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Competition is the engine that drives economic growth. So, it is understandable that questions are being asked after the Department of Transportation entered preliminary negotiations with the Det'on Cho Corporation for the Ingraham Trail Realignment Project without soliciting competing bids.

Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny condemns these dealings, conducted under the negotiated contracts policy, as unfair.

The policy allows untendered government contracts when they will result in benefits for businesses or residents unlikely to be achieved through competition, or where the negotiated contract would build competitive capacity for NWT businesses.

Dolynny criticizes the department for a lack of transparency as it meets with Det'on Cho, the economic development arm of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, which considers the Ingraham Trail part of its traditional lands.

However, the department's choice to potentially invoke the policy, which was also used to award a contract worth more than $3 million to Det'on Cho to work on the Dettah access road in 2009-2010, does not come as a surprise.

Discussions of benefits of the realignment project for the Yellowknives Dene have been a prominent part of the overall picture since the project was envisioned five years ago.

During the 16th legislative assembly in 2010, David Ramsay, now minister of Transportation, heralded the proposed realignment project as a beneficial opportunity for the Yellowknives Dene, long before he held a cabinet post. As minister, Ramsay is now overseeing the fulfillment of that prophecy.

Done correctly, the realignment promises to open up much-needed space for urban development, which would create future opportunities for which many Yellowknife companies should be allowed to compete.

As the Union of Northern Workers widens its intractable stance with four female tenants living in apartments inside the organization's headquarters on 52 Street, we find ourselves asking why the law is performing so badly in this dispute.

It has clearly failed in this case.

NWT rental officer Hal Logsdon ordered the union to provide its tenants access to their apartments through a fence on the west side of the building for a second time last week but as Logsdon himself has already pointed out, he has little power to enforce his edicts. The real power rests with the NWT Supreme Court where his first order has been languishing since Jan. 17.

As Logsdon's latest ruling concedes, if the union doesn't provide access to tenants within 21 days the applicant can hire a contractor and have it done herself, unless of course "the order is stayed."

Considering how the union has done everything in its power these last few months to keep the fence closed, including trying to have one of the complainants criminally charged for cutting a hole through it, no doubt this latest order will wind up in Supreme Court as well. That's a shame because everyone seems to agree that it's not safe for these women to have to go through the back alley to access their apartments while they say drug dealers linger in the area.

Union members should challenge union leadership on this issue.

The tenants have spoken out repeatedly, the rental officer has issued two rulings -- the fact that union leaders are fighting so hard to keep the chain link fence around its employees' vehicles intact is an acknowledgment that they too feel the area is unsafe. Now if only the courts would do something about it before someone gets hurt.

A seasonal marker has passed in many Deh Cho communities.

For those communities along either the Mackenzie or Liard rivers breakup is an important yearly milestone. No matter how long people have lived along one of the rivers, even if it is all their life, breakup holds a special draw.

The importance of break-up can be gauged by the activities that are linked to it. For days, even weeks before break-up, speculation over when and how it will happen is a major source of conversation. Some people put their money where their mouth is and enter into the break-up pools a variety of organizations run fundraisers.

As breakup draws near people move from talking to action. For many people, watching the rivers becomes a pastime and almost an obsession.

It's not uncommon in Fort Simpson to see vehicles streaming to and from the ferry crossing as residents gauge if the ice conditions have changed. When breakup actually starts, that stream of vehicles becomes a torrent as seemingly everyone goes to watch the ice move.

So what is it about breakup that draws people in?

For the more practical-minded residents, their interest is likely linked to genuine concern. If the ice jams and water levels begin to rise, a few Deh Cho communities, namely Fort Liard and Fort Simpson, risk flooding.

Some people must watch the breakup to assure themselves that everything is going smoothly or to be quickly alerted if things start to go wrong.

For other residents watching breakup is about taking in an awesome force of nature.

Even if you've seen it multiple times, there is something gripping and exciting about watching and listening as what was a flat sheet of ice buckles and cracks and slowly starts moving.

There's inherent drama in breakup as ice is forced against ice and there's a battle to see where the weak spots are and which section will falter first. No two breakups are alike. The show changes every year.

