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Another year is nearly gone, and 2014 is on the horizon. But before we get to the good times of New Year's Eve, we still have many people's favourite holiday coming up - Christmas!

So, without further ado, here is Yellowknifer's annual Christmas wish list:

First off, let's take a look at our municipal government. Last year, we expressed our gratitude to the City of Yellowknife for its improved communication following the city elections. Thankfully, that trend has, more or less, continued. Last year, we wished for an economic boom to help the struggling Engle Business District. This year, we hope for that same positive outlook to come to Range Street.

Another city stalwart that we wished the best for was one of Yellowknife's iconic landmarks - Giant Mine. For 2013, we had kindly asked Santa to take the numerous toxic tonnes of arsenic trioxide back with him to the North Pole. Seeing as the stuff is still there, we'll also ask that more can be done to protect the local environment than a bunch of tarps.

We also ask that perhaps we can take a look back at Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins' idea to put up reward money for those looking for a way to get rid of the toxic waste, as opposed to just freezing it in place. It's definitely an idea worth considering.

Finally, and most importantly, we are asking with all of our hopes and dreams for lifeguards on Yellowknife's beaches. After the tragic death of young Lodune Shelley this past summer, the need has never been greater. So please, we ask of all of you at all levels of government - put lifeguards on our beaches for the safety of our children and for future generations to come. No family should experience such heartbreak.

So to all of you, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and a very happy and prosperous 2014.

After the news that the territorial government was toying with the idea of handing over William McDonald Middle School to the French school board, a press release came out informing the public that school utilization discussions have been taking place since September.

These discussions result from the June 2012 NWT Supreme Court order that the GNWT provide Yellowknife's Ecole Allain St-Cyr and Hay River's Ecole Boreale with their own gymnasiums, arts and science labs, extra classrooms, specialized facilities for courses such as home economics, expansions to daycare and pre-Kindergarten services, among other improvements. The territorial government has until 2015 to complete construction.

The GNWT is appealing the decision, despite previous supreme court losses regarding French education in the territory, which is a constitutional right.

The idea of a school swap, also being considered in Hay River, seems simple enough, but upon closer examination of the facts, resolving the problem will require considerable thought and public discussion. Though the schools in Hay River are the property of the territorial Education Culture and Employment Department (ECE), that's not the case here with our tax-based school boards.

Yellowknife Education District No. 1 owns all of its school buildings in the city, just as Yellowknife Catholic Schools owns its school buildings.

Further complicating the issue, Yk1 schools are underutilized - William MacDonald perhaps the worst at 31 per cent - while the Catholic schools are operating at close to capacity.

Yellowknife high schools have exceeded the 80 per cent usage that triggers the need to plan for a new school. In fact, the high schools have exceeded the 85 per cent usage that would call for construction of additional space.

Obviously, changes to city schools are coming and if the territorial government hopes to meet the court imposed standards for the French school district, they will need the cooperation of both Yellowknife education boards, not to mention the cooperation of the French school board who have not fought hard and long just to settle for 30-year William McDonald school as it now stands. Futhermore, a building renovation or replacement is based on the fact that a building nears the end of its usefulness at age 40, according to ECE.

Choosing a child's school is based on so many factors - many parents actually buy homes near the school of their choice - these are never light decisions. Parents need to be a part of the conversation right from the start, as they, also, will need to be a part of the solution.

Clearly, Yellowknife has a school problem. The main priority of providing the necessary and best education and services needs to be coupled with a co-operative approach to reaching consensus on building usage.

Without the parents involved and actively participating from the beginning, that will never happen.

Well, valued readers, this is our final regular edition of Kivalliq News for 2013.

And, as you will remember upon seeing our upcoming Year In Review edition, it was a fairly good year in the Kivalliq.

As I prepare to begin my 16th year as editor of Kivalliq News, I can honestly say my passion for reporting on our region has not waned one iota since 1998.

Many people in the Kivalliq work diligently, year after year, trying to create a better quality of life in our region, and provide a brighter future for our youth to aspire to.

More and more of our youth are excelling in sports or the performing arts, and are being led in improving their skills by a handful of dedicated volunteers.

In Arviat, people like Eric Anoee Jr., Kukik Baker, Jamie Bell and Gord Billard have worked wonders with the youth of the Arviat Film Society, the John Arnalukjuak High School Drama Club and Arviat Youth Piliriqatigiit.

