The summer sun that used to seemingly stay up forever is now setting a bit earlier each day. Before we know it we'll be raking leaves and then in a blink of an eye we'll be up to our knees in snow.

When it comes to the seasons it seems that nothing is ever quite good enough. In winter, what many people wish for the most is the sunny days of summer, or at least a vacation somewhere warm.

But in summer, it seems people can't help but wish it was a little cooler.

There's little way to win.

What people can and should do, however, is take the Deh Cho summer in while it lasts. In many ways, summertime is the best season in the region.

With greenery abounding the Deh Cho is undeniably scenic in the summer. Even life-long residents can't be immune to its beauty.

The warm weather also broadens the array of available activities. If you're tired of the same daily routine in your community or your children have run out of ways to amuse themselves, escape to the outdoors. The Deh Cho is a veritable summer playground with many of the attractions just minutes away.

One of the most obvious destinations is the region's waterways. It's hard to beat a meandering boat trip with no specific destination in mind. With a breeze to keep the bugs down and a fishing pole in hand, a boat trip would be many people's idea of a slice of heaven.

If boats aren't for you, however, there's always dry land. The Deh Cho has an abundance of parks where people can camp close to amenities such as running water. Short hiking trails are also close at hand.

If you don't feel like sleeping outside, why not just go for a day trip? Every community has a nearby location where residents like to go for picnic lunches and outings.

Those residents who are more fortunate can head out to their families' cabin or camp and really enjoy life on the land.

Summer in the Deh Cho also brings with it a host of activities to participate in. While many are already past, Mackenzie Days in Fort Providence is gearing up this weekend.

Sometimes it's hard for residents of an area to see just how lucky they are because they are too close to and too used to their environs. Residents of the Deh Cho have it made in the summer time.

Everyone should apply some bugspray and rediscover what the Deh Cho has to offer. Just remember, before you know it winter boots will be replacing sandals and parkas will be replacing T-shirts. Enjoy it while you can.

Where can you go that has miles and miles of unspoiled wilderness almost untouched by humans?

Where is it that has an ever-changing waterway, with shifting sand bars and swirling currents?

Where do tourists drive over pothole after pothole, risking multiple flats and empty gas tanks just to say they visited?

The answer: the Town of Inuvik.

It's a beautiful place and it truly feels like one of the last great frontiers.

It's full of quirks and surprises, and yes, there are social issues. Sure, some people don't stay that long and there can be a sense of impermanence. But there's something compelling about being on the doorstep of vast wilderness.

So why do we treat it with such disrespect?

Outside doorways, along roads and in parking lots there are piles of cigarette butts.

Sure, you see one or two and who cares? But when drivers start dumping their full car ashtrays right out the window onto the ground, it's time to get angry.

It only takes one butt to start the chain reaction. So far, the only public ashtray seems to be the one outside the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex.

More ashtrays located around town would encourage people to not just toss their cigarettes on the ground.

People need to respect where they live but the needs of residents – and visitors – should also be respected.

If people smoke, and they always will, there needs to be somewhere to put out cigarettes, somewhere that isn't a garden, ball diamond, playground or nature trail.

It shouldn't be hard to find a garbage or ashtray. There are bins in the park.

Would ashtrays solve the problem? No, honestly they wouldn't. But ashtrays would at least make one out of every few people think before carelessly throwing things onto the street.

And hey, even one out of 20 would make a difference.

There's a beautiful tourist centre set up to welcome visitors to Inuvik.

That welcome should continue all the way down the Mackenzie, for residents and tourists alike.

A couple from B.C. were not impressed during their recent visit North, according to their son Al Cook, a Yellowknife resident. The Wildcat Cafe wasn't open, tourism sites were difficult to find, and museum exhibits weren't up to snuff, by their standards.

This is a shame, and the mixed messages offered by Mayor Gord Van Tighem and the Department of Transportation over signage indicates that poor communication is part of the problem.

The mayor suggests the department is not always receptive to the call for more and better signage to help direct tourists to places like the museum and the legislative assembly; a Transportation spokesperson insists that the department will assist with whatever signage is needed to help direct tourists as long it doesn't distract drivers.

Well good then, the two levels of government should have no problem sorting things out and putting more signs in place.

As for the Wildcat, we're sure it will be great once the renovations are complete, even though they are a year behind. And the exhibits at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre? We expect after seven years of developing new ones the museum will have a wonderfully complete collection - hopefully very soon.

At the end of the day, we have to remember where we are. This isn't Toronto, Orlando or Rome. We don't have the money, infrastructure or critical mass to compete with any of those places, let alone Banff or Summerside, P.E.I.

Most tourists visiting Yellowknife aren't coming for the museum or so they can stroll through the legislative assembly, although a few may make a trip here for special events (see editorial below).

However, our ace in the hole is the lack of crowds and the vast wilderness that surrounds us.

Seven thousand Japanese visited our city last year just so they could enjoy the Northern lights with a minimum of light pollution. Sure, we can use a few more signs, but most of all we want those who appreciate the great outdoors to keep coming back.

The 32nd annual Folk on the Rocks music festival entertained a huge crowd of Yellowknife residents, tourists and travellers of all ages late last month. Based on comments from festival-goers who shared their opinions with Yellowknifer, audiences were very impressed.

The city's signature summer event - which spans two days, or three if Warm the Rocks is included - puts the spotlight on talented local performers alongside professional and award-winning entertainers from across the North and elsewhere in Canada.

As organizers gather to debrief about what worked and what can be improved for next year, residents should also take a moment to reflect on their collective role in making this year's festival a success.

Regardless of who's on stage, one of the factors that makes Folk on the Rocks so fun for residents and visitors alike is the people who volunteer or buy tickets to attend. It's a great chance to meet new people and greet old friends and neighbours under the summer sun.

By supporting this year's Folk on the Rocks with their attendance, Yellowknife residents helped organizers pull off what seems to have been one of the more successful festivals in recent years.

Although Folk is now history for another year, summer is not over and neither is festival season.

On Friday, the sixth annual Old Town Ramble and Ride neighbourhood festival is scheduled to kick off, ushering in a weekend filled with more live music, workshops and family entertainment.

Once again, one of the variables that can help make this community festival a success is the people who choose to join in the fun by supporting festival organizers with their enthusiastic participation.

Justin Bieber made a gaffe in a recent issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, which speaks volumes about not only the dearth of public education on aboriginal peoples, but to the type of person that is idolized today.

"I'm actually part Indian," Bieber told Rolling Stone. "I think Inuit or something? I'm enough per cent that in Canada I can get free gas."

Whether or not there is any validity to his claim of ancestry - it would only be more aggravating if there was - that comment offers a clear picture of the understanding between aboriginals, especially those from the North, and many non-aboriginals.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has just in the last few years made an official apology from the Government of Canada to victims of abuse at residential schools, and the conversation is just starting on educating Canada's children on that dark period in the country's history. Education will really be the key to fostering understanding between peoples.

Students in Canada, no matter what province or territory, should at the very least be able to distinguish between major groups of indigenous peoples, so they're not left guessing if someone is "Indian ... Inuit or something" or left assuming without base that aboriginal people get free gas.

Education will also help defeat the racist misconception that aboriginal peoples are just recipients of handouts - people need to know about the ambitious Inuit starting up businesses across the North, and the Inuit hunters who go out and bring food back to their families and communities.

It's hard to reach young people in the south today. The pervading culture throughout most of Canada is pop culture, where it matters more to kids to catch a teaser for the new Bieber music video, or find out with whom Twilight's Kristen Stewart is cheating on her boyfriend, than it does for them to actually look at their country and how its people are living.

I could rail on and on about how distressing it is that people such as Bieber - young, insulated celebrities - are put on a pedestal while benevolent and wise people trying hard to make positive change on the community and national levels are hardly noticed, but I'll leave it at that.

Until education about Canada's peoples is given more than just lip service, the sort of ignorance, bordering on racism, that Bieber spouted to Rolling Stone will continue to be spouted - and distressed editors will continue to have their face in their palm realizing they've actually written an editorial about Justin Bieber.

Complaining about food prices is a Northern pastime, and rightly so considering costs can, at times, be double or even triple what consumers expect in the south.

It is doubtful, even with changes to subsidies, we will see much decrease in that aspect of our cost of living which means we need to stop looking for government help and start finding more innovative solutions to our food security issues.

A new study commissioned by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is investigating the economic viability of greenhouses in the North. It's a great idea and has the potential to grow on the success many Northern garden projects have demonstrated.

Potato farms in the Sahtu, the greenhouse in Inuvik and community gardens sprouting up in various NWT communities have demonstrated the growing potential during the territory's long summer days.

Armed with the proper information, a savvy entrepreneur could turn what is currently a green hobby into a thriving business venture. Add a little technology, such as hydroponics, and the NWT could be growing food all year round.

Would it be cheaper? Probably not. However, if the cost was comparable not only would Northern consumers gain access to fresher produce, they would also be spending money in support of a community business employing friends and family.

Higher costs of food might be more palatable if the money was staying in the community.

The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board's mandate is two-fold, each bearing equal importance.

On the one hand, the board is charged with the important task of safeguarding the environment and protecting people affected by development.

On the flip side, the board is also responsible for helping to facilitate development that meets the standards of environmental protection and provides fair benefits and compensation to the people directly affected.

It is in that role the review board has chronically fallen short.

Although it is understandable that comprehensive reviews of major projects can take time, there should be set policy on what can be considered acceptable.

We don't want to recommend pushing development quickly through the review process, but our economy needs development if we are to prosper. Nothing deters potential investors more than red tape, especially when it has the reputation of tying up applications for years.

Its most recent blunder with Fortune Minerals certainly doesn't help the board's public image. Failing to properly schedule hearings on Fortune Minerals' NICO gold-copper-bismuth-cobalt deposit near Behchoko due to a clerical error demonstrates a need for policy regarding the board's timeliness when addressing applications, as suggested by Tom Hoefer, executive director of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines.

We need to balance environmental protection with generating greater wealth and jobs in the NWT. Investment can only come with some level of certainty and the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board has offered far too little of that.

In an organized protest, it is critical to have a defined concern and a specific target audience. Get a sense of what you want your audience to do, and see if they are willing to help resolve your concern.

As Nunavummiut plan another round of food protests for the end of August, organizers would be wise to consider the following: If the goal is to get retailers and the government to lower the price of pop, you're wasting your time.

Nutrition North Canada is not designed to subsidize junk food. That's like asking the federal government to subsidize cigarettes. Both are bad for you, and they are bad for governments, who have to pay the health-care costs associated with their long-term consumption.

Despite this, members of the Feeding My Family Facebook page regularly post junk food as examples of the high cost of food in Nunavut.

The implication is that food subsidies should include all food. Sorry, but the federal government will never subsidize the purchase of products that cause health problems, specifically those high in sugar, salt or fat. The target audience of your protest is not interested.

At the same time, some protesters want retailers to drop their prices to a point where they don't make a profit. That's never going to happen, either.

So let's consider the position of the target audience. The federal government says Nutrition North Canada is lowering prices for healthy food, and the North West Company agrees. Their statistics are easy to confirm.

Still, costs here remain higher than in Ottawa. They always will, so what do we do now?

Come to the table. If governments and retailers must shoulder the responsibility of increasing food security in Nunavut, so must Nunavummiut.

Cigarettes, pop, and microwaved meals should not be the core of peoples' diets. Foods promoted by the Nunavut Food Guide - and subsidized by the government - should be.

Nutrition North lowers grocery prices and gives every consumer access to the subsidy. That's an improvement from Food Mail, which was only available to those with a credit card. Going forward, the government can increase Northerners' confidence in Nutrition North by proving retailers are passing on the savings, and by increasing the subsidy and program budget annually.

But if Nunavummiut want the cost of living in Nunavut to go down, we need to determine what solutions give us the means to earn more money, make living in the North more affordable, and show us we're important to Canada. Those solutions largely have to come from us.

Governments and retailers stay in business by serving the people who give them money.

To boost support, we need to stop talking about $100 cases of water. No one sympathizes with the person who buys that if the taps are working. Instead, Nunavummiut need to show Canada the territory's real challenges - and there are many - and come to the table with answers that make sense to those who can effect change.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.