For other residents, perhaps a minority, break-up comes with a hope for excitement. Not that they want their community to flood but after a quiet winter some nail-biting moments would be nice.

Those residents will be disappointed this year. Breakup has seemingly passed Fort Liard and Fort Simpson without much to do and the ice is sweeping northwards.

Residents, however, can rest assured that the ice will be back again next year and the show will start again.

The federal government seems to be making some pretty selective cuts in the North as it tries to balance the books in Ottawa.

Parks Canada is the latest in a long list of environmental and regulatory bodies to lose part of its federal funding.

Losing eight positions within the Western Arctic Field Unit means cutting out about 20 per cent of a government agency tasked with protecting the cultural and natural heritage of the entire Canadian Western Arctic – a job that will no doubt be much more difficult for the dedicated Parks Canada employees moving forward.

The kicker in this story is that the Parks Canada unit based in Inuvik had not been running a deficit – they had balanced their books. However, that didn't stop them from becoming casualties of the proclaimed recession.

It's true that when money gets tight and times get tough, everyone should do their share to make ends meet. However, as Dan Frandsen, acting field unit superintendent for Parks Canada in Inuvik said, "Parks Canada is doing a fairly large share."

When one examines the recent cutbacks made in the name of austerity by the federal government, a trend starts to emerge: government-funded environmental monitoring is going the way of the dodo.

While some might consider such concerns to be unfounded or exaggerated, it should be noted there are other changes coming down the pipe from Ottawa that will change how resource development projects are done in the North – and who gets a say.

The proposed energy superboard has drawn criticism from all Northern Aboriginal groups, as was displayed at a meeting held in Yellowknife in late March to discuss proposed amendments to the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act.

One thing the superboard and cuts to environmental monitoring have in common is they make it easier for resources to be extracted from the North.

On one hand, jobs are in short supply up here and making the area more attractive to big businesses could benefit many people in the short term.

But what about the long term? Reducing the amount of public consultation and environmental oversight will do more than cut the red tape that may or may not be preventing companies from doing business in the North – it could alienate the people who live here and pillage our natural resources until there is nothing left for the future.

The Centre for Northern Families, a long-standing charitable organization in the city, is shifting gears to operate more like a business.

However, the shelter's multiple services and programs are not a business, they are a necessity for numerous women and children.

The centre has been dealing with financial woes for many years. To find more money, staff at the shelter began managing the Wade Hamer mini golf course in 2006. That venture has added more problems than help in recent years due to repeated acts of vandalism during summer months. It resulted in more distractions than beneficial income.

The Centre for Northern Families provides valuable services - offering an accessible emergency shelter for women fleeing violence, a community centre operating a variety of programs from daycare to prenatal classes, a medical clinic and youth and mental health programs open to the community.

Arlene Hache, the shelter's executive director who recently announced her resignation after 20 years, has long maintained that the centre is chronically underfunded. She saw the Centre for Northern Families slide into debt to the tune of $350,000. Hache made it clear to Yellowknifer in 2009 that she felt the GNWT's annual $30,000 in core funding, an amount that hadn't changed since 1995, was far from adequate.

Regardless, the Centre for Northern Families' mandate was, and must remain, to help the most disadvantaged people regain control of their lives.

A good business plan will help maximize the centre's benefits and achieve its objectives, which would be helpful. But what must be remembered is if the centre is in any business at all, it's in the business of taking care of women and their families at any cost.

City council wouldn't tolerate a cab company setting its own rates so why are towing companies allowed to charge whatever they like when bylaw officers call to have a vehicle removed?

The discrepancy seems obvious. When someone needs a taxi they call one knowing they all charge the same rate. You can thank city council for that. Yellowknifer has long argued that the rate a cab company charges ought to be the left to the marketplace but council has decided to keep that prerogative for itself.

However, when it comes to tow trucks, it's an open market, even when a bylaw officer places a call. When the municipal enforcement division wants a vehicle towed its officers have a choice: go with the company that charges $150 plus GST during regular hours or the one that charges $100 more.