Their work has helped to create national role models, in addition to skilled and articulate youth, budding thespians and rising talents in the world of audio-and-video production.

Even the community's youthful cooking skills have come to the fore during the past few years.

Baker Lake has seen success with its Baker Lake Against Suicide Team (BLAST), which has engaged youth in meaningful activities to address one of our region's most serious problems.

Both Arviat and Coral Harbour have stepped up their efforts in the sports of soccer and hockey, and are producing regional champions, while Inuglak School teacher Andrew McFarlane's online funding efforts have raised the money necessary to take a team of Whale Cove hockey players to Geraldton, Ont., for an exhibition series against a local team.

Led by teachers at Victor Sammurtok School, students in tiny Chesterfield Inlet continue to defy the odds in the world of science and produce regional champions year after year who attend the Canada-Wide Science Fair.

In Rankin Inlet, teacher Lisa Kresky continues to grow her youth gymnastics program, while rec co-ordinator David Clark has helped grow the sports of hockey, softball and soccer through his efforts as coach, official and, arguably even more importantly, as a developer of new events and infrastructure, including artificial turf, through his tireless fundraising efforts.

Tusarvik School in Repulse Bay remains as multi-functional an educational facility as anyone could hope for in a rural community anywhere in Canada.

The work of the teachers and volunteers there is very well-known, especially in the areas of traditional and cultural learning.

Yes, we have our problems in the Kivalliq and we all know it.

But there is a prevailing sense of togetherness here. A true community spirit binds our seven communities together in many ways.

And, while we have many challenges still to face, we have more and more Inuit and 'southerners,' who have called the Kivalliq home for many years, stepping up to take on the challenge.

I can hardly wait to see what Kivalliq successes 2014 has in store for us.

Merry Christmas to all, and my sincere best wishes for you and your families in the coming new year!

Diavik's wind farm demonstrates how industry can choose to be innovative in extracting resources from the Earth, by doing it in a fashion that is more environmentally friendly.

While only saving less than 10 per cent worth of diesel usage might not seem like a lot, it represents a substantial reduction in both costs and greenhouse gases. Likely the incentive was based more on the financial benefit than the environmental one, but that is OK.

It is about time industry stepped up to demonstrate the merits of alternative energy and, although saving the environment is an important and noble cause, proving financial viability of renewable energy is vital.

Let's be honest, if what's best for the planet was the deciding factor for energy consumption the climate change/fossil fuel debate would be over, and we would all be operating on some form of clean renewable energy. However, understandably, the deciding factor is money.

Businesses are out to make money. Governments cannot waste money. Many alternative energy pilot projects in the North have demonstrated results with unjustifiable returns on investment, or have failed.

Diavik's foray into wind power may be the shot in the arm the push for cleaner sources of energy has been looking for. Business, more than government, is good at creating efficiencies and saving money. If more can prove the viability of renewable energy, we may see more of it in the future.

There were a few surprises following the elections on Dec. 9. Many long-standing incumbent mayors were voted out of office and new faces will lead the respective councils in the new year.

Of the four mayors in the 10 hamlets running for re-election only one, Garry Bailey of Fort Resolution, won the bid to stay at the community's helm.

In the rest of the races, political heavy weights, such as Tuktoyaktuk's Merven Gruben, will be taking a break from municipal politics after being defeated.

While experience around the council table is important, so is the need for fresh ideas from time to time. With voter turnout remaining strong for hamlet elections, we are confident the new mayors and councillors are coming to the table with a strong mandate from their people. Now it is their job to live up to those expectations. Over the next term, it is not only their jobs to help build their communities, but to also serve as role models. Leaders do more than pass budgets and set policy - they should also demonstrate good character.

Somewhere, buried in 10 giant binders filled with pages and pages of technical information, was the information the people of Pond Inlet needed to know.

Baffinland Iron Mine had originally planned to build a rail line to transport iron ore for an expected 20 years from its Mary River project to ships 150 kilometers south at Steensby Port.

But low global steel prices changed the project economics and a new plan, called an early revenue phase, eliminates the construction of the railway. Instead, Baffinland wants to truck the iron ore north to Milne Inlet, a location across the water from Pond Inlet, prized for its rich hunting and fishing grounds.

