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It is time to address the ongoing imbalances between Yellowknife's two school boards.

Recently, Yellowknife Catholic Schools (YCS) has been crying poor, saying without an increase in taxes to supplement funding provided by the territorial government, it may have to cut into program funding as early as 2014-15.

On the other hand, Yellowknife Education District No. 1 board members decided late last month not to support a school levy hike in the foreseeable future. Even though the public board is facing many of the same challenges as the Catholic schools - declining enrollment and funding cuts - it still has a healthy operating surplus of $1.6 million to draw from.

The issue here lies in the fact the two boards have an unwritten rule that one cannot increase their mill rate unless the other follows suit. Although YCS retains the right to apply for an increase on its own, board chair Simon Taylor told Yellowknifer it would be unfair if one district's mill rate was higher than the other.

Unfair may not be quite the right word. What would be unfair would be if both boards collaborate to gouge taxpayers for extra money, regardless of need.

The more compelling question is: Why should public school supporters have to pay more to balance the Catholic board's budget?

Ultimately, the decision on which board to support lies with Yellowknife taxpayers. They get to decide each year how much of their taxes will go to which board. YCS says it needs more funding to maintain the quality of education in their schools. However, if only its rate increases, more Yellowknifers may choose their own bottom line above the Catholic school board's and choose the less expensive option: Yk1.

The current system seems to dictate that the less successful one school board is, the more funding both receive. How is this fair?

There is a history of imbalance between the two boards, which have previously engaged in turf wars over school space. Back in 2007, YCS schools averaged 100 per cent capacity, while Yk 1 schools had an average capacity of a little more than 60 per cent. YCS responded by asking for an extra school, suggesting J. H. Sissons School become Catholic. After a parental uprising, the idea was abandoned.

The previous year, the Catholic board entered into an ill-advised court battle against allowing non-Catholics to serve on its board. The result of this suit may not have been only a legal loss for the board, but resulted in the loss of students. Ever since, both student numbers and tax support has been shifting towards the public board.

The argument that both boards must band together to increase tax levies undermines the idea that these are two sovereign entities.

Unless they are careful, these two boards could create an excuse by the territorial government to return to the debate over whether or not we should have only one publicly-funded board in Yellowknife.

Let it never be said we Northerners don't catch on fast.

But do we always have to catch onto far more illadvised activities than productive endeavours?

Bad enough our government wants to conduct its affairs like Stephen Harper on antitransparency steroids, but now we're ripping pages from one of the most damaging play books that ever was.

Only man can let his greed reach the point where he willing turns a renewable resource into a nonrenewable one, and is willing to break the law to do it.

It's a sucker's game of shortterm gain against the almost total annihilation of a species in the long term.

George Santayana, borrowing from a phrase by Edmund Burke, famously wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Over the years, Santayana's expression was edited by the common tongue to become more commonly known as those who ignore history are bound (or doomed) to repeat it.

Given the actions of our territory's fledgling fishing industry; time to bastardize Santayana's work once and for all and put it in terms even we here in the North can understand. Those who cannot remember the past are idiots!

One can only despair over the report of two Nunavut fishing vessels facing charges under the federal Fisheries Act earlier this month.

Capt. George Hudson has been accused of taking his vessel, The Suvak, to borrow from our neighbours before being charged with fishing in Greenland waters.

The second no-no comes to you courtesy of Capt. David Dempsey, who is charged with taking his crew for a little sail on the Sikuvuto to allegedly fill her pens with Greenland halibut.

Unfortunately, according to authorities, they happened to be in the narwhal overwinter area and the cold water coral zone off of Baffin Island.

Fishing is strictly prohibited in the area.

It comes as no surprise that both vessels are owned by Nunavut entities sporting the names of coalition and alliance.

In layman's terms those words often translate to too greedy and really too greedy.

The Suvak belongs to the Oujukoaq Fisheries Ltd., part of the Iqaluit-based Baffin Fisheries Coalition, while the owner of the Sikuvuto is the Qikiqtarjuaq-based Masiliit Corp., proud member of the Arctic Fishery Alliance.

Those working in the fisheries industry should be made to read every word ever written on illegal fishing and overfishing.

And they can start with an account of the East Coast ground fishery, which was also entrusted to coalitions, alliances and their draggers from hell.

Hopefully, Nunavut Minister of Environment James Arreak is paying close attention to the situation.