It's unclear to us why Age Automotive puts the price of a tow during daylight hours at $150 and DJ's Towing goes with $250 but in the absence of any city hall direction on their rates, that's what they charge.

Asked about the difference in rates and the random process by which the towing companies are available, Mayor Gord Van Tighem didn't offer an explanation - he only said he tries to avoid situations where he'd be towed.

It is up to vehicle owners to make sure they are following the rules of the road but council should make sure the rules - and penalties - are fair.

If the city is using a private service to have vehicles towed it should be put out to tender like any other contractor the city uses.

That way citizens can be assured of equal penalties, a demand which is certainly within reason.

It's encouraging to see the Government of Nunavut (GN) continue to be proactive with trades training.

For more than a decade, training has been the key word in almost every discussion focused on being gainfully employed in the Kivalliq mining industry.

Nunavut Arctic College worked with Baffinland Iron Mines to develop curriculum for its environmental technology diploma and, this past month, the GN entered into a memorandum of understanding with AgnicoEagle Mines (AEM) Ltd. to help develop its high school trades curriculum.

The new partners will work towards developing mine and tradesrelated curriculum and career-development activities for Nunavut students.

These developments will prove to be a huge boost to Kivalliq students, both at the school and postsecondary levels, especially with the trade school also off to such a fine start in Rankin Inlet.

While it's true it may be too late for AEM's Meadowbank gold mine near Baker Lake, now slated to close in 2017, the curriculum could produce ready-for-employment grads just as the company's Meliadine project kicks into high gear in Rankin.

With the combination of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) being all positive from receiving its first royalty payment of more than $2 million from AEM, and the company insisting it's committed to Nunavut despite its financial struggles at Meadowbank, opportunity should continue to abound for years to come.

And that doesn't even take into account the numerous other mining companies hoping to open shop in the Kivalliq before too long.

No matter how you view it, company involvement with curriculum development is a win-win situation, especially for those who have decided to seek a career in mining or mineral exploration, and those who will in coming years.

All that being said, equally encouraging is the GN forming partnerships with mineral companies in the true sense of the word, not just in ways that use fancy titles to mask the only objective of "give us more money, please."

While it may be seen as a baby step in some quarters, it is, nonetheless, a step in the right direction to ease the perception of Nunavut being such a hard territory, in which to conduct business.

I had the chance to speak with Brian Tobin during the former minister's visit to Rankin more than a decade ago.

He told me although it was early in the game, prime importance had to be placed on the way Nunavut's bureaucracy (GN, regional Inuit associations and NTI) interacted with companies wishing to do business here to ensure the best interests of all were met.

Being from Newfoundland, Tobin was well versed in both sides of that equation.

The Innu were not consulted before their land was used for the Churchill Falls hydroelectric project in 1969, and it flooded vast stretches of their land for which they were never compensated.

Conversely, Inco signed Inuit impact benefit agreements that worked for all parties for the Voisey's Bay nickel-copper-cobalt project.

Today, many of its employees are Inuit or Innu. They took baby steps of partnership and co-operation and now reap the benefits.

Hopefully, we've started down the same path.

In 2001, the GNWT was considering how to improve the way lottery money was doled out to sports programs across the territory.

In 2004, that led to the hotly-contested idea of the Sports and Recreation Council. The council's formation was met with criticism and the biggest opponent at the time was Sport North - the organization formerly charged with power of granting funds.

Sport North was not convinced the new funding body would create the efficiencies the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) believed it would.

In essence, the Sports and Recreation Council was to become an overarching entity enveloping the various governing sport bodies - Aboriginal Sport Circle of the Western Arctic, Beaufort Delta Sahtu Recreation Association, Mackenzie Recreation Association, Sport North and NWT Recreation and Parks Association. Bringing the partners together under the council was expected to create the perception of improved objectivity when granting program funding.

In 2004, MACA also said there was significant duplication in the system and the new council would eliminate program and administration redundancies within the sport delivery system, subsequently freeing more money for program delivery and enhancing athlete and coach development.

The plan was also to bring all the partners together into one central office, which was expected to free up some $450,000 in administration costs that could be redirected to sport funding.

