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It is unfortunate that 300 families in the NWT have had to deal with long separations because Canadian immigration bureaucrats have tied their applications up in red tape.

More frustrating is the fact that many of the applications could have already been approved but the slow bureaucratic process has resulted in families having to restart processes such as security screenings because applications previously approved have since expired.

If the system was working properly these families would have already been reunited. Instead, spouses, fathers and mothers have been waiting years to see their partners and their children.

This obviously creates hardship for the families involved but it also hurts Canada and the North.

Three hundred families reunited would equate to a pretty big population boost to the NWT. Recent stats showing a steady decline in the territory's population should be incentive for the GNWT to help push the federal government to get its act together and improve the efficiency of the immigration process.

Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington deserves praise for taking up the fight to help reunite these families and urge the federal government to get a handle on working through the backlog. More people in the North is good for the country as a whole, especially if Ottawa wants to maintain the image that it holds sovereignty over the region. Hard to argue control over a region when no one lives there.

Last week, the Governor General of Canada awarded a number of Northerners and former Northerners with awards of bravery for their actions in harrowing and life-threatening situations.

Inuvik's Larry James Angasuk Jr., Teddy John Allen Omilgoituk, RCMP constable Todd Glemser were recognized for their actions during a fatal house fire in Inuvik. The men were instrumental in puling two children from the flames. Unfortunately, one child did not survive.

Cpl. Scott Joseph Young risked his life to save a suicidal person fro the Slave River.

Sheldon Charles Catholique was awarded for his actions following a plane crash near Lutsel K'e. Despite suffering from severe injuries, he managed to pull a woman to safety and care for her injuries while they waited for help to arrive.

Also awarded last week was Fort McPherson's Charlie Snowshoe. He received an Indspire Award for his efforts to help protect the environment. It is the third award the elder has received for such efforts.

All of these people, albeit for different reasons, are examples of how all of us can contribute to protecting the people around us and the land we live on.

None of them put their lives on the line or dedicated their lives to a cause seeking to be rewarded. Nonetheless, the awards are great ways to recognize their efforts and inspire the rest of us to be greater.

There was a lengthy round of applause at the recent Nunavut Mining Symposium gala dinner when James Nasso, the chairperson of the board at Agnico Eagle Mines, announced the company is providing $5 million to the Government of Nunavut to start a fund for the creation of a University of Nunavut.

The company deserves the applause for backing an initiative that has been identified by many people as a necessity for Nunavut. Further, it is noteworthy that Agnico Eagle has specified that the money be used toward a bricks-and-mortar project to create a university in the territory. With the trend toward distant learning, and recognizing that there is no physical university in either of Canada's three territories, the distinction is important.

How much it will cost to create a university is another matter. Although $5 million may sound

like a lot of money, when one considers the costs of construction, establishment of a curriculum, hiring of staff and the myriad details involved with establishing a physical centre for post-secondary learning, it is only a small start.

More corporate partners will be needed, the federal government will need to become involved with the provision of funding and the territorial government will be challenged to put planning pieces in place, such as deciding on a location, timeline and budget.

Establishment of a university fits well with the goals stated by Premier Peter Taptuna and his cabinet that this government's primary focus during its current term is education.

Critics have suggested more attention is required at the elementary and high school level. That is where the Department of Education is currently focusing its efforts.

We suggest that work toward building a university shouldn't interfere with work toward improving standards and results in kindergarten-to-Grade 12 classrooms.

In fact, the knowledge that there is a university in Nunavut, we believe, will act as an incentive for Nunavut youth to excel in secondary school and ensure they have the grades to be accepted in programs of study tailored toward their unique needs and culture.

Some may point to the offerings at Arctic College's campuses in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay, or the opportunities to enrol in university courses at institutions in the south through the University of the Arctic, as being adequate for the needs of a relatively small population. However, neither institution is able to grant degrees or offer the same level of education as a standalone university.