It will be interesting to see where our Department of Environment's Fisheries and Sealing Division is going with its priority on the Nunavut fisheries strategy.

The division prides itself on its work to maximize economic opportunities for Nunavummiut.

Let's hope it also prides itself on pushing for the proper punishment for those who refuse to uphold the principles of conservation and sustainability!

Videos of Behchoko's grad weekend posted to Facebook this past month are not what one would expect. Instead of images of young grads celebrating or walking the aisle in caps and gowns, the videos circulating are shockingly violent.

The videos show multiple youths engaged in a brawl, sometimes two or three ganging up on one person. Punching, elbowing, and even chairs wielded as weapons make the videos disturbing and hard to watch.

The RCMP responded to four assault complaints within a 25-hour period that weekend.

Behchoko is not the only community that deals with youth violence. Communities all over the country, big or small, contend with physical bullying. But putting the proof online is not only shocking, it also tarnishes the image of the community.

Is it good that these negative messages can be spread far and wide so easily these days? While the content in the Behchoko videos is very violent, it is better that the violence is uncovered and sees the light of day versus simmering in secret. The issue being online for anyone to view offers a wake-up call to parents and the community.

The actions of the youth in the videos shouldn't label an entire community.

There's a lot more footage that can be applauded and allows Behchoko to shine. A search on YouTube shows a medley of videos ranging from handgames and weddings to snowmobiling and drum dancing.

There is also plenty more information out there that illustrates the positive contributions of Behchoko's young people and other NWT youth to the territory. Flipping through the pages of News/North, youth successes abound: from Fort Smith high school students being honoured for pictures they took in a photography challenge, to Inuvik's young girls curling team accepting Team of the Year award at the Sport North Awards dinner recently and the young Behchoko athlete on today's front page competing at the NWT Track and Field Championships.

It's unfortunate that these particular youth were so violent, and that the incident occurred.

But we hope the community takes action in response to these violent videos in a positive way, by talking to the youth and offering support.

The Community Counselling Services in Hay River has undergone growing pains in the past nine months, but has come out stronger and ready to help more residents in their times of need.

This past fall, the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority moved counselling services in line with the territory's recommendation - requiring counsellors to have at least a master's degree in the field.

At first, this change put a sour taste in residents' mouths. The four staff members whose jobs were affected left, and community members cried out that the transition time to recruit the qualified people for the positions would be detrimental in their treatment process.

No doubt the months when the positions were vacant were difficult, but with patience comes reward and the community is reaping the positive results of the change in staffing model.

The authority has harnessed a strong team of six health-care workers - including three mental health and addictions counsellors with at least master's degrees - four of which are from the North and two of them hail from hay River.

The number of people on the waiting list for addictions or mental health counselling have also plummeted from 100 in February to zero as of April due to the counsellors being hired in March. Some who spoke out in distress when the change in counselling standards took place, such as Georgina Fabian who uses the counselling services, are now satisfied with the results of the transition. Fabian said the additional experience held by the counsellors is noticeable and valued.

One of the largest issues in the territory is the struggle with mental health and addictions. Any steps to improve assessment, crisis intervention, treatment and followup for NWT residents is welcome and other regions that are making such a transition in the future can look to this as an example with positive results.

While mining has the potential to bring Nunavut billions of dollars worth of jobs and infrastructure, the territory is also looking to the sea for quicker gains and more sustainable prosperity. Commercial fishing in the territory has experienced enormous growth over the past six years.

Six years ago, there were no commercial fishing vessels owned by Nunavut entities. Today, there are five vessels wholly-owned or partially-controlled by Nunavut interests under the umbrellas of Baffin Fisheries coalition, Arctic Fisheries Alliance, Qikiqtaaluk Corporation and Pangnirtung Fisheries Ltd.

Nunavut Fisheries Training Consortium's recent purchase of a bridge simulator system - at a cost of $170,000 - to help train Nunavummiut to work on the bridge of large vessels, is an investment that should be applauded.

Not only will the system improve the chances of Nunavut residents to work on fishing boats it will also help improve their wages which will in turn attract more interest to the industry.

Between turbot, Arctic char and shrimp stocks the fishing sector is now worth in the range of $100 million.

The bulk of those dollars came from turbot which raked in $70 million last year after a harvest of 9,500 metric tonnes. With a total allowable catch of 13,500 metric tonnes there is plenty of room for growth.