The switch from Steensby to Milne is a big change of that people were unaware of until the Nunavut Impact Review Board came to town and told them.

Now the clock is ticking for the community to go through the volumes of technical information and prepare written comments to be considered at the review board's upcoming public hearing. The deadline for submissions is Jan. 13, with hearings to begin Jan. 27.

Deputy mayor Joshua Arreak and Shelly Elverum, an anthropologist and Pond Inlet resident working on the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (traditional knowledge) aspects of the project, have raised the alarm.

They say there is not enough time to prepare a proper response to the company's proposal, especially considering the staggering size and contents of the documents submitted.

Although the application was made in the summer, people in the community feel powerless without the proper resources to review the submission and respond.

Baffinland works for its shareholders and is half owned by ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker producing almost 10 per cent of the world's steel. The mining giant operates in 60 countries and has 245,000 employees with annual revenues of $116 billion. It has the resources to push and push forward with its project and can throw money at obstacles until they go away.

In light of the almost immeasurable size of the company setting up shop at Mary River, it is distressing to hear the community feels neglected by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA), which represents the rights and interests of 14,000 Inuit in the Baffin region .

QIA shouldn't confuse being onside with the project, by virtue of the impact and benefit agreement signed Sept. 6, with its role of representing the people of Pond Inlet, who have valid concerns about the mine's impact on the community and marine life.

As it stands, Pond Inlet has no staff members, no consultant, no legal counsel and no technical expertise to prepare a response to the review board. This David versus Goliath scenario cannot be allowed to continue.

The Qikiqtani Inuit Association must recognize and accept its responsibility to be the champion of the community, and take on the task of communicating the community's concerns to the corporate giant and the review board.

Otherwise, there can be no partnership benefiting all parties, which calls into question the reason for allowing the mine to exist at all.

One of the biggest election issues in 2012 was the state of downtown. At the heart of that contentious debate was the day shelter and the people who use it.

The general consensus has been that the shelter is neither the perfect nor complete solution to sprucing up downtown streets and attracting shoppers, yet it was better than doing nothing.

That's why Yellowknife city council recently decided to give the shelter a $50,000 grant.

While the majority of council recognized the undeniable need to keep the shelter open, Coun. Cory Vanthuyne didn't like the way it was done.

In an opinion piece in the Dec. 11 edition of Yellowknifer, he argued that council should not have arbitrarily handed the money over, saying the process lacked fairness, accountability and ultimately, did the center a disservice.

A full page ad in the Dec. 13 Yellowknifer listed all the 53 worthy organizations that receive funding - a total of $418,000 - through special grants and core funding applications.

It can be argued the day shelter does not fit into the criteria of either special grants or core funding. It is a critical service for people in need of a safe place to come in from the cold. Recent days where the highest temperature was -35 C proves as much.

Much like the Centre for Northern Families, an emergency shelter for women and children, we cannot afford to let these facilities close due to lack of funding.

Readers might remember in 2009 the center was $350,000 in the red because of a lack of government funding. At the time, it received $30,000 in core funding from the GNWT. But the center's plight was heard in the legislature. Deemed critical for families in need, MLAs and cabinet made a commitment to keep it open.

In his column, Vanthuyne wrote that giving the day shelter a grant is generous in the short-term, but opens the door for other social groups to argue the importance of their cause, making it harder for the city to say no. He pointed out that had the day shelter applied for special grant funding three years ago, it would be eligible to apply for core funding in 2015. Finally, the money was given without any reporting obligations on how the money was spent.

These comments are undoubtedly grounded in best practices but to let any one of these criteria stop the funding and triggering a closure of the day shelter would be a step backward in the effort to improve the downtown.

Vanthuyne's final point is that the people using the day shelter often come from all over the territory, so it makes sense funding should come from the territorial government. The GNWT does in fact do so, contributing $175,000.

The center budget is $260,000. With the city's $50,000, there is a shortfall of $35,000 that must be found. These are not large numbers. As Vanthuyne would have to admit, you couldn't buy a trailer home with this little bit of money. The kind of accountability Vanthuyne wants takes expertise and paid time which again translates into greater costs, further draining a tiny pot.

The fact is the GNWT isn't contributing nearly enough. That's why the city had to step in.