Canada is the only circumpolar nation out of eight countries in the world that does not have a university in the North. Significant research has already been done by the Ilitturvik University Society and the Walter & Duncan Gordon Foundation.

We say keep the momentum going. Small steps toward a stated goal will be sure to result in much applause in the future.

As each day brings the city closer to the social disgrace of being without a homeless day shelter, police are amping up their downtown patrols.

With 70 users daily at the shelter - which keeps people off the street, gives them a warm, safe place to retreat to use the bathroom, sleep or sober-up - there is bound to be a substantial impact come May 31, and Yellowknife needs to brace for it.

Although the RCMP does make up a portion of the resources such a population requires, its role is decidedly short-term. To remove a drunk and disorderly person from a downtown street, place them in a jail cell for the night and release them when they're sober, is addressing an immediate issue but ignoring an underlying cause. Valuable police resources are being diverted to putting the same Band-Aid on the same wound again, and again and again.

Without the shelter to supplement police enforcement in addressing complex social issues, the problems only perpetuate, putting a strain on our courts and jails, while doing absolutely nothing constructive for those caught in the vicious cycle of poverty and addiction.

This failure in services for the city's most vulnerable falls right onto the shoulders of the territorial government and the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, for not finding an alternative when help was discovered the shelter was set to close and its building demolished.

When government fails to take care of its citizens who need it most the problems do not just go away - the costs linger through increased policing, ambulance calls and hospital visits.

While the homeless day shelter is not a standalone solution, it does help alleviate some of those costs - a person able to sleep off their drunkenness on a couch at the shelter is not going to be on the street and at risk of being taken to a jail cell to do that very thing - or at risk of consuming more alcohol, which could manifest into worse consequences.

It takes a balance of resources to achieve long-term solutions to the problems of addiction and homelessness. A four-pillar approach, like how the City of Vancouver tackles its addictions problems, means enforcement when it's due, harm reduction - which would include the day shelter - when it helps, treatment when it's needed and prevention when it's possible.

Take away one of those legs and the whole thing topples. Increase enforcement, but eliminate harm reduction, and one is left with an imbalanced approach less likely to lead to a solution.

Unfortunately, the territorial government's view on this problem appears to amount to little more than substituting police officers for social workers and the city's safety net for homeless people with jail cell bars.

Last week, Yellowknife resident Kyle Thomas released his self-published book - Yellowknife Street Stories - which shares tales from the local street people population, bringing them to life and shedding some of their stereotypes.

It is this non-judgemental view those with the power to implement solutions must take, ensuring they help - rather than hurt - the population. Users of the doomed day shelter need social supports and structures rather than more officers, handcuffs and jail cells.

There's nothing like a string of fires to put a community on edge.

A steady stream of people went by the Northern store in Fort Simpson on April 27 to look at the damage that had been done there earlier in the day. A wooden shed was reduced to charred remains and goods that would have kept the stores' shelves full until the Liard River ferry begins running were scattered across the ground, pulled from the metal warehouse where they were stored after the contents also caught fire.

If village residents wanted to get a full sense of the fires that took place on Sunday they also had to drive past Liidlii Kue First Nations' office and the post office where garbage dumpsters were burned and Bompas Elementary School where a garbage container was also on fire. Four fires in one morning is enough to make anyone wonder what is going on in Fort Simpson.

The RCMP and the Office of the Fire Marshall are investigating, but undoubtedly many residents already have theories about what happened and who's behind it.

Was it a pyromaniac with a desire to see some things burn or a statement to make or was it a youth or a group of youth who were bored and looking for something to do? Three of the fires were relatively small and the fourth would have been too if the fire in the Northern shed hadn't also caused supplies in the metal warehouse to ignite.

While people work on their theories, they must have one niggling worry, was this quartet of blazes an isolated grouping or will it be the start of something larger?

Fort Simpson, on the whole, isn't subject to a lot acts of vandalism or arson. There is the occasional graffiti tag and minor damage to personal property, but not usually a drawn-out campaign.