Harvest levels for shrimp also fell well short of the quota with 3,000 metric tonnes caught compared to the quota of 10,000 metric tonnes.

Nunavummiut see the potential in the fishing sector and their growing involvement in the industry is evidence of that. Last year, between 100 and 120 crew members returned to work in offshore operations on Nunavut-controlled vessels, according to the GN.

Ship captains such as Pangnirtung's Peter Kilabuk, who is featured in Nuanvut News/North this week, is also capitalizing on the opportunity. Owner of the first private fishing vessel, he has invested in growing his business with the purchase of a larger ship to help him increase his harvest.

The GN is also showing a commitment to improving opportunities in the industry for Inuit.

Personnel training has improved, particularly since the Nunavut Fisheries Training Consortium was launched in 2005. The organization provides training for Inuit beneficiaries for various roles in the fishing industry. Training offered has evolved from entry-level skills, to advanced training that creates the opportunity for more Inuit employment.

Pangnirtung's multi-million-dollar small harbour craft project - worth more than $40-million -- will also help significantly boost fishing off of Baffin Island. It will offer improved infrastructure for ships fishing the water and additional employment.

Although the capacity of the fishing industry isn't limitless, it has a long way to go before its full potential is met. Additional investment in the industry is money well spent and perhaps one of the best industries in the territory to maximize sustainable Inuit employment.

As a renewable resource, fishing, if managed correctly, can provide jobs well into the future. It's also a two-fold win for Inuit, who not only get the benefits of employment but also work in an industry that can help maintain their connection to the land and sea.

Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley has a problem with the little loophole Yellowknifers have found within the federal government's recreational lease policy that allows them to build cabins.

While new cabin leases from the territorial government are locked up tighter than Fort Knox, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development has been quietly handing out "hunting and fishing" cabin leases - 33 of them in the Yellowknife area since 2008.

The leases allow successful applicants to build cabins two storeys in height with a not-at-all ungenerous maximum footprint of 100 square metres. The leases are renewable every five years to a maximum of 30 years.

Bromley, no stranger to overheated rhetoric (see "crimes against humanity" outburst in 2011 while referring to GNWT inaction on climate change), called the federal government's lease handout "a highly-suspect, game-changing lease rampage."

Yellowknifer agrees with the MLA that Walsh Lake - where some of these leases were allocated - is a laughable location for a "hunting and fishing cabin." With the number of existing cabins already built, the federal government might as well give out hunting and fishing leases at Frame Lake next door to the legislative assembly. But if anyone thinks Walsh and Banting lakes have too many cabins on them then they haven't spent much time in Ontario's Muskoka district or Kananaskis in Alberta. In the great scheme of things, Walsh and Banting lakes are still relatively undeveloped. It's cabin country and it's where cabins belong.

At least some order of government recognizes the need to open more land for cottage development. While the GNWT's Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) slumbers through yet another density study on cabin leases around Yellowknife, residents have been taking matters into their own hands.

The department claims it's actively pursuing squatters but one doesn't need to snowmobile far off the Ingraham Trail or boat into the North Arm for very long to get some inkling of what's actually going on as MACA's moratorium on new cabin leases enters its fourth year. Take a look at the picture of the houseboat accompanying this editorial. It's on David Lake, a short hike from the Vee Lake Road. It wasn't there last year, just as there wasn't a burgeoning houseboat community at the Giant Mine boat launch a few years ago. No one seems able to stop this relentless encroachment of unregulated development into our wilderness areas and on our shores.

It is concerning the federal government did not communicate with its territorial counterparts on the leasing issue, particularly on the eve of a devolution agreement on lands and resources. But it's the territorial government's own inaction that has led us down this road.

The price paid for this moratorium on cabins is more squatters hauling lumber into the bush.

Northern literary culture has a growing number of well-developed characters and a plot that leaves Yellowknife residents wanting more after each new chapter.

Last week, NorthWords NWT turned the page on its eighth annual NorthWords Writers Festival, a well-attended three-day event that bound established authors together with emerging writers and literary enthusiasts. Prominent protagonists included B.C.-based novelist Douglas Coupland, Fort Smith storytellers Reneltta Arluk and Richard Van Camp, and Yellowknife's own Cathy Jewison and Jamie Bastedo, to name but a few.

The festival has come a long way since readers and writers first gathered for open mic nights at Javaroma and the Wildcat Cafe in 2006. This year the festival reached out to Fort Smith, drawing what was a capital-city event closer to a territory-wide phenomenon.