It will be up to Vanthuyne and his fellow councillors, mayor and our MLAs to ensure the city is not put in such a position again.

Sometimes success comes not from achieving your goal, but, rather, from the process of reaching for it.

A number of Deh Cho athletes spent last weekend laying it all on the line. The youth from Fort Liard, Fort Simpson and Fort Providence were competing in trials for a variety of teams that will be representing the territory at the Arctic Winter Games in March.

Their ultimate goal was, of course, to secure a spot on the team for their respective sport, whether it was soccer, basketball, volleyball or cross-country skiing. As well as being able to say they made it, the prize was also a trip to the games that are being held in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Of the approximately 13 Deh Cho athletes who competed in the trials only two, Devan Horassi and Kevin Roche, made the teams. Horassi and Roche should be congratulated on their success, but those who didn't make the teams also deserve recognition.

Making it to the trials was a feat in itself. The athletes had to commit to training schedules, follow healthy lifestyles and have enough self-confidence and belief in their abilities to be willing to compete against other athletes from across the territory, while being evaluated by coaches.

In the case of the five Fort Liard soccer hopefuls, the process to get to the trials was months in the making. Those athletes were chosen in the fall through a selection process in the hamlet and then spent the following months adhering to a training regime.

The athletes spent one-and-a-half to two-hours twice a week at fitness and soccer training sessions. They also chose to attend many of the open soccer nights that are held three times a week in the hamlet.

The five youth also had to prepare themselves mentally and emotionally for the fact that they might not, even after all of that work, make the team. Coming from a small community and competing against athletes from larger centres like Yellowknife, they knew what they were

up against.

All of the athletes who competed in the trials, and those who will be competing in the upcoming trials yet to be held in January, are role models for their peers in the region. They have shown what it looks like to set a goal and work hard to achieve it.

Even if the goal isn't met in the end, the athletes have demonstrated that there is value in the process of trying.

I'm sitting here at my desk typing this column while chewing Vitamin D like it was candy and my sun therapy light blazing for the last few hours.

Yes, Seasonal Affective Disorder and the polar night are a potent, if unpleasant, mix that I am soldiering through.

For the first few days of the polar night, I was scoffing a little and saying “this isn't so bad.” I found the twilight under at least semi-clear skies quite acceptable, if not the optimal situation.

Even the bit of a storm on Dec. 8 didn't faze me too much, although it did prevent me from getting out for much of a walk.

The worst symptoms didn't strike me until Dec. 10, a cloudy, cold and thoroughly dreary day where it barely got any brighter as the day progressed. It was also deadline day, which helps keep me locked to my desk for the afternoon in particular.

By that evening, I was toast, and, mostly, it was my own fault. While I had taken my Vitamin D, I hadn't bothered to use my light therapy system. Nor did I bring it to the office with me. Big mistake, that.

It's giving me a whole new appreciation of how Northerners weather this climate with equanimity. I'm a little envious of that, but I am determined to master this situation, because, after all, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon ... other than a short vacation over Christmas.

As is all too common with health-related troubles, part of the problem with Seasonal Affective Disorder is simply trying to communicate what it's like to suffer from it.

Yes, I know about the winter blues. Maybe let me put it this way; winter blues are like a cold. Frustrating and annoying. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a magnitude different, more like pneumonia.

Still, there are ways to treat It ... if the symptoms aren't left too long. Even an hour's walk in the dark is enough to provide some relief. The afternoon twilight is even better, and I've been trying to schedule interviews during that time period to give me an excuse to go out.

Going south is another option, too, if you can afford it. It's a pity flights from Inuvik are so expensive, because that could provide a convenient option for more people to get a break from the dark.

About seven years ago, my wife and I began going to Cuba from Ontario for a winter break every year or two. It was the first time I'd been out of North America, and is still as far south as I've ever been.

During our first full morning there, while lazily lounging around the pool at the resort, my wife looked at me and said, “I don't remember the last time I saw you smile so much.”

That was the reward all on its own, and the week of fun in the sun kept me going the rest of the winter.

This year, I'm looking forward most impatiently to the Sunrise Festival ... and those lengthening days of clear weather into the evening in late February and March.

Until then, I'll return to looking into my light ... and keeping busy. My boss tells me that's the best remedy!

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