It would be unfortunate for everyone in the village if this was to change. Not every Deh Cho community is as fortunate.

In June 2012, a small abandoned house was burned in Fort Liard and a second house was burned to the ground in June 2013. The hamlet's fire chief said both fires were arsons, along with a number of vehicle and grass fires he's seen set over the years.

Hopefully, the Fort Simpson fires will be isolated incidents and the culprits will be found quickly and faced with consequences that serve as warnings for others contemplating similar actions. Deliberately set fires are serious matters and even those that start small and with minimal intention for damage can grow to threaten both lives and structures of significant value.

With the Inuvik Community Greenhouse ready to open its doors to the growing season, it's time for Inuvikmiuts to seize the opportunity to "grow up" a little.

One of the most common complaints around town – not that it's unjustified – is the cost and quality of the food available here.

Oftentimes, NorthMart is described in less than flattering terms because of its ubiquitous presence throughout the region.

Other grocery stores, including the Stantons chain, also take it on the chin. Both are at the mercy of southern suppliers and the challenges of shipping produce so far north can sometimes leave consumers wanting.

With the long days of summer, filled with ample sunlight, now on the horizon there is little excuse not to take matters into your own hands and do something about it.

That's why the opportunity to have a plot at the Inuvik Community Greenhouse is such a unique opportunity to help address one of the fundamental problems of the North.

Why would you not want a chance to grow your own fresh food and have some direct input into the quality of what you're eating?

The greenhouse gives you a chance to start doing just that, with only a moderate amount of work.

Plants grow phenomenally well under the midnight sun. At times it's almost too well, since it doesn't take much for them to grow wild in a hurry. Other than basic weeding, the main requirement is to water regularly, and that's not a lot of work.

Last year I wrote about having a plot at the greenhouse. While I had some misadventures, I did manage to grow enough to readily supplement what food I was buying at the grocery stores. That was the first time I've ever been able to grow anything successfully, so when I state if I can do it, you can too, you can take that to the bank.

The greenhouse, for all its usefulness, is only the beginning of the process. With some ingenuity, a few skills, and some effort, it's quite possible to grow at least some crops outside. Some people locally are experimenting successfully with raised beds for food stuffs. There's no clear-cut reason why more people can't do it.

Food security is one thing you can literally take into your own hands here and run with it. I encourage everyone to try it.

The saying goes that one shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, but Couns. Adrian Bell and Dan Wong have shown that just isn't the case when it comes to this summer's roadwork contract.

Projected to go over budget by nearly $800,000, NWT Construction Ltd. offered to knock $450,000 off its $6.1-million bid - the only bid the city received - if the project is accepted in its entirety.

This proposal has rightly been greeted with skepticism, with Bell questioning how high the profit margin really is if the company is willing to discount $450,000. It comes after administration noted an inexplicable increase over last year of 25 per cent on the price of concrete.

That critical instinct had good value at Monday's council meeting, where it was learned that bike lanes on 52 Avenue were in fact not a contributor to the overrun as indicated last week by administration. To the contrary, installing bike lanes would actually mean a cost savings of $21,000 because they required cheaper asphalt. This came about after Wong questioned speculative statements from administration that bikes lanes were causing the price to increase even though council was originally led to believe the bike lanes wouldn't add any costs when it approved them in February.

Senior administrative officer Dennis Kefalas said staff are still trying to figure out why costs are on the rise and will review the contract before bringing it back to council.

Wong's persistence demonstrates why council should never be quick to draw conclusions from the numbers they have been presented.

In the meantime, the revelations keep on coming.

It turns out the city doesn't have a lot of choice when it comes to roadwork.

The city contracts these projects in their entirety and not piecemeal, and only businesses with an asphalt plant can compete. This would explain why the only bidder for roadwork since 2005 has been NWT Construction.

