

Sharkey upheld the law, ruling it was justifiable given Nunavut's violence per capita rates - the highest in the country - and the fact these crimes nearly always involve alcohol.

This was the right decision. When a drunk driver hits a pedestrian, when a drunk man hits his spouse, when a drunk person commits murder, rape, assault - maybe the offender wouldn't have done these things sober. That doesn't absolve them of responsibility for their actions. They drank to excess, they committed the crime.

Alcohol abuse is the scourge of the territory. It twists minds, it causes undue harm to way too many families and it ruins lives, but it must never be an excuse.

A person is responsible for their actions, and they are similarly responsible to get help when liquor becomes a problem.

It's not right for the public to let crimes go unpunished, to let horrible acts of violence go unchecked, just because someone has let alcohol control their lives.

Five years ago, the city unveiled a report on the types of solid waste going into the landfill.

Its findings were revealing, although not particular surprising.

The single-family residential sector only represented 19 per cent of the 9,001 cubic tonnes of waste handled at the city's solid waste facility in 2006, according to the report. The biggest contributor by far was the multi-family and small commercial sector. This group produced 59 per cent of the garbage; the large commercial sector was responsible for 22 per cent.

The report came a year after the city first imposed a limit of three 77-litre curbside bags on Jan. 1, 2006. Council also approved new fees for trash coming from multi-family dwellings and the commercial sector, charging $65 a tonne for waste - which has since been raised to $82.50 - and $30 a tonne for sorted recyclables.

Having a lower rate for recyclables, it was believed, would convince Yellowknife's landlords and businesses to find ways to reduce the amount of trash they were producing.

The city was planning to impose the two-bag curbside limit in 2007 but council begged off until this year, fearing a backlash from families who wouldn't be able to stay under the lowered limit.

People produce too much trash, and as the city's 2007 report demonstrates, not enough of it is being diverted from the waste stream and recycled. At the time of the report's writing, some 31 per cent of the waste heading to dump could be recycled.

Still, many house dwellers - especially those with large families who will need to buy $1 tags to put out extra bags when the three-bag grace period ends in two weeks - feel they've been unfairly targeted.

Lowered rates for sorting recyclables may provide apartment landlords with an incentive to put out recycle bins for their tenants, but what is the incentive for apartment tenants to use them, other than satisfying an environmental conscience?

We know residents in single-family units have a financial incentive to recycle but this is very difficult to quantify for people living in multi-family units.

It would be interesting to see how much the situation has changed among the various garbage-producing sectors since the 2007 study.

The city, meanwhile, has yet to roll out other important planks in its efforts to keep recyclable waste out of the landfill, such as banning cardboard from the garbage stream. The 2007 study found commercial cardboard accounted for 38 per cent of the trash entering the waste stream, and 14.5 per cent of that is corrugated cardboard.

Council talked about imposing a ban last spring but have yet to act on it. Whether council intended this to be the case or not, most of the focus on recycling efforts of late have been directed at single-family units. That's certainly the impression many of these residents have now as the two-bag limit starts on April 1, following a $2.50 a month increase in the solid waste levy on Jan. 1. That fee now stands at $14.50.

That's why it's important now more than ever that council shows it's looking at the bigger garbage reduction picture and not just the easy curbside pickings.

It's that time of year again, the season of winter carnivals and jamborees in the Deh Cho.

Carnival season, which begins in March and trails into April, is one of the best parts of the winter. When the carnivals start, they are a concrete sign winter is drawing to a close. Your toes may still go numb while watching the traditional events outside but you can take solace in the fact that the weather has to warm up soon.

The carnivals and jamborees are, however, more than just a milestone on the way to spring. They are also a time-honoured way of drawing people together after a long winter.

The events at the carnivals – such as log tossing, tea boiling or the talent shows – are prime opportunities for people to shake off the winter blues, get out of their houses and visit. Not only do the events provide people with the chance to get together, but they also provide topics of conversation.

At the adult traditional games, whether at the Beavertail Jamboree in Fort Simpson or the Bison Jamboree in Fort Providence or any of the other ones in the Deh Cho, there is always a buzz about who will excel in which event. Neighbours eye each other up and try to determine who can throw a log the farthest or chop a block of wood in the shortest amount of time.

For some, the events offer friendly competition as they try to retain titles they have held in past years. Of course there's always the chance of an upset. An ill-placed blow of an axe or an unseen knot can add extra seconds to the log-splitting competition and change who will come in first, second or third.

Most importantly, the events are a lot of fun. After a long winter people are eager for something that will put a smile on their faces.

For both youth and adults, one of the most enjoyable events is the talent shows. People enjoy seeing their friends get up on stage and share their talents, whether they are singing, jigging or fiddling. A popular country song or a particularly fancy set of footwork is sure to draw cheers. Even those who get nervous and fumble a few lines are encouraged on with clapping.

The carnivals and jamborees are truly some of the best examples of community events that the Deh Cho has to offer. Of course, these events don't organize themselves.

A lot of work goes into each carnival and jamboree well before the events start. Residents of each community should be sure to thank the organizers for putting on their particular event and continuing the tradition of winter carnivals in the Deh Cho.

I wish I'd had a bag of popcorn at council's committee of the whole meeting on Monday, because although Inuvik has no movie theatre, the experience was just as good as sitting in a Hollywood tearjerker.

There was no rich, orchestral crescendo as a soundtrack but the feeling was there as Coun. Vince Sharpe calmly offered to fill the financial gap of close to $5,000 so seven Samuel Hearne Secondary School students could get on a number of planes and travel worlds away to help out at an orphanage in Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia for two weeks.

This caring gesture was preceded by council offering the group $1,000 toward its goal.

The entire scene was played out perfectly, from council trying to remember if they had promised a plane ticket or $1,000 cash, to Zahra Khimji, teacher-adviser of the trip, joking in her timid voice that council could give as much as they liked.

The group only has a little more than two weeks to find the remaining money for the excursion, because they leave the country on March 28. The daunting task of fundraising $60,000 is now closer than ever – through a series of donations and events such as Saturday evening's African dinner and silent auction at the Royal Canadian Legion.

The dinner showcased the trip as a cultural experience – from the African finger food accompanied with a film of instructions on how to eat it, to an African dance by students taking a chance on the challenging but worthwhile experience.

After the $1,000 was decided upon, Sharpe said he'd cover the rest, taking out bills and counting them at the council table.

The collective gasps from Khimji, the students in attendance and parents showed the true surprise at the announcement along with the tears of relief and happiness that came after.

Although it turns out the students still have a little ways to go to reach their goal, a helping hand to bring their goal closer than ever will replenish the energy of that last fundraising push.

Do we need these grand gestures of generosity to remind us that great things can happen? Definitely not.

But the fact that the truly human response of shock, gratitude, and elation can find a home in Inuvik's council chambers and that one action can seal the deal for seven deserving students to go on a life-changing journey in itself deserves a standing ovation.

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