The Northern delegation has returned from an indigenous arts festival in Arizona, and, according to people who went, the venture was a success.

The purpose of the trip was to increase the exposure of Canadian native arts and crafts to the flourishing American market.

Both Dene and Inuit artists demonstrated their skills and the results were encouraging. They proved that in a competitive marketplace there is room for their work.

There is, however, a stumbling block on this path to prosperity.

The Americans have in place a piece of legislation called the Marine Mammal Protection Act. This law prohibits the importing of products made from marine mammals such as whales, walruses and seals.

Like so many other gestures with calamitous results, the act was no doubt passed with the best of intentions. But in their haste to protect endangered species, the Americans lumped all the animals in one law.

This has had an sorry impact on artists across the territories. Both carvers and dealers confirm that sales of Northern arts and crafts have been choked by the American restrictions.

There are possible exemptions, but they involve both time and paperwork.

Time-consuming exemptions are not the answer. Rather, the federal government should put the issue on the table with their American counterparts.

If Ottawa is committed to encouraging economic growth and self-sufficiency in the North, they must commit to persuading the Americans to re-adjust the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Carvers don't kill animals to harvest their bones. Carving material is found. In fact, carvers can't work with bones that haven't dried for years.

The Americans haven't acted maliciously. They simply need to be informed in a way that they can sell to the American public. With that in mind, it's time Ottawa got to work.

Imagine waking to find yourself in a hospital bed, tubes running into your arm and strange faces fussing over your vital signs. Now imagine you can't understand a word they're saying.

Northerners who don't speak English and are unlucky enough to require hospitalization are nevertheless fortunate to have so many translators on hand to help them make sense of their encounter with the health-care system. Stanton Regional Hospital in Yellowknife has 35 casual translators alone.

With so many troubling reports about the state of health-care management in our pages lately, it's good to know that not all the news is bad. Words to comfort, indeed.

The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs' recent investment in the production of Play Safe, Play Smart, a coloring and activity book for children across the North, is money well spent.

Dedicated to the memory of Cambridge Bay youngster Jacob Oyakyoak, who was killed tragically while playing alongside a water truck last May, this book encourages safety awareness and is an important tool for families everywhere.

Designed so parents and children can work on it together, this is one book families should to add to their collection.