So now the city is in a position where the only contractor that applied to do the work is bidding more than the city planned to spend.

Coun. Rebecca Alty suggests the city review the way it tenders contracts in the future to be more competitive.

That might not be a bad idea, but the only way to be sure is by asking more questions.

The expiration of the federal-provincial Health Care Accord has some people crying that the sky is falling on health care.

Wendell Porter and Mike McBane from the Canada Health Coalition - a national health advocacy group - visited the city to tell Yellowknifers the accord's expiration March 31 could lead to privatization, with the best care going to people who can afford it.

The accord was a 10-year deal the federal government made with the provinces and territories to help fund and stabilize their health care systems and ensure a national standard of care was being met.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper so far refuses to negotiate a new one, arguing the accord does little to guarantee provinces and territories will meet the standards and spend the money the way it should be spent.

It's hard to imagine any government, including a Conservative one, daring to gamble its political future on a diminished health care system. Any signal showing a lack of commitment to it is bound to spell death at the polls.

That said, the Canada Health Coalition's visit should remind people they must remain vigilant and guard against health care's decline. The NWT has one of the best health care systems in North America, even with the territorial government constantly crying poverty.

The sky may not be falling but the pressure to make cuts is definitely there. If Canadians, including NWT residents, wish to maintain a robust, single-payer health care system, they should waste no efforts ensuring our political leaders know it.

Those who don't get the magic of sports should see the video of Rankin Inlet's Jordin Tootoo giving his stick to a young fan and the ensuing joy radiating from the child after receiving it.

The video went viral on YouTube with, as of this writing, about 150,000 people having checked it out.

The short clip vividly illustrates the magic that can happen between athlete and fan.

And if you've ever seen a pro athlete interact with a child through the Make A Wish Foundation, you've seen that it is, indeed, magic.

Unfortunately, the popularity of professional sports, the insane amount of money pro athletes now make, and the unpredictability of some angryattheworld people in today's society have combined to make such interactions fewer and further between.

With some, it's about greed. The more they make, the more they want and the more they can begrudge anyone getting the teensyweensiest slice of the pie.

Being an avid collector of hockey cards and memorabilia for most of my life, I try to keep up with the collecting world by reading as many trade publications as time allows.

During the past 10 years, stories on athletes who refuse to sign items, or grumble aloud about probably seeing it later on EBay, have grown by leaps and bounds.

In the early days of the online marketplace, forgery was rampant and it was always a case of buyer beware.

EBay worked hard to jettison the forgers and, today, the vast majority of its memorabilia is the real deal.

Now, I get that outlets like Frozen Pond pay athletes big bucks for signing sessions.

And, I get athletes of half-a-century ago, especially hockey players, were paid nowhere near their worth or what today's players make, prorated or otherwise.

Heck, I even get it (sort of) when New York Met Curtis Granderson flips out when he leans into the stands for a ball and a fan pats his shoulder and says nice catch.

But I'll never get why an athlete earning millions of dollars a year cares if an ink hound makes a few bucks by hawking his signed photo.

Millions of fans live in areas far removed from the neon glow of NHL cities.

And, sure, you can buy an item from a company that has paid an athlete to sign, but you're going to pay big bucks compared to what ink hounds and fellow collectors charge for their items.

You get the security of knowing your item is authentic from most pro shops, but a bit of research before parting with your hardearned cash will produce just as much of a guarantee.

Many well-known ink hounds send their autographed items in bulk lots to companies that authenticate autographs such as PSA/DNA or Frank Garo, then sell them with verification that can easily be checked.

A fan's joy receiving an item handled by their hero is immense, and brings them that much closer to the game.

So a player making $1 million to $5 million a year should be upset when a hound makes $50 (often less) from his signature because, why?

Acts of kindness like Tootoo's this past week are to be commended at a time when they happen all too infrequently.

And, just maybe, guys like Jordin will help put a little magic back into the game.

Thanks, Jordin!

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