According to the Sports and Recreation Council, moves were made in 2011 to achieve that goal but were sidelined due to disagreements with their sport partners. The council then shifted gears to develop its own strategic plan and monitoring, evaluation and accountability framework. That process cost nearly $350,000.

So it's now eight years later and the council has not met expectations.

The Sports and Recreation Council's statement of operation for 2011 shows the council's revenue was a little more than $3 million.

Operation funding to the other sport partners were provided through the sport council as follows: Aboriginal Sport Circle of the NWT - $340,000; Beaufort Delta Sahtu Recreation Association - $145,000; Mackenzie Recreation Association - $190,000; NWT Recreation and Parks Association - $402,000; Sport North Federation - $1,649,000.

The Sport and Recreation Council's annual report states: "Organizations were provided with funding provided based on allocations toward staff, office, board/committee, professional fees, and contributions to others. No program funding was provided to organizations this year; however, organizations could use the funds for areas of importance based on their own strategic plan."

That puts total administration costs for the five major sports agencies at $2.7 million.

A recent third-party review stated there were concerns of "inherent bias or misrepresentation" in the application assessment process. That's not to say there is bias or misrepresentation but, unfortunately, it is exactly that perception the council was designed to improve.

Also, since the council's inception, administrative streamlining has yet to be achieved. In fact, the Sports and Recreation Council occupies its own offices and phone lines, and can be argued is a purely administrative body. Tack on salary, utility and operation inflation and we expect the money going into running the system is taking a significant cut of what could be used for programs.

Creating another level of bureaucracy and increasing staff makes little sense. Had the administrative amalgamation taken place as it was intended, an argument could be made that the objectivity issue could be easily resolved with amended policies, something Todd Shafer, the council's executive director, stated has already been addressed.

However, while the administrative redundancies persist, the Sports and Recreation Council experiment can be considered a failure. Sports programs would have been better served by improving the old model with Sport North.

The last two months in Nunavut have been marred by terrible violence. Lives have been forever altered, and two lives have been brought to an end.

On March 18, a man was arrested for shooting at the homes of RCMP officers in Kimmirut. Another man was shot and killed in Iglulik two days later, after allegedly making threats and wielding a weapon during a confrontation with police.

Less than a month later, on April 16, a Cape Dorset man was charged in the death of a teenager and with possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, among others. Three days later, in Iqaluit, an armed standoff at Iqaluit's hospital ended, thankfully, without anyone getting hurt. Eight days after that, an Arviat man was shot and injured after allegedly shooting at stray dogs in the community with a stolen police handgun.

Addictions and mental health problems have been suggested in connection with some of these incidents but details have yet to come to light. Still, it doesn't take a professional to link violence to pent up anger, other mental health issues or addictions. Obviously, people are suffering and in need of help.

Confronting an angry person about their anger is difficult and family and friends are too often inclined to remain silent and avert conflict. But these people in distress need help, somehow, or else the violence we see so unbearably often will continue, in fits and starts, or in runs like we've seen recently. Then, of course, in the wake of violence, more anger and sadness is born, setting the stage for future violence.

The GN can't afford to have complete mental health services in every community in the territory, and even if they could, staffing these positions would be just as difficult as keeping any other specialized medical staff in the North. Medical professionals come up in stints and return south, except for the odd case where a doctor or nurse makes the North their home.

Who else is left to try and deal with mental health issues but the people for whom the North is home? It is unfair to expect Nunavummiut to bear the responsibility alone of preventing violence in our communities but there are things we can do. If we don't take charge, there's no one else to step in and do it.

Look at your friends and family for signs of anger, for signs of mental health issues that might be coming to a head. If it seems to be a reasonable option, encourage them to talk it out with someone or try to talk it out with them yourself. If the situation is too far gone for that and things are getting violent, call the police before weapons come out. Keep any guns that you control locked up and out of reach. Do anything possible to try and break the cycle of anger and violence.

It's important to move past violence and continue with our lives, but to continue as if nothing has happened, and not try to make positive change to prevent future violence, is just biding time until it happens again.

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