The organization behind the festival has also matured in eight years, stretching its mandate beyond planning a single annual event. The group presents numerous writers workshops, readings, contests and guest speakers throughout the year.

Last year, NorthWords NWT launched Coming Home: Stories from the Northwest Territories, an anthology featuring original work by 17 promising NWT writers. Stories by several Yellowknife writers were included.

Through hard work and keen forward vision, past and present NorthWords boards have penned a new identity for Northern writers. Rather than lone voices in the wilderness, literally, Northern writers recognize they are now part of a unique literary community.

Gone are the days when southerners were left to tell Northerners' stories from afar. A new generation of writers, nurtured if not co-authored by NorthWords, has a voice and is ready to be heard.

Spring is a time for graduations.

As the school year comes to a close, students at a variety of different levels don gowns and mortar boards. Students in preschool programs prepare for kindergarten, kindergarten students prepare for Grade 1, in some schools Grade 6 students prepare for junior high, and high school students prepare for post-secondary education or the work force.

Graduations, no matter what level they are, are always joyous affairs. Parents, family members and friends beam from the audience and students quietly beam back from the front of the room. There are speeches given praising the graduates' achievements and presents are often offered.

Graduations, particularly at the high school level, however, also bring with them a tinge of sadness.

Classmates who have been together for years, perhaps since kindergarten, are about to go their separate ways. Some may rarely see each other again.

In the Deh Cho, high school graduation also usually means a separation from family for those students who want to continue their studies. Some students only have to go as far as Fort Smith or Yellowknife for Aurora College, but many choose to attend colleges and universities in other provinces.

While many students are focused on graduating from high school and moving on to bigger centres, what happens next is of equal importance. Chief Stan Sanguez of Jean Marie River said it well when he addressed the graduating class at Thomas Simpson School. Sanguez congratulated the graduates on their achievements, urged them to follow their dreams, but also asked them to return to the Deh Cho after they have finished additional schooling.

"Bring your ambitions and your hearts back to us," Sanguez said.

The future of the region depends heavily on youth achieving success whether in the trades or in degree programs, and then returning to the Deh Cho. Of course people from other regions in Canada or the world can come and work and contribute to the region, but they will never quite have the same connection or the same amount invested in the success of the region.

As Sanguez said, the Deh Cho needs lawyers, doctors, nurses, people to address devolution and so many other skilled workers and professionals. It is good for youth to get out and see the wider world, but it is with their return that everyone in the Deh Cho will benefit.

Summertime is when my thoughts turn to daydreams of paddling, hiking and camping.

That's what led me recently to seek some information on various outdoor activities around the region from the Department of Industry, Trade and Investment.

I sought out Judith Venaas, who is spokesperson for pretty much anything to do with town parks, eager to find some maps and lists of hiking trails.

Not entirely to my surprise, I discovered the kind of information I was after isn't readily available.

In the few months I've been here, I've come to recognize that walking and hiking isn't much of a priority. My walking habits have evidently been noticed around town, because many people I stop to chat will say, "I hear you walk a lot."

If I wasn't already known as "The Drum Guy," I think I might have a T-shirt made up with the logo "The Walking Dude."

I think people find my favourite form of getting around even more puzzling because they know I have access to a vehicle that remains parked most of the time.

I was a bit surprised to find out there wasn't a map showing the trails at Jak Park, or at the Gwich'in Territorial Park. I was particularly interested in that one because of a reference to limestone cliffs being a major natural feature at the park.

Coming from Niagara Escarpment region of southern Ontario, all you have to do is mention limestone and cliffs in the same sentence and you'll get my attention.

Likewise, I was a little startled to find out there isn't any kind of a list of snowmobile trails in the region.

I love studying maps, both traditional paper ones and online versions, and I've been able to see a veritable spider's web of snowmobile trails and logging roads snaking through the area, all tempting me to explore them.

As a longtime solo hiker though, I'm rather cautious about hitting new trails without at least a reasonable understanding of where I'm going.

I won't say that I've been totally lost, but there have definitely been occasions where I wasn't entirely sure of where I was.

Being a newcomer to this area, I'm doubly wary about venturing too far into the bush.

That's why I heartily endorse Venaas's idea that putting together a master database and maps of trails would be an excellent project.

I think there's some major potential to attract hikers to this area, which would add an extra dimension to the tourism market.

I wonder if anyone in the GNWT is